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 MEMOIRS. 
 
MEMOIRS 
 
 LIFE AND RELIGIOUS LABORS 
 
 EDWAED HICKS, 
 
 LATE OF 
 
 NEWTOWN, BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, 
 
 WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 
 
 PHILADELPfflA : 
 Merrihew & Thompson, Printers, 
 No. 7 Carter's Alley. 
 1851. 
 

A TESTIMONY 
 
 Of Mmkefield Monthly Meeting^ concerning our beloved Friend, 
 Edward Hicks, deceased. 
 
 He was born in Attleborough, Bucks county, Pa., the 4th day 
 of Fourth month, 1780. His parents were Isaac and Catharine 
 Hicks. His mother, who is represented as a pious member of the 
 Episcopal church, dying in his infancy, Elizabeth Twining, a 
 kind friend, out of regard for the mother and sympathy for the 
 child, took him to her home ; where he received the advantage of 
 kind maternal care. Ofttimes has he publicly acknowledged the 
 lasting benefit he derived from her early religious care and 
 instruction. She frequently read to him from the New Testament, 
 instructing him in the doctrines contained therein; and such 
 were the impressions then made on his tender mind, that their 
 influence was not entirely lost in his subsequent deviations from 
 the path of rectitude. He often held up to mothers, and those 
 having the care of the young, the example of this worthy woman ; 
 entreating them to "go, and do likewise," which he called 
 " bringing children to Christ." 
 
 After leaving his adopted mother, he was exposed to various 
 temptations, both while at school, and during his apprenticeship 
 in a country village. Deprived of religious instruction, and all 
 restraint upon his moral conduct, and being of a lively, volatile 
 disposition, his company was sought by that class who indulge in 
 " foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in perdition," and, 
 for a time, he joined with them in vanity and folly. But, as he 
 
 1* 
 
 V 
 
used to relate to his friends, (with gratitude to his heavenly 
 Father for his protecting care,) he was followed by the witness for 
 Truth in his own mind, so as to be preserved from any act of 
 gross immorality, that w^ould leave a stain upon his character in 
 the sight of men. 
 
 About the twenty-first year of his age he was favored with a 
 renewed visitation of Heavenly love ; and yielding thereto, he 
 passed through the dispensation of condemnation, which he 
 viewed as the baptism unto repentance, by which his former 
 pleasures were marred, and the friendship and glory of the world 
 were stained in his view; and the dispensation of justifica- 
 tion was opened before him, "with promise of the life that 
 now is, and of that which is to come,^' and yielding obedience 
 to the heavenly call, he was made willing to part with all for the 
 pearl of great price ! In order for help, he attended the meetings 
 of several religious societies ; but finally joined in membership 
 with Friends of Middletown Monthly Meeting, Bucks county. 
 About the twenty-third year of his age he was joined in marriage 
 with Sarah, daughter of Joseph and Susanna "Worstal, of Newtown, 
 with whom he lived in near afiection to the close of his life. He 
 continued within the verge of Middletown Monthly Meeting 
 several years ; and about the 30th year of his age he came forth 
 in the ministry, deeply in the cross to his natural will ; but the 
 Master of Assemblies owned him therein, covering the meetings 
 with that solemnity which is precious and comforting to those 
 present. 
 
 In the year 1811 he removed to Newtown; where but few 
 Friends resided. An indulged Meeting was soon opened in the 
 village, and after some time a meeting-house was built, and a 
 Meeting settled. Being faithful, he grew in his gift and became 
 an eminent minister of the Gospel ; adorning the doctrine he 
 
preached, by a life corresponding tlierewith. He travelled much 
 in the ministry ; and being favored with a comprehensive mind, 
 a clear vision, and ready utterance, he was enabled, when clothed 
 with Gospel authority, to open and explain the doctrine of 
 the Christian religion, in a clear and forcible manner, to large 
 assemblies of different denominations. He was often led to testify 
 ao-ainst a hireling ministry, as one of the darkest clouds resting 
 on Christendom ; and against a hypocritical and self-righteous 
 state ; also, against a luke-warm and libertine condition, his 
 testimonies were often severe. Some being offended therewith, 
 spread reports against him; but he continued his course, unmoved 
 by such insinuations ; his popularity appea.ring a small thing in 
 his view. A highway was opened before him, to preach the 
 Gospel to the people generally, without regard to sects or parties. 
 But, although his doctrine was severe to those classes, yet to the 
 penitent, to the returning prodigal, the sinner awakened to a 
 sense of his guilt, and to the seeking children, his doctrine 
 dropped as the dew, and distilled as the small rain upon the 
 tender plant ; encouraging these to return to the Fathei*^s house, 
 where there is bread enough and to spare, and where none need 
 perish with hunger. 
 
 With the approbation of his Friends, after visiting the meetings 
 near home, he went to distant parts : to Upper Canada, and the 
 Yearly Meetings of New York, Baltimore, Ohio, Indiana, and 
 Gennesee, and to meetings within their limits. When his service 
 was over, he was careful to return, without unnecessary delay ; 
 and it appears that his Gospel labors were not only acceptable, 
 but instructive and edifying. 
 
 And while he was " fervent in spirit, serving the Lord," he was 
 also "diligent in business," laboring with his hands for the 
 support of his family, so that he could say with the apostle. 
 
8 
 
 *^ these hands have ministered to my necessities, and those that 
 were with me." 
 
 It was his concern frequently to attend funerals ; where, in 
 large audiences of different professions, opportunity was afforded 
 to preach the Gospel in the demonstration of the spirit, and with 
 power. But at funerals out of our Society, he was careful, if he 
 felt an ability to engage in his Divine Master^s cause, to inquire 
 if the family and connexions were willing. In this he had an eye 
 to the command of our Saviour, " Whatsoever ye would that men 
 should do to yoUj do ye even so to them." And as we would not, 
 on such occasions, approve of the services of those not of our 
 Society, we should also be careful not to intrude ours on them. 
 
 He was also concerned for the support of the Discipline of 
 Society, believing that it was a hedge about us; and the 
 disposition to change it gave him uneasiness. 
 
 For many years he was afflicted with a cough, which of latter 
 time increasing, attended with shortness of breath, disabled him 
 for distant journeys. lie, however, diligently attended his 
 meetings at home, and frequently those in the vicinity ; and with 
 the unity of his Friends at home, (which he always esteemed 
 precious,) he appointed meetings in school-houses, and other 
 places remote from any house of public worship ; and though his 
 bodily strength was declining, yet his voice remained strong and 
 clear. The meetings were generally large and highly favored. 
 But a few weeks previous to his death, his cough and debility 
 increasing, he felt easy to remain at liome, as it was difficult for 
 him to sit in meetings. 
 
 An intimate friend calling to see him a short time before his 
 death, found him in his shop, busily engaged in painting, (it 
 being the only business he was able to follow.) He informed the 
 friend that he had no prospect of living through the Eighth 
 month ; that he was comfortable ; his cough hurt him very little? 
 
9 
 
 and that he had never been so happy at any time of his life ! His 
 concern as a minister, that had rested on him for nearly forty 
 years, was removed; and it had left him in peace! He rejoiced 
 in being released from the burden, and felt his sufferings as 
 nothing ; feeling the evidence, that w^ith all his failings, eccentri- 
 cities, and short-comings, he had done what he could; "he had 
 finished the work that was given him to do, and kept the faith/' 
 Upon the same friend visiting him a week or two after, he found 
 him still at work ; and remarked that he appeared better, and as 
 the Eighth month was fast passing away, he hoped that he would 
 live through it. He replied, " it might be so ; he was resigned* 
 but had no prospect or desire to continue ! Death had no terror, 
 and the grave would have no victory over him ! My impression 
 is," he continued, " that I shall go suddenly, without much pain 
 or suffering, and with very little warning to my family/' 
 
 He continued painting till the day before he died, when, 
 finding himself very weak, he returned to the house, saying he 
 " believed that he had paid his last visit to the shop I" The next 
 morning his daughter observed, she " thought him better." He 
 replied, he "was better; he was comfortable ; but requested they 
 would not flatter themselves, for he was going to die." 
 
 He remained in his chamber, so quiet and easy, that his family 
 
 were not alarmed till afternoon, when he appeared to be sinking ; 
 
 he remained calm and easy, speaking to all that came to see him. 
 
 A short time before his close he said, 
 
 " Oh ! ^tis a glorious boon to die, 
 That favor can't be prized too high." 
 
 Thus he descended the "valley of the shadow of death," 
 fearing no evil. About 9 o'clock on the evening of the 23d of 
 Eighth month, 1849, in the 70th year of his age, he breathed his 
 last, without apparent pain or suffering ! 
 
 On the 26th his remains were interred from the Meeting-house 
 
10 
 
 at Newtown, attended by a great concouse of people ; after which 
 a large and solemn meeting was held, wherein the language went 
 forth, '^]Know ye not that there is a prince, and a great man fallen 
 this day in Israel ?" Several testimonies were borne to his worth, 
 and to the excellency of that Divine and heavenly gift, by which 
 he was raised from a low estate, and favored with an undoubted 
 assurance of an inheritance with the Saints of Light. 
 
 "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of 
 that man is peace." 
 
 Signed by direction of Makefield Monthly Meeting of Friends, 
 held at Newtown, 10th of Fourth month, 1851. 
 
 Joseph Flowers, 
 Sarah P. Flowers, 
 
 Clerhs. 
 
 N. B. The above Memorial was not forwarded to the Quarterly 
 or Yearly Meeting,but is simply the testimony of his own Monthly 
 Meeting, from whose minutes it has been transcribed. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 A VERY dear friend^ who I am certainly bound to love and 
 respect, has just been trying to persuade me to submit the 
 following Narrative, &c., — which was never intended or expected 
 to pass for a Friend^s journal — to the Meeting for Sufferings. But 
 the arguments he made use of, if they proved anything, appeared 
 to me to prove too much, and therefore confirmed me in the course 
 I had adopted. At the same time, they furnished additional 
 evidence that an imposition has been practised in the Christian 
 Church, from the earliest ages of the apostacy, down to the 
 present time, by eulogizing sinners, many years after they have 
 been dead, as saints, how unlike is this to those holy men 
 of old, who wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, which 
 the divine Saviour promised his disciples the Father would send, 
 in his name, who should " teach them all things, and bring all 
 things to their remembrance whatsoever they had heard of him/' 
 Under the influence of this blessed spirit, the inspired writers 
 handed down to posterity the characters of David, king of Israel, 
 and Peter, the prince of the apostles, with their virtues and their 
 vices standing out in bold relief, for succeeding generations to 
 see and judge for themselves. 
 
 It was under the influence of a portion of this good spirit, I 
 humbly trust, I wrote the following Narrative, &c., in which I 
 have tried to make a statement of facts, according to the best of 
 my limited understanding, and if I have found fault, and accused 
 some of my brethren and sisters, exposing their sins and foibles, 
 I have certainly tried, with as great propriety, to include myself; 
 and should any think I have been too sparing in the exposure of 
 
12 
 
 my own sins and foibles, I am more than willing that my enemies 
 should enlarge upon them to the utmost extent of the truth, the 
 whole truth, and almost beyond the truth, rather than my friends 
 should take a name (that might better be consigned to the gulf 
 of oblivion) and impose it upon posterity for what it never 
 merited. 
 
 My constitutional nature has presented formidable obstacles to 
 the attainment of that truly desirable character, a consistent and 
 exemplary member of the Religious Society of Friends -, one of 
 which is an excessive fondness for painting, a trade to which I 
 was brought up, being connected with coach making, and 
 followed the greatest part of my life ; having been unsuccessful 
 in every attempt to make an honest and honorable living by a 
 more consistent business ; and now in the decline of life, near my 
 seventieth year, with a body reduced to a mere skeleton, racked 
 by a tremendous cough, with scarcely breath and strength at 
 times to breathe or walk, I should be a burthen on my family or 
 friends were it not for my knowledge of painting, by which I am 
 still enabled to minister to my own necessities and them that are 
 with me, through the kind patronage of a few noble, generous 
 Friends, and friendly people, who, in my case, practically answer 
 that query in our Christian Discipline, "Are poor Friends' 
 necessities duly inspected, and are they relieved and assisted in 
 such business as iliey are capable ofP^ 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 Newtown, A.tli mo. 4:t7i, 1843. 
 I am, this day, sixty-three years of age, and I have thought 
 right to attempt, at least, to write a short narrative of my life, 
 "by way of testimony to the mercy and goodness of a gracious 
 God, through Jesus Christ, my blessed Lord and Saviour. And 
 here it would be proper to try to explain what I mean by the 
 term Saviour, for I shall make a free use thereof. I have 
 been charged by some of my friends, with ambiguity of ex- 
 pression, and I think treated rather rudely, both publicly and 
 privately, for making use of this sublime and appropriate 
 word, Saviour, 
 
 I have been, more especially during the last years of my 
 life, renewedly concerned to be established in a unity of be- 
 lief with the primitive saints and the primitive Quakers. First 
 with the beloved disciple, John, where he says, ''In the be- 
 ginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the 
 word was God.^^ "All things were made by him, and with- 
 out him was not anything made that was made.^^ ''In him 
 was life, and the life was the light of men." This light, that 
 lighteneth every rational soul that cometh into the world, 
 shineth in darkness, but the darkness comprehendeth it not, 
 for men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds 
 are evil; nevertheless, this is the true light, that can only 
 give true sight to the rational soul, and it is only this true 
 sight, that can give a true sense of the soul's sinful state; 
 and it is this sense that gives a right sorrow, and this sorrow 
 a true repentance, not to be repented of, and such repentance 
 gives an admittance within the inclosure of the glorious attri- 
 bute of mercy, which pardons guilty man. Such immortal 
 
14 
 
 souls are born again of water and of tlic spirit, washed in tlie 
 laver of regeneration. These are the babes in Christ, to whom 
 the revelation of his will is made. These feeling their need 
 of a Saviour, are true believers in Jesus Christ, as the eternal 
 Word, that was in the beginning with God. This was the 
 "Word that was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, 
 seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the 
 world, and received up into glory. This was the Word that 
 took flesh (or ^^ was made flesh'') which he had prepared for that 
 purpose, and dwelt among the Israelites. And such of the Jews 
 as were obedient to the light, were quickened by the life, to 
 behold the glory of this manifestation of the eternal Word, as 
 the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of gi-ace and 
 truth. This is the Christ Jesus that Paul confidently believed 
 had come into the world to save sinners, of whom he declared 
 he was chief; and that this Christ was the Son of God, by 
 whom he had spoken, in these last days, to the children of 
 men, and whom he had appointed heir of all things, and by 
 whom he had made the worlds, who being the brightness of 
 his glory, and the express image of his person, he upheld all 
 things by the word of his power. To all them that look in 
 the light for this glorious appearance of the great God, and our 
 Saviour Jesus Christ, Paul has encouragingly declared, that 
 he will appear a second time, without sin, unto salvation. 
 
 Secondly, I sincerely unite with the primitive Quakers, in a 
 belief of the great doctrines of the Christian religion, and 
 shall quote a short testimony of William Penn, where he 
 abundantly sheweth, from scripture, the propriety of the word 
 Saviour, as applied to God and Christ. "I, even I, am the 
 Lord, and beside me there is no Saviour/' and ^^thou shalt 
 know no God but me, for there is no Saviour beside me.'' And 
 Mary said ^^My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour/' and 
 the Samaritans said unto the woman, "Now we know that this 
 is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world." " According 
 to this grace made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour 
 Jesus Christ." "Simon Peter to them that obtained like pre- 
 cious faith with us, through the righteousness of God and our 
 Saviour Jesus Christ." "For, therefore, we suffer reproach, 
 because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all 
 men." "To the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory." 
 '^From which/' continues dear William Penn, ^' I conclude 
 
15 
 
 CJirist to be God, for if none can save, or be styled properly 
 a Saviour but Grod, and yet that Christ is said to save, and is 
 properly called a Saviour, it must needs follow that Christ the 
 Saviour is Grod.'^ These are William Penn's own words, with 
 which I do most cordially unite, especially where he adds, ''I 
 sincerely and unfeignediy believe — by virtue of the sound 
 knowledge and experience received from the gift of that holy 
 unction and divine grace inspired from on high — in one holy, 
 just, merciful; almighty and eternal God, who is the Father of 
 all things, that appeared to the holy patriarchs and prophets 
 of old, at sundry times and after divers manners; and in one 
 Lord Jesus Christ, the everlasting wisdom, divine power, true 
 light and only Saviour and preserver of all: the same one^ 
 holy, just, merciful, almighty and eternal God.'' This is the 
 Saviour to whose arms I verily believe my dying mother com- 
 mended her infant son, whose undying love kindled the first 
 devotional fire or feelings on the altar of my heart This is 
 the Saviour I was led to love in my infancy, adore in the ma- 
 turity of manhood, and has now become the rock of my sal- 
 vation, as I stand upon the brink of an eternal world. 
 
 Having now given, I hope, explanation enough to satisfy 
 any reasonable person, professing to be a Christian, of what I 
 mean by the word or term Saviour, I shall not attempt fur- 
 ther to satisfy the quibbling skeptic, but proceed with my nar- 
 Tative. 
 
 I was born in the village of Attleborough, Middletown 
 township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, the fourth of the Pourth 
 month, called April, 1780. My parents were Isaac and 
 Catharine Hicks, both regularly descended from Thomas Hicks, 
 spoken of in the Journal of our ancient friend Samuel Bow- 
 nas, as was also my late distinguished kinsman, Elias Hicks.. 
 I am thus particular, as I write principally for my children, 
 and do not wish that some peculiar circumstances, in relation 
 to our family, should be lost. 
 
 Our progenitor, Thomas Hicks, appears to have been a j;ia- 
 tive of Long Island, and I find from the journal, or writings 
 of that faithful blacksmith, Samuel Bownas, who followed the 
 Saviour in the path of humble industry, that when he was on 
 a religious visit to Long Island, in 1702, he was sued at the 
 law by the Episcopal priests, among whom was the apostate 
 Quaker preacher, George Keith; and their party being at the 
 
16 
 
 head of government, lie was thrown into prison at Jamaictf, 
 for bearing a faithful testimony against the ecclesiastical ma- 
 chinery of a merce^iary priesthood ; at which time, Samuel 
 says, an honest old man, his name was Thomas Hicks, who 
 had been chief justice in the province some years, and was 
 well versedin the law, came to visit me ; and on my standing 
 lip to pay my respects to him, he took me in his arms, salut- 
 ing me with tears, and thus expressed himself, "Dear Samuel^ 
 the Lord hath made use of you, as an instrument, to put a 
 stop to arbitrary proceedings in our courts of justice, which 
 have met with great encouragement since Lord Cornbury has 
 been governor; but there has never so successful a stand been 
 made against it, as at this time; the eyes of the country are 
 so clearly opened by your case. Had, says he, the Presby^ 
 terians stood as you have done, they had not so tamely left 
 their meeting-houses to the church. But that people had 
 never so good a hand at suffering in the cause of conscience^ 
 as they have had in persecuting others that differed from 
 them.^^ "This honest man/^ continues Samuel, " as if he had 
 been sent by Divine commission, by his discourse, raised my 
 drooping spirits.^' 
 
 I think it is quite possible that there is a little too much 
 vanity in mentioning here what dear old Elias Hicks once told 
 me. He thought my father was more like this Thomas Hicks, 
 than any branch of the family he ever knew or heard of, and 
 I believe Elias further told me, that Thomas Hicks had nine 
 sons, and that Colonel Isaac Hicks, my great grandfather, was 
 one of them, and the same man that was on the jury at the 
 time of Samuel Bownas' trial. 
 
 My grandfather, Gilbert Hicks, (my father's father) married 
 the daughter of Joseph Rodman, of Long Island, a consistent, 
 active member of the Society of Friends, and the young man, 
 not being a member, the marriage, of course, was clandestine, 
 which was a cause of sorrow to the dear old friend. Notwith- 
 standing this, he could not be inexorable, for he was a Chris- 
 tian. He therefore received his daughter, with her husband, 
 as his dear children, and thus addressed them, "I am old, and 
 you are young, and would wish to be settled in life; I there- 
 fore propose, that you go into the new countries, [as Pennsyl- 
 vania was then called,] and settle on a tract of land, of about 
 six hundred acres, that I own, near the river Delaware, on the 
 
17 
 
 Nesliammy creek, twenty miles east of Pliiladelplila, and as it 
 is worth at least three hundred pounds, more than would be a 
 just proportion of your share of my estate, you must give me 
 a bond for that sum, on my executing a deed that shall give 
 you a substantial title. '^ 
 
 The proposition of the good old Friend, was acceded to by 
 his children, and in the winter of 1747 a.nd '48, they came on, 
 and found a part of the land cleared, and a comfortable log 
 house, where they were hospitably received by a family of the 
 name of Vansant, and where my father was born, the twenty- 
 first of the fourth month, 1748, (old style). After building 
 for themselves a comfortable dwelling, "the first thing they did, 
 was to sell off two hundred acres of the land, to Lawrence 
 Growden, for three hundred pounds, with which they payed 
 their father, and found themselves snugly settled on a farm of 
 four hundred acres of first rate land, clear of all incumbrance ; 
 enhancing in value daily, by the astonishing influx of European 
 settlers. 
 
 Whether it was their wealth, or their intelligence, or both, 
 they certainly appear to have ol)tained a respectable standing ; 
 for my grandfather received a commission from the royal go- 
 vernment, as one of the justices of the peace for the county of 
 Bucks. 
 
 Either a fondness for public business, or getting tired of the 
 labor and care of so large a farm, induced my grandfather to 
 sell his large farm of four hundred acres, and to purchase a 
 small one, coming to a point, in the south-east corner of what 
 was then called Four-lanes-end, (now Attleborough), of one 
 hundred acres. Here he built a spacious brick house, that is 
 still standing ; and moreover, it appears, that having become 
 wealthy, he devoted himself almost exclusively to public busi- 
 ness, being promoted to the office of Chief Justice of the Court 
 of Common Pleas. And now I shall record the circumstances 
 of my grandfather's passing judgment upon two colored men, 
 who were tried before him for some act that transported them 
 to the West Indies, for life, as slaves. 
 
 Notwithstanding the evidence against them appeared con- 
 clusive, my grandfether had conscientious scruples as to the 
 justice of the sentence. It appears that the voice of the spirit 
 of truth, addressed to the ear of his soul, showed him plainly 
 that he had better sacrifice his lucrative and honorable office, 
 
 2* 
 
18 
 
 and all the fiivor of the royal government, than pass the sen- 
 tence of the law on the poor fugitives before him ; a sentence 
 that must separate them from all their nearest and dearest con- 
 nections in life, and send them as exiles, to die by the hand of 
 oppression, in a foreign land. But my poor grandfather was 
 then basking in the sunshine of prosperity, increasing in 
 wealth. He was a politician, he had been an office-hunter, 
 and was now an office-holder, and therefore would not give up 
 to the heavenly vision. The consequence was, that in the re- 
 turn of retributive justice, in less than seven years, he lost the 
 object of his youthful affections, the wife of his bosom, the 
 mother of his children; and by continuing his attachment to 
 his royal master, in opposition to the American patriots, whom 
 he imprudently insulted, he was driven from his home, his 
 country, and property, and from every near and dear connec- 
 tion in life, becoming an exile in a foreign land, where his 
 days were suddenly ended by the hand of an assassin ; and his 
 property being all confiscated, his family was reduced to 
 indigence, if not to penury, Such was the end of my dear 
 grandfather. 
 
 Whilst he found an asyluin With the British army at New 
 York, my father paid him his last visit, and on parting, my 
 grandfather gave his son his last advice, in a language like 
 this, " You are a young man^ and as you may be exposed to 
 many temptations, my last and most serious advice to you is, 
 never act contrary to your conscientious feelings; never diso- 
 bey the voice of eternal truth in your own soul. Sacrifice 
 property, personal liberty, and even life itself^ rather than be 
 disobedient to a Heavenly visioii. I disobeyed this inward 
 monitor, and am now suffering the due reward of my deeds. ^' 
 Such were the last words of my dear old grandfather to his son^ 
 on leaving New York with the British army, at the close of 
 the ilevolution, for Nova Scotia. My venerable father, at the 
 age of four score, related the circumstance to me, in such an 
 impressive manner, that I had no doubt that he wished it 
 handed down to posterity. I therefore record it for our benefit, 
 hoping that the lesson of deep instruction it contains, may be 
 a warning to our youth, from falling into the fatal error of 
 Esau, who sold that precious birth^right, for a mess of pottage^ 
 that he afterwards sought, with tears, but could not find. 
 
 My grandfather^ Colonel Edward HickS; (my mother's fa- 
 
19 
 
 ther,) was a fii'st cousin to the foregoing, and married Yioletta 
 Kicketts, of Elizabethtown, N. J., a high church woman. 
 They had twelve children, my mother being the youngest. 
 Her eldest sister, Mary, married Bishop Seahury, of New 
 York. 
 
 Her two eldest brothers, William atid Edward, T was told, 
 by George Dilwyn, who went to school with them in Burling- 
 ton, were, as he thought, the two prettiest boys he ever 
 saw, and I think, he added, the best scholars in the school. 
 But an American school does not appear to have been sufficient 
 for all high churchmen, for I find by papers noW in my pos- 
 session, that uncle William was entered a student at law, in the 
 Inner Temple, London, 1753. 
 
 By letters written by my uncle Edward, that I have lately 
 been furnished with, it appears that he Was an officer in the 
 British army, and died, as it were, an untimely death, at Fort 
 George, in the West Indies. 
 
 My uncle William, after all the pains that was taken to give 
 him a great scholastic education, was heard to lament in a lan- 
 guage like this, ^' Ah, my poor deluded parents, they have only 
 been concerned to put me in possession of all kinds of sense, 
 but common sense V He was unfit to fill, with propriety, the 
 social and relative duties of life, and notwithstanding he had 
 warmly espoused the cause of the proprietors, and was such a 
 favorite with the Penn family, that they put him into the 
 Prothonotary's office, then the most lucrative office in the 
 county of Bucks, his education had so fostered his natural 
 pride and extravagance, that the want of common sense kept 
 him poor, and, to add to his difficulties, his father, who was a 
 merchant in New York, failed in his business, and became 
 poor, no doubt fi'om the same causes, that is^ pride, extrava- 
 gance and a want of common sense. 
 
 Having been furnished recently, through the kindness of 
 Doctor Gordon, with several letters written by my uncles 
 William and Edward, I have been led to compare them with 
 letters written by their cousin Elias Hicks, who was brought 
 up in the path of humble industry. They are inferior in every 
 characteristic of good writing, and no marvel that it should be 
 so, for mark the diffiirence in their education. While the 
 pretty boys and best scholars, as George Dilwyn called them, 
 were going to high schools and colleges, those nurseries of 
 
20 
 
 pride, indolence and effeminency, tlie bane of true republican- 
 ism, and most efficient contrivance of Satan, for the destruc- 
 tion of primitive Christianity, Elias was laboring hard through 
 the day, at the useful and highly honorable trade of a carpen- 
 ter, improving himself in the evening in useful knowledge, 
 when others were asleep. The consequence was, the former, 
 overwhelmed with pride, luxury, idleness and disease, sunk 
 unnoticed, into an untimely grave. The latter arose from the 
 path of humble industry, by virtue, knowledge, temperance, 
 patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity, to be one 
 of the most dignified practical Christians, Christendom ever 
 saw, and after living for more than four score years, passed 
 out of time into eternity, to be joined to the spirits of just 
 men made perfect, to the general assembly and church of the 
 first born, whose names are written in heaven; and leaving 
 behind him a savour, grateful to surviving generations; a name, 
 I hope, that stands gloriously enrolled on the records of 
 eternity. 
 
 My dear mother appears to have received, what I would call 
 a bad education for a woman. She was brought up in pride, 
 and idleness, and was the very reverse of a perfect woman, as 
 set forth by the inspired poet, in the last chapter of Proverbs. 
 It was such an education as was calculated to make, what the 
 high church would call, a lady; a friend to kings and priests. 
 
 But the tremendous turnings and overturnings that took 
 place in the time of the Revolution, produced a great change 
 in my mother's family, and the success of the American pat- 
 riots, in laying the foundation of the present excellent govern- 
 ment, deprived the royal aristocrats of their lucrative offices, 
 reducing our family to comparative poverty. But the afflict- 
 ing dispensation appears to have had a good effect upon my 
 mother, for she was brought by the sanctifying influence of 
 the ever blessed Truth, to her Saviour's feet, to wash them with 
 tears, where, I have no doubt, she was concerned in a spiritual 
 sense, to beg of her Saviour to take her unprotected infant son 
 into his arms and bless him. And from the best information 
 I am in possession of, and which seems confirmed by the im- 
 pressions of my mind, my precious mother, on her death bed, 
 was fully convinced of the blessed Truth, as held by Friends. 
 For I understood she requested that there should be no super- 
 fluity about her corpse or her coffin^ and that there should be 
 
21 
 
 no monument of any kind placed at her grave, which appears 
 to have been complied with, for when I went into what is 
 called St. Mary's church-yard, in Burlington, to look for her 
 grave, I could not find it. This seems the more extraordinary, 
 as she had been educated and brought up a regular member of 
 the Episcopal church, and the rest of her family that had died, 
 had been buried in vaults, in the high church style. 
 
 Thus ended the earthly pilgrimage of my mother, Catharine 
 Hicks, on the 19th of the 10th month, 1781, in the 36th 
 year of her age, in Burlington, N. J., leaving her poor little 
 feeble infant under the care of her colored woman, Jane, who 
 had been a slave in the family, and being left to shift for her- 
 gelf, took me with her like her own child, for my father was 
 now broken up, having no home of his own, or any busi- 
 ness by which he could support and keep his children to- 
 gether. 
 
 This colored woman, Jane, worked about among the farmers 
 in the neighborhood of Four-lanes-end, or Attleborough and 
 Newtown, for a living, taking me with her. Being at the 
 house of a friend, by the name of Janney, at the last-mentioned 
 place, where Elizabeth, the wife of David Twining, was in the 
 habit of visiting, she noticed a poor sickly-looking white child, 
 who appeared to^ be under the care of a colored woman that 
 seemed cross to it, and was led to inquire whose child it was. 
 When informed that it was the youngest child of her dear 
 deceased friend, Kitty Hicks, that she had seen about a year 
 before in its mother's arms, dressed in rich and gay apparel ; 
 her sympathy for the child and love for the mother, caused 
 her to express herself on this wise : "Oh 1 that my husband 
 was willing, I would take this child and bring it up as my 
 own." My father was soon informed of this circumstance, 
 and begged of her to take his poor little son as a boarder, 
 which she agreed to do, with her husband's consent. 
 
 David Twining was one of the most respectable, intelligent, 
 and wealthy farmers in the county of Bucks, having been 
 chosen one of the Provincial Assembly, though an exemplary 
 member of the Society of Friends. His wife, Elizabeth, was 
 just such a woman as is described in the last chapter of Pro- 
 verbs. 
 
 They had four daughters : Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary, and 
 Beulah^ who was about fourteen years old. Sarah was mar- 
 
22 
 
 ried soon after I was introduced into the family ; of course, I 
 was not well acquainted with her until towards the close of her 
 life J and, whatever might have been her domestic foibles, she 
 certainly appeared to me one of the most dignified women I 
 ever witnessed upon a death-bed. 
 
 Elizabeth married William Hopkins, a plain, exemplary 
 young friend of Philadelphia, and settled in that city. He 
 died some years before his wife, in the house where they were 
 married. Elizabeth died in New York, with a scirrhus or 
 cancer in her breast. She was a respectable elder in the 
 Society of Friends. 
 
 Mary and Beulah, being younger, were more like my sisters, 
 and, indeed, they seemed to have adopted me as their brother 
 in my infancy, and ever manifested a sisterly kindness. Mary 
 married Jesse Leedom, a member of the Society of Friends, 
 the son of a wealthy and enterprising merchant and farmer of 
 Northampton. They are both still living, worthy Friends, but 
 well stricken in years. Mary seems nearly worn out, and 
 should I survive her, I shall have to say, I have lost the best 
 friend I have in the world out of my own family. She was 
 more like her mother than any of her sisters. 
 
 Beulah was the youngest, and possessed of more than ordi- 
 nary powers. She was certainly calculated to be greatly good, 
 but the improper indulgence of her eccentric self-will, threw 
 her out of her orbit ; and, instead of being a fixed star in the 
 firmament of God's power, that shines with new accessions of 
 glory, and brightens to all eternity, she was more like the comet 
 that takes an eccentric course among the constellations of 
 heaven, and shines, or rather dazzles, only for a moment, and 
 then sinks into oblivion. Dear adopted sister, Beulah E. 
 Twining, thy history, which would furnish materials for one 
 of the most interesting pernicious novels, I wish to record in a 
 few words, for the instruction of such young women as may 
 be possessed of such superior advantages. She was the favorite 
 or pet of her father, and transacted the principal part of his 
 business \ and the township library being kept in his house, 
 she became excessively fond of reading, particularly novels, 
 which, when her indulgent parents disapproved of, she took to 
 her chamber and would read by moonlight. This act of diso- 
 bedience to parents, soon, led the wayward young girl to do 
 another act that too often breaks up the foundation of rational. 
 
23 
 
 happiness in this world, obstructs the channel in which woman's 
 most distinguished usefulness runs, and in her case, ended in liti- 
 gation, confusion, and loss. She married a young Presbyterian 
 Doctor, whose only recommendation was a handsome exterior, 
 while there was nothing within to correspond with the pleasing 
 appearance without, and hence the tie was too feeble to hold 
 her affections, and she left him with the same self-will and 
 determination in which she married him, and in direct oppo- 
 sition to the advice of her parents, and the order of the religi- 
 ous society of which she was a member. Her father dying about 
 this time, left her a large estate, both real and personal. An 
 application on her part for a divorce, brought on a vexatious 
 and disgraceful law suit between her and her husband, which 
 was only terminated through the management of a distinguished 
 congressman from Connecticut, who advised her how to throw 
 her cause into the Supreme Court of that State, and employ 
 the eccentric but excellent Tappan Reeves for her advocate. 
 
 Notwithstanding the formidable opposition of her husband, 
 she obtained her divorce at the expense of all her personal 
 estate, and a heavy incumbrance on the real; and, with a 
 broken constitution, a crippled reputation, and a wounded spirit, 
 she returned like the penitent prodigal to her father's house; 
 and entering the path of humble industry, by superior manage- 
 ment of a superior farm, she soon payed off all her debts, filled 
 with a degree of propriety the social and relative duties of life, 
 as the head of a family, and became reinstated a useful member 
 of the Society of Friends. 
 
 She was a sister I had reason to love ; she was a friend in 
 need, and therefore a friend indeed ; and when she died in the 
 11th month, 1826, with the disease of her sister Elizabeth, I 
 felt that I had lost one of my best friends; a loss, too, that 
 was not relieved by any consideration of gain, for, agreeable 
 to my advice, she left me not one cent of her estate, which has 
 caused me frequently to rejoice, when I saw myself clear of 
 that ravening wolfish spirit that too often attends the settling 
 of such estates. I have been thus particular, as I wish to 
 leave some advice to young women, touching some points of 
 my sister's history. 
 
 And, first, I want to persuade them not to treat with dis- 
 respect the counsel of goodly parents and guardians, in the 
 choice of books and company, for these generally form the 
 
24 
 
 common mind of young people ; and a young girl tliat will 
 indulge her inclination to read novels, will soon be prepared 
 toprefer bad company to good ; and hence, too, many loTcly 
 young women, when they come upon the stage of life, enter 
 the wide gate, and walk in the broad way that leads to the 
 destruction of their peace and happiness in this world, if not 
 in the world to come. Oh ! then, permit me to beseech you 
 with a fatherly affection, for the sake of your present and 
 everlasting happiness, and the happiness of mankind, to take 
 up the cross of Christ, and deny that cursed self that leads to 
 disobedience to parents. Never, never, dear children, ^'pierce 
 with sorrow that breast that has been your support in your 
 infantile years.^' And I will say to such of my dear friends 
 who fill the responsible stations of parents and heads of families, 
 keep to the advice of our excellent Christian discipline, with 
 regard to the hooks that your children read, and the company 
 they keep. I think I have lived long enough to experience 
 the advantages of such care, and to see the consequences of 
 trampling such advice under foot, in the situation of too many 
 Friends, whose children finally became their oppressors. 
 
 I now return to Elizabeth Twining, the mother of the women 
 I have alluded to, whom I have already said was best described 
 by the inspired poetry of the last chapter of Proverbs. She was 
 certainly the best example of humble industry I ever knew 
 for so wealthy a woman. It was this woman that it seems 
 was providentially appointed to adopt me as a son, and to be 
 to me a delegated shepherdess, under the great Shepherd and 
 Bishop of souls. She had the simplicity and almost the inno- 
 cence of a child. Being deprived of her parents in her child- 
 hood, and left poor, she received no scholastic education, only 
 learning to read after she was grown up ] yet she read the 
 Scriptures with a sweetness, solemnity, and feeling I never 
 heard equalled. How often have I stood, or sat by her, before 
 I could read myself, and heard her read, particularly the 26th 
 chapter of Matthew, which made the deepest impression on 
 my mind. It was there that all the sympathy of my heart, 
 all the finer feelings of my nature, were concentrated in love 
 to my blessed Saviour. It was then, in his spiritual appearance, 
 as a quickening spirit, that he kindled the first devotional fire 
 on the altar of my heart, a fire that was not extinguished even 
 by juvenile infatuation^ a fiire that was rekindled about the 
 
25 
 
 twentj^-first year of my age, the light whereof led me to a 
 Saviour's feet, whilst its genial warmth melted me into tears 
 of repentance and love. 
 
 What an inestimable blessing to a child is a truly humble 
 Christian mother. They are made use of by that blessed spirit 
 embraced in the figure of the householder, set forth by that 
 inimitable parable (see Matthew, the 20th chap.) when they do 
 as my dear mother did, go early in the morning, at the third 
 hour, and get the child to agree for the penny to go into the 
 Lord's vineyard; then when the invitation comes at the sixth 
 hour, as the rational being comes to maturity, the heavenly 
 visitation is most likely to be effectual, as in my case. But 
 where early impressions are neglected, the loss that children 
 sustain is almost incalculable, for although all young men and 
 women are called, it is at a time when the waves of youthful 
 passion roll the highest and are the most turbulent, which 
 nothing but the power of a Saviour can still; but if he is not 
 on board their little bark, how can he rise and still the storm; 
 but if he is on board, the vessel cannot be lost, notwithstanding 
 he may be asleep. Oh ! then, the infinite importance of intro- 
 ducing children to a " Christ within the hope of glory." 
 
 I continued under the care of my adopted mother, as a 
 boarder, until I was turned of thirteen ; when my father finding 
 himself disappointed in his prospect of making a great man out 
 of a weak little boy, by scholastic learning or education, did 
 the best thing that he could have done, by binding me out an 
 apprentice to an industrious mechanic ; for here the propensity 
 to idleness, for which I had a natural turn, was necessarily 
 counteracted. What a pity other parents and guardians do 
 not follow his example. We should have more humble in- 
 dustry, and less pride, idleness, and covetousness : three of 
 the greatest enemies to a republican government, and with 
 dishonesty added to their company, the most formidable ene- 
 mies of the Church of Christ. We should have more working 
 men and good mechanics, and fewer priests and lazy ministers, 
 whose consciences are seared as it were with a hot iron, having 
 so little religious sensibility that they can live on the honest 
 industry of poor silly women, male and female. We should 
 have fewer lawyers, doctors, office-hunters, speculators, lec- 
 turers, conjurers, and merely professing Christians, which the 
 primitive saints would have disowned, as busy bodies, that 
 
 o 
 
work not at all, (see 2 Thessalonians, 3d chap. 10, 11, and 12 
 
 verses.) 
 
 I saj, what a pity that parents and guardians conld not see 
 what my father might have seen, that the more scholastic 
 learning is wasted on a weak boy, the bigger blockhead he will 
 become. Whether he made this discovery or not, at that time, 
 i must leave ; one thing is certain, he was disappointed in my 
 not taking learning, for he intended me for a lawyer, as he had 
 made a doctor of my only brother Gilbert. But his ambitious 
 views were baffled in us both, and our precious mother's dying 
 prayers were answered. Grilbert took a religious turn, joined 
 the Society of Friends, and became, what is a phenomenon in 
 the faculty, a humble practical Christian, an honor to his pro- 
 fession, and an innocent upright man, that had a word of ex- 
 hortation as a minister before he died. 
 
 My father might have succeeded more to his mind in the 
 education of my only sister, two years older than myself, for 
 she was put to a boarding school, and brought up in the gay 
 world in pride and idleness. But, marrying a young man, 
 who was in the path of humble industry, coming up on foot, 
 she joined him in his journey, and they had advanced so far 
 in the estimation of the people, that her husband had become 
 high sheriff of the county ; and she herself, according to his 
 testimony, looking towards uniting with her brother, when, 
 by a sudden and affecting death, her course in this world was 
 stopped. 
 
 In the latter part of the 7th month, 1817, in the evening 
 of the day, she had prepared supper, and stepped out to call 
 her eldest son, a lad about six years old, who had become very 
 fond of playing in a creek that ran near their dwelling, when 
 she heard him cry for help. On running to the creek, where 
 it was deep and the bank high, she saw him in the water, 
 apparently drowning. A few feet up stream she crossed, and 
 ran to his assistance. Her screams of distress alarmed her 
 neighbors, and particularly her husband, who was writing in 
 his office. When he came to the bank, six or seven feet above 
 the water, and saw his wife and child in the deep below, he 
 immediately jumped in to their assistance; but, being no 
 swimmer, they were all three immersed together in a hole in 
 the water, not more than ten feet wide and ten feet deei?. 
 
 I think it is most likely my dear sister sunk soon after 
 
27 
 
 getting into the deep water, never to rise alivej for she was 
 within a month or two of her confinement. Her husband and 
 child struggled longer, but were nearly gone, when a young 
 man, about sixteen years of age, saved the child -, and the dying 
 father, as he was sinking for the last time, laid hold of a board 
 that had been run into the water by a colored man, and by 
 which he was drawn to the shore, nearly dead, and was with 
 some difficulty brought to. 
 
 My poor dear sister's lifeless corpse was at last brought 
 from the bottom of the deep hole, by the manly exertions of 
 a sailor, but every attempt at resuscitation was in vain. Such 
 was the tragical end of my dear sister Eliza Yioletta Kennedy, 
 in the fortieth year of her age. 
 
 At this sorrowful and affecting time I was sitting in a 
 religious meeting, appointed for me at five o'clock in Rah way, 
 between forty and fifty miles off in New Jersey. I dare not say I 
 had an impression that something sorrowful had happened to me, 
 but I think I recollect it was nearly a silent meeting, and I 
 told the people that, for some reason or other, I had but little 
 to communicate to them. And I very well remember that the 
 friend from New York, that was with me, took me by the 
 hand after the meeting broke, and said most emphatically, 
 whilst his eyes were overflowing with tears, '' Edward, what 
 is the matter V And I think that my prospect changed in 
 that meeting, and instead of visiting a number of meetings in 
 New Jersey, I concluded to come immediately home, and had 
 I not been improperly detained at Kingston, I should have got 
 to my dear sister's funeral. 
 
 There are two considerations connected with her sudden and 
 afflicting death that are relieving, and they are : a hope that 
 she was looking towards Heaven, and that she died in the 
 highest exercise of the finest feelings of her nature. 
 
 Another pleasant reflection to me is, that the last interview 
 we ever had was one of the most agreeable kind. I recollect 
 she made some pertinent remarks respecting our having to 
 give an account to an Omnipotent Saviour, who is Judge of 
 quick and dead, for every idle word that we spoke. But, 
 alas ! different, very different was the last interview between 
 her and our poor dear father. Hence the shock of her sudden 
 and affecting death must have been of the most painful cha- 
 racter. 
 
28 
 
 Before I leave my dear father, I will just advert again to 
 his strong predilection in favor of scholastic education. In 
 order to introduce my views more fully touching that subject, 
 especially as it relates to the Church of Christ, I shall refer to 
 a paper, now in my possession, that was presented to our 
 monthly meeting, most cordially united with, and recorded 
 amongst its minutes, viz ; " The committee appointed at last 
 meeting to take into consideration the communication from 
 the Yearly Meeting's committee, on the subject of schools, 
 having met and conferred together, were united in believing 
 that such information as was needful had already been for- 
 warded to that committee in answer to their several interroga- 
 tories ; and, if anything remained for the meeting to do, it was 
 simply to give their views touching the important subject, for 
 which that committee was appointed. Therefore, we are united 
 in offering the following for the consideration and unity of the 
 monthly meeting : ^ When it pleased the infinitely wise Je- 
 hovah to manifest himself in the fulness, and present to a 
 world of intelligent beings, a perfect pattern of everlasting 
 righteousness in the person of his beloved son Jesus Christ ; 
 that blessed pattern was found walking in the path of humble 
 industry, showing with indubitable clearness it was the only 
 way to rational happiness in this world, and everlasting happi- 
 ness in the world to come.' 
 
 And it is worthy of our most serious consideration and 
 attention, that this great personage received no learning in 
 the congregated seminaries of that day, although they were as 
 common amongst the apostate Israelites as they are now 
 amongst apostate Christians. This is confirmed by the testi- 
 mony of the neighbors that knew him, ' From whence hath 
 this man these things, or how knoweth he letters, having never 
 learned V 
 
 Before finishing the work his Heavenly Father gave him to 
 do, he chose his immediate disciples from amongst the illiterate 
 fishermen of Galilee, humble industrious men, who had no 
 scholastic learning to depend upon. But while they had a 
 single eye to their perfect pattern, keeping his commandments 
 and loving him, he manifested himself to them, agreeable to 
 his blessed promises, teaching them all things, and bringing 
 all things needful to their remembrance ; thus qualifying them 
 to speak to the visited seed in a language they understood, 
 
29 
 
 gathering them into the true fold where Christ, their heavenly 
 Shepherd, fed them and caused them to rest at noon. 
 
 Thus it appears that the redemption of man, the most glo- 
 rious work of the Almighty", was brought about without the 
 agency of scholastic learning, its most dignified instrument not 
 being permitted to have it. 
 
 This view taken in connection with the fact, that in none of 
 his communications or sermons, or the exhortations or epistles 
 of Ms immediate disciples, was human or scholastic learning 
 ever recommended. This, we say, presents to our minds irre- 
 sistible and overwhelming evidence against it, especially in its 
 modern spirit, as advocated by a proud aspiring but fallen 
 world. And, moreover, it appears clear to us that such scho- 
 lastic learning was one of the principal agents of anti-Christ, 
 by which he drew the successors of those sons of the morning 
 from the simplicity of the truth as it was in Jesus, as he did 
 the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. 
 
 For, as early as the first and second centuries, congregated 
 seminaries, or boarding schools, were set up, and the Alexan- 
 drian was so particularly distinguished for its popularity and 
 power, as to become the principal source of that pride and 
 ambition, which characterize an aspiring priesthood : furnishing 
 that very learning that constitutes the lever of their power, 
 and enables them more effectually to lord it over the heritage. 
 And hence it was that a dark night of apostacy, or mantle of 
 substantial blackness, eclipsed the glory of the militant church. 
 In vain was raised the feeble voice of a Wickliff, a Huss, a 
 Luther, or a Calvin ; for, although they were instruments in 
 the reformation, they too much depended upon the arm of 
 flesh, scholastic learning, and such qualifications as were re- 
 ceived in the Egyptian court, to be anything more than voices 
 crying in the wilderness, or enlightened men like Moses, 
 beholding afar off that land of rest and Christian liberty pre- 
 pared for the people of God. 
 
 When the people called Quakers were gathered, the instru- 
 ment that was made use of was a poor unlearned shoemaker 
 and shepherd, the son of a weaver. He was found like his 
 divine Master, walking in the path of humble industry, and 
 like the illiterate fisherman of G-alilee, he was qualified by 
 the influence of the Holy Spirit to preach the everlasting 
 Grospel; calling the visited children away from the Lo-heres 
 
 3* 
 
30 
 
 and the Lo-tlieres, to tlie kingdom of God within them, to an 
 omnipresent Saviour, a Christ within, the hope of glory, de- 
 claring that as ' Christ had come to teach his people himself,' 
 they had no need that any man should teach them, save that 
 holy anointing that teacheth truth. 
 
 Here was received the primitive Christian testimony against 
 scholastic divinity, or man made ministers, and consequently 
 against the schools that made them. Hence our early friends 
 were led in the liberty and power of truth, to bear a faithful 
 testimony against all such schools.* And when forming their 
 discipline in relation to school learning, they only recognized 
 as necessary the simple rudiments of an English education 
 sufficient to fit them for business, leaving the study of what 
 some might consider useful science, to the liberty individuals 
 might feel in the truth, to pursue it by self-improvement. 
 Further than this they considered superfluous, and conse- 
 quently had a testimony to bear against it, and while they 
 continued faithful to their ^ plain way of living, and their 
 plain ' honest' way of preaching,' they so shook the foundation 
 of the church of anti-Christ, that the priests were ready to flee 
 from their falling shrine, and bloody warriors to sheathe the 
 sword for ever. 
 
 Then there were to be found walking in the path of humble 
 industry, conscientious schoolmasters, blacksmiths, weavers, 
 farmers, masons, tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, and broom- 
 makers J such men as Samuel Bownas, John Richardson, John 
 Woolman, James Simpson, John Churchman, and Elias Hicks, 
 and many others that might be mentioned, who were fre- 
 quently engaged or employed in giving Friends' children suffi- 
 cient learning to fit them for business; whose example as well 
 as precept turned many to righteousness, and who, no doubt, 
 will shine forth in the brightness of the firmament as stars for 
 ever and ever. ^ But the fathers, where are they ? and the pro- 
 phets, do they live for ever?' where are the bright talented 
 youth of this day, the interesting children of Friends to be 
 found? We fear not all walking in the path of humble in- 
 dustry as Christians under the care of pious parents and guar- 
 dians, but too often at colleges and popular boarding schools, 
 preparing to be lawyers, doctors, office-hunters, and office- 
 
 * By the context it appears that the author had more particularly 
 in view theological schools. 
 
31 
 
 holders ; speculators in bank, Tbridge, steamboat, railroad, and 
 canal stocks; money mongers, land jobbers, and teachers of 
 the higher branches of fashionable learning, such as the dead 
 languages, and even painting, a link in the chain of anti- 
 Christian foibles next to music and dancing. 
 
 However consistent these things may be with the present 
 state of enterprising, aspiring, restless, warlike America, they 
 certainly form no part of the requisite qualifications of his 
 followers who declared his kingdom was not of this world. 
 And as such cannot fight, they cannot consistently sit in legis- 
 lative bodies or the councils of the nation ', or participate in 
 their unchristian enterprizes, and, consequently, need no such 
 learning to fit them for such business. 
 
 We want such conscientious men, as above named, to teach 
 our country schools, and give our dear children sufficient 
 learning to fit them for useful business, and such as will be 
 content with a low salary. But, alas ! they are scarcely to be 
 found, for the reason above mentioned. 
 
 The exercise and travail of Friends in their Yearly Meeting 
 capacity, as referred to by the communication now before us, 
 we cordially unite with, believing Friends had nothing more 
 in view until 1779, than the improvement of the rising youth 
 in virtue, and useful learning, sufficient to fit them for business. 
 But had the committee furnished us with extracts on the sub- 
 ject of education, from the Yearly Meeting as far in advance 
 as 1810 or 1820, it would have manifested a very different 
 spirit ; a spirit that however ingeniously it intimates Jacob's 
 voice, has proved that it had Esau's hairy hands; a travail 
 and concern, beautiful indeed in theory, but whose practical 
 consequence has been a serious injury to society, producing 
 those Im^ge hoarding schools, the too fruitful source of pride 
 and idleness, and the nursery of that spirit that made such 
 devastation among the flock and family of God in the primitive 
 church ; and of latter times has got into the Society of Friends 
 like a wolf in sheep's clothing, and its effects are rending, 
 devouring, and scattering the sheep on the barren mountains 
 of an empty profession. For it appears clear to us, that ever 
 since the institution of Ackworth Boarding School, in Eng- 
 land, Friends have been rapidly declining from their first 
 principles and practices in that nation. Ever since the setting 
 up of West Town Boarding School, in Pennsylvania, such 
 
32 
 
 gcliools as are recognized by our discipline have "been neglected 
 and are falling into decay, while the learning and wisdom of 
 this world, which cherish pride and religious consequence, have 
 divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel, to the everlasting 
 disgrace and injury of many, causing the Lord's humble faith- 
 ful servants secretly to cry in the mournful language of the 
 prophet : 'By whom shall Jacob arise, for he is small.' 
 
 Notwithstanding we are so fully convinced that large board- 
 ing schools, or congregated seminaries, have always been in- 
 imical to the Kedeemer's kingdom, we are not prepared to 
 discourage such conscientious Friends as feel a freedom in the 
 truth, to open schools in their own houses, not only for the 
 accommodation of such members as may live at too great a 
 distance, to attend our proper schools, but such children as 
 are not members ; thus making them little nurseries for the 
 principles of truth, as professed by Friends. 
 
 But, in conclusion, we -are prepared solemnly and seriously 
 to declare that we fully believe that our society will never arise 
 and shake itself from the dust of the earth and put on her 
 beautiful primitive garments, never can have judges as at the 
 first, and counsellors as at the beginning, until ministers, elders, 
 overseers, and all religiously concerned Friends who stand in 
 the responsible stations of parents, guardians, and heads of 
 families become more truly humble themselves, and evince 
 their humility by being content with useful learning, sufficient 
 to fit their children for such business as will furnish them with 
 food and raiment to make them comfortable and decent. For 
 while Friends take the liberty to run open-mouthed after the 
 world in pursuit of superfluous wealth, their children must be 
 like the world's people, having superfluous learning. Hence 
 they must be sent to West Town, Princeton, or Haverford, 
 where they can get the greatest education for the least money. 
 Thus parents, for the sake of ease, popularity and gain, leave 
 their children as the ostrich leaveth her eggs in the earth, to 
 be hatched by the beams of the sun, and forgetteth that the 
 foot of the passenger may crush them, or the wild beast may 
 break them. 
 
 What will be the awful predicament of such j^arents and heads 
 of families, when this query is put to them by the great Judge 
 of quick and dead : ' What hast thou done with those lambs 
 I placed under thy care in the wilderness of the world?' 
 
83 
 
 Finally, dear friends, may we all be concerned to return to 
 our first principles and practices, and to bring up the rising 
 youth under our care, after the example of Him, who appear- 
 ed amongst the children of men, in the character of the hum- 
 hU carpenter of Nazareth, that blessed pattern who was found 
 walking in the path of humble industry, a path which will 
 not only lead to the enjoyment of rational happiness in this 
 world, but to glory, honor, immortality and eternal life, in that 
 world that is without end. — Amen.'^ 
 
 I will now only add to the above remarks what I verily be- 
 lieve, and which has been renewedly confirmed by observation 
 and experience in the last ten years of my life, that three 
 great and powerful enemies, Pride, Idleness and Dishonesty, 
 are laying the axe at the root of the tree of Liberty, and the 
 tree of Life, and nothing will save the Church and State, but 
 walking in the path of humbly industry, for humility will 
 make our wants few, and industry will more than supply 
 them. 
 
 Let, then, those who stand as the leaders of the people, no 
 longer cause them to err — no longer destroy the way of their 
 paths by selfishness, but return, like the master spirits of 
 Greece and Rome, to the plough-tail, or path of humble indus- 
 try. And let all ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, 
 follow the example set before them in the holy mount; then, 
 like the carpenter of Nazareth, and fishermen of Galilee, 
 they will be found at the work-bench, or the mending of nets. 
 Then they can appeal, like the exemplary and heavenly mind- 
 ed Paul, to the elders of their respective meetings, saying, 
 ^^We have coveted no man's silver or gold, or apparel: yea, 
 ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered to our 
 necessities, and to them that were with us;'^ that we have 
 taught you both by precept and example what we have re- 
 ceived from the Lord Jesus, that ^4t is more blessed to give 
 than to receive. ^^ 
 
 I return again to my dear father, whose disappointment in 
 his son's not being sufficiently learned for the law, induced 
 him to bind me at the age of thirteen to a coachmaker, for 
 seven years. But his attachment to scholastic education was 
 embraced in the indenture that I should have one year's 
 schooling. 
 
 In the Fourth month, 1793, I left my dear old adopted 
 
34 
 
 mother in tears, and went to live with William and Rachael 
 Tomlinson, at Four-lanes-end, now Attleborough. 
 
 They were young married people, comfortably established in 
 the coach making business. William was in partnership with 
 his brother, Henry Tomlinson, a man I very much loved. 
 
 My master was an example of humble industry worthy to be 
 imitated. He led his hands to work and to meals, and only 
 asked them to follow his example. Indeed I do not know 
 that I ever saw him idle whilst he had a shop and business. 
 
 But the change was very great for a poor little weak boy, 
 who was brought up thus far as a gentleman's son, to sit at 
 the table as a boarder as long as he pleased, and had only to 
 ask for what he wanted, to get it. Then to sit down quickly 
 and eat such as was set before him, asking no questions, with 
 a voracious set of men and boys, who seemed to eat for their 
 lives, and rise with the master, was hard, and to go to work 
 was still harder. And, as too often is the case at such estab- 
 lishments, both men and boys gave way to a kind of low slang 
 and vulgarity of conversation and conduct, which came directly 
 in contact with my respectacle religious education, and 1, of 
 course, become the butt of their insignificant wit. But the 
 tenderness of my religious impressions too soon wore off, and, 
 instead of weeping and praying, I soon got to laughing and 
 swearing • and having what may be truly called a natural fund 
 of nonsense, I soon became a kind of favorite with my shop- 
 mates. 
 
 In less than six months (I think) after I went to the trade,' 
 the establishment was destroyed by fire, and we were thrown 
 out of the coachmaking business; and the tavern next door 
 to where my master lived being vacant by the absconding of 
 the landlord, he moved into it and continued there, if I am not 
 mistaken, till the spring of 1795, when our shops were all com- 
 pleted, and we moved into a house adjoining them. 
 
 While at the tavern I served in the capacity of lackey, shoe- 
 black, hostler, and bar-tender; too often exposed to the worst 
 of company, to see that kind of conduct, that debases rational 
 beings below brutality, and blots out of their very nature all 
 that is good and beautiful. And what increased the evil, it 
 was the time of what is called the Western expedition, when 
 there was a great deal of military parade and excitement. But 
 in the midst of all this exposure the heavenly Shepherd, under 
 
"whose care a dying mother had left me, extended the crook of 
 His love, and preserved me from gross evils, awakening at 
 times serious impressions, particularly at the death of my mis- 
 tress's first born child, a dear little girl that I had attended 
 much, and for whom I felt a strong attachment. 
 
 I very well remember the tender sympathy, sorrow, and love 
 I felt on the occasion, especially for my mistress, who appeared 
 to be very solemnly and seriously impressed. Our feelings 
 being similar, it caused a spiritual attachment or love, that has 
 continued down to the present day, and I hope will extend 
 beyond the confines of time into a never ending eternity. I 
 think that my mistress was qualified to be such a woman as is 
 described in the last chapter of Proverbs. 
 
 Although I was removed from the tavern when about fifteen, 
 and employed steadily in the coachmaking business, I was un- 
 fortunately introduced to those places of diversion called cutting 
 apple frolics, spinning frolics, raffling matches, and indeed all 
 kind of low convivial parties, so peculiarly calculated to nourish 
 the seeds of vanity and lies. Thus the garden of my heart was 
 too soon overrun with those noxious weeds — licentiousness, in- 
 temperance, angry passions, and devilishness, which obstruct the 
 growth of those precious plants of the Heavenly Father's right 
 hand planting : virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, and 
 godliness. Hence it was I entered the wide gate, and was 
 travelling in the broad way that leads to destruction. But, 
 oh ! precious Saviour, thou didst not forsake thy lost sheep, but 
 left, as it were, the ninety and nine, and went after one that was 
 astray. And I cannot express the gratitude, thanksgiving, and 
 praise I often feel to my beloved Saviour for His mercy and 
 goodness to one of the least of his flock, for I was now from 
 under the care of my dear adopted mother, and left by my 
 father, as the ostrich leaveth her eggs ; and my master never 
 queried whither goest thou, but I was left to run all hours of the 
 night, the door being open. 
 
 This appears to me to have been the most critical period of my 
 life, when growing up from a boy to a man, and forming the 
 channel in which life was to run, if not determining its ever- 
 lasting issue. 
 
 And what increased the tremendous danger of a poor weak 
 youth, was the .free use of spirituous liquors; for it was then 
 the ridiculous custom of those who got new carriages to treat 
 
the hands with liquor, sometimes three or four gallons ; and, 
 during my seven years' apprenticeship, I do not know that there 
 was a day when there was not more or less liquor about ; but 
 although I used it freely with my shopmates, through mercy I 
 was preserved from forming the distressing artificial appetite of 
 the habitual drunkard; for it appears that intemperance was 
 not my besetting sin, and, therefore, I claim but little merit 
 for my temperate habits; though I may say, what too few can 
 say, that I have used no spirituous liquors as a drink in private, 
 in company, or in business for near forty years, and but very 
 seldom as a medicine. 
 
 But licentious lewdness was much more a besetting sin, and 
 my preservation from ruin in this way appears to me as a miracle, 
 for I certainly indulged in licentious thoughts till their corrupt- 
 ing tendency led to what was still worse, lewd conversation ; 
 and had I broken through the barriers of virtue, I have reason 
 to believe, from the strength of my passion and the weakness 
 of my resolution, I should have plunged into that vortex of dis- 
 sipation that might have sealed my eternal ruin. But, oh ! 
 heavenly Shepherd, who sleepest not by day nor slumbereth by 
 night, it was thy preserving power that saved me from this pit 
 of pollution, to sing thy praises on the banks of deliverance. I 
 am, therefore, not ashamed to meet any woman in this world, 
 or in the world to come. 
 
 On this subject I would wish to say more, but am at a loss 
 to find language sufficiently chaste and sufficiently forcible ade- 
 quately to set forth what I feel. Suffice it to say I was intro- 
 duced by lechers and debauchees into the worst of company and 
 the worst of places, both in city and country. And what added 
 to the danger of my being entirely lost to every tender Christian 
 feeling, I had become a military enthusiast by reading the his- 
 tory of the warrior with his ^' garments rolled in blood.'' 
 
 Although I had scarcely reached my eighteenth year, the 
 sound of war being heard in our land, I enrolled myself as a 
 soldier, delighted with the martial music, and the feathered 
 foppery of the regimentaled dandy. 
 
 Had I at this time obtained a commission in the army, I 
 might have followed my companions to an untimely grave. 
 
 But in the midst of all this sanguine cheer, and streamers 
 gay, when I had cut my cable and launched into the world, my 
 Saviour did not forsake me, for I was not a reprobate, therefore 
 
87 
 
 he was still in me, and had only retired as it were to the hinder 
 part of my little ship, and was apparently asleep. For when 
 about the twentieth year of my age a terrible storm of sickness 
 overtook me whilst on a frolic in the city of Philadelphia, and 
 when my poor frail bark was sinking beneath the waves, I 
 awoke my Saviour by my cries, and he arose and rebuked the 
 direful disease that was ready to overwhelm my life, and I was 
 again restored to health. Yet, notwithstanding all my promises 
 to live a better life, such was my strong passion for music, 
 dancing, and singing, that I was participating in all those amuse- 
 ments before I was able to leave the city, and ride home. Poor 
 sanguine young man. Peter like, I was a swearer and a liar, 
 but I was not yet ready, like Peter, to weep bitterly for sin. 
 
 My seven years' apprenticeship having expired when I was 
 twenty, I hired as a journeyman with my old masters, Henry 
 and William Tomlinson, and continued with them about four 
 months, when I set up coach and house painting for myself in 
 the place of my birth and apprenticeship ; but such was my 
 want of stability and almost every other qualification to fit me 
 for business, that I am much astonished that I should have 
 been employed. Yet I was employed and encouraged by respect- 
 able people, for the character of ray family gave me a standing 
 that I certainly did not merit, being in my own estimation a 
 weak, wayward young man, susceptible of strong and tender 
 attachments, especially to young women, of whom I had a num- 
 ber of favorites, and was excessively fond of their society. But 
 they know and I know that we were innocent, and I continue 
 to feel a brotherly affection for those who are still living. 
 
 In the fall of 1800 I went to work for Doctor Fenton at 
 painting his house. He was a superior physician, a great me- 
 chanical genius, and to me a very agreeable and interesting 
 man. 
 
 We soon agreed that when the weather got too cold to paint 
 I should come and assist him in making a new fashioned car- 
 riage. In the beginning of winter I vi^ent to live with him, and 
 found a very agreeable home. His wife was one of those excel- 
 lent women spoken of in the Scriptures, " She looketh well to 
 the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness." 
 They had but one child, who was an interesting little girl ten 
 or twelve years old. They were Presbyterians, but not sour 
 Calvinists, and I went with them to their meeting. 
 
38 
 
 One day the Doctor proposed to me, in his famih'ar way, that 
 I had better join their church. And as an inducement, ob- 
 served that he would then use his influence in luy forming an 
 advantageous marriage with a very rich and respectable elder's 
 daughter, who was an heiress, independent of her father. Whe- 
 ther he was in earnest or not 1 must leave. 
 
 I think I told him that I had no idea that I would ever be 
 worthy to join any religious society, but if I should think my- 
 self fit, I should join the Quakers. He expressed his astonish- 
 ment that a young man of my turn would think of joining so 
 simple and lifeless a people, and if it ever took place he should 
 think that miracles had not ceased j making some further remarks 
 unfavorable to Friends, which produced excitement and brought 
 on considerable argument, ending, in all probability as such 
 arguments mostly do, in both of us thinking we were right. 
 
 About a year before this contest with the Doctor, I had 
 become acquainted, at a debating society in Attleborough, 
 with John Comly and James Walton, young Friends from 
 Byberry. John was considered a great scholar and a great 
 speaker, and appeared to me a very plain, exemplary, and re- 
 ligious young man. James appeared equally exemplary, but, 
 like myself, had no talent for public speaking. He was calcu- 
 lated for one of those excellent men, who are as sinews to the 
 state, and pillars in the church, whose judgment and goodness 
 of heart are more fruitful than their tongues. 
 
 These young men I have always thought were of great 
 advantage to me; and making use of their sentiments and views, 
 I think I was rather an over-match for the Doctor in arguments 
 about religion. 
 
 I was now approaching my twenty-first year, and had left 
 the volunteer company I belonged to, and was in fact under 
 the preparing hand for a change. I had often serious and even 
 sorrowful thoughts, when alone, and was disgusted with my- 
 self and all my conduct, though I could not find that I had 
 ever done an act which, if published before an earthly tribunal, 
 would leave a stain on my moral character in the sight of men. 
 But I continued exceedingly fond of singing, dancing, vain 
 amusements, and the company of young people, and too often 
 profanely swearing when angry or excited, although my asso- 
 ciates were more respectable than formerly. 
 
 In the latter part of winter I went to Philadelphia on horse- 
 
39 
 
 back, and returned through a snow-storm in company with a 
 young friend who has since sat by my side in meeting for 
 more than twenty years in the station of an elder. I believe 
 the young man was almost ashamed of his company, for I sung 
 all the way home, besides stopping at several taverns to drink. 
 Being wet, weary, and hungry, I eat a hearty supper and went 
 early to bed. About midnight I was awakened with the same 
 alarming symptoms I was attacked with a year before in the 
 city, when I was only saved from death by a miracle. The 
 thoughts of the promises I then made and broke, and inex- 
 pressible pain and distress produced a horror which I cannot 
 describe. My friend the Doctor gave my body relief, but my 
 mind was too solemnly impressed to be cured by any thing 
 but a heavenly physician. From this time my appearance was 
 somewhat changed from a sanguine to a melancholy cast, and 
 my friend the doctor told me that my frequently sighing was 
 indicative of the approach of a serious disease, either of body 
 or mind, and would sometimes exercise his wit to rally me 
 off. 
 
 I think I never went but once after this with the family to 
 their meeting, and that was by the persuasion of a Methodist 
 minister, a connection, on a visit. We went together in a 
 chair, and sat in the Doctor's pew. I remember he joined with 
 the singing, but I could sing no more in meeting. The be- 
 coming manner in which that man talked to me, is remembered 
 with respect for him to the present day. His name was David 
 Bartine. 
 
 I was now disposed rather to shun than to court young 
 company, and spent my First days in rambling about by my- 
 self in solitary places. 
 
 In one of these excursions I found myself within reach of 
 Friends' meeting at Middletown, and went to it, and though 
 I had often been there, I do not recollect that I had been at 
 that meeting since my serious turn. Be that as it may, I 
 think I had a precious meeting, for I continued to walk five 
 miles to that meeting every First day, while I lived with 
 Doctor Fenton in Northampton. 
 
 About this time I was solicited to join a respectable young 
 friend in carrying on the coach-making business in Milford, 
 six or seven miles from where I then lived, and I went there 
 to see the place, and make some arrangement. I mention this 
 
40 
 
 to show the state of my mind. I think I wept nearly all the 
 way there, and yet when introduced into the company of some 
 very respectable young friends, who asked me to sing, I sung 
 for them the greater part of the night, and then went weeping 
 home next day. It was astonishing that in company I could 
 not refrain from my wonted cheerfulness and vivacity, when 
 by myself I was so serious as to weep jtnd pray. 
 
 Soon after this I went to the city on some business, and 
 met one of my old companions, who appeared to be pleased to 
 see me, and told me that a mutual friend, who played well on 
 the violin, had got a new one, which he played admirably. I 
 went with him with some reluctance, but the delightful music 
 soon raised my natural vivacity ; and I attempted, in company 
 with two partners, to go through with a country dance. Whe- 
 ther I went through or not I almost forget, but I know that 
 this was the last time I ever danced. Leaving this place and 
 passing down the street with a heavy heart, I was overtaken 
 by one of my juvenile companions, and an old fellow soldier, 
 a young man of superior talents but of profligate character. 
 He was pleased to see me, and began to talk in his usual way, 
 but soon felt or saw that something ailed me, for I was dif- 
 ferent from what I used to be, and he left me. After my 
 return home I quit singing, and was brought into a strait 
 about using the plural language, and found a difficulty in 
 adopting the plain thee and thou. As to dress I had no trouble, 
 for I always admired a plain dress for either man or woman. 
 
 I have often thought I should have got along better had I 
 continued to live with the Presbyterians, for then I should 
 have kept more to myself, and been with Friends at their 
 meetings, and only occasionally at their houses. But living 
 altogether amongst respectable, political, worldly-minded Qua- 
 kers, and, above all, being treated by them with kindness and 
 attention, was certainly too much for such a poor, weak, trifling 
 young man as I was, and I think proved a serious disad- 
 vantage to my spiritual state. 
 
 ^ On the 27th of the 8th month, 1801, I went to Milford to 
 live, and to assist Joshua C. Canby, in the coach-making busi- 
 ness, making my home with Samuel Hulme, one of those 
 excellent men, who are a blessing to the neighborhood where 
 their lot is cast, and an honor to the society to which they 
 belong; a man whose cheerfulness and patience under the 
 
41 
 
 heaviest afflictions, I never saw exceeded. I owe much to that 
 dear friend for his many acts of brotherly kindness towards 
 me, when a poor, weak, unworthy young man. This debt I 
 have tried to discharge by endeavoring to do to others that 
 which he did unto me. 
 
 John Hulme, the father of the foregoing and patriarch of 
 the place, was a remarkable man. He had never gone six 
 months to school, and had to support his parents, being very 
 poor; yet he arose through the path of humble industry, to be 
 one of the most useful and respectable men, in a civil point of 
 view, in the county of Bucks ; and one of the brightest stars 
 that ever shone in the State legislature, since the days of 
 William Penn. Soon after I went to live in the family, he 
 appeared to be in a decline. I remember going into his room 
 to see him, when he spoke to me in the most feeling and elo- 
 quent manner. He adverted to the days of his youth, when 
 he was preciously visited by the light of eternal truth, saying 
 in a language like this, " Oh ! had I been obedient to the 
 Heavenly vision, I would have been in a different situation to 
 what I now am. Let, therefore, no possible consideration di- 
 vert thee from following the Saviour in humble obedience." 
 Yet this excellent man, after recovering his health and being 
 elected to the Legislature, was, I fear, a victim to popularity, 
 and nearly lost among the rocks and shoals of skepticism and 
 intemperance. He had four other sons besides the one before 
 mentioned, and it is worthy of particular notice that George, 
 who, like his father, had the least scholastic education, and 
 walked the most in the path of humble industry, turned out 
 the most valuable man, whilst the youngest son, who had the 
 greatest talents, the greatest scholastic education, and was least 
 in the path of humble industry, turned out the poorest. He 
 was my favorite — the confidential companion of my honorable, 
 youthful proceedings in marriage, and one that I loved as 
 dearly as a brother. Like his father, he was preciously visit- 
 ed with the day-spring from on high. How often have I seen 
 the tear of tenderness and contrition trickle down his cheek. 
 He certainly was designed to be greatly good, yet with all 
 these advantages, like his father, he became a victim to popu- 
 larity, and at last ruined by wicked and designing men. He 
 was arraigned before one of the highest tribunals of the State, 
 charged with a crime, which, if true, though many of his 
 
 4* 
 
42 
 
 friends, as well as myself, never believed him directly gnilty, 
 would have endangered his life, and made him a disgrace to 
 his friends, and the society to which he belonged. Although 
 acquitted by the court, he became as an underling in respect- 
 able society, that the swineish nature pursues with devouring 
 ruin. 
 
 Ah ! dear friend of my youth, I loved thee, for thou once 
 possessed every thing that was lovely, and I am comforted in 
 the impression that thou wast like the youngest son of his 
 father, so beautifully spoken of in the inimitable parable of 
 the Saviour. If thou didst spend the visitations of thy 
 youth in folly, thou couldst not satisfy the cravings of thy 
 immortal spirit, with the spiritless husks and shells of empty 
 profession, and as no man gave unto thee, thou didst look to- 
 wards thy Heavenly Father's house. In the depths of hu- 
 mility he saw thee, when a great way off, and the darling at- 
 tribute of mercy ran to meet thee, and fell upon thy neck and 
 kissed thee, and clothed thy soul with the best robe of his 
 righteousness, receiving thee into the Heaven of Heavens, to 
 participate in the fruition of that joy which is over the sin- 
 ner that repenteth, the joy that is unspeakable and full of glory. 
 Farewell, dear friend, on earth, but I hope to meet thy glori- 
 fied spirit in '^ the general assembly and church of the first 
 born, whose names are written in Heaven.^' 
 
 Dear young man, whoever thou art, that may read this, I 
 want thee to make use of the precious visitations of thy 
 youth, like Jacob did, to make a covenant with that God that 
 will keep thee and feed thee, and be a guardian angel to pre- 
 serve thee, to a peaceable and happy conclusion in his ever- 
 lasting kingdom. 
 
 Every young man and young woman is visited with the day- 
 spring, or the day-star from on high ; and this visitation is 
 more or less like the vision given to the youthful patriarch. 
 They are first humbled under a consideration of their sinful 
 state, and that all sublunary things are at best but the por- 
 tions of uncertainty, that must shortly know their time and 
 place no more. They then feel longings after Heaven and 
 holiness, when they see in the visions of everlasting light, the 
 way from earth to heaven, in something like Jacob's ladder, 
 whose seven steps are beautifully described by the apostle 
 Peter, as '^ Virtue, Knowledge, I'emperance, Patience, Grodli- 
 
ness, Brotherly-kindness and Charity/^ On these steps they 
 behold the messengers or angels, ascending and descending in 
 the character of ministers and teachers of the everlasting 
 Gospel of Jesus Christ. And under the same blessed visi- 
 tation of light, they might see as certainly that there is ano- 
 ther ladder, which reaches from earth to Hell, having seven 
 steps exactly opposite, "Licentiousness, Ignorance, Intem- 
 perance, Impatient-anger, Devilishness, Covetousness, and 
 Proud-ambition/' On the steps of these two ladders stand 
 the whole world of intelligent probationary beings. 
 
 It being settled as an eternal truth, that "in every nation, 
 they that fear God and work righteousness are accepted with 
 him/' it is a perfectly rational conclusion that all who are vir- 
 tuous, all who are faithful to the light they have, all whose 
 temperance and moderation are dignified and rational, all 
 who are patient and influenced by justice and mercy, all 
 whose brotherly kindness leads them to do to others as they 
 would that others should do unto them, all who have that 
 heavenly charity, which thinketh no evil, that crown and dia- 
 dem of the redeemed soul, let their name and profession of 
 religion be what it may, are standing on that ladder 
 which resteth on that living faith, that works by love and 
 reaches from earth to the Heaven of Heavens. All that are 
 licentious, all that are wickedly ignorant, all that are intem- 
 perate, all that are vindictive and impatient, all that are devil- 
 ish, all that are covetous, all that are ambitious and proud, 
 let their name or profession to religion be what it may, all 
 stand upon some of the steps of that ladder that hangs upon 
 earthly opinion, and reaches down — down, to a bottomless 
 pit, into everlasting darkness, where there is weeping and 
 gnashing of teeth. 
 
 If then my figure is correct, dear young people, the subject 
 matter I have to submit to your serious consideration is of 
 the most interesting and awful character. It is certainly a 
 most pleasing and interesting reflection, that we have the in- 
 estimable privilege of rising out of the vanity of time, into 
 the glorious riches of eternity. At the same time ETERNI- 
 TY, if pleasing, is an awful, dreadful thought. Seek then, 
 dear children, through the tendering visitations of eternal 
 truth, an establishment in that faith that works by love — a 
 heartfelt belief in that God that was manifest in the flesh, 
 
44 
 
 justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gen- 
 tiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory. 
 That God that so loved the world that he gave his only be- 
 gotten Son, that whosoever should believe on him should not 
 perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son 
 into the world to condemn the world, but that the world 
 through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is 
 not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned, and 
 this is the condemnation that light has come into the world, 
 and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds 
 were evil, for every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither 
 cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved.'^ This 
 is the doctrine preached by the dear Son and sent of God to 
 Nicodemus. A standing doctrine that will continue to be true 
 till the end of time. And in preaching to his disciples, he cau- 
 tioned them most emphatically to ^^ Take heed that no man 
 deceive you by the Lo-heres and the Lo-theres, for there shall 
 arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great 
 signs, and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they 
 shall deceive the very elect. Behold I have told yon before ; 
 wherefore if they shall say unto you, behold he is in the 
 desert, go not forth ; behold, he is in the secret chambers, be- 
 lieve it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east and 
 shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the 
 Son of man be.^' Thus it appears that our blessed Saviour 
 declared that his second appearance, without sin unto salva- 
 tion, would be like lightning. And this is in perfect accord- 
 ance with another sublime and heavenly declaration, "I am 
 the light of the world j he that followeth me shall not walk in 
 darkness, but have the light of life.^^ This view is conclu- 
 sively supported by the apostle John, in the very first words 
 of his excellent testimony, ^^In the beginning was the word, 
 and the word was with God, and the word was God. The 
 same was in the beginning with God. All things were made 
 by him, and without him was not any thing made that was 
 made. In Mm was life, and the li/e was the light of 7nen." 
 Be assured, then, dear young people, that the light which en- 
 lighteneth your souls is inseparable from the life of God in 
 your souls. As the light gives sight, so the life gives sense, 
 and makes sin exceeding sinful, and shows the need of a Sa- 
 viour to save the soul from sin. This Saviour is seen in the 
 
45 
 
 eternal Word that was in the beginning with God and is God. 
 Oh, you that believe in this doctrine, keep, sacredly keep, 
 your virtue, the first step of the ladder, it will lead to 
 Heaven. 
 
 " The immortal never failing friend to man, 
 
 His way to happiness on high. 
 
 Guard then your thoughts ; your thoughts are heard in Heaven; 
 
 There is a watchful spy ; a formidable foe. 
 
 That listening, overhears the v^hisperings of your camp, 
 
 And all your purposes of life explores." 
 
 Do not be discouraged, dear children, if evil and licentious 
 thoughts do come into your minds. The fear of the Lord is 
 a fountain of life, that will preserve you from the snares of 
 death, and will be a curb upon these thoughts when the mind is 
 driven by impetuous passions. Having become soldiers of the 
 cross, you must now fight the good faith, and continue to fol- 
 low the captain of your salvation, who has trod the steps of 
 that ladder before you, which will certainly lead you into 
 heaven. Being established upon the sure foundation of virtue, 
 you will witness an enlargement of soul that will raise you to 
 knowledge, even the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ. Being obedient to what you thus know, your light 
 will so shine before men that it cannot be hid under a bushel, 
 or under a bed. This will draw the attention of the people 
 towards you, as virtuous, intelligent young men and women. 
 Here is a snare and temptation, and you will need the instruc- 
 tion embraced in a saying of the Saviour, '^ Wo unto you when 
 all men speak well of you.^^ Dear James Naylor, who as- 
 cended and descended on this ladder, declared near his close 
 that the "world's joy'^ murdered the divine life. I know 
 what I say by experience, having suffered loss by being pleased 
 with the attention and respect paid by poor weak mortals like 
 myself. Oh ! the need of humility and abasement of soul, 
 which Christ only can give, and will give to all that ask him. 
 
 Thus, dear children, you will mount upwards upon the steps 
 of temperance and patience, and your light will continue to 
 shine forth as the brightness of the firmament, for you now 
 have but one step to the highest state of perfection under the 
 law-covenant, — a state realized by Enoch, Noah, Abraham, 
 Isaac and Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David, and Daniel. 
 
 In every nation they that fear God and work righteousness 
 
46 
 
 are accepted with him, and all such must love the Lord their 
 Grod with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all 
 their mind, and their neighbor as themselves. This embraces 
 the perfection of that love our Lord alluded to when he said, 
 ^^Grreater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his 
 life for his friend/' This is the highest state of perfection 
 that man, as man, can arrive at. The apostle Peter was in 
 the state of a warrior, when he drew his sword to defend the 
 body of his master. But it is a step below the Christian state, 
 and may be compared to the high mountain, where the Devil 
 tempted our Lord with the riches and glory of this world, and 
 where, alas ! alas ! he has too successfully tempted too many 
 of his professed followers, and drawn them as the stars of 
 heaven to the earth, and their descent has been a great dis- 
 couragement to dear young people, who have just begun to 
 ascend. 
 
 Having given the views that I think have been given me of 
 the perfection of the first covenant, including the dispensation 
 of John the Baptist and the outward appearance of Jesus 
 Christ, I now come to the Christian dispensation which is a 
 higher step of the ladder that leads into the kingdom of heaven. 
 A kingdom that is not of this world — a kingdom whose sub- 
 jects never did nor never can fight with carnal weapons ; a 
 kingdom that is set up in every immortal soul where Christ 
 the Saviour is permitted to enter as a quickening spirit, and 
 rule and reign triumphant ; a kingdom where Chrisfs new 
 commandment is received, and true brotherly kindness leads 
 all to love one another as Christ loved them; a kingdom 
 whose subjects never did and never can sue at the law, and if 
 they are sued at the law, and their coat taken, they cannot 
 contend for the cloak ; but will give to him that asketh, and 
 from him that would borrow, they will not turn away, but 
 rejoice to do good and lend, hoping for nothing again. For 
 there cannot be such a thing as a usurer in this kingdom, and 
 hence we understand our blessed Saviour, when he says, " It 
 is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than 
 for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. '' This 
 is the kingdom our blessed Saviour established when he said, 
 " My kingdom is not of this world, but now is my kingdom 
 not from hence.'' All that arrive at this state will become 
 established in brotherly kindness and charity, the highest steps 
 
47 
 
 of the ladder, and as pillars in the Lord's house, they go no 
 more out, but, as kings and priests unto Grod, they sit upon 
 thrones, as judges in spiritual Israel. This is the perfect 
 Christian state, that dear George Fox believed was attainable 
 in Christ, which was greater than any perfection in Adam, 
 and from which there was no fall. This is the perfect state 
 our Lord alluded to when he said, '^ Be ye perfect as your 
 Father which is in heaven is perfect.^' 
 
 Now, dear children, fully believing this state attainable, I 
 am concerned daily to press after it, as the mark for the prize 
 of the high calling in Christ Jesus, and if I can arrive at this 
 state I am sure of happiness in this world, and everlasting 
 happiness in that world which is without end. And as the 
 immortal, never-dying soul is created in the image and likeness 
 of God, whose centre is everywhere and whose circumference 
 is nowhere ; who is infinite in power, infinite in wisdom, infi- 
 nite in goodness, and infinite in mercy ^ the soul immortal 
 being clothed with an increasing portion of these infinite attri- 
 butes, with an infinity of space for their exercise, must shine 
 with new accessions of glory and brighten to all eternity. 
 
 But now come with me, dear youth, and behold the dread- 
 ful contrast on that ladder which reaches from earth to hell. 
 
 It is no chimera, it is no flight or picture of the imagi- 
 nation, it is an awful reality that the soul, created in the 
 image of God, is a free agent and makes its own election. If 
 it choses the way to heaven, to heaven it will surely go. If 
 it choses the way to hell, to hell it will surely go. Beware, 
 then, of the indulgence of licentious thoughts, or a licentious 
 devil will surely possess the soul, and lead young men and 
 young women to commit the deadly sin. They will then love 
 darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. Then 
 the devil of darkness will debase them below brutality, and 
 blot out of their very nature everything that is innocent and 
 beautiful. Here the devil of intemperance comes in, and 
 hurries them down the ladder to the devil of impatience, whose 
 vindictive anger marshaling the malevolent passions — jea- 
 lousy, envy, hatred, and revenge — produces quarrelling, fight- 
 ing, and murder. The poor soul, now arrived at a perfect 
 devilish state, lifts up its eyes in Hell, being in torment. 
 When the Saviour descended into and suffered for this state, 
 He cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
 
48 
 
 me?'' When the apostle Paul, who declared he was crucified 
 with Christ, was baptized into the same state, he said, ^^ ! 
 wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body 
 of this death." All that are dead in sin, are in this state, and 
 unless they look to the light that still shines even in this dark 
 horrible pit, from the countenance of a merciful Saviour, and 
 obey his voice, they will continue to descend into the bottom- 
 less pit, and increase in wretchedness and misery to all eternity. 
 But every poor sinner that will hear the voice of the Son of 
 God shall live, for he has emphatically declared, ^^I am the 
 resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he 
 were dead, yet shall he live •/' and the beloved Paul, in accord- 
 ance with this, thanked Grod that the sinner was delivered 
 from the body of sin and death, through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. 
 
 I could enlarge and say much on this awfully interesting 
 subject, but I have already exceeded the bounds of brevity, 
 and shall only notice the subtile operations of the two last of 
 the seven devils, or evil spirits, that torment the soul of man 
 in time and in eternity. 
 
 The five first already noticed — licentiousness, ignorance, in- 
 temperance, impatient anger, and devilishness — are called in 
 the Scriptures unclean devils, from the fact of their producing 
 the most unclean and abominable conduct. The two last, 
 which are covetousness and pride, I shall call clean devils, 
 because they go so well dressed and keep such respectable 
 company, and are so highly esteemed amongst men, although 
 a greater abomination in the sight of God than their prede- 
 cessors, which is abundantly proved by the testimony of the 
 Saviour against the rich and proud scribes and pharisees, 
 when He said, " The publicans and harlots go into the king- 
 dom of heaven before you.'' Now, dear American youth, 
 especially you that have had the inestimable blessing of pious 
 parents or guardians, who have introduced you early to that 
 ladder which reaches from earth to heaven, and through a re- 
 newed visitation of the day-spring from on high, have ascended 
 some steps on your heavenly way, your characters have become 
 pretty well established as virtuous, intelligent, exemplary young 
 men and women, almost out of the reach of the unclean spirits, 
 for licentious thought is restrained by the fear of the Lord, 
 which as a fountain of light preserves from the snare of death; 
 
49 
 
 but as you are now following the captain of your salvation, 
 you must be tempted in a degree as He was. If you have 
 become zealously united with any religious society, the devil 
 will try to persuade you to command the stones to be made 
 bread. 
 
 If I understand the spiritual meaning of this interesting 
 figure, and I think I do, — when such young people that have 
 been preciously visited, and the bread that comes down from 
 heaven, which will nourish their souls up into eternal life, has 
 been given them j they love it dearly while their hearts are 
 soft and tender, but when it is withheld from them in the fast, 
 which is as much a word of God as the eating of the bread, 
 they become hungry, and for the want of keeping the word of 
 heavenly patience, the evil spirit of impatience gets the ascen- 
 dency, and they become restless and unsteady. If they are 
 Quakers, they talk too much, and like to argue and dispute, 
 running after popular preachers and lecturers, neglecting their 
 business, and breaking their word, and get full of zeal for 
 matter of opinion, while their hearts are as hard as stones, and 
 their spirits as cruel as Turks. These command the stones to 
 be made bread, and live upon it, and when a poor hungry 
 child of God asks them for heavenly bread, they can only give 
 them a stone. 
 
 Where any, whether Methodists, Presbyterians, or others, 
 give way to this temptation of the devil, they not only mani- 
 fest all the foregoing anti-christian traits, but they sing and 
 make long prayers, preparatory to receiving the greater dam- 
 nation. These, though they are evidently going down the lad- 
 der towards hell, the Devil raises them on to a high mountain, 
 in their own imagination, where the glory and riches of this 
 world are presented to them, and the Devil's powerful agent, 
 cursed self, prevails, or persuades them to fall down and wor- 
 ship him; then if they can succeed in making money, and 
 putting it out to usury, or in adding house to house, and field 
 to field, if they are high professors, especially ministers, they 
 will be followed by flatterers and fools enough to assist the 
 Devil in placing them on the pinnacle of the temple, where 
 their spiritual pride persuades them they are favorites of hea- 
 ven, and their abominable presumption leads them to take a 
 leap in the dark, with the vain expectation that the very an- 
 
 5 
 
50 
 
 gels of heaven will bear them up ; but, oh ! fatal mistake — 
 they fall and disgrace the cause of truth. 
 
 In the fall of 1801, I agreed with my employer, Joshua 0. 
 Canby, to work at the coach-making business, particularly the 
 painting, for thirteen dollars per month, and he to find me my 
 board and lodging, and give me every Fifth-day, from 9 until 
 2 o'clock, so that I might go to meeting, which was about two 
 and a-half miles. I went to Middletown meeting. I had to walk^, 
 and, I think, for forty years, I have no recollection of missing a 
 mid-week meeting, when I was well enough to go, and had I 
 been as faithful in every thing that was required of me, I have 
 thought I should have come out in the ministry, about the 
 22d year of my age. But I was unfaithful in little things, 
 and therefore was never made ruler over much, and the impe- 
 tuous waves of youthful passion, too often carried the weak, 
 wayward young man out of the straight and narrow way, and 
 greatly increased the difficulty of his probationary journey. 
 
 It seems unnecessary to say much, if any thing, about my 
 business as a mechanic, for I think it has always been marked 
 with weakness. 
 
 Early in the spring of 1808, I applied to the overseers of 
 Middletown Monthly Meeting, to be received into membership 
 with Friends. I was received with open arms, and the dear 
 old Friends that were appointed to visit me, have left a savor 
 of sweetness upon my mind. I love to think of them and 
 hope to meet them in heaven. 
 
 On the 17th of 11th month, of the same year, I was mar- 
 ried to Sarah, the second daughter of Joseph and Susannah 
 Worstall, of this town, near neighbors to my father, and their 
 daughter was the first object of my youthful affection, even 
 whilst I was a child. I loved her with that love which an all- 
 wise Creator has placed in every perfect nature and rational 
 man, for a wise and good purpose, and she has conferred on 
 me as much natural and rational happiness as any man ought 
 to have in this world, and after a union of forty years, I am 
 thankful in being able to say that I feel an increasing love for 
 her, and a daily prayer that our immortal spirits may be pre- 
 pared for the enjoyment of GrOD in glory. 
 
 In the spring of 1804, we settled in Milford, living in a 
 small house, for we were poor, and I had not wherewith to 
 build or purchase, and better might it have been for us if I 
 had not been persuaded to borrow money and build a house, 
 
51 
 
 wlieii I was not able to pay for it. This was the commence- 
 ment of ses-ious pecuniary embarrassments, and baying learned 
 from the things I have suffered, I am prepared to give or leave 
 this advice to who ever may read it, when I am gone into the 
 eternal world : Never go in debt — never borrow money. 
 Be humble — be industrious, tour wants will then be 
 
 FEW, and your industry WILL MORE THAN SUPPLY THEM. 
 
 It would be as unnecessary as it would be uninteresting, to 
 go into a detail of the discouragements and difficulties I had to 
 pass through; suffice it to say, my debts and dealings brought 
 me in contact with selfish men, and my want of capacity made 
 me a kind of prey for them. This had a tendency to chafe 
 and sour me, and I soon got into a state like the man in the 
 fable, who got his neighbors faults and his own into a wallet, 
 but in putting it on his shoulder he got his own faults behind 
 and his neighbors before his eyes, where he could always see 
 them. Thus I got to be a great talker, and a great fault finder, 
 and, if I remember right, joined a debating society, read news 
 papers, particularly the speeches of members of Congress, 
 went to elections, talked politics ; but keeping to meeting. 
 Friends put me forward into an office I was unfit for ; a mis- 
 take that Leah-eyed friends are too apt to make, to the great 
 injury of the individual and the cause of truth. I was more- 
 over a very zealous temperance man, and of course denounced 
 every one, particularly Friends, who sold or used distilled 
 spirituous liquors ; for, a short time before I had built a house 
 without finding one drop, and I believe it was the first that 
 was built without spirituous liquor, in the lower section of 
 Bucks county. 
 
 I think it was about this time that my orthodox faith was 
 so strong that I trampled under foot both the gentleman and the 
 Christian, in treating with rudeness and unkindness a distant 
 relation of my wife, who was said to be a Deist, that had only 
 come to pay us a friendly visit. I felt so exceedingly mad 
 against him, that I thought if I had power, that I could whip 
 him till the blood run down to his heels. In this state of 
 mind I soon got tired of Friends, and thought of quitting 
 them and joining the Methodists. I attended their meetings, 
 and invited their ministers to my house, where their long 
 prayers greatly annoyed my wife, who could have no unity 
 with them. 
 
 Thus I went staggering along, still keeping my neighboi*s 
 
52 
 
 faults in the fore-end of the wallet, and my own behind my 
 back, till I met with a female Friend in the ministry, at the 
 house of a particular friend of mine, where I was talking in 
 my usual style, until I noticed a peculiar solemnity and silence 
 in the countenance of the woman that alarmed me,and seizing the 
 wallet, she soon turned it end for end. At the sight of my own 
 faults I fled from her with precipitancy. Her husband followed me 
 for some distance, affectionately requesting me to stop. But I 
 went home resolving to talk less and pray more. And now 
 having a better view of my own faults, I lost sight of my 
 neighbors, for my own sins had become exceeding sinful, es- 
 pecially in solemn silent meetings, where I was often led to 
 weep, and secretly and fervently pray that I might be restored 
 to my heavenly Father's house, from which I had evidently 
 wandered, and was squandering the heavenly living that was 
 imparted to me, in selfish speculation and vain conversation. 
 Meetings become more and more interesting, and I was glad 
 when I could go to them. At a monthly meeting, when a case 
 of difficulty was introduced, I ventured to speak a few words, 
 which were so well received, that a goodly Friend, to encour- 
 age me, spoke too much in favor of what I had said, which 
 hurt me, for it strengthened one of my greatest enemies — 
 vanity. Oh ! the mischief that has been done to poor, weak, 
 visited children, by ^^ silly women' ^ — male and female — who are 
 beautifully pre-figured by the singers after Saul and David; 
 they ran me on a rock on which 1 was nearly lost forever. 
 
 And if I, so evidently deficient in learning, in talent, in 
 eloquence and personal appearance, should be scarcely saved, 
 as a miracle, a brand snatched out of the burning, what will 
 become of some young ministers that have recently appeared 
 among us, in possession of all these and almost every other 
 qualification that can please a vain fantastical world. Alas ! 
 what have I seen in the last forty years ? Young men and 
 young women, like the foregoing, who have come out in so- 
 ciety, and with sanguine cheer, and streamers gay, have cut 
 their cable, launched into the world, and seemed to " fondly 
 dream each wind and star their friend.^' Eut where are they? 
 Alas! some have sunk downright. ^^ O'er them, and o'er 
 their names the billows closed." The morrow knew not they 
 were ever born. Some few a short memorial left behind, like 
 the flag floating when the bark's enguljDhed, it floats a moment 
 and is seen no more. 
 
53 
 
 I felt it my duty to extend some fatherly care towards two 
 of the young men above alluded to. To one of them I wrote 
 a few lines, and to the other I spoke personally at his own house^ 
 but they did not regard my counsel. When I mentioned a 
 concern to the one I spoke with, that he should try to get upon 
 the ground of the primitive saints, and referred to PauFs epistles, 
 he soon let me know that he was much more edified with E. 
 H.^s letters than Paul's, although not prepared to say they 
 were better. And as this young man was a great admirer of 
 the celebrated Doctor Channing, I did not recommend him to 
 read Christ's sermon on the mount, for if he had been equal- 
 ly candid, he might have told me that he would rather read 
 the Doctor's sermons, which would have hurt me very much. 
 I feel at times as if I ought to say something more to him, 
 but really I do not know how to get at him, for it seems that 
 either my own unskilful conduct, or the zeal of some other 
 Peter, has cut off his right ear and he will not hear me. This 
 same young man appeared to wish to argue on some inexpli- 
 cable doctrinal point or subject when on a visit at my house. 
 But I was not prepared to comply with his wish, and gave my 
 reasons. I told him that I was an uncommonly dogmatical 
 disputant, and being in my own house, I was tenacious of the 
 character of a gentleman, and therefore would rather not. 
 And besides, I had never seen much good come from such dis- 
 putes, and we had better agree to disagree. I believe he 
 thought I was afraid of him, or my opinions, or both. His 
 dear wife seemed to be a good deal hurt, and thought that I did not 
 appreciate the value of her husband. She is a lovely woman, 
 and appears to possess, in the extreme, one of the most beau- 
 tiful traits of a perfect woman, — she loves her husband to ad- 
 miration. And should she be a silly woman at home, and add 
 her song to the song of the silly women abroad, I fear the wo 
 spoken by the Saviour will rest upon her husband. 
 
 But to return to my narrative; in the spring of 1810, I 
 attended- our Yearly Meeting under considerable exercise. I 
 was certainly in a tender state, and more disposed to silent 
 prayer than vain conversation ] for I had been in this state for 
 some months, and frequently in meeting had solemn and awful 
 apprehensions that it was my duty publicly to advocate the 
 cause of Christ. But the fear of being deceived, and a sense 
 of my own unworthiness, kept me back, and when meeting 
 
 5* 
 
54 
 
 b^oke up I would sometimes feel so weak and faint, that I 
 could scarcely rise from my seat. But this Yearly Meeting, 
 upon the whole, was a strengthening time to me, though I 
 met with one thing that hurt me, and I mention it as a caution 
 to Friends in the ministry. A minister invited me to dine 
 with him, and I went. In the course of his conversation he 
 spoke of a friend, that, he said, disturbed the meeting with his 
 public appearances ; and on one occasion some young man, who 
 sat behind, struck him in such a manner as to cause him to 
 drop upon his seat, when, says this ministering friend, in a 
 light manner, he immediately fell upon his knees, and bawled 
 out like a calf. The unfeeling manner in which he spoke of 
 it, taken in connection with the fact that he himself had been 
 in the street called strait, and so deranged that his friends had 
 to chain him, seemed too much like taking a poor brother by 
 the throat. It wounded my feelings very much, and I still 
 hope I may ever be preserved from being influenced by such a 
 spirit, and speaking in such an unfeeling manner. 
 
 The Yearly Meeting closed I believe on the evening of the 
 20th, and on the 21st I returned home. On the 22d being 
 First day I went to meeting — a meeting ever memorable to 
 me, because it was in that meeting I first gave up publicly to 
 advocate the cause of Christ. I had suifered for disobedience 
 to the heavenly vision, and an awful fear clothed my mind 
 that this would be the last call I would ever have. I trembled, 
 I wept, and kneeling I offered a few words in prayer or suppli- 
 cation. The meeting was evidently dipped into sympathy and 
 feeling with me, for Friends rose simultaneously. It was but 
 a few words that I could utter, and on taking my seat, I wept 
 almost aloud. As soon as meeting broke I walked immediately 
 out of the house, and went home, without speaking to any 
 one; but. Oh! the precious tenderness, love, and joy that 
 filled my soul. And for two or three weeks I loved every one 
 I saw, whilst my heart seemed full of prayer for their present 
 and everlasting welfare. With what singleness of heart, with 
 what fear and trembling, I went to the next meeting in the 
 middle of the week, and feeling as I thought the commandment 
 to speak a few words, I did so, and felt my strength renewed ; 
 and on the next First day, feeling a similar concern, I spoke 
 again, but was brought under a great fear lest I should burthen 
 my friends, and was favored to be silent some weeks, and being 
 
55 
 
 thrown into contact with the world and its concerns, I was 
 tossed as it were upon the tempestuous billows, and not com- 
 forted except in the house of prayer. 
 
 Having for six or seven years felt it my duty faithfully to 
 bear a testimony against the use of spirituous liquors, Friends 
 were renewedly stirred up to engage in the concern, and in the 
 quarterly meeting at Buckingham, the same year, 1810, a 
 large committee was appointed to assist the monthly meetings, 
 who were recommended to make similar appointments. In 
 this committee I labored with Friends and others, to convince 
 them that it was their duty to lay aside the use of this per- 
 nicious article as a drink, and as an article of trade. 
 
 About this time that eccentric, but most dignified minister 
 of Jesus Christ, James Simpson, came into the neighborhood, 
 and sent for me to come and see him at a friend's house. I 
 spent the evening with him. He took me as it were in his 
 arms as a father, and as long as he lived, which was a little 
 more than a year, he continued to manifest the most fatherly 
 and afiectionate kindness. Notwithstanding he stood so high 
 with Friends and others, and was undoubtedly one of the 
 greatest ministers of his day, no memorial was ever prepared 
 for him. Whether this omission was owing to his eccentricity, 
 his distinguished honesty, or his great severity on spiritual 
 wickedness in high places, I know not; but I am inclined to 
 think it was owing to the latter, for some of the leaders of 
 the people in Philadelphia, who had caused them to err, and 
 were destroying the way of their paths, were sore, made so by 
 his chastising rod. 
 
 Dear William Blakey, another precious father in the church, 
 and who as a spiritual parent, nursed me in his arms in my spi- 
 ritual infancy, was never memorialized by Middletown monthly 
 meeting, for the same reason, for he was much like James 
 Simpson, only inferior as a minister. But these truly valuable 
 Friends needed no memorials issued in the dead letter from a 
 jnonthly meeting, for I trust their names are gloriously en- 
 rolled in the records of eternity, and they have left a savor 
 grateful to surviving generations, and as dear James Simpson, 
 especially, was concerned to obey that commandment of the 
 Saviour, "■ Make unto yourselves friends of the mammon of 
 unrighteousness, that when ye fail, they may receive you into 
 everlasting habitations,'^ he was received into the never- 
 
56 
 
 dying souls of many, there to remain till they meet in ^Hhe 
 general assembly and church of the first-born, whose names 
 are written in heaven/^ 
 
 My inward exercises and outward difiiculties, occasioned 
 partly by unfaithfulness, and partly by a constitutional weak- 
 ness and want of capacity for business, frequently brought me 
 into ^' the street called Strait/^ And the respectable old patri- 
 arch of the place, had probably discovered that I lacked the 
 enterprise for such a citizen as he wished; and, moreover, 
 being a little sore from the severe stroke I gave him and his 
 sons for selling spirituous liquors indiscriminately, when I told 
 them with a zeal somewhat like the lecturers of the present 
 day, that a curse would attend their wicked traffic, and what- 
 ever they might gain over the devil's back, they would lose 
 under his belly. And now having come out as a public advo- 
 cate for the cause of Christ, that I would be less likely to 
 tolerate his skeptical notions, I think he was quite willing I 
 should leave the place ; I therefore, towards the close of the 
 year, sold our house and lot in Milford, intending to move to 
 Newtown, where my father, my wife's father, mother, and 
 other relatives then lived. In the spring of 1811 the time of 
 moving drew near, and I had not been able to get a place to 
 move to. Towards the latter part of the Third month, I went 
 to Newtown, having heard that Abraham Chapman, a reputable 
 and wealthy lawyer, talked of selling his house and lot on 
 which he then lived. When I called upon him he gave me 
 little or no encouragement. It was now but a few days till 
 we must move, and I had left my wife in a great deal of trouble, 
 and of course was deeply distressed at the thought of going 
 home without any intelligence that would relieve her. But, 
 after a sleepless night, I had to return with the sorrowful 
 report that we had no home. I need not say that my poor 
 wife, as well as myself, were most sadly distressed and dis- 
 couraged. It was meeting morning, and nearly time to start, 
 but I concluded not to go, for I thought I now must sink. I 
 went to the shop to work, but when I saw Friends going to 
 meeting it seemed to me, as though a secret voice had addressed 
 the ear of my soul : Wilt thou now refuse to do what thou hast 
 seen so clearly to be thy religious duty, because there ap- 
 pears some difficulty in the way ? Is not he that has all 
 power in heaven and in earth, able to open a way where there 
 
57 
 
 appears no way ? Gro to meeting. I went immediately. It 
 was rather late wlien I got there, and the meeting was pretty 
 well settled. I had scarcely taken my seat and turned inward 
 where prayer was wont to he made, when there was a tender- 
 ness and sweetness filled my soul as though all sorrow was 
 taken away. I felt as I apprehended the commandment to 
 kneel and ofi"er something like a prayer or thanksgiving. It 
 was a precious baptizing meeting, and during the solemn si- 
 lence I heard the p(3culiar cough of my brother-in-law, at which 
 I was a little surprised, as he told me that he could not come 
 to meeting that day on account of particular business. After 
 meeting was over he came to me with a smile, and informed 
 me that he had good news. Abraham Chapman had come to 
 their house that morning, and told them that he had thought 
 much of me and my wife, through the night, and thought it 
 right to sell us his house and lot, and board with us, and we 
 might move in a week or two, and that he wished my brother 
 to go to Middletown meeting, and tell me. This wonderful 
 change and sudden transition from sorrow to joy, led to the 
 conclusion that it was the Lord's doings and marvellous in 
 my eyes. I went home from meeting with feelings very dif- 
 ferent from my feelings in the morning, and communicated 
 this most agreeable intelligence to my dear wife, which raised 
 her drooping spirits, and she seemed like another woman. 
 
 On the 16th of the Fourth month, 1811, we moved to New- 
 town, where at that time, comparatively speaking, every tenth 
 house was a tavern, and every twentieth of bad report. 
 
 I think there were not more than about four or five families 
 of Friends in Newtown and its vicinity, no meeting of Friends 
 nor hardly such a thing thought of. No coach-making and 
 very little mechanical business of any kind, for the people of 
 the place seemed principally to depend upon the courts and 
 the spoil of litigious contention. The lawyers, county officers, 
 and principal men of the place, were mostly free masonSy 
 among whom religion and morals were at a yery low ebb. 
 
 In the beginning of the 9th month, I went on business to 
 the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and stopped at Joseph Tat- 
 naFs, at Brandy wine, who had married a distant relation to 
 my father. I was treated with great kindness, and being un- 
 well tarried the next day, and attended a funeral, where being 
 brought under solemn exercise, I felt it my duty to speak a 
 
58 
 
 few words at tlie grave. Next day being First-day^ I attended 
 the morning meeting at Wilmington. Not being an acknow- 
 ledged minister^ I was for taking my seat on the floor as usual, 
 when some elderly Friends laid hold of me and forced me into 
 the gallery. This was a new place for me ; however, I thought 
 it my duty to speak, and what I said seemed well received by 
 the meeting, and I think it is not unlikely that that part of 
 my communication that the people most admired was borrow- 
 ed, for like too many young ministers, I not only borrowed 
 other people's money, but their sentiments and language; and 
 hence it was I passed, like too many others, for more than I 
 was worth. In the afternoon I proceeded on my journey to 
 the Eastern .Shore, transacted my business, and returned to 
 my friend Tatnal's, at Brandy wine, where an elderly Friend 
 told me what great satisfaction my discourse had given, and 
 that he had heard an aged and respectable member say, that 
 it was the greatest sermon he had ever heard, since Samnel 
 Fothergill's. Here now was a sop calculated to send me out 
 in the dark with the devil. I knew the dose was poison, but 
 then it was so sweet. Had I listened attentively to the voice 
 of the heavenly Shepherd, like our ancient friend Luke Cock, 
 who, though a poor illiterate butcher, was a great preacher, 
 and went up to London in the days of William Penn, and 
 after preaching one of his great sermons, being in a per- 
 spiration when he sat down, William threw his cloak over 
 his shoulders, when, says Luke, the devil whispering in my 
 ear, ^^ Luke thee has beat them all at preaching.'' But my 
 good master, continued he, addressed my other ear, " Luke 
 thee must not be proud, or thee is ruined." I say if I had 
 attended to the voice of the heavenly Shepherd, I would not 
 have suffered the song of a silly woman to have puffed me up 
 with pride. But to be compared to Samuel Fothergill, was 
 too much for such a poor, vain, trifling young thing as I was, and 
 I think I returned home something like a head and shoulders 
 higher than when I left. However, be that as it may, 1 was 
 soon recommended as a Friend that had a gift in the ministry 
 by Middletown Monthly Meeting, to the .select quarter, and 
 there acknowledged. This, I think, was in the 11th month, 
 1811. 
 
 In the 1st month, 1812, or perhaps it was 1813, I went to 
 Philadelphia to attend the funeral of a relative, and it being 
 
59 
 
 the time of their monthly meetings, when all the queries were 
 answered, I thought I felt a freedom to attend them, and went 
 to the North meeting on Third-day. It was a larger meeting 
 than common, in consequence of Susannah Home, from Eng- 
 land, being there. After she had got through, I thought it 
 right to speak, and I think it is not unlikely that the fear I 
 felt on seeing myself surrounded by such an assembly, for I 
 had taken my seat on the floor, and the self-confidence I had 
 recently gained, threw me off of the right path, and I wan- 
 dered a little too far, as was beautifully expressed by dear old 
 Thomas Scattergood, in the last meeting. When about to 
 take my seat, a rich, pompous merchant said, ^^ Young man 
 sit down, thy words have not the savour of divine truth. ^^ I 
 sat down and was almost astonished that I should feel so calm 
 and quiet, especially as my nature was so excitable, and this 
 was the first rebuke I ever had met with. The meeting soon 
 separated, and the women went into another apartment. I 
 ought to have sat quiet, but I got up and went out of the house, 
 and soon fell into darkness and confusion, and concluded to go 
 home, but in passing up Key's alley, I overtook a plain old 
 man, who told me not to be discouraged, it was nobody but 
 William Sansom, and he was not worth minding. I immedi- 
 ately went back to the meeting and went up into the gallery, 
 and took my seat with the ministers. I then sat facing my 
 opponent, who was a very fine, handsome looking man, but I 
 thought he looked a little alarmed at seeing me in that seat. 
 When the second query was read, and its answer brought be- 
 fore us, the state of the meeting, I aroge and spoke in sub- 
 stance as follows : "I feel a concern to make a few remarks 
 touching the subject matter embraced in this query and an- 
 swer. But before I proceed, it may be right just to notice a 
 rather extraordinary circumstance that occurred in the forego- 
 ing meeting that may be the cause of some speculation, and 
 as a stranger, inform the meeting who I am. My name is 
 Edward Hicks. I am a member of Middletown Monthly 
 and Particular Meeting,^ in Bucks quarter, and a member of 
 the meeting of ministers and elders. Now if I have said any 
 thing in the meeting for worship, contrary to the doctrines of 
 the Christian religion as recorded in the New Testament, and 
 professed by Friends, I stand amenable to those whose province 
 it is to have a special care over me. But the puhlic rebuke, 
 
GO 
 
 from a j)rivafe member, I consider derogatory to tlie decency 
 and order of society, and beneath the dignity of a gentleman 
 and a Christian. Nevertheless, I am thankful I can state with 
 sincerity, that so far from feeling any resentment, for such 
 unkind treatment, I could embrace the dear brother in my 
 arms in love, who may have verily thought he was doing God 
 service/' It may have been permitted in wisdom — unerring 
 wisdom. I may have been wrong even in taking my seat where 
 I did. I might have got wrong in my communication; be 
 that as it may, I feel love in my heart to all, and would wish 
 to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace/' &c. 
 As soon as I sat down, an aged minister, and native of Bucks 
 county, arose and spoke in substance, " I believe it right for 
 me to confirm the young man's testimony. I have known him 
 from his infancy, and I know that he is not only a member, 
 but a minister in good unity, and I hope that the disorderly 
 treatment he has met with in this meeting, will be properly 
 noticed by the overseers, and friends preserved from unprofit- 
 table conversation on the subject, and so forth." 
 
 Thomas Scattergood then spoke nearly in the following 
 manner : ^' I rejoice, friends, that this matter has taken the 
 turn that it has. I was sorry for the interruption, and felt 
 much for the young man, who I saw was a stranger. I thought 
 that he had got a little lost, and I was travelling with him in 
 spirit, to find a safe landing place. But however wrong he 
 may have been, he has now certainly confirmed his doctrine of 
 the importance of love, by his example," then offered a little 
 plaster for my opponent, by saying that we were all liable to 
 mistakes, and that even Paul himself seems to have got a little 
 wrong, when he spoke too precipitately to one in authority. 
 But when he discovered his mistake, he said, " I wist not, 
 brethren, that it was God's high priest." Several other friends 
 expressed themselves in like manner, and their unity with me, 
 and the meeting ended apparently with the best of feelings. 
 And after meeting. Friends seemed as if they would have taken 
 me by force, and made me king, and none appeared more kind 
 and pressing for me to go home with them than William San- 
 som. I went, however, with my kind, humble friend, Abra- 
 ham Lower. 
 
 This victory, in one of the largest, wealthiest and most re- 
 spectable monthly meetings in tbe city, if not in the yearly 
 
61 
 
 meeting, was too much for a poor shallow creature like me, 
 and I was evidently too much elated. In the evening three of 
 the elders called upon me. One of them was brother-in-law 
 to William Sansom, and no doubt a little mortified that his 
 brother had committed himself so as to be brought under the 
 care of the overseers. This friend appeared to be sour enough 
 to leaven the whole lump. They first began by finding fault 
 with some expressions I used; particularly ^^ eternal reason,'' 
 I explained my meaning : that reason being the highest fac- 
 ulty of the soul, was the only recipient of the Divine light. 
 The one I compared to the moon, and the other to the sun. 
 As the light of the moon that shines on our earth, comes from 
 the sun, so the light of reason, when properly used in promo- 
 ting the cause of Christ, is an emanation from Christ, the 
 eternal Son of righteousness, consequently eternal in its na- 
 ture and everlasting in its duration. They seemed not disposed 
 to be satisfied ; I fear too much like the wolf in the fable, that 
 wanted to quarrel with the lamb for muddying the water so that he 
 could not drink, though the lamb was below him in the stream, 
 and tried to explain to him the impossibility of his charge be- 
 ing true. The wolf referred to some old family quarrel, as a 
 pretext to destroy the innocent, I do not wish to apply this 
 in its fullest extent to these elders, but I verily believe they 
 were wrong in coming, after what had passed in the monthly 
 meeting. Be that as it may, I am sure I was not right in 
 talking to them as I did, towards the close of our interview, 
 for I had lost the christian spirit that I had in the monthly 
 meeting, when truth bore away the victory, and they left me 
 in a state bordering on despair. 
 
 I have thought that had I been of a melancholy complexion 
 I might have been tempted to commit suicide, that dreadful 
 sleepless night. I was now down low enough, and in the mornino- 
 determined to go home. But an inward voice seemed to com- 
 mand me to go to Pine Street. This seemed to me terrible, for 
 I had heard of Nicholas Wain and Jonathan Evans, and dread- 
 ed to come in contact with them ', as though they were a lion 
 and a bear. But to Pine street Monthly meeting [ must go, 
 and had any one, with Christian sympathy, met me on my 
 way, and known the distressed state of my poor soul, they 
 would have pitied me in their heart. At this meeting I took 
 my seat in .the gallery with fear and trembling. When I 
 
 6 
 
62 
 
 thought it right to speak, and stood up, Nicholas Wain look- 
 ed at me as though he would look me through, but 1 went on 
 with my communication, to the relief of my own mind, and 
 the satisfaction of Friends. In the meeting for business, when 
 the third query and its answer came up, I made some remarks, 
 using strong expressions, and whether it alarmed the old na- 
 tive of Bucks, who stood by me the preceding day, or not, I 
 cannot say, but he immediately arose and informed the meet- 
 ing who 1 was. When Jonathan Evans said the young man 
 was an entire stranger to him, but he had unity with his spirit. 
 << So have 1 — so have 1,'^ responded something like twenty 
 voices along the galleries, and in different parts of the meet- 
 ing. After meeting. Friends manifested great kindness, and I 
 went immediately home, I think, upon the whole, substantially 
 benefitted by the severe probation. 
 
 This incidental circumstance increased my danger, by giving 
 me a notoriety and popularity I certainly never merited. Be- 
 fore this, when 1 went to Philadelphia, 1 could hardly find any 
 other home than a public house ; but now the greatest difficul- 
 ty I had, was to know what Friend's house to go to, so many 
 seemed to want me. Besides I unfortunately discovered that 
 I had a higher standing amongst the respectable inhabitants 
 of Bucks county, than 1 had expected, for some of them re- 
 sented the treatment I met with from William Sansoni, by a 
 notice of it at the public coffee-house in the city. 
 
 In the spring of 1813, I laid before Middletown Monthly 
 Meeting a prospect to travel as a minister, and obtained a 
 minute expressive of the unity of that meeting, to visit the 
 meetings belonging to Philadelphia and Abington quarters. 
 The utmost extent would be something like one hundred and 
 sixty miles. 
 
 I now come to that part of my narrative where T shall be 
 under the necessity of recording some views that I think have 
 lately been given me with great clearness, and will be in oppo- 
 sition to the generally received opinions among Friends and 
 others. 
 
 In a retrospect of my past life, that part of it spent in tra- 
 velling as a Gospel minister, which was not in accordance with 
 the example of our most Holy Head, set before us in the 
 holy mount, yields but little satisfaction ; and I verily believe 
 in CTery instance where I exceeded or went beyond his exam- 
 
63 
 
 pie, I had better stayed at home. Paul was not altogether 
 mistaken when he recommended the promulgators of the Gos- 
 pel in his day, to follow his example and remain unmarried; 
 but admitted there might be instances where it would be bet- 
 ter to marry; such I conceive were embraced in another com- 
 mandment of Paul's, and a testimony of the primitive saints : 
 ^^ Study to be quiet and do your own business, and work with 
 your own hands that you may provide things honest in the 
 sight of all men, and that you may lack nothing, for he that 
 will not thus provide for his own household, denies the faith 
 and is worse than an infidel." Hence it appears clear to me that 
 the primitive Christians would have considered that every 
 young man, who was a minister, as well as others that got 
 married and brought the object of their love into the difficulty of 
 raising a family of children, were bound by every principle of 
 honor and justice to stay with them, and assist in the arduous 
 work or business of bringing them up, and in making a 
 reasonable provision for their comfort. How then can I justi- 
 fy a part of my own conduct, who, in addition to leaving my 
 poor feeble wife, to struggle with complicated difficulties, bor- 
 rowed my friend's money, promising to pay in a given time, 
 with legal interest, from the date thereof, then started off a 
 travelling as a preacher, to be waited upon, flattered, and fed 
 upon the best my friends could provide for me, thus squan- 
 dering other people's money, and idling away that time, that, 
 in one sense, properly belonged to my creditors. 
 
 Now it would have made the thing better, if, like the hon- 
 est, industrious Paul, I had worked at my trade a part of the 
 time, so as not only to pay my own expenses, but to send 
 something home to my wife, and to my creditors ; but this 
 old fashioned honesty has long been entirely out of fashion. 
 
 If then, I have so poor an opinion of some of my own conduct, 
 connected with travelling as a preacher, what must I think of 
 a brother, but a little older than myself, of whom, I think, it 
 will be safe to say, that since he has been an acknowledged 
 minister in the society, he has never done work enough with 
 his own hands to pay the expense of raising one of his child- 
 ren as they ought to be. His first wife, if I am not mistaken, 
 had to struggle with poverty, sickness and death, leaving a 
 large family of helpless children, while he was absent travelling 
 as a preacher. But even this dispensation of affliction, appeared 
 
64 
 
 tp be but little impediment in the way of his missionary la- 
 bors, for in his travels he soon found another wife, twenty 
 years younger than himself, by whom he had another flock of 
 children, making in the whole somewhere between fifteen and 
 twenty children. Now if he never worked enough with his 
 own hands to raise one child, I wonder what the apostle Paul 
 would have thought of such a man, if he had met with him, 
 about the time he wrote his second epistle to the Thessalo- 
 nians. (See the 3d chapter, from the" 6th to the 12th verses.) 
 Would not Paul have withdrawn from such a man, as a dis- 
 orderly person ? I think he would. But as this man does 
 not belong to the same part of society that I do, perhaps I 
 had better let him alone and confine myself a little more to 
 my own conduct, and the ministers in unity with me. Suffice 
 it to say what I verily believe, it would have been more con- 
 sistent with the example of our blessed Saviour, for him, as 
 well as myself, to have staid more at home and attended more 
 strictly to those social and relative duties, that characterize the 
 practical Christian, and set a better example to some of those 
 restless, roving ministers, who are in a fair way to split upon 
 the same rock. Oh ! that these could keep a more single eye 
 to the precepts and example of Jesus Christ, who, although 
 he could walk on the water, the utmost extent of his journey 
 did not much exceed one hundred miles. And, oh ! that they 
 could especially consider that HE walked in the path of humble 
 industry, for it appears clear to me that from twelve years old 
 to twenty be was subject to his parents, and worked with his 
 own hands, at the highly honorable and useful trade of a car- 
 penter, and from twenty to thirty, his reputed father being 
 dead, he continued the business for the support of his mother 
 and her family. And during the three years of his glorious 
 ministry, I have no idea that he spent all his time without working 
 with his own hands, for his mother still claimed his care because 
 she was poor, as to this world, and, like her son, had Bot where 
 to lay her head ; be therefore commended her in the hour of 
 death to his beloved John, who, from that hour took her to his 
 own home. 
 
 How few ministers, even among Friends, are willing to fol- 
 low this high and holy example. How many there are that 
 keep boarding schools, those nurseries of pride and idleness. 
 How many are gentlemen dentists, and charge more for two or 
 
65 
 
 three hours' work, than a poor carpenter could get for a week or 
 ten days^ hard labor. How many are living idly, on usury and 
 oppressing the poor, so that many are almost ready to sink in 
 the quicksands of despair. 
 
 I think there was one man who came from England about 
 twenty years ago that professed to be the friend of Christ, and 
 one of his ministers, yet he did not obey his commandments, 
 nor follow him in the path of humble industry, for he worked 
 not at all, but lived entirely on usury. Now which of the two 
 characters did this man most resemble, the humblC; industrious 
 carpenter of Nazareth, or a rich Scribe or Pharisee, that would 
 compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he was 
 made, make him two fold more the child of Hell than he was. 
 " Wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you com- 
 pass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made 
 you make him two-fold more the child of hell than yourselves." 
 From this awful declaration of the divine Saviour, I conclude 
 he was decidedly opposed to the missionary spirit of the Jews, 
 because they made their proselytes worse. Now it appears 
 from history, they were great travellers, and had founded set- 
 tlements in every province of the Roman Empire, and had 
 theological seminaries to disseminate their principles. Such 
 was the state of apostate Judaism — such now is the state of 
 apostate Christendom. 
 
 When God was pleased to manifest himself in the fulness, 
 and present to a world of intelligent beings, that glorious per- 
 sonage called Jes,%Ls Christ, such was the light and pow^r of 
 his introduction into the world, that the angelic host proclaim- 
 ed, '^ Glory to God in the highest on earth, peace and good will 
 to men." An emanation from this light and power drew the 
 wise men from the east, to worship it. Even in its infancy 
 the gradual increase of this light and power was secretly oper- 
 ating upon visited souls, in all nations ; for the time had come 
 that the vision of the Lord's prophets, four hundred years be- 
 fore, was now to be fulfilled, ^' That the mountain of the Lord's 
 house should be established in the top of the mountains, and 
 exalted above the hills, and all nations should flow unto it.'' 
 Hence it appears that this heavenly light, which was to en- 
 lighten the Gentiles, and be the glory of the Lsrael of GoD 
 was to draw all men to it. This was the king, and this was 
 the kingdom that all men were to press into. And although 
 
 6* 
 
66 
 
 the outward appearance of this king, was the person of an 
 illiterate^ humble carpenter of Nazareth, who suifered the ig- 
 Eominous death of the cross, yet his fame in the short space of 
 three years had so spread throughout the whole Roman Em- 
 pire, that Tiberias Caesar proposed that he should be enrolled 
 among the Roman deities. No marvel, then, that the drawing 
 cords of God's love to a fallen world, in this extraordinary 
 personage, should have drawn devout men from every nation 
 under heaven to Jerusalem, the city of a thousand prophecies, 
 and the theatre of action, where the most awful and tremend- 
 ous tragedy was acted. 
 
 I have travelled considerably in several States of the Union, 
 and once into Canada, and I now verily believe for the most part 
 — with the exception of my Canadian journey — it had been bet- 
 ter to have done as I think others had better have done, learnt 
 the subjection of my own will at home, endeavoring to be a 
 consistent Christian minister, a loving and faithful husband, an 
 affectionate father, saying daily to my children, in the silent 
 but powerful language of example, "follow me as I follow 
 Christ;" in a word, filling up with propriety all the social and 
 relative duties of life that constitute the crown and diadem of a 
 perfect man, and in order to this essential attainment to a per- 
 fect gospel minister, followed my blessed Saviour more steadily, 
 in the path of humble industry. I should then have never 
 needed the assistance of my friends in a pecuniary way, a cir- 
 cumstance that has been the greatest yoke of bondage upon my 
 Christian liberty, caused the most sleepless nights and wearisome 
 days, and, in a word, the most heartfelt sorrow of all the sins I 
 ever committed. And 0, young man, especially a minister, 
 who may read this, take my advice, NEVER GO IN debt — NEVER 
 BORROW MONEY. But if thou doest, be sure to exert thyself to 
 the utmost in the path of humble industry to pay the utmost 
 farthing ; remembering that no man or woman can ever become 
 the child of Grod, much less his minister, whilst they trample 
 under foot with impunity, Justice, one of his divine attributes. 
 
 It' I had my time to go over again I would try strictly to 
 obey the advice in our excellent discipline, and so scrupulously 
 live within the bounds of my circumstances, that if I earned but 
 twenty cents p^r day I would live on ten or fifteen. Oh ! this 
 borrowing money and then borrowing again to pay the interest, 
 or leaving it unpaid until the avaricious monster, usury, comes 
 upon the poor debtor with accumulated ruin. 
 
67 
 
 With what distressing discouragement I have sat in some of 
 our large meetings and counted the heads of my creditors, till I 
 found myself sinking in the quicksands of despair. But oh ! in 
 the depths of humility, I looked to a Saviour. Like Saul of 
 Tarsus, in the street called Strait, I fervently prayed. A mer- 
 ciful Saviour heard my prayer, and sent his good Ananias to 
 remove the scales from mine eyes, and a way was opened where 
 there appeared to be no way, and I was plucked out of the hor- 
 rible and overwhelming flood that was carrying me to destruc- 
 tion, and placed on the bank of deliverance, where I have sung 
 the praises of my dear Redeemer ; and oh ! that I may continue 
 to ascribe to Him, and to Him alone, thanksgiving and praise 
 for ever and ever. I will here give my views of the instruments 
 of my deliverance. 
 
 I think the concern first originated with dear S. W., a lovely 
 minister of the everlasting Grospel, who communicated it to her 
 father, perhaps while she lay on her death bed. Doctor J. W., 
 of Buckingham, was a man who embraced in his character tho 
 happy compound of the gentleman and the Christian. His phi- 
 lanthropic soul prepared him immediately to communicate the 
 concern of his dying daughter to two of my most particular 
 friends, who entering in to it most seriously, like Ananias came 
 to me, saying that the Lord Jesus had sent them, and that they 
 believed it to be their religious duty to assist me. Having the 
 fullest confidence in their high and holy profession, I opened 
 myself by degrees to them, when they adopted the plan of ap- 
 plying to some of my rich relatives in New York, who most 
 kindly advanced liberally to them, especially I. H. and S. H. 
 
 I am certainly under great obligations, as they acted, I hope, 
 in obedience to Christ's commandment, '^ Make unto yourselves 
 friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail 
 they may receive you into everlasting habitations.'' So they 
 are received into my heart, or never dying soul, and while mem- 
 ory remains, not only they, but their children's children, shall 
 be had in grateful remembrance. Many other dear friends 
 manifested great kindness and sympathy. 
 
 I. H. died soon after my acquaintance with him ; but his 
 brother S. continued his kind correspondence for near twenty 
 years, and what is remarkable, in no one iostance, that I can 
 recollect, did he ever intimate that I was under the least obli- 
 gation to him. Ah, I wish I could say so of all others. But 
 
I must add that one of the two dear friends that first came to 
 me in the street called Strait, to enquire after me, manifested 
 the same noble, disinterested spirit; but he is now gone to the 
 eternal world, and I hope to meet him amongst the ransomed in 
 Jacob and the redeemed in Israel. 
 
 Dear cousin S. H. is also dead. He died on the 12th of the 
 10th month, 1837. I was on board the canal boat near Pitts- 
 burgh, in company with his brother V. and his wife, on our re- 
 turn from Indiana at the time. 
 
 It being one of the most remarkable circumstances of my life, 
 I will simply state the fact to the best of my understanding. 
 
 On the night of the eleventh and twelfth I was quite unwell, 
 having travelled hard the preceding day in order to take the 
 boat at Pittsburgh. I doubted then^ and still continue to doubt 
 the propriety of that journey, and my spirits as well as my health 
 were suffering. But on the morning of the 12th, my poor de- 
 jected soul was preciously visited with the quickening presence 
 of my blessed Saviour, when the spirit of prayer flowed like that 
 river which proceeds from the threshhold of the throne of Gody 
 and spreads through the heritage of his /S'wi, unlimited as eter- 
 nity ; — and as my manner of devotional exercise, when thus fa- 
 vored, was, and still is, to pray fervently for myself first, that 
 my faith and love for my blessed Saviour might be increased, 
 that I might be more and more dedicated and preserved to do 
 his will, and then those who are the nearest and dearest to me 
 in the circle of my acquaintance — hence my wife and children 
 and nearest and dearest friends, especially those that are sick 
 and suffering ; and then the mind being thus quickened and 
 made fruitful in the house of prayer, secretly supplicates for 
 the suffering seed throughout the world. Whilst thus solemnly 
 engaged, when I came to my dear cousia S. H. I felt something 
 like an awful pause, and a small still voice seemed to address 
 the ear of my soul, saying, >' He has gone to the eternal world." 
 I cannot find language that possesses force suflScient to describe 
 my feelings. Suffice it to say I was almost as certain that he 
 was dead, as if I had heard it from a special messenger sent to 
 inform thereof. We had heard on the evening of the 10th, by 
 a letter from New York, that he was sick, and when we arrived 
 at Lancaster, being detained in consequence of some deficiency 
 in the line, cousin V. soon came to me with a Philadelphia pa- 
 per in his hand^ and the tears rolling down his cheeks^ saying, 
 
69 
 
 in broken accents, ^^here it is, brother S. is dead/' V/s com- 
 munication scarcely moved me, for I was prepared for it. 
 
 -As an American merchant, he had few equals; and perhaps 
 none stood higher in England and on the continent of Europe. 
 His wife died a few years before him, a tender, lovely woman. 
 In them I lost two of my best friends. 
 
 Having been led off of the regular channel of narrative, and 
 wandered a little into peculiar and f«.vorite views respecting 
 missionary travelling, I must return again to 1813. 
 
 Soon after my first travelling as an acknowledged minister, I 
 was evidently slipping into the popular current, when another 
 severe shock was permitted to come upon me. I was still a 
 member of Middletown Monthly and Particular meeting, where 
 there were three or four other ministers, and living- as near 
 "Wrightstown, then the largest meeting in the quarter, and no 
 minister there that was able to attend, I consulted some of our 
 elders as to the propriety of my attending that meeting, as way 
 should open. They encouraged me to attend to the concern, 
 and I went, where I was placed at the head of a very large 
 meeting. 
 
 The almost peculiar kindness of friends and others was fan- 
 ning my native vanity into a flame, while a secret conspiracy 
 was forming in the select Preparative Meeting of Middletown 
 against me, and which broke out in the next sitting of that 
 meeting. I have thought it originated with two ministers who 
 had the seeds of orthodoxy — jealousy and envy — then in them. 
 They made use of my dear old father, William Blakey, as a kind 
 of catspaw. It was a distressing time, and I think I defended 
 myself more like a soldier than a Christian. The select meeting, 
 composed of about ten or twelve men and women, were almost 
 equally divided, and if I remember right broke up somewhat 
 confusedly, and upon the whole it was rather a disreputable 
 concern. My good old spiritual father was so hurt with his 
 own conduct, and that of some others, that his son told me he 
 could neither eat nor sleep till he had another interview with me, 
 which took place at the house of an elder, in the absence of the 
 two orthodox ministers above alluded to. Here the father and 
 son were reconciled, and he continued his fatherly affection as 
 long as he lived. But the treatment I had met with — notwith- 
 standing I might have deserved it — and the evident derange- 
 ment in the unity of Middletown meeting, almost overset me. 
 
70 
 
 I thougbt I was now done forever, and seemed almost disposed 
 to sink into a gloomy melanclioly, when it seemed impressed 
 upon my mind to leave them and go to Wrightstown altogether. 
 My wife uniting with me, we spoke for our certificates of remo- 
 val. The overseers expressed their sorrow that I was going to 
 leave them, and my few opposers tried to stop my certificate 
 by such improper measures as ended in their own trouble of 
 mind. 
 
 About this time the settlement of a Friend's meeting in New- 
 town was much talked of. The courts of justice were removed 
 and the public buildings were vacant. There were by this time 
 several families of Friends in the town and its vicinity, and a 
 considerable number in the country round about ; but they be- 
 longed to three different monthly meetings, Wrightstown, Mid- 
 dletown, and the Falls. Of course the application to hold an 
 indulged meeting for worship in the old Court House, which was 
 rented for that purpose, on first and third day mornings for six 
 months, was made to all three of those meetings. The request 
 was granted, and committees appointed to have the care thereof 
 for six months, from the 1st day in the 4th month, 1815. 
 This was the beginning of Newtown meeting. At the expira- 
 tion of the first six months the application was renewed for six 
 and twelve months more, and before that expired, application 
 was made for a, j^reparative meeting, to be a branch of Wrights- 
 town monthly meeting, and permission to build a new meeting 
 house. After meeting with some opposition, it finally received 
 the sanction of the quarter ; and here I would pleasantly notice 
 what I have often pleasantly, and I hope innocently told. Our 
 opposers, though few in number, tried, as a last subterfuge, to 
 alarm the Quarterly meeting, by stating that the Quarterly 
 meeting would become responsible for any expense that Friends 
 of Newtown might please to go to, if they granted them per- 
 mission to build. As spokesman for my friends I arose and 
 addressed the meeting in substance as follows : " Friends of 
 Newtown ask no pecuniary favors of Bucks quarterly meeting 
 or any other meeting. We are willing and entirely able to 
 build the house ourselves. We only want the unity of the 
 spirit in the bond of peace." What constitutes the peculiarity 
 and singularity of this declaration, the man that made it was 
 perhaps not worth one cent if his debts were paid. J3ut I was 
 present when seven rich Friends pledged themselves to build the 
 house. 
 
71 
 
 I will here advert again to the causes of my pecuniary em- 
 barrassments. 
 
 In addition to a constitutional weakness, I quit the only busi- 
 ness I understood, and for which I had a capacity, viz. paint- 
 ing, for the business of a farmer, which I did not understand, 
 and for which I had no qualifications whatever. I verily thought 
 then, and still think, farming more consistent with the Chris- 
 tian, and was willing to sacrifice all my fondness for painting. 
 But it would not do, for notwithstanding I worked hard, I went 
 behind hand daily. The cruel moth of usury was eating up my 
 outward garment, soon to expose me a poor naked bankrupt ; 
 for my father, who I thought had given me forty acres of land 
 in the vicinity of the village, altered his mind and took it from 
 me, leaving me with only twenty acres, for which I had given 
 eighty-six dollars per acre at public sale, and which I had to 
 sell for forty dollars. Thus ended my farming speculation. 
 
 If the Christian world was in the real spirit of Christ, I do 
 not believe there would be such a thing as a fine painter in 
 Christendom. It appears clearly to me to be one of those tri- 
 fling, insignificant arts, which has never been of any substantial 
 advantage to mankind. But as the inseparable companion of 
 voluptuousness and pride, it has presaged the downfall of em- 
 pires and kingdoms ; and in my view stands now enrolled among 
 tlie premonitory symptoms of the rapid decline of the American 
 Republic. But there is something of importance in the exam- 
 pleof the primitive Christians and primitive Quakers, to mind 
 their callings or business, and work with their own hands at 
 such business as they are capable of, avoiding idleness and fa- 
 naticism. Had I my time to go over again I think I would 
 take the advice given me by my old friend Abraham Chapman, 
 a shrewd, sensible lawyer that lived with me about the time I 
 was quitting painting; '' Edward, thee has now the source of 
 independence within thyself, in thy peculiar talent for painting. 
 Keep to it, within the bounds of innocence and usefulness, and 
 thee can always be comfortable.^' 
 
 The apostle Paul exhorted the primitive believers to be con- 
 tent With their outward situation, even if they were slaves, and 
 the primitive Quakers seemed to manifest the same spirit, only 
 choosing, as Paul says, their liberty the rather. As to the call- 
 ing or busmess by which they got their living, Thomas Elwood 
 informs us a particular friend of his was a barber, and followed 
 
72 
 
 dressing noblemen's heads. And from my own observation and 
 experience, I am rather disposed to believe that too many of 
 those conscientious difficulties about our outward calling or 
 business that we have learned as a trade to get our living by, 
 which are in themselves honest and innocent, have originated 
 more in fanaticism than the law of the spirit of life in Christ 
 Jesus. 
 
 Being forced as it were to return to painting, though with 
 spirits and constitution somewhat impaired, friends and others 
 most kindly patronized me, and the county and township officers 
 gave me a considerable number of directors or index boards to 
 paint, which to me was a profitable job. But working too 
 steadily, day and night, whilst my bodily health was delicate, 
 brought on an affection of my lungs, with all the symptoms of 
 pulmonary consumption. In this situation the Heavenly Shep- 
 herd in mercy and goodness laid upon me a concern to travel, 
 first to the South in the spring, and in the autumn to the North, 
 in New York and Canada. In these journeys I rode near 3000 
 miles on horseback, which I am disposed to believe was the 
 cause of changing the nature of my complaint from pulmonary 
 to long consumption or chronic cough. 
 
 As a short account of my Northern journey may be interest- 
 ing, I will try to state some facts, (though I have told some of 
 the anecdotes so often that perhaps, being a painter, I may have 
 added to them a little fresh color at times.) 
 
 I left home on the 4th of 9th month, 1819, in company with 
 Isaac Parry, an elder of Abington quarter, and Mathias Hutch- 
 inson, an amiable young man of Bucks quarter, and travelled 
 through the northern part of Pennsylvania and the western part 
 of New York State. Our first meeting in New York State was 
 at Bath, the county town of Steuben. We arrived in the eve- 
 ning, and put up at a very respectable tavern. 
 
 When my friends consulted the landlord and some of the 
 chief men of the village as to the propriety of having a meeting 
 in the Court House next day at eleven o'clock, they entered 
 cheerfully into the concern, particularly a Doctor C, and notice 
 was given. I have but little recollection as to the size of the 
 meeting, but my impression is it was a dull, lifeless concern on 
 my part, and did not add any thing to the advancement of 
 truth. But it appeared that my friends and others thought 
 differently, and the Doctor was quite astonished that I should 
 
7a 
 
 Iiave prepared a sermon so suitable to the congregation^ in so 
 sliorfc a time. But when he was told that it was neither studied 
 nor prepared, his astonishment increased wonderfully. The 
 greatest difficulty we had was with the landlord, who refused 
 to receive any pay for our entertainment. But after stating 
 that our principles led us conscientiously to pay, he very reluc- 
 tantly received pay for our horses, and my two companions, but 
 refused positively to receive any thing for entertaining the 
 preacher. 
 
 Our next meeting was a monthly meeting, held at Farming- 
 ton, Ontario county. It was composed, I think, of seven prepa- 
 rative meetings, and lasted from eleven o'clock until sundown. 
 If I remember right, it was an interesting meeting, and conduc- 
 ted with a good degree of harmony. From this meeting notice 
 went on nearly a hundred miles towards Canada, to the meetings 
 in the new settlements. Notice was likewise given of our being 
 at Farmington on First day, in consequence of which much peo- 
 ple got together, and I fear I preached too much. Notwith- 
 standing, it was thought, even by my friends, to be a great meet- 
 ing. But if I remember right, our Saviour's language might 
 best describe my labors: " The kingdom of heaven suffered 
 violence, and the violent took it by force." 
 
 We had a meeting on Second day evening at Rochester, six- 
 teen miles on our way, after which I saw and felt the symptoms 
 of an approaching storm among Friends. A minister and his 
 brother seemed disposed to cavil about speculative doctrines. 
 Next day we went to Raga, about twenty miles in a new settle- 
 ment, and put up at the house of the principal man, who was a 
 justice of the peace. The meeting was appointed at three 
 o'clock, about which time Friends and others assembled, and it 
 is said I was led to speak of man, in his unredeemed state, be- 
 ing as much disposed to fight as a dog, and that it was even 
 possible that when those animals get to fighting, that their 
 masters would follow their example, and after degrading them- 
 selves to the level of the brutC; would manifest the spirit of the 
 Devil, by sueing at the law. I have no recollection myself 
 what I said, but I was told by my friends afterwards that the 
 magistrate with whom we dined, and one of his neighbors, had 
 been fighting in consequence of their dogs fighting, and were 
 then at law with each other. 
 
 We had meetings at Shelby, Hartland; Stateland, and Roy- 
 7 
 
74 
 
 alton ; and travelled mostly on the ridge road, as great a curi- 
 osity almost as the Falls of Niagara, and turning to the right 
 and left into the new settlements, either between Eaga and 
 Shelby, or Shelby and Hartland, we passed through a new 
 small town or village, on the ridge road, called Sandy Creek ; 
 where the yellow fever was more destructive according to the 
 number of inhabitants, than it ever was in Philadelphia or New 
 York. It was about noon, and we stopped at the first tavern, 
 where the landlord had just breathed his last. We went to the 
 next, which appeared uninhabited. The third had taken down 
 their sign, and were too sick to give us a dinner. We then saw 
 a man we took to be a miller. He appeared to be a walking 
 corpse, as yellow almost as saffron. He told us nearly all the 
 people of the place were either sick or dead, and we would have 
 to go about four miles to the next tavern, where we might get 
 dinner. 
 
 Our meetings at Hartland and Koyalton are distinctly re- 
 membered — the first for the remarkable favor of the divine 
 presence, which melted us all into tenderness and love. The 
 second was remarkable for an extraordinary person that attend- 
 ed it. As soon as I arose to speak, a man kneeled, and re- 
 mained on his knees, in perfect silence, if I mistake not, till I 
 finished my communication, when he took his seat, and after a 
 solemn silence, arose and addressed the meeting, in an eloquent, 
 solemn, and affecting manner; stating the difficulties he had 
 met with, and the great distance he had come, which I think 
 was more than twenty miles, to attend that meeting, and thank- 
 fulness he felt for the favor. As soon as meeting ended, he 
 went, as I thought, right off, without speaking to any body ; 
 and I did not understand that any one knew him, or from 
 whence he came, or whither he went. His looks were those of 
 a superior man, but his clothing was very indifferent. 
 
 Next day we crossed the Niagara at Lewistown, and ascended 
 Queenston Heights, and rode seven miles to the great Falls ; 
 where, putting up our horses and speaking for our suppers and 
 lodgings, we went to see the mighty wonder of the world. 
 Since we left Rochester we had an addition to our company of 
 a young man who was travelling for his health. On returning 
 from the Falls to our inn, being cold and wet, we requested to 
 have fire in our room ; but no notice was paid to our request. 
 The landlord was from home, and had left a young man to su- 
 
75 
 
 perintend his business, who appeared very sour. ' This, with the 
 bad language we heard in the house, made us feel unpleasant, 
 and to increase our difficulty, our fellow traveller, who was a 
 native of Yermont, began to manifest a warlike spirit ; and even 
 our friend I. P. appeared to be much displeased, whilst he 
 walked across the room and talked of not putting up with such 
 treatment, but of going to Chippewa, where he had been advised 
 to go. In this dilemma I proposed trying kind words, for the 
 wise man says it will turn away wrath; and as the young man 
 came by us, I said, pleasantly, " young man, art thou an Eng- 
 lishman?'' He answered very short, *'No, sir." I added, 
 " what countryman art thou V " I am a Swede." " Ah," 
 said I, ''^that will do; the Swedes are the most hospitable, hon- 
 est people in the world, and I trust this young man will not 
 contradict his national character." This I spoke loud enough 
 for him to hear me, and the change it made in his conduct to- 
 wards us was astonishing. He made us a fire immediately, had 
 us an excellent supper, waited on us politely, and gave us the 
 best room, and perhaps the best beds ; in which, with the roar- 
 ing of the Falls and the shaking of the house, we were soon 
 sung and rocked to sleep. 
 
 My G-reen Mountain companion was quite disposed to rally 
 me, saying Pennsylvanians talked about Yankee tricks, but 
 what should he call my management of the Swede ? 
 
 On our way to Young Street, more than a hundred miles in 
 the interior of the Province, in the afternoon of the first day's 
 journey, we travelled on the margin of Lake Ontario, and the 
 deep dry sand tired our horses, as well as ourselves, so much 
 that we had to put up at night at a poor little tavern near the 
 outlet of Burlington Bay ; and to increase the inconvenience 
 many people were there fishing at the outlet. We were all very 
 tired, but our friend I, P. was almost overcome, being too heavy a 
 man to travel on horseback. While supper was preparing, an 
 inquisitive man asked me where we were travelling? I told him 
 to Young Street. He asked if we were going to buy land? I 
 told him no, we were going to visit our friends. He then asked 
 if there were any preachers among us? 1 told him there was 
 one, and looked towards Isaac Parry, who sat with his eyes 
 shut, apparently taking no notice. There was something pe- 
 culiarly solemn and dignified in his appearance, and the man 
 looked at him apparently with awe and respect ; then went out 
 
76 
 
 into the bar-room, and, if I remember rightly, appeared to "bo 
 talking in an under tone about the Quaker preacher, which, ex- 
 citing their curiosit}^, there was considerable whispering and 
 peeping about the doors and windows. Isaac appeared to be 
 unconscious of what had taken place, and after supper, feeling 
 refreshed, he walked out on the bank of the lake, and noticed 
 particularly the quiet and respectful manner in which the fish- 
 ermen carried themselves towards him. This little manoeuvre 
 of fixing the character of a Quaker preacher on by far the most 
 dignified person belonging to our company, appears to have ope- 
 rated in our favor; for we were treated with kindness and re- 
 spect, and had the only two spare beds in the house^ the resfe 
 sleeping as they could on the floor. 
 
 On our way from Young Street to York^ we were advised to 
 call and stay a night with an old man whose wife was a member 
 among Friends. When we arrived at the place — it was a dark 
 day in the latter part of the 10th month — every thing appeared 
 gloomy about the premises } and to complete the black picture, 
 when we went in the house, the whole family appeared dressed 
 in black, and nothing like Quakerism to be seen or felt among 
 them. However, they received us with something like the good 
 old English hospitality. The old man, who seemed to plume 
 himself on being of the same age of King George the Third, 
 had received this asylum for his secret services during the Eevo- 
 lutionary War. And I, too, soon had reason to suspect ho 
 was the very man that led or conducted the bloodthirsty Gene- 
 ral Grey to the massacre at Paoli. Any one acquainted with 
 my prejudices against the English, might conclude I was nofe 
 very comfortable; but had they seen the poor old man hugging 
 me, when he was told by Isaac Parry that I was the grandson 
 of his good old tory friend, Judge Hicks, they would have been 
 quite disposed to join my friend Isaac in the enjoyment of this 
 scene. 
 
 Next morning we started as soon as it was light for York, to 
 meet our young companions, who had gone on the night before. 
 We found the old man up, with his bottles of brandy, &c., in- 
 sisting upon our taking a morning dram with him ; but we de- 
 clined his superfluous hospitality, and the grandson of an old 
 tory was truly glad to escape another embrace from this patri- 
 otic subject of his Britannic Majesty. 
 
 On our way to Young Street we met with a Methodist mia- 
 
77 
 
 ister, wboknew but little of Friends; but, finding we were on 
 a religious visit, gave us an invitation to have a meeting in a 
 new house near where he lived, that was used by different socie- 
 ties. When we arrived at Young Street, and were making 
 some arrangements for appointed meetings, this place was fixed 
 upon to be on First day afternoon, at two o'clock. The roads 
 being bad, we did not arrive at the minister's house until one 
 o'clock, and found no body at home but children. However, 
 we soon found a good barn, and plenty for our horses. The 
 minister and his wife were at meeting, which was within sight, 
 but did not return till near two o'clock. The man who had in- 
 sisted upon our coming to his house for dinner seemed pleased 
 to see us, but I thought his beautiful wife looked cross at us. 
 However, she soon got us a dish of tea and something to eat, 
 while her husband sung and talked. For my part I was so dis- 
 tressed about the meeting I could neither eat nor talk, much 
 less sing, and therefore walked by myself towards the meeting 
 house. It was then after the hour appointed. When I got to 
 the house, there was no person there. It was cold, and the 
 wind and snow were driving through the weather-boards. I 
 do not know that I ever felt more wretched in a meeting house. 
 After a while the people began to assemble in a scattering man- 
 ner, whispering to each other, while I was the object of all their 
 eyes. My friends, with the Methodist and his pretty wife, al- 
 so came, and we tried to get still, as far as example would go, 
 but they were strangers to silence. Notwithstanding there was 
 something like a pulpit, I took my seat on the end of a bench, 
 where I continued to sit, with my mind apparently stripped of 
 every thing that was good, with a prospect of being silent, to 
 which I soon became resigned, and was thankful that I could 
 bear my testimony silently to the ever blessed truth. Under 
 the inflaence of this precious quiet, I heard the word of com- 
 mand to stand forth in the midst, and stretch out my withered 
 arm, and I soon felt the restoring power of the Gospel. The 
 people began to groan, and even shout. One man near me, I 
 was told, cried out passionately, ^* Oh Lord, Jesus Christ, seal 
 instruction upon our souls ! Halleluia !" I tried to persuade 
 them, for my sake, to try to be still, and let their groanings be 
 like those the apostle spoke of — too big to be uttered. I was 
 led to speak of the rights of women — that they were one in 
 . Christ with men, and entitled to equal privileges, and that I 
 
 7* 
 
78 
 
 had heard the Gospel preached by them, in greater sweetness 
 and power, than I had ever heard from the lips of man. There 
 was a precious silence covered the meeting, which seemed only 
 interrupted by the suppressed weeping of some of the women. 
 After the meeting ended, our kind Methodist friend took me by 
 the hand and said, in substance, " Dear brother, you ought to 
 preach that sermon a dozen times over. Why we have been 
 contending with our women about their right to preach.'' This 
 man appeared to have the same besetting sin with myself — he 
 was too light, and talked too much. But his lovely wife ap- 
 peared quite changed, and could not talk much. 
 
 After this triumphant meeting, we rode four miles to the 
 best tavern on the Dundas Street, where we spent the evening 
 most agreeably. The next day, if I remember right, was a day 
 of too much lightness, and of course the meeting we had in the 
 afternoon was rather dull and insipid. Alas I how difficult it 
 is for me, whose besetting sin is lightness and vanity, to keep 
 sufficiently humble, or, as Dear William Dewsbury expressed 
 it in his sermon 1688, " When I have done the will of the 
 Lord, wait in silent patience for the blessing of preservation." 
 But instead of this, how often have I, after a favored meeting, 
 taken the jewels of Christ, and put them upon cursed self, and 
 thus played the part of a spiritual harlot. And is not this the 
 fatal rock on which popular preachers split, and ruin them- 
 selves, and scatter the flock of Christ ? Are they not, too 
 often, more concerned for their own reputation as preachers, or 
 the reputation of the society to which they belong, than they 
 are for the salvation of the people to whom they profess to be 
 sent. 
 
 We had a number of meetings in Canada, and all I can say 
 of them is, than when ever I was stript of my own covering, 
 and clothed with the covering of this holy Spirit, or when, like 
 the apostle, I knew nothing but Jesus Christ and him cruci- 
 fied, I preached the gospel, and the people were edified or com- 
 forted. But when ever I put on an old patched garment, part 
 of which was borrowed, and strutted into meeting with my 
 second hand finery, or knew so many pretty texts of Scripture 
 by heart, as not to want to know Christ to be the resurrection 
 and the life, my preaching was vain and the people's belief in 
 it was vain, and like priest, like people, all remained in sin 
 agreeably to Paul's doctrine, ^'Except Christ be risen, our 
 
79 
 
 preaching is vain, and your faith is vain, and you are yet in your 
 sins/' Ah ! dear, precious Paul, I wish I could feel that holy 
 fear that thou didst, when thou wast concerned to keep cursed 
 self under, lest while thou wast preaching to others thou shouldst 
 become a cast away. 
 
 We crossed the Niagara river at Black Rock, near the outlet 
 of Lake Erie, and it appeared to me our lives were in jeopardy 
 in consequence of the violence of the wind and water. The 
 next day we arrived at Batavia, the county town of Grenesee, 
 where dwelt Joseph EUicott, the wealthy agent of the Holland 
 Company. It was said that he was a member of our society, 
 although he made no appearance of a Friend, and less profession. 
 We arrived in town a little before noon, and put up at a good 
 looking tavern, near Joseph's house, and my friends Isaac Parry 
 and Mathias Hutchinson, went to see him. They told him 
 that Friends of Farmington had requested them, if they got to 
 Batavia, and should think it right to have a meeting, to call on 
 Joseph Ellicott, who was a man of influence, and would give 
 them such assistance as they should need, and that they were 
 in company with a ministering friend of Pennsylvania, who 
 wished to have a meeting to-morrow morning, being First day. 
 He answered them as roughly as Joseph did his brethren in 
 Egypt, saying in substance, "If you have plenty of money and 
 want to buy land I am ready to wait upon you, but as for meet- 
 ing business, and preaching I know nothing about it; and, 
 besides, our court house is undergoing a repair, and we have 
 no place to hold a meeting, and it would be pretty high to 
 keep these people waiting till Monday, to attend to your busi- 
 ness.'' I think it is quite likely my friend Isaac felt a little as 
 he did at the Falls of Niagara, when he gave him something 
 like the following short but spirited answer : ^' We do not wish 
 to put thee or anybody else to any trouble or inconvenience, 
 and are only sorry that Friends of Farmington, should be so 
 mistaken in their man. We will therefore bid thee farewell, 
 and pass on." My friends then arose from their seats to depart 
 when the old man replied in substance: stop, stop, this won't 
 do, you are not going to throw the responsibility of the concern 
 on my shoulders. I can't submit to it; I must see if the Metho- 
 dists can't accommodate you; they like preaching as well as 
 any." '■'• What is the preacher's name ?" My name was then 
 mentioned, and by this time I think his carriage was ready for 
 
80 
 
 him at the door, and he was off, notwithstanding it was snow- 
 ing, with a promise that he would call on us directly. 
 
 My friends returned to the tavern, but did not inform me at 
 that time, what had passed, only that Joseph Ellicott was 
 coming over to see me directly. And soon came into the room 
 a very large man, with a white head, and a blue cloak, and 
 asked for me. I arose to speak to him and he shook hands with 
 me, and very kindly asked us all to come and dine with him. 
 I acknowledged his kindness, but informed him that we had 
 spoken for our dinners, when we put up our horses. He said 
 we might leave our horses, but we must come with him, and he 
 would make it all right. We went, and were treated with the 
 greatest hospitality and kindness. This man appeared to be 
 one of the better sort of hypocrites, pretended the worst, and 
 failed at the bottom. He intended to do all he could for us, 
 while he was carrying himself so roughly. He had ordered 
 his carriage for the purpose of going to the trustees of the 
 Academy, and to the schools, and to a Methodist minister, that 
 held meeting that evening, to get him to speak of a Friends' 
 meeting, to be held at the Academy next morning, at eleven 
 o'clock. All this appears to have been done with a prompti- 
 tude and decision, characteristic of a perfect man of business, 
 before he invited us to his house. 
 
 Next morning the old man evidently manifested anxiety about 
 the meeting, more especially when he saw so many respectable 
 people going, and he spoke to my friend Isaac Parry to tell me 
 I must preach that day ; it would never do to disappoint so 
 respectable a congregation. Isaac of course told him he could 
 not comply with his request. The poor old man sighed heavily, 
 and appeared under great exercise, frequently whispering to 
 Isaac, *' Do you think he will preach ? You must tell him ho 
 must." We went to meeting. It was large, and composed of 
 the most respectable inhabitants, and I am afraid that it was 
 only the personal pronoun / that preached. That is, I am 
 afraid I did not preach Christ Jesus the Loi'd and myself a 
 servant for Christ's sake; and what seems to increase my fears 
 the old man was mightily pleased, and complimented me too 
 much, which to me is pretty strong evidence that he was not 
 essentially benefitted by what was said. However, my friends 
 thought we had a good meeting. 
 
 After dinner we left the kind old man^ and went towards 
 
81 
 
 FarmingtoD^ taking a meeting in our way with a people that 
 called themselves ChjHstians, It was held in their meeting 
 house, and was what we Quakers would call a good silent meet- 
 ing, but I believe the people were a good deal dissatisfied. 
 
 I think we were at another monthly meeting, at Farmington ; 
 and had several meetings in the neighborhood, and on our way 
 to Scipio, where my friend Isaac Parry was taken sick, with 
 something like the fever we met with on the Ridge Road ; and 
 I have always been sorry that I parted with him, although he 
 soon got well enough to ride home. 
 
 I had now no other companion than Mathias Hutchinson, an 
 amiable, and, I think, excellent young man, whose kindness, at- 
 tention and sympathetic feelings, I hope I shall ever remember 
 with love and- gratitude. After having several meetings in and 
 about Scipio, we went to Skaneateles, to the house of a supe- 
 rior woman, a widow and minister, where we spent a very agree- 
 able evening in company with her worthy old father-in-law, a 
 highly esteemed elder, from the neighborhood of New York. 
 In some of the conversation of this excellent man, I thought 
 I saw and felt some of the premonitory symptoms of the sor- 
 rowful separation that was about to take place in society. 
 
 Next day this accomplished woman and her son, went with 
 us as far as Manlius, twenty-four miles, where we had a meet- 
 ing appointed in a Methodist meeting-house, for next day at 
 ten o'clock, which was the darkest morning I ever saw. I 
 think, if I remember right, we had two or three candles on the 
 breakfast table, at nine o'clock, in a room with three fifteen 
 light windows. I am rather disposed to believe that our meet- 
 ing was a poor concern, for the worthy woman kept silent, and 
 my sermon was of such a character that I have reason to fear 
 it was either an old one, or a horroioed one, for the Methodist 
 minister asked me for a copy of it as soon as meeting broke up. 
 We parted with our kind friends, they returning home and we 
 proceeding on our journey, wishing to get to Eastern quarter, 
 something like two hundred miles, near the State of Ver- 
 mont. 
 
 After travelling from among Friends for two days, we found by 
 pushing on pretty smartly, we might get to a Friend's house in 
 the evening. We got there about eight o'clock, the night be- 
 ing cold, windy and dark. We saw light in the window, and 
 called so loudly as to make them hoist the window, and ask 
 
82 
 
 wlio was there. I answered we are weary strangers and Friends 
 that have been travelling- amongst " yes sir," and ^' no sir/' 
 and we wanted to find something like ^'thee." Whether it 
 was the pleasant manner in which we introduced ourselves or 
 not, we certainly were treated with great kindness and hospi- 
 tality. My friend and I had agreed, before we got to the 
 house, to try these yankee Quakers' hospitality, by not letting 
 them know that we were travelling on a religious visit : hence, 
 their questions having a direct bearing to that point were avoid- 
 ed with a careful reference to the truth. 
 
 Having rode near forty miles, through cold and wind, we 
 were soon so sleepy as to retire to rest. I can never forget the 
 motherly kindness of that dear old woman Friend. Next 
 morning being the first of the week, we asked if there was not 
 a Friends' meeting somewhere on the way towards Albany. 
 They said Milton meeting was about eight or nine miles on 
 that way. Before we left these kind Friends they found out 
 our business, and wanted to send somebody with us, but we 
 were not willing to put them to that trouble. 
 
 We did not get to the meeting until after it was gathered, 
 and went in quietly and sat behind the door. We had scarcely 
 got settled before a good old man that sat at what is called the 
 elbow of the preacher's gallery, arose and preached to us with 
 propriety and consistency. Soon after he took his seat a younger 
 man that I had noticed, whose countenance was marked with 
 intelligence and unflinching courage, arose and spoke with en- 
 ergy and feeling. This man was once called Captain Corey, an offi- 
 cer in the late war. A short time after he sat down the meet- 
 ing closed. As we were near the door, we were the first out, 
 and went immediately to our horses, intending to go on to 
 the next tavern to dinner. A man that I had noticed next to 
 the old preacher came to us, and kindly asked us home with 
 him to dine. We tried to excuse ourselves, stating we were 
 in a hurry to get on towards Albany. But he would take no 
 denial, asking us our names, and from whence we came. When I 
 told him, he said " Art thou that Hicks that was in the west- 
 ern part of our State two months ago, and went into Canada V 
 When I told him I had been there about that time, he said, 
 '* I thought so when thee came into meeting. Why did thee 
 not come and take thy seat?" 
 
 We went home with this kind elder and took dinner. Soon 
 
83 
 
 after several friends came in, and among the rest the late Cap- 
 tain Corej. We spent the afternoon and evening very agreea- 
 bly, and notwithstanding my friends think me a great talker, I 
 had reason to believe I was a mere child compared to the d3- 
 scendants of the New England Puritans. 
 
 Next day a kind friend, who had offered, went with us 
 twenty miles to Saratoga, and the next day we crossed the 
 North River and went to Easton, having a worthy elder of Sar- 
 atoga with us, who took us to the house of his brother who was 
 a minister, and his wife an elder. In the evening some allu- 
 sion was made to a new doctrine, some where preaching, that 
 there was no devil. I observed, I think in substance, that the 
 doctrine of devils was to me somewhat dark and difficult. I 
 thought I should be willing to have it explained by persons of 
 age and experience, more especially as I was young and did not 
 wish to hold unsound doctrines. The old minister undertook 
 a kind of explanation, that rather increased the difficulty, and 
 went to show how careful we should be not to talk on subjects 
 of this kind without being under the influence of the great 
 head of the Christian church, who said to his disciples, '^With- 
 out me ye can do nothing.'' I was sorry and hurt in behold- 
 ing that ravening spirit that was then secretly dividing in Ja- 
 cob, subsequently to scatter in Israel. 
 
 Next day attended the select quarterly meeting. I am 
 am afraid sullenly silent. Next day the general quarterly 
 meeting, pretty much in the same way, which I think was ra- 
 ther a poor preparation for the youth's meeting, or meeting for 
 worship, where I spoke at considerable length, and some might 
 have thought it was a great meeting. But my present impres- 
 sion is, that ray preaching was too much like a half baked cake, 
 and the people that fed on it like Ephraim, when he fed on 
 wind. Next day there was a very large gathering of people 
 at the same place, in consequence of the funeral of a respecta- 
 ble Friend. I spoke again and if I remember right there was 
 more light and life. 
 
 At this quarterly meeting I met with an extraordinary old 
 Friend, in the station of an elder, that lived in the State of 
 Vermont. Several circumstances he related I shall never for- 
 get. One of which was, as nearly as I can remember, was as 
 follows : 
 
 He said he became acquainted with a respectable man, that 
 
84 
 
 lived about twenty miles from him, who was in extensive bn- 
 sinesSj and a Justice of the Peace. In a serious conversation 
 with this man, the man told him that he must candidly ac- 
 knowledge he did not believe in Christianity, not so much be- 
 cause of the contradictory propositions and paradoxical difficul- 
 ties it embraced, as the spirit and conduct of its most devoted 
 advocates. He did most seriously wish to believe, but could 
 not act the hypocrite and say he believed when he did not. The 
 old elder said he felt love in his heart for this man, and great 
 concern that he might be convinced of the blessed truth, as ife 
 is in JesuSj and one might he awoke with a solemn impression 
 that it was his duty to go and see him, and that he would be 
 furnished with a message of love and encouragement for him. 
 He arose early and went to the man's house, and found him 
 engaged in much business, with much company. As soon as 
 the man saw him he spoke to him kindly, and expressed how 
 glad he was to see him. The old elder said he sat silently in 
 his office for some time, in great poverty of spirit, and under 
 some discouragement at the difficulty of having a suitable op- 
 portunity. He got up and walked out by himself. I think 
 he told me that it was in the short dark days of autumn, and 
 he was thinking of returning without relieving his mind, when 
 he heard a noise behind him, and turning, he saw the man 
 coming to him, who thus addressed him, '' Mr. K,, I know not 
 why, but I was particularly glad to see you, and thought per- 
 haps you had some special business with me, so I excused my- 
 self to the company to gi^e you an opportunity.'' The good 
 old elder, having been emptied of himself, spoke, I trust, as 
 the believers did on the day of Pentecost, with other tongues, 
 as the spirit gave him utterance. The tears rolled freely down 
 the man's cheeks, and when the old man had done, the man 
 added, ^' I thank you, I thank you kindly, Mr. R.; I hope I 
 shall remember your message of love to advantage." They then 
 shook hands most affectionately, and the old elder returned to 
 his own home in peace, in possession of the legacy a Saviour 
 gives all his faithful disciples, " My peace I leave with you j 
 my peace I give unto you." " Let not your hearts be troubled, 
 neither let them be afraid." 
 
 This was an elder worthy of double honor, a practical Chris- 
 tian, that was the instrument of saving that which was lost, 
 for a few days after, this man was taken sick and died, and on 
 
85 
 
 his death bed he expressed his great thankfulness to the Sa- 
 viour of his soul, for the message of love and encouragement 
 he had received through his faithful servant. 
 
 Oh ! that all that profess to be elders in the church of 
 Christ, would go and do likewise ; how much good might be 
 done. How infinitely, infinitely superior is such a course of 
 conduct to that general course pursued by the leaders of the 
 people in all societies. How much of that cold, hard-hearted 
 cruelty, that characterized the officers of the Inquisition, has 
 marked even the conduct of too many ministers and elders 
 among us, enabling us to furnish the world in the beginning 
 of the nineteenth century, with a miniature likeness of those 
 cruel, vindictive controversies of what is called the darker 
 ages. 
 
 What Friend can look upon the page of history at the Arian 
 but more especially the Nestorian contest, about inexplicable 
 doctrines, and not behold a likeness of our own spirit and con- 
 duct, as large as life, and that, too, in an age celebrated for 
 
 march of mind,'^ and intellectual improvement. What would 
 we Quakers not have done, could we have commanded despotic 
 Emperors, and powerful armies, in our late disgraceful contro- 
 versy? Would we not, instead of imprisoning a few that dared 
 to open the way, into their own grave-yard in the city of Philadel- 
 phia, have east thousands into loathsome dungeons, or made them 
 expiate their crime on the gibbet ? Would we not, instead of 
 commanding such to be silent, whose speech was unpleasant 
 to us, have cut out their tongues, like the Arians did the orthodox 
 Catholics .'' Would we not, instead of turning those with 
 whom we could not unite out of meeting, have banished them 
 into exile, as the Council of Antioch did the Nestoricins from 
 all that was near and dear in this world, there to end ' their 
 days? Would we not, instead of entering the houses of our 
 brethren and sisters, to fasten on them the anathema embraced 
 m our ecclesiastical consures, entered as a committee from the 
 Holy Inquisition, to carry them to be broken upon the wheel 
 or to suffer the awfully cruel torture of the rack? Some of 
 my friends, especially Orthodox, may be disposed to charge 
 me with supposing an extreme case, in order to cast severe 
 reflections on them, and that they never would have gone to 
 such extremes. True, they never would, because they never 
 could; and may we not thank the divine goodness, which or- 
 
86 
 
 dained " the powers that he,'' as exercised under our mild and 
 excellent government, for our preservation ? 
 
 The Jews verily thought, had they lived in the days of the 
 prophets, they would not have persecuted them. But our Sa- 
 viour told them that they were the very children of them that 
 slew the prophets, and would fill up the measure of their fa- 
 thers, which they undoubtedly did, as soon as they could make 
 use of the secular power. But don^t let my Orthodox friends 
 conclude that I want to fasten the persecuting spirit exclu- 
 sively on them. No, no. I have seen too much of it coming 
 from the opposite quarter, even from too many of my friends, 
 who have adopted the Arian speculation. Indeed I have some 
 reason to conclude that had some of these been such powerful 
 potentates as Genseric and his son Huneric, who, it is said, cut 
 out the tongues of some of the Orthodox in Africa, they would 
 at least have so mutilated my poor tongue, as to prevent me from 
 pronouncing the word " Saviour,'' when I applied it to Jesus 
 Christ. For I was once, opposed by one of them publicly, in 
 a large meeting for worship, on First-day in a Friends' meeting 
 house, and he broke up the meeting in confusion, declaring 
 that Jesus Christ was no Saviour. I acknowledge that it was 
 said this man was partially deranged, but it was likewise said 
 the greater part of the meeting was of his opinion. Be that 
 as it may, the most discouraging part of this circumstance, 
 was the preaching of a very dear friend of mine, in the quar- 
 terly meeting a few days after, who took for his subject the 
 very same text of Scripture that the violent Arian or Unita- 
 rian took to to prove that Jesus Christ was no Saviour, and 
 handled it too much in the same way for my peace, for I was 
 now in a. difficulty, let me take which horn of the dilemma I 
 would. For if my friend had heard of what had passed in the 
 same house a few days before, and what my opposer had said, 
 which I have reason to fear was the case, it was but too evi- 
 dent to me that he was prepared to unite with him, and if he 
 had not heard and delivered what he did from Divine author- 
 ity, then I was all wrong, and had been for more than thirty 
 years in preaching the doctrine of Paul, that Jesus Christ 
 came into the world to save sinners. I was greatly discour- 
 aged, and my Arian opposer triumphantly sat through the 
 quarterly meeting for business, although he was not a member 
 of Society. 
 
87 
 
 Do not let my Orthodox friends rejoice at this, and conclude 
 that their charges against us are true, for I can assure them 
 that we have a large and valuable body of Friends, that are 
 neither Arians, Unitarians nor Trinitarians, but firm believers 
 in the plain, emphatical testimonies of Holy Writ, that Jesus 
 Christ was more than a man, and more than a prophet, and 
 are willing to risk their eternal all upon this immutable foun- 
 dation, with the primitive Saints and primitive Quakers. 
 
 But it has been a marvel and astonishment to me, that some 
 of my friends that I certainly ought to prefer before myself, 
 appear to have gone off in an opposite direction from the 
 ground taken by those sons of the morning, and if the Ortho- 
 dox or Trinitarians, as has been said by an eminent minister, 
 are going full gallop towards Rome, I may take the liberty to 
 say that the Unitarians appear to be on the long trot to Con- v 
 stantinople, and, I fear, think very little more of Jesus Christ \ 
 than what the Turks do; and therefore, as respects too many \ 
 of them, the Orthodox charges were but too true. But the 
 Orthodox were like Polyphemus in the fable, strong, but 
 blind, and I may add, bigoted. Hence, they fell into the same 
 error that has characterized them through the varied ages of 
 the church, opposing a thing which they deemed wrong, in a 
 wrong spirit. Hence, the unintelligible wrangling among us, 
 about inexplicable doctrines, while cursed self led the violent 
 contest, trampling under foot justice and common decency, in 
 pursuit of exclusive possession of the name and jproperti/ of 
 the once respectable Society of Friends. 
 
 I have rambled again from my path of narrative, and al- 
 most anticipated a subject that I had intended to try to speak 
 of with care and perspicuity. 
 
 After Easton Quarterly meeting we went to Troy and were 
 there on First-day, and went from thence to Saratoga quarter, 
 which was the next Fourth and Fifth-day. If I recollect right 
 my own spirit and conduct was pretty much the same that it 
 was at Easton, only I had improved in one important qualifi- 
 cation of a consistent Quaker — I was more silent. After this 
 meeting we went west, as far as Cooperstown, taking meetings 
 as way opened ; and then, returning towards the North River 
 took the meetings on both sides as far down as Newburgh. Of 
 these meetings, I can say but little more than what I have al- 
 ready said of other meetings. When I was sufficiently stript 
 
88 
 
 of cursed self, and brought in the depths of humility to wash 
 my Saviour^ s feet with tears, I trust his gospel was preached, 
 and the people were solemn and tender ; but when self got the 
 ascendancy, and I became impatient, unwilling to wait for the 
 glorious resurrection of Christ within, the only hope of glory, 
 concluding like the unwatchful servant that my Lord delayed 
 his coming, I found I was in a disposition to smite my fellow 
 servants, and was drunk with a confusion of cogitations, I 
 fear I too often, like Saul, applied to a witch, to raise some- 
 thing that might resemble the anti-type of Samuel, which, in- 
 stead of producing peace, increased the confusion and ended 
 in condemnation. 
 
 About the first of the year 1820, we left Newburgh, setting 
 our faces towards home, and arrived in the evening of one of 
 the coldest snowy days I ever travelled, at the house of kind 
 friends, who had everything to make us and our weary horses 
 comfortable. Indeed we found many such valuable friends in 
 this journey, and however such idle, shackling, gad-about min- 
 isters as myself, may preach against worldly-mindedness, and, 
 with our fanatical charity send to perdition too many that are 
 concerned by honest industry to make comfortable provision 
 for their families and friends, we are at the same time, our- 
 selves, some of the greatest spongers on their hospitality, and 
 when our carelessness and extravagance has embarrassed our 
 circumstances, the first to apply to them for help. Here wo 
 met with that remarkable man and consistent Quaker preacher 
 Thomas Titus, and although nearly ninety years of age, he 
 appeared to shine as a fixed star in the firmament of God's 
 power. He was there on a visit and weather-bound. We were 
 mutually glad to see each other, for I loved him as a father, 
 and he embraced me as a son. I said, remarkable man, for 
 he and his truly pious wife have lived together for more than 
 sixty years, and she never really sick ; but feeling a fear that 
 she should not be able to sustain sickness unto death, with 
 Christian patience, fervently prayed she might die easy, which 
 was graciously granted, and she went oif apparently in a sweet 
 sleep, without suffering a pang, and if I am not mistaken, his 
 own case was very similar. He was further remarkable for 
 being beloved by every body. 
 
 Next morning we parted with this excellent old man, and 
 the worthy family that had made us so welcome and comforta- 
 ble, and pursued our journey homeward, through the south- 
 
89 
 
 western part of tlie State of New York, and the north-eastern 
 part of New Jersey, and in four days I arrived safely at my 
 own home, and found my family well, for which great favor, I 
 trust, I felt a thankful heart. 
 
 In about a month after, I left home again, to finish my visit; 
 having my very dear friend, James Walton, for a companion. 
 We went to Long Island, and visited all the meetings belong- 
 ing to Westbury quarter, and had several appointed meetings 
 particularly at Rockaway, near the sea, where there was no 
 Friends' meeting. My distinguished kinsman, Elias Hicks, 
 who had been with us at nearly all the meetings on the Island, 
 and Samuel Parsons, a man conspicuous among Friends, and 
 still more so amongst the Orthodox, with several other valua- 
 ble Friends, were with us at this meeting. It was held at the 
 house of my relative, Jacob Hicks. A hireling minister who 
 lived eight or ten miles off, hearing that there was 
 a preacher by the name of Hicks, who was not so hard on 
 the priests as Elias, came to this meeting. He came late. I 
 was speaking when he came in, and did not see him, or think 
 of a priest being in the house. It is said I was led immedi- 
 ately into an exposition of the text, or saying of the Saviour, 
 that the publicans and harlots would go into the kingdom of 
 Heaven before the priests and their satellites. 
 
 Dear old Elias, who wrote me a great many letters, wrote 
 me one about that time, in which he alluded to one of the 
 principal causes of the division, as well as to the meeting at 
 Rockaway. I will here insert an extract. ^^ My dear Edward 
 Hicks : having thee often in remembrance of late, with feeling 
 and affectionate sympathy, I was induced to take up my pen, 
 and commence with thee in this way, especially since the re- 
 turn of our mutual friend and kinsman, John Hicks, who in- 
 formed me that he was favored with some of thy company on 
 his way from his western journey, by whom I learned thou 
 wast still on the alert, and closely exercised in guarding the 
 frontiers from beasts of prey, or such as are seeking, by hid- 
 den and indirect means, to make an inroad on the borders of 
 Zion, and at some seasons the warfare rises so high as to re- 
 semble fighting with beasts of Ephesus. This view of the 
 subject corrresponds with my present allotment. Nay, more 
 than beasts, or creatures that range in darkness, has thy poor 
 Elias to struggle with, to wit : — false brethren : and still 
 
90 
 
 worse yet, for had I nothing to war with but rational animals, 
 that walk and work in darkness, and false brethren that walk 
 and work behind the screen, all their force wonld scarcely in- 
 terrupt my quiet; but there is another kind of troublers that 
 are not easily described, but are comprehended among our 
 weak and ignorant brethren, who know very little but what 
 they have obtained through the medium of education and tra- 
 dition, and being brought up in an orderly way, and possessed 
 of but little vivacity, they are kept in an orderly walk ; this 
 being agreeable to their common nature, and by which they 
 make a goodly outside appearance, although they are nothing 
 but flesh and blood without, so many of these are little else 
 within. But as these keep up this natural orderly walk, they 
 get oftentimes raised to eminent stations, such as overseers and 
 ciders in society, without any qualification, but an orderly out- 
 side appearance, and some of these grow wise in their own 
 eyes,, which prevents them from seeing and knowing their own 
 ignorance. These fixing themselves by tradition to a certain 
 point, are immoveable, like the Scribes and Pharisees of old, 
 and then if anything is opened that does not tally with their 
 creed, let it be ever so great a truth, and clothed with the 
 clearest demonstration, they immediately cry out against it as 
 a new thing, a mere novelty, and conclude the author an here- 
 tic ; and these place themselves in a situation not to be taught, 
 for they have shut up the avenues through which they might 
 be improved. Now one of these is more difficult to deal with 
 than all the out-door walkers in darkness, compared to beasts 
 of Ephesus, and the in-door false brethren, for the latter have dis- 
 cretion enough to know when they are beaten and vanquished, 
 but the others have not; yet their ignorance makes them ap- 
 pear sincere, and that places them in an immoveable state, and 
 although entirely incorrect, yet, in most cases, they seem 
 placed beyond any means of remedy. To be clear of all such 
 troubles, would be a real cause of rejoicing. 
 
 "Some of us here away have found it our duty to endeavour 
 to convince our Methodist bretheren and sisters, both within 
 and without society, that Heaven and Hell are not at so great 
 a distance as they imagine, and that they are not confined 
 within walls or limits, but are every where present where there 
 is either man or woman, who by their works have become 
 fitted to enter either. For as Jesus tells us, who knew well 
 what he said, that the kingdom of God was within us, so 
 
91 
 
 when the soul enlists under his banner and gives God l 
 the whole rule and government^ there that soul is in Heaven. I 
 For Heaven is not a place so as to be distinct from another, \ 
 but it is the real state and condition of the soul in which its \ 
 heaven consists. So, on the contrary, if we will not suffer « 
 this man to have the rule over us, like some formerly, but will \ 
 cast him out and set up a kingdom of our own, which is the 
 kingdom of Satan, and suffer the man of sin and son of per- 
 dition to take the whole rule and government, there then 
 is that soul in Hell, which is also a state and not a place. 
 
 "But this some of our Methodist friends, in society as well 
 as out of society, cannot admit, because it disappoints them, 
 as Jesus did the Jews, when he took away their outward lo- 
 cated Heaven, and put an end to all their noisy rejoicing. So 
 these are very unwilling to give up all their noise and shout- 
 ing, and all their hallelujahs, and glory, glory songs, and bar- 
 ter them away for the peaceful abodes of Paradise, where all 
 the delightful songs, and heavenly anthems of glory are heard 
 and distinctly understood, through the unbounded regions of 
 this holy and happy abode, without the least expression of a 
 vocal whisper. 
 
 "We had a very good meeting at Rockaway, when thou hadst 
 to make an experiment by putting the hireling priests, and 
 soldiers, and sailors in a bag, and shaking them, to see which 
 would first come out. And indeed there is a great similarity 
 between them, as they all fight and war for money, or pecuni- 
 ary reward. Take away their wages, and they would all alike 
 desert the cause. 
 
 "In much love, to thee and thine, in which my wife and 
 daughter E., joins, I rest thy affectionate friend, 
 
 Elias Hicks.^^ 
 
 Having been led to bring into view in a particular manner, 
 my very dear friend, and record an extract from one of the 
 many letters I received, it may be right in this place, to make 
 a few remarks respecting him, more especially as he has been 
 and still continues to be, the butt of Orthodox persecution. 
 
 I will not pretend to say that Elias Hicks was entirely clear 
 of those extremes to which eminent men are liable, in the 
 heat of controversy, and the tenacious defence of some favorite 
 speculations j if I did, I would set him above some of the 
 greatest men that ever lived. The apostles themselves, though 
 
92 
 
 strong and powerful in the Christian faith, had their weak 
 side, and Tertullian, one of the highest stars in the second 
 century, was led into a foolish extreme, by the fanatical no- 
 tions of Montanus ; while Origen, acknowledged by all to be 
 the brightest luminary of the third century, did immense 
 mischief to the cause of primitive Christianity, by his extreme 
 attachment to the Platonic philosophy, scholastic divinity and 
 human learning. Therefore, it is among the possible circum- 
 , stances that dear Elias was led to an extreme in the Unitarian 
 1 speculation, while opposing the Trinitarian, then increasing 
 j among Friends, and now almost established among our Ortho- 
 I dox Friends. But I have no recollection of ever hearing him 
 I in public testimony, and I have heard him much, when his 
 I speculative views or manner of speaking, destroyed the savour 
 = of life that attended his ministry, or gave me any uneasiness. 
 But I have certainly heard to my sorrow, too many of his su- 
 perficial admirers, that have tried to copy after him, pretend- 
 ing to wear his crown, without knowing any thing of his 
 cross, make use of the naked term, Jesus, both in public and 
 private, till it sounded in my ears as unpleasant as if coming 
 from the tongue of the profane swearer; and on the other 
 hand, I have been pained to hear the unnecessary repetition of 
 the terms, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, from those I 
 verily believed Elias' s bitter enemies, especially the English 
 preachers, and have scarcely a doubt that they were substan- 
 tially breaking the third commandment. And I will now add 
 my opinion fearlessly, that Elias was wrong in entering into 
 that quibbling controversy with those weak Quakers, alluded 
 to in his letter, about the marvellous conception and parentage 
 of Christ, a delicate and inexplicable subject, that seems to 
 have escaped the particular attention of what we call the darker 
 ages, to disgrace the highest professors of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury. But however wrong he might have been in this case, 
 the conduct of his antagonist outraged every thing like the 
 gentleman or the Christian, in furnishing his enemies with 
 copies of his letters, after they had agreed mutually to disa- 
 gree and quit writing, and honorably return to each their re- 
 spective letters. Hence, the establishment of the charge 
 against Elias Hicks, in the opinion of the Orthodox, that he 
 denied the miraculous conception, which I shall endeavor to 
 refute by the following testimony. I very well recollect, a 
 
 f 
 
93 
 
 short time after tlie controversy alluded to, I was walking with' 
 Elias, in the time of the Yearly Meeting of New York, when 
 he told me seriously and confidently hy ourselves, that he had 
 never doubted the truth of the Scripture testimony, as record- 
 ed hy Mathew and Luke, respecting the miraculous concep- 
 tion; that he thought the figure would he incomplete without 
 it, but that he had felt a freedom to try the foundation of such 
 Friends, whose belief he suspected to be founded on mere tra- 
 dition, because their superficial faith would be too easily over- 
 turned by the subtile Deist. 
 
 We may imagine and surmise different causes for the un- 
 happy revolution among Friends, when the real and substan- 
 tial cause is prefigured in the revolution that took place in 
 Israel, in the time of Samuel the prophet, who was one of the 
 beautiful types of the Son and sent of God, and who was Di- 
 vinely commissioned to anoint Saul, a meek, humble young 
 man, to be a king among the Lord's people, and the Lord was 
 with him as a teacher, agreeably to his promise, ^^ The hum- 
 ble he will teach of his ways, and the meek he will guide in 
 the path of true judgment/^ Thus taught, Saul judged it 
 right to exterminate all the witches and wizards, that deceived 
 the people, out of the land. Such characters, probably as are 
 now comprehended in the impostors, and deluded votaries of 
 anti-Christ among the priests, psychologists, magnetizers, &c. 
 This righteous act on the part of Saul, made him an object of 
 love and respect among the people, and the silly women sung 
 after him that he had slain his thousands. Listening with too 
 much pleasure to their song, raised him a head and shoulders 
 above his brethren, 'and being puffed up with pride and self- 
 consequence, the Lord left him, and held no more communion 
 with him, taking the kingdom from him to give it to David, 
 who was meek and lowly of mind. Thus left, Saul became 
 the victim of malevolent passions, jealousy, envy and supersti- 
 tion, which now being added to his pride, prepared him for 
 acts of violence, weakness and deception. Hence, his repeat- 
 ed attempts to kill his innocent rival, and final application for 
 instruction to the witch of Endor. 
 
 I am aware that some of the wi^e of this world, but I can- 
 not say prudent, have manifested a disposition to turn this 
 passage of Scripture into ridicule, while to me, it is fall of in- 
 struction, which I shall endeavor, with Divine assistance 
 
94 
 
 to give in its application, to the subject now under considera- 
 tion. 
 
 The analogy between Israel of old, under the outward 
 law covenant, and the Israel of God, under the inward gos- 
 pel covenant, should ever be kept in view by the Christian. 
 The first was a national community of corporeal beings, 
 with an outward law and ceremonies, outward rewards 
 and punishments, an outward land of promise, and an out- 
 ward Saviour, which was the glorious manifestation of God 
 in the flesh. The second is a communion of rational 
 immortal souls, created in the image of God, of all nations, 
 kindreds, and tongues, and people, with a spiritual law, writ- 
 ten in the heart, and placed in the inward part; spiritual 
 rewards and punishments, a spiritual land of promise, and a 
 spiritual Saviour, even the eternal word, that was ^'in the be- 
 ginning with God, and is God over all, blessed for ever.'^ 
 This is the church of Christ, the Christian church, militant 
 on earth. Such of its members as are designed for kings and 
 priests unto God, are especially anointed with the holy oil, 
 and thus prepared to be messengers of glad tidings, that will 
 bind up the broken heart, and proclaim liberty to the captive 
 soul; and as the terms messenger, and angel, in this sense are 
 synonymous, so they are commissioned and sent as Christ's 
 angels, to gather his elect from the four winds under Heaven. 
 These were, and still continue to be, the light of the world, 
 a light that cannot be hid under a bushel. These will become 
 more or less distinguished, according to their gifts, and con- 
 sequently more or less the objects of adoration and praise, 
 which, if they listen to, and are pleased with, like Saul with 
 the singing of the women, they lose that humility and meek- 
 ness, inseparably connected with the holy anointing, and fall 
 from heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and, like Saul, become 
 the slaves to jealousy, envy, and hatred. But in order to keep 
 up their honor among the people as preachers, they apply to 
 the anti-type of the witch of Endor, that cursed serpentine 
 self, that has been playing the harlot, though adorned with 
 Christ's jewels, which completes the deception, while it feeds 
 them with the beast that was like unto a calf, and ends in 
 self-condemnation and destruction. These are fallen angels, 
 and, if they do not, in the depths of humility and self-abase- 
 ment, apply to Christ to restore them to Heaven, they are 
 
95 
 
 in a fair way to "become devils incarnate, tliat cannot escape 
 the damnation of liell. Hence tlie propriety of the Saviour's 
 severe strictures upon the priests, and hence too we may un- 
 derstand the reason why ministers are the authors of those 
 hitter contests, and unintelligible wranglings, that have been 
 a disgrace to the Christian religion. 
 
 Now I greatly fear that there have been, and still are, too 
 many such ministers among Friends, and that this has been 
 the principal cause of the late unhappy if not disgraceful 
 separation. Had some of us only known, what we might have 
 known had we dwelt in the light, that the little popularity 
 with which we were so mightily pleased was of a mushroom 
 character, '■'■ raised without merit,'' it might then have been 
 "■ lost without crime," and our standing in society like water 
 would have soon found its level. But the silly women con- 
 tinuing to sing after some of us, we felt very comfortable till 
 the music was devoted to the praise of Elias, and the song to 
 him become much louder and longer ; then, like Saul, we 
 began to throw our javelins, and the women seeing what was 
 self-evident, that Elias was not only a greater preacher than 
 the rest of us, and that he did (what is a rare thing among us) 
 practice his own doctrine, continued to sing; and Saul and 
 Abner tried to comfort themselves for a while with the assu- 
 rance that his followers were few, and like the three hundred 
 that went after David, were poor men ; that they could not 
 pay their debts, and that their scolding wives made them un- 
 happy at home. Yet this was the beginning of one of the 
 most important revolutions in Israel, and of the reorganization 
 of the government on more substantial premises, while Saul 
 fell upon his own sword on Mount Gilboa, and Abner by the 
 hand of Joab, with this lamentation, ^^ Shall the sword devour 
 for ever ? know thou it will be bitterness in the latter end.'' 
 Oh ! that the Sauls, Abners, and Joabs, among the belligerents 
 in the Society of Friends, would learn heavenly wisdom before 
 it is too late, and obey the command of the blessed Saviour, 
 ^^ Put up thy sword into its sheath, for they that take the 
 sword shall perish with the sword." 
 
 I will now try again to return from my eccentric course to 
 the path I intended to have kept to. My dear friend James 
 Walton having left me in New York to return home, my kins- 
 man Yalentine Hicks joined me in a visit to Purchase Quarter, 
 
96 
 
 and we attended all the meetings I believe to tlie satisfaction 
 of Friends, and others that attended; but all I can remember 
 iS; the meetings were large, and I suffered with sickness. 
 
 I think it was at the Yearly Meeting this year that the 
 great effort was made to establish that ecclesiastical head of 
 aristocracy, that ruined the Christian republic in the second 
 century ; and the analogy is so striking, and the coincidence 
 so remarkable, it may be right for me to give a concise 
 statement. 
 
 About the year 170, if I am not mistaken, the seven 
 churches in Asia were independent of each other, governed by 
 their own discipline, and only bound together by the unity of 
 the spirit in the bond of peace, when a proposition was made 
 originating with some of the Grecian bishops — a scripture 
 term for overseers — and mostly senior ministers, to establish 
 this great head, which was called by them a synqd, but by the 
 Latins, a council. It was to be composed of delegates from all 
 the seven chui'ches. It was ingeniously proposed and carried 
 through, as such innovations generally are, by chicanery and 
 cunning; for when opposition to influential characters is 
 attended with danger, the timid are too often silent, the mul- 
 titude believe and imposture triumphs. 
 
 About the year 170 of the Society of Friends, as an organ- 
 ized body of Christians, raised for the special purpose of revi- 
 ving and preserving primitive Christianity, both as respects 
 doctrine and discipline, the same proposition was made to the 
 seven Yearly Meetings on the continent of America, by senior 
 ministers, two of whom were remarkable for their sophistical 
 eloquence, and throwing their javelins, like Saul, at such as 
 they considered rivals. 
 
 When this proposition was made to our Yearly Meeting, by 
 the two ministers last alluded to, the timid saw the danger 
 but were silent, and the multitude were about believing, when 
 one of the most imprudent junior ministers arose and addressed 
 the meeting in substance as follows, " If the proposition to 
 establish this head of aristocracy is united with by this meet- 
 ing, it will ruin the Society of Friends. ^ A people that the 
 Lord Almighty has raised by his own invincible power and 
 signally placed his name amongst them,^ will then ' become 
 only the transient glory of a couple of centuries,^ when it was 
 designed in the councils of infinite wisdom they should ' be 
 
97 
 
 the joy of the whole earth/ Then the only repository of that 
 primitive repuhlicanism laid down in the heavenly doctrine of 
 Jesus Christ, and embraced in their simple hut evangelical 
 discipline, will fall into that vortex of anti-christianity that 
 has engulphed all other reformers from the church of Rome. 
 I am therefore decidedly opposed to the proposition, and sin- 
 cerely wish Friends to make a solemn pause before they ap- 
 proach any nearer the crumbling brink of ruin/^ These 
 remarks, though expressed in a rough, incoherent manner, 
 forming a striking contrast with the foregoing speakers, 
 arrested the current in favor of the proposition, and alarmed 
 its distinguished advocates, who immediately had recourse to 
 one of those political manoeuvres that too often characterize 
 the eloquent orator and cunning artificer, when determined to 
 force conviction in favor of some favorite scheme. Hence an 
 appeal to the sympathies of the people, in the most persuasive 
 eloquence, expressing a hope that the meeting would now see 
 more clearly the importance of the salutory restraints contem- 
 plated in the proposition, and a joy was expressed, that the 
 day had dawned when the Society of Friends would be pre- 
 pared to unite with a concern that had for its object the proper 
 appreciation of age and experience, and the establishment of 
 the authority of the church upon a firm and substantial foun- 
 dation. The imprudent Friend, who by this time might have 
 been thought rather impotent by some, replied in substance 
 that he was difi"erently circumstanced from the Friends who 
 had last spoken, that while they hoped he feared, and whilst 
 they rejoiced he sorrowed. He feared that if the spirit that 
 had dictated this proposition should gain the ascendancy 
 among Friends, it might be productive of more immediate suf- 
 fering than it produced in the primitive church, when it 
 opened a door by which the enemy entered, and made great 
 devastation in the flock and family of God. For under the 
 benign influence of the mild and generous government of the 
 United States, Friends, as American citizens, are tenacious of 
 their civil and religious rights, and will not, like the poor 
 Friends in Ireland, sufier them to be trampled under foot with 
 impunity. Hence a division in Jacob and a scattering in 
 Israel must ensue. He sorrowed at the affecting scene that 
 would be likely to follow, when husbands and wives, parents 
 and children, brethren and sisters, must be separated ; and the 
 
 9 
 
98 
 
 nearest and dearest friends turned into the most implacable 
 enemies^ and the exclamation of the world's people, respecting 
 the people called Quakers, entirely changed, ''See these 
 Quakers how they hate one another." 
 
 I will not pretend to say that these were the identical words 
 which were spoken, I only come as near as I can recollect. 
 
 The proposition was not united with by Philadelphia Yearly 
 Meeting, and, if I am not mistaken, New York, Ohio, and 
 Baltimore rejected it. Thus the principal head of the beast, 
 that the beloved John saw in heavenly visions, come up out 
 of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, received a 
 wound, or was rejected for that time, by the society of Friends 
 in America. But the wound that this head received, did not 
 appear to be of a deadly character. It was soon healed, for it 
 was found rearing itself again, in our Meeting for Sufferings, 
 in the form of a creed, which being likewise rejected by our 
 Yearly Meeting, the beast assumed its leopard appearance — 
 for we must remember that the beast which John saw, was 
 like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the paws of a bear, 
 and his mouth as the mouth of a lion — hence the variety and 
 beauty of our theological writings, and verbal arguments, in 
 the form of sermons; our increasing restless state, with the 
 carnivorous cruelty of the leopard ; while the discipline was 
 laid hold of as a sword, and wielded with all the weight of the 
 paw of the bear, and the redoubtable English lion thundered 
 out its excommunications against Elias Hicks, Edward Sta- 
 bler, John Comly, and others, though more than one half of 
 the Society went with the latter. 
 
 Can any one acquainted with the history of the Church, 
 question the propriety of the view I have taken, in relation to 
 the synod, or council established over the seven Churches in 
 Asia, being the principal head of the beast that John saw rise 
 out of the sea of confusion and darkness. If any do, I refer 
 them to the spirit and conduct of the council of Nice in 325, 
 the council of Alexandria in 430, and the council of Ephesus 
 in 431. Mosheim himself, although a prejudiced priest, has 
 to acknowledge that the transactions of these councils will ap- 
 pear to the candid and equitable reader, in the most unfavora- 
 ble light, as full of low artifice, contrary to all the rules of 
 justice, and even destitute of the least share of common decen- 
 cy. Such, then, was the head or aristocracy, established in 
 
99 
 
 the one Titindred and seventieth year of the primitive churcli^ 
 that sapped tlie foundation of all its republican principles, and 
 opened a wide door to the spirit of apostacy. And I verily be- 
 lieve the same evil genius was embraced in the proposition 
 offered or made to the Society of Friends, on the continent of 
 America, about the year one hundred and seventy of their ex- 
 istence as an organized body. Is not the coincidence remarka- 
 ble ? I do not wish to be understood as casting reflections 
 upon those Friends who verily thought they were doing God 
 service ; I trust they were a« sincere as Saul of Tarsus, and I 
 only wish, like Saul — or Paul — they may pray to that Saviour 
 who has pricked their consciences, and thus witness the scales 
 to be removed from their eyes. 
 
 At a Quarterly Meeting of ministers and elders, held at 
 Buckingham, I had the first clear view of the policy and man- 
 agement of those Friends who were about turning the two 
 great committees of care, that were to preside over the con- 
 cerns of society, during the recesses of the Yearly Meeting, 
 into this head of aristocracy. It came out in a discussion that 
 took place about a minister recommended by Buckingham 
 Monthly Meeting. A wealthy, and of course respectable, 
 elder, said he thought the time was at hand when a Monthly 
 Meeting would have no more business with recommending a 
 minister, than a Preparative Meeting had with the business of 
 a Monthly Meeting. That is, they would only bring forward 
 the name, and the Quarterly Meeting of ministers and elders 
 would recommend or acknowledge the minister. 
 
 I thought I saw clearly now, what was going on ; or if I may 
 be permitted to make a parody of a part of one of the prophet 
 EzekieFs visions — I had seen something like the image of 
 jealousy, that provoked to jealousy. I had met it several times 
 in the entry, and I now saw, I thought, through something like 
 a hole in the wall, what the ancients of Israel were doing in 
 the dark, notwithstanding the thick black cloud that seemed to 
 rest upon them. And, subsequently, I think I have seen the 
 other abominations spoken of by the Lord's prophet. I have 
 seen the womanish weakness of our society, quarrelling, fret- 
 ting, and weeping, about they know not what. I have seen 
 ministers and elders of a religious society, whose distinguish- 
 ing doctrine is the supremacy and pre-eminence of internal 
 over external evidence, turn their backs upon the Lord's tern- 
 
100 
 
 pie and altar, within them, and set with their faces towards 
 the East, worshipping the greatest luminary in the first and 
 second heavens, the scriptures of truth, that never were nor 
 never will be the primary rule of faith and practice, to a real 
 substantial Quaker. 
 
 I return again to Buckingham Quarterly Meeting of minis- 
 ters and elders, and the democratic remarks I made in reply to 
 the respectable and wealthy aristocrat, which offended him 
 sadly. After meeting I went to speak to him, not thinking 
 how I had hurt him, and was perfectly astonished to find him 
 in something like an hysteric fit. His countenance was pale 
 and distorted, and showed evident marks of great excitement ; 
 exposing him much to his disadvantage. I told him I did not 
 desire to offend him, and was very sorry ; but he would not 
 be satisfied with such acknowledgement. So I had to leave 
 him, with a heavy heart, and seek relief from one of our oldest 
 elders, who told me that he did not think I had said any thing 
 that ought to give him offence, and that if it pinched him, let 
 him bear it. This man never forgave me, I fear, until he came 
 on his death bed ; when I have reason to believe he did, and I 
 hope to meet his glorified spirit, where angry passions cease to 
 trouble, and the tossed and weary soul is forever at rest. The 
 next day he came to me and acknowledged that he was wrong, 
 in suffering himself to get in such a passion, but that I was 
 wrong also. 
 
 After what I had seen, I felt it my religious duty to lay be- 
 fore the next Quarterly Meeting, held at the Falls, a proposi- 
 tion, that that meeting should request the Yearly Meeting to 
 institute a strict and serious enquiry into the standing of the 
 Meeting for Sufferings ; for there was reason to fear that it was 
 becoming a dangerous aristocracy. From this time some 
 Friends considered me as a suspicious, if not a dangerous cha- 
 racter, and the respectable elder that I offended at the select 
 meeting at Buckingham, called on me ; and I have no doubt 
 it was well for me, and him, too, I was not at home, for when 
 men that are constitutionally choleric, turbulent, and haughty, 
 meet under excitement, they mostly make bad worse. 
 
 I think it was in the winter following, that I was engaged 
 with other Friends, in visiting the families of our Monthly 
 Meeting, and while from home on this service, my shop was 
 burned down, with all its contents, and, in a few days after- 
 
101 
 
 wards, I was taken sick, and perhaps I was brought the near- 
 est to the gates of death, I ever was. I very imprudently 
 continued with Friends in the service, a day or two, with a 
 chill and fever, and the last house I went into, I fainted as 
 soon as I entered the door, and for six or eight days I was 
 delirious. The friend of the house, being skilful, bled me im- 
 mediately, and at the same time sent about five miles for our 
 family physician, and my wife. My dear adopted sister, Beu- 
 lah E. Twining, brought my wife in her carriage, and my dear 
 son Isaac, then a boy of eight or nine, begging so to come 
 along, they brought him also. Doctor Plumly was a man who 
 was considered very skilful, but quite an enthusiast, pro- 
 nouncing from the first my case desperate and incurable, and 
 I believe always said, as long as he lived, that I was raised by 
 a miracle, for some special purpose. 
 
 The only thing I remember at the friend's house, was my 
 son sitting, holding my head and weeping. Next day they 
 brought me home, in a carriage, and I can remember hearing 
 the wheels on the bridge, and I faintly remember when they 
 carried me into my own house. I am afraid I shall be tedi- 
 ously particular, because of something that was thought by 
 some rather remarkable. During my delirium I spoke of the 
 rotten state of a certain Bank whose credit then stood very 
 high. One of my physicians being a director of said bank, 
 was made to marvel a little at my saying I saw men secretly 
 at work in the dark, and some of them with plain coats on, in 
 a fraudulent and clandestine manner, which must end in the 
 failure of the institution. But it was still more marvellous, 
 that this prophecy in a delirium should be fulfilled in less than 
 a year, by the disgraceful bankruptcy of that anti-christian 
 nursery of usury. 
 
 Credulity and superstition are disposed to make mighty won- 
 ders of such circumstances, when this, as well as many others, 
 may be explained on rational principles. The cashier of this 
 bank died a short time before I was taken sick, and sent for 
 me, about ten miles, the night before he died. I found him 
 nearly gone, but he could speak so as to be understood to be 
 concerned about the bank. But feeling it my duty to hold up 
 something of more importance to him — salvation through 
 Jesus Christ the only Saviour — I discouraged his concern 
 about the bank, and he said no more. But after his death, I 
 
 9* 
 
102 
 
 could not help thinking that there might he something wrong 
 ahout the bank, that he wished to disclose to me as a particu- 
 lar friend. With these impressions I was taken sick, and it 
 appears reasonable that I would express in my delirium some- 
 thing about it. 
 
 When I came to myself I remember I was very much con- 
 cerned for fear I had made use of profane language, having 
 been once a profane swearer, and was truly thankful when I 
 was told I did not. 
 
 I cannot feel altogether easy to omit a little matter, that is 
 of great importance to me. One of my daughters, about 7 or 
 8 years of age, seeing and feeling the distress manifested by 
 her mother and elder sisters, would go aside with her Bible, 
 and read, and no doubt pray. She would then come to them 
 and say, I think father will get well, for when I am reading- 
 there is something seems to tell me so. 0, that dear children 
 could be more encouraged to read the Scriptures and pray, for 
 the fervent effectual prayer availeth much. 
 
 About this time I had been visiting the meetings in Phila- 
 delphia. On First days I remember they were very large, the 
 houses could not contain the people, owing to the excitement 
 and unsettled state of society, and not to my preaching. But 
 I understood they manifested great concern for me, during my 
 sickness, and I am certainly under obligations to many dear 
 friends in that city, for their great kindness to me, a poor un- 
 worthy brother, and indeed the interest, attention, and kind- 
 ness of my neighbors, rich and poor, still makes my heart 
 overflow with gratitude. 
 
 In the spring of 1822, I visited the meetings and some of 
 the families of friends of Baltimore, and tried to reconcile or 
 settle a difficulty that had arisen among them about their grave 
 yard, but found that the strong man armed was not to be 
 bound, or cast out, but by a strength that I did not possess. 
 I therefore had to give it up. 
 
 I thought Friends manifested a weak, unsettled state, by 
 running after a popular English clergyman, and joining him 
 in Bible Societies, and so forth. Being led to speak against 
 Ephraim's idols, I gave offence, and received an unfriendly 
 letter from a female elder, who afterwards acknowledged to 
 me that she was wrong. Nevertheless, I found many valuable 
 friends in that city, at the head of which I placed that happy 
 
,/^ Y \^^^K_e.yu|^ 
 
 103 
 
 compound of the gentleman and the Christian, Evan Thomas; 
 a prince in our Israel, and a pillar in the Lord's house that 
 went no more out. 
 
 On my return from Baltimore, having a companion, our lives 
 appeared to be in great jeopardy, by the steamboat coming in 
 contact with a schooner in the dark, about ten o'clock at night, 
 and at the widest part of Chesapeake Bay. The concussion 
 was tremendous, and the alarm and confusion awful. The 
 captain of the steamboat was a prudent man, having his lights 
 burning, and shewed great presence of mind, and kindness to 
 the captain and crew of the schooner, who appeared to have 
 been asleep, having no light. I can never forget the passion- 
 ate and affecting prayer of the captain of the schooner, and my 
 sorrowful impressions, when I heard his son, about two and 
 twenty years old, was drowned. The principal injury our boat 
 received was the loss of six or seven paddles out of one of the 
 wheels, which, retarding our progress, we did not arrive at the 
 place of destination till daylight. Our horse and chair being 
 on board, we proceeded on our journey, by the way of Wil- 
 mington, to Philadelphia. 
 
 At New York Yearly Meeting in 1822 I sat near Gc. W., a 
 minister from England, who manifested a sociable familiarity, 
 and expressed a wish for a further acquaintance with me, in- 
 viting me to dine with him, but I thought it best to avoid a 
 particular interview, fearing that his blunt honesty of expres- 
 sion and my hot-headed Americanism coming in contact might 
 make bad worse. 
 
 I have no recollection of any thing particular occurring at 
 this Yearly Meeting, yet it must have been obvious to a serious 
 observer of the signs of the times, that there were too many 
 Friends like recruiting officers, trying to enlist soldiers, to 
 strengthen their respective armies, and perhaps it was at this 
 meeting, that Joseph Whitall took the bounty, and enrolled 
 himself among the enemies of Elias Hicks and his friends; and 
 his faithfulness in serving his party has been such that his 
 name ought to be handed down to posterity. 
 
 I will here relate a circumstance touching my dear old friend 
 Elias that perhaps is but little known. It was told to me by 
 our cousin Willet Hicks, and goes to show that the exercises, 
 trials, and sufferings of great and good men, have been some- 
 what similar in all ages. The prophet Elijah was brought into 
 
104 
 
 serious exercise, trial, and suffering, when pursued by a com- 
 bined force, consisting of the friends of false prophets, and 
 apostate Israelites, led on by an extremely wicked woman. 
 Strong and powerful as this good man had been, when wielding 
 the sword of the Lord among Jezebel's mercenary hirelings, 
 clear as was the ocular demonstration of divine power when he 
 called down fire from heaven on the Lord's altar, conclusively 
 convincing the true Israelites that God was on their side, he 
 was comparatively weak when he sat under the juniper tree, in 
 the wilderness, requesting to die, saying, " It is enough, now 
 O Lord take away my life, for I am no better than my 
 fathers." Quite similar was the situation of Elias Hicks, after 
 a select quarterly meeting held at Westbury, as related by 
 Willet, who said in substance, that he got information in New 
 York, that a number of Elias's old friends had combined with 
 the English, and perhaps led on by the redoubtable A. B , in- 
 tended to make a formidable attack on him, at the quarterly 
 meeting of ministers and elders next held at Westbury. The 
 day before said meeting he went up to Jericho, and told Elias 
 what he might expect. But the old man was not willing to 
 believe him; could not think it possible that these friends, with 
 whom he had had such sweet union and communion from his 
 youth, should now turn against him. In the morning Willet 
 said he told Elias's wife, who was an elder, that he wished her 
 to go to meeting with some other friends, as he intended to 
 take Elias in his carriage. At meeting his enemies appeared 
 in battle array, as Willet had predicted, and as Elias never 
 turned his back upon an enemy, something like a drawn battle 
 was fought, when, as it often happens, especially in religious 
 contests, both sides claimed the victory. Be it as it may, Elias 
 was wounded, and as soon as he got in the carriage and the 
 glasses were put up, he threw himself back and wept like a 
 child, uttering a language like that of the Lord's prophet. I 
 trust he was comforted, as Elijah was, by an holy angel. In 
 his cousin Willet, at least, he found a steady sympathising friend. 
 On the next day in the general quarterly meeting he appeared 
 strong in the Lord. 
 
 Having exceeded the bounds I had prescribed, I must hasten 
 to a close, and pass over many things that might be interesting 
 to some, only mentioning such circumstances as seem connected 
 with the separation in society. 
 
105 
 
 A minister I have alluded to, in speaking of the party that 
 was formed against me in Middletown Preparative Meeting of 
 ministers and elders, now removed to another State, was visit- 
 ing our meeting on the morning of the day of our Monthly 
 Meeting, held at Makefield. Not knowing that a stranger was 
 to be there, I was exceedingly worried with pretty texts of 
 scripture that I might preach upon. I say worried, because I 
 consider it a temptation, the activity and contrivance of the 
 woman to be thinking and preparing pretty passages of scrip- 
 ture ; and should a concern be got up to preach in this way, it 
 would prove to be only a mock gospel. 
 
 When the minister had got through his service, I spoke in 
 substance as follows, after alluding to my temptations on the 
 way, " that I considered the Quaker preacher that brought his 
 text from the Bible with him to meeting, made up to preach 
 from, was worse than the hireling who brought his studied ser- 
 mon, because he was a hypocrite.'^ After the meeting had 
 proceeded to business, the minister rose, and informed the 
 meeting that the reason why he had not brought a minute, was 
 owing to a mistake of the clerk, and then went on to speak of 
 the severe attack that had been made upon him. When he sat 
 down, our dear friend William Taylor, whose name I shall 
 always refer to with love and respect, spoke in substance as 
 follows, " that the Friend need not make himself uneasy about 
 not having a minute, that he was glad, he was with us." I 
 united with my friend William, and we passed on quietly. 
 When meeting broke, one of our elders came to me and ex- 
 pressed his astonishment that the minister should have taken 
 oflfence at what I had said, for he should never have thought of 
 such a thing, had he not fastened it on himself. Another 
 elder, who was better acquainted, said he had expected he would 
 kick. I was told afterwards that a nephew of this minister 
 said he could always tell what his uncle was going to preach if 
 he could only look over his shoulder whilst reading the Bible, 
 before he went to meeting, and I have little doubt that he 
 brought his text if not his sermon with him that morning. 
 
 Notwithstanding I was a silent, and sometimes sorrowful 
 observer of the affecting scene, I was at times a little amused 
 at the art and ingenuity of our English ministers, in trying to 
 fasten on Elias and his friends the denunciations* embraced in 
 Peter's prophecy of the rise and progress of priestcraft. See 
 
106 
 
 2d Peter, chap. 1, ver. 1, 2, 3. This favorite text they would 
 apply to Elias Hicks and his friends with great dexterity, 
 while they pronounced the words "damnation'^ and ^destruc- 
 tion ^' with the violence of an inquisitor. 
 
 Ann and George Jones, with a strong force of Orthodox 
 Friends from Philadelphia, attended our quarterly meeting 
 held at Middletown, bearing down apparently every thing he- 
 fore them. I remember they threw out of our select meeting 
 a recommendation of a minister from Buckingham Monthly 
 Meeting, and one of the orthodox ministers exultingly declared 
 that he saw Satan falling as a star from Heaven. The general 
 quarterly meeting endorsed their satisfaction with the company 
 of G-eorge and Ann Jones, with but one dissenting voice, and 
 that honest Friend, as Willet Hicks called him, was John 
 Miller, Jr., a Friend that ought to be remembered and re- 
 spected by Bucks quarter for his steady, consistent and un- 
 flinching faithfulness. He boldly informed the meeting that 
 he had no unity with the company nor labors of Ann Jones. 
 
 The signs of the times, as respects the Society of Friends^ 
 were now of a serious character. Their Jerusalem was no 
 longer a quiet habitation, and their tabernacle was falling 
 down ; their cords were growing loose, and their stakes about 
 to be removed, and where the glorious Lord had appeared to 
 them, as a place of broad rivers and streams, the gallant ships 
 and gallies with oars kept up a confused noise of war. 
 
 The English Friends spread themselves over the continent, 
 and wherever they went they separated husbands and wives, 
 parents and children, brothers and sisters, and the nearest and 
 dearest friends. And I think I may add with safety, that in 
 Philadelphia Yearly Meeting the division was so far antici- 
 pated, that the ecclesiastical machinery for disowning which 
 had operated so successfully on poor Friends in Ireland, was 
 transported to America, either to be set in operation here, or 
 to be a pattern for a new machine that might better suit this 
 country. Lawyers were feed, and civil officers employed. 
 Such appears now to have been the movements, especially of 
 Orthodox Friends, preparatory to the expected struggle at the 
 Yearly Meeting of 1827. 
 
 In the latter part of the second month of this year, John 
 Comly came to see me. I had just received an anonymous 
 letter, wherein the writer mentioned that he had dreamed that 
 
107 
 
 lie was in a very large field, which had been planted with corn 
 that had come up, and grown some six or eight inches, but a 
 severe frost had come on it, and it was wilting down. In this 
 large field he thought he saw me very industriously at work, 
 trying to hold up the corn or make it stand straight. He said 
 he thought in his dream it was such a pity for me to be spend- 
 ing my time to no good purpose, that he tried to persuade me 
 to give it up and leave the field. But he said he thought I 
 answered, I was determined not to leave the field until I tried 
 to gave some of the corn. This is as near as I can remember 
 the substance of the letter which I afterwards found was 
 written by a singular man, and a man of learning, not a mem- 
 ber of our society. This letter I shewed to John Comly, 
 when he remarked in substance, that the letter appeared to be 
 significant, and might bear a construction of some importance. 
 However, there was one thing appeared to him certain, that 
 society was in danger of being scattered, and that something 
 ought to be done immediately to preserve and keep us togeth- 
 er, and that he wished to consult with some friends, as to the 
 proper steps to be taken, for if he was not mistaken, the next 
 Yearly Meeting would be an eventful, if not an awful time. 
 That he had no idea that it would be best to contend much 
 with the party that seemed determined to rule, and bear down 
 every thing before them, but to prepare for a peaceable and 
 quiet retreat. 
 
 Finding that John was under great discouragement, I 
 thought to cheer him up a little, by telling him that he re- 
 minded me of Lucian in the Roman Senate, when Cgesar, with 
 a powerful army, was approaching Rome to destroy 
 the last vestige of the republic; referring to the dread- 
 ful struggle that they had made for liberty, and the ter- 
 rible destruction of the lives of men, '^ he confessed^ his 
 thoughts were turned on peace, and it was time to sheathe the 
 sword and spare mankind ; that it was not C^sar but the 
 Gods he feared.'' And while I certainly ought to prefer the 
 peaceful and Christian-like spirit of John Comly, I was too 
 much like Semphronius, another Senator, whose voice was 
 still for war. 
 
 A day or two after this, Bucks Quarterly Meeting was held 
 at Wrightstown, at which was Elizabeth Robson, and, of 
 course, a number of her Orthodox friends. I have norecol- 
 
108 
 
 lection of what she said. I only know that the meeting would 
 not endorse her certificate^ and that I made what the Ortho- 
 dox called a flaming speech, consisting of false statements and 
 downright lies, and in substance was as follows : ^^From the 
 best information I am in possession of, Friends are on the de- 
 cline in England, and there must be a cause for this effect. 
 That if I was not mistaken in my information, there was, at 
 the close of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth 
 centuries, seven hundred meetings of Friends in England, Ire- 
 land, Scotland and Wales, and now they would scarcely num- 
 ber four hundred, and many of them are mere skeletons, as is 
 abundantly confirmed by Samuel Smith and Sarah Harrison. 
 Samuel says he was at two Quarterly Meetings, one of them 
 consisted of twelve men and boys, and the other of eight; and 
 Sarah speaks of one still less. Now there must be a cause for 
 this sorrowful effect, and if I am not mistaken the cause em- 
 anated from the British hierarchy, that dark, strong hold of 
 anti-Christ, whose deluded votaries, like Balac, taught the chil- 
 dren of Israel to partake of things sacrificed to idols, joining 
 Bible societies. Missionary societies, and other popular institu- 
 tions set up in the self-will of man; in consequence of which 
 I fear there has been a decline in our religious meetings in 
 the kingdom of England, at the ratio of more than two meet- 
 ings a year, for the last hundred years. And happy would it 
 have been for Friends in America, could that evil genius that 
 is producing such sad effects, have been kept on the 
 other side of the Atlantic. But alas! it has not only landed 
 on our shores, but found a residence in our populous cities, 
 where there is fulness of bread and abundance of idleness, 
 and if I am not mistaken in my impressions, is now forming 
 in the dark a piece of ecclesiastical machinery, which, if suf- 
 fered to go into full operation, will sap the foundations of our 
 religious liberty. Let then the descendants of the worthy 
 companions of the excellent William Penn, stand firm as 
 Christian soldiers in defence of the sacred boon, religious li- 
 berty, purchased at the expense of the blood and sufferings of 
 their honorable progenitors.^^ Such was the substance, if not 
 the very words, that were spoken, which offended the Orthodox, 
 and alarmed my dear friend John Comly. 
 
 Next day Elizabeth Robson had an appointed meeting at New- 
 ton, which was attended by a number of her friends. After 
 
109 
 
 meeting, I went and spoke to her, and something like the fol-' 
 lowing conversation took place. I said, '^ Will Elizabeth Rob- 
 son go^home with Edward Hicks and take some dinner?" She 
 replied, " I understand Edward Hicks is very much opposed to 
 English Friends." I answered, ^' Edward Hicks professes to 
 be a Christian, and consequently, ought to be a gentleman, and 
 treat English as well as American Friends kindly, especially at 
 his own house ; come and see.'' She replied, " If Edward 
 Hicks professes to be a Christian and a gentlemen, I confess I 
 am at a loss to reconcile his false statements yesterday." I said, 
 if she would convince me that I had made statements which 
 were not true, I would make a public acknowledgment, but 
 until she had done so, I must be indulged in believing I was 
 correct. Christopher Healy said, he did not see how I could 
 make any acknowledgment that would satisfy Friends, for my 
 false declaration was made in so large a Quarterly Meeting. 
 Elizabeth said, that one thing I said was undoubtedly false ; 
 that Friends in England were members of missionary societies. 
 I asked her if they were not members of Bible societies ? She 
 said they were, and she gloried in it. I then told her, that I 
 had always understood that those two societies were so insepa- 
 rably connected, that to be directly a member of one, would be 
 indirectly a member of the other; for the one furnished the 
 books, and the other the men to spread them abroad. Eliza- 
 beth said there was- another statement which I made that was 
 not true ; I said Friends in England were on the decline^ I 
 told her if I was wrong in that statement, I was indebted to 
 her countryman, Thomas Clarkson, for the mistake, for I un- 
 derstood him to say that Friends in England were on the de- 
 cline, and he was sorry for it. When Elizabeth seemed dis- 
 posed to doubt my word, I told her I would bring the book and 
 she might see for hrself. Her friend seemed willing now to 
 end the controversy by taking her away. 
 
 I do not entertain a hard feeling towards Elizabeth Eobson, 
 and am far from wishing to charge her with acting unlady-like. 
 She no doubt believed she was right, but was deficient in infor- 
 mation. 
 
 Her companion, Bartholomew Wister, was not so fortunate 
 in his disposition, but like Peter, (considering me as an enemy 
 to the outward person of the Saviour,) he waxed wroth and 
 tried to cut off my right ear, or in other words, destroy my 
 
 y 
 
no 
 
 character as a man of truth; saying at the time, as he stood be- 
 hind me in a supercilious, sneering manner, '^ there, don't lie,'* 
 "dont lie ;'' and afterwards posted me as a public liar. But I 
 humbly trust that, like Peter, he was reproved by the Prince of 
 Peace, and ordered to put up that sword he then wielded, in its 
 sheath, and is now with Peter in the mansions of everlasting 
 light and love. 
 
 B. W. was the son of dear John Wister, of Salem, N. J., a 
 prince and father in our Israel, and an elder worthy of double 
 honor. 
 
 John Comly, having no hope left of the preservation of our 
 Yearly Meeting from being scattered and peeled, but according 
 to his peaceable plan, pursued his prospect as truth opened the 
 way, he being a minister in good esteem, and was no doubt 
 the instrument made use of by the head of the Church, to se- 
 cure that peaceable retreat and re-organization that saved the 
 great body of Friends, constituting the Yearly Meeting of 
 Philadelphia, from being scattered to the four icinds of heaven ; 
 and however abused and misrepresented he may be by the 
 Orthodox party, if ever truth triumphs over delusion, his name . 
 will stand upon the pages of the history of the Society of 
 Friends, inseparably connected with the blessing of the peace- 
 maker. Meanwhile the English and royal Americans — among 
 whom the names of Jonathan Evans and Samuel Bettle should 
 stand conspicuous- — were pursuing a policy as cold and as cruel 
 as the British cabinet or administration of 1775, when that 
 illustrious statesman, William Pitt, charged them with ex- 
 tending their cold cunning traffic to the shambles of the Ger- 
 man despot, and cruelly hiring the merciless Indians to set 
 them as bloodhounds on their Protestant brethren, endeared to 
 them by every tie that could sanctify humanity. So these 
 English and American Quakers, I fear, were trafficking the 
 funds of society, for the services of the most distinguished law- 
 yers — those ravens who will croak the loudest for those who 
 can give them the most of their favorite food, money. These 
 hirelings, together with the hireling priests, that I shall allego- 
 rically call the bloodhounds of religious persecution, appear to 
 be the formidable auxiliaries, employed by Orthodox FriendS; 
 to prosecute and persecute their Quaker brethren and sisters, 
 endeared to them by every tie that ought to bind together the 
 professors of Christianity. 
 
Ill 
 
 Tlie eventful and afflictive Yearly Meeting of 1827 arrived, 
 and although I had been opposed to any thing that might lead 
 to a division in society, still hoping there was unity enough in 
 the meeting to preserve it^ I saw on the first sitting of the 
 meeting of ministers and elders, to my great sorrow, that it was 
 a hopeless case, and told John Comly so immediately after the 
 meeting adjourned. 
 
 I will now quote that powerful ecclesiastical historian, John 
 Lawrence Mosheim. '' The prelate that ruled the see of Alex- 
 andria at this time was Cyril, a man of a haughty, turbulent, 
 and imperious temper, and painfully jealous of the rising power 
 and authority of the Bishop of Constantinople/' The elder 
 that ruled the select Yearly Meeting of Philadelphia at this 
 time, was Jonathan Evans, a man whose constitutional charac- 
 ter was exactly answerable to the above description, and was 
 as painfully jealous of the rising popularity and influence of 
 Elias Hicks and John Comly, and having pledged himself to 
 his party to carry through their favorite measure of getting a 
 committee of their own, he did it with a violence that pros- 
 trated the common order and decency hitherto observed in those 
 meetings. ^ This committee of ministers and elders was to act 
 for them, like the grand jury in our courts of justice. They 
 were to find the bill of indictment for heresy, against every 
 minister and elder that was not of their party in the Yearly 
 Meeting; and another committee appointed in the general 
 Yearly Meeting— which, by the way, turned out to be pretty 
 much the same Friends — were to go down to all the Monthly 
 Meetings, clothed with the executive power of the Yearly 
 Meeting, for disowning, by which the anathema they had pre- 
 pared was to be efiectually hurled at the head of John Comly 
 and his friends. 
 
 Hence the miniature likeness of the man and measures that 
 triumphed at the third general council of the Church held at Eph- 
 esus, A. D. 431. After referring the reader to the account of 
 this Yearly Meeting, given by James Cockburn, I think my- 
 self happy that I can contrast the spirit and conduct of John 
 Comly, and his friends, who met at Green street, Philadelphia, 
 at the close of this Yearly Meeting, with John of Antioch and 
 the other eastern Bishops, for whom Cyril had refused to wait, 
 when they met at Ephesus, and pronounced against him and 
 Memnon, the Bishop of that city, who was his creature, as 
 
112 
 
 severe a sentence as they had thundered against Nestorins. I 
 say, I think myself happy that I can state the fact that Friends 
 that had met at Green street, thundered no anathemas against 
 their Orthodox brethren and sisters, pronounced no severe sen- 
 tence against Jonathan Evans and Samuel Bettle, but only 
 gave forth an humble exposition of the causes that led to the 
 step they had taken ; embracing a mild remonstrance against 
 the proceedings of the late Yearly Meeting, with a view to its 
 re-organization through its constituent branches. And where- 
 soever the precepts and example of Jesus Christ are loved and 
 obeyed throughout the Society of Friends, this important step 
 taken by Friends at Grreen street, will be told as a memorial of 
 them ; and had they kept to the Christian meekness that they 
 then manifested, putting no confidence in the arm of flesh, 
 feeing no lawyers, entering no courts of justice, only when 
 compelled by law, and when dragged there by their enemies — 
 had they kept to the example of their blessed Saviour, having 
 nothing to do with the political concerns of the kingdoms of 
 this world, carefully avoiding all the unsettling speculations 
 and popular delusions that have distracted society — they would 
 haye stood now as a city set on a hill, that could not be hid; 
 and thousands of the precious visited lambs would have left the 
 barren mountains of empty profession, and flocked as doves to 
 the ark of the everlasting covenant, ratified hj the blood of a 
 Saviour, whose arm, as the great antitype of Noah, would 
 have been put forth for their reception ; while their enemies, 
 like the followers of the redoubtable George Keith, might have 
 afforded a richer harvest for those preachers for hire, and 
 diviners for money, whose God is their belly, and whose glory 
 is their shame. But alas ! how I have been discouraged to 
 see my dear friends continue so unsettled, even after the storm 
 had subsided, ready to catch at every bubble floating on the 
 surface, blown by any and every conceited speculator, even of 
 the most trifling cast. 
 
 The first of it I noticed was so many Friends that were hon- 
 orable farmers, and useful mechanics, wanting to be doctors ; 
 purchasing a patent right for twenty dollars, and, after reading 
 a few books a few weeks, undertake their new mode of making 
 money, by trying experiments on suffering humanity. 
 
 Now it grieved me to see, as I did in my own neighborhood, 
 a plain Friend, and practical farmer, getting a sulkey with a 
 
113 
 
 steaming "box and long whip, and go cracking Doctor alono- the 
 road. And to cap the climax of absurdity, he fell into the 
 abominable Nicolatian practice — leaving his wife, the object of 
 his youthful affection, the mother of his children, and taking 
 a young woman in her place, plunged into the abyss of ruin in 
 property and character, and I fear body and soul. 
 
 Another amiable Friend, who then lived in this town, a use- 
 ful and ingenious mechanic, caught the same restless mania, 
 and would be a Doctor in spite of all I could say to him ; and 
 in one of his unfortunate experiments upon a neighboring 
 young woman, she died under the operation, which so incensed 
 the people against him, he sold out and left us ; and within the 
 last year I was invited to meet with his neighbors, who assem- 
 bled to attend his remains to an untimely grave, and sympa- 
 thize with a distracted widow and helpless children. 
 
 Yet these and such as these, were, and are, encouraged in 
 their folly by Friends of high standing, ministers and elders. 
 Indeed, one of our elders told me, in substance, that the first 
 of the two alluded to above, was so great a Doctor that he never 
 lost a patient. 
 
 I am certainly not prepared to condemn the Thomsonian 
 system of medicine, for it may be, for aught I know, the best; 
 but as a believer in the religion of Jesus Christ, whose design 
 and end is to make us consistent, reasonable beings — as a patri- 
 otic American citizen, who sincerely desires the present as 
 well as the everlasting welfare of my fellow creatures — I feel it 
 my duty to bear a faithful testimony against such abominable 
 presumption and ignorance. 
 
 As to the old established system of medical practice as it noio 
 stands^ among us, I verily believe it to be one of the greatest 
 impositions among Christians, and in the lower section of 
 Bucks County, is worse than priest-craft. Instance their in- 
 fluence over silly women, male and female, in every family 
 where they attend ; instance, too, their influence over our law- 
 makers, so as to have their wages secured, if the miller, the 
 butcher, the storekeeper, shoe maker, and even the very nurse, 
 gets nothing ; instance, too, their influence in so changing the 
 customs of society, as to monopolize a species of surgery, that, 
 taken in connection with their enormous fees, ought to furnish 
 a monument to their shame. But what can we expect from a 
 set of hard hearted unbelievers, as I verily believe they are, 
 
 9* 
 
114 
 
 taking them in the aggregate ; for the very manner in which 
 they are educated and prepared for their business, is calculated 
 to destroy all the finer feelings of a virtuous youth. 
 
 If one half of what I have heard of young Doctors he true, 
 from what I have known myself of both young and old, I would 
 Booner follow a son of mine to his grave, with an unshaken 
 evidence that he had died a true believer in Jesus Christ, than 
 to follow him to the study of medicine in its present unchristian 
 form. 
 
 Yet these are the men who are called upon to be our com- 
 panions in a dying hour, when our souls as well as our bodies 
 are agonizing in their pain, and the strong and tender ties of 
 natui'al affection are to be broken, attended with all the fearful 
 apprehensions of an after state ; when the sun, the moon, the 
 stars, and every constellation of heaven, is sinking into ever- 
 lasting obscurity — ^yea, the very heavens themselves seem rolling 
 together as a scroll, and eternity presenting to our view ; when 
 of all other times we need the Christian's sympathy, the prayer 
 of faith and living aspiration, by which the humble, tender- 
 hearted, childlike disciple anoints our poor sin-sick souls — we 
 are surrounded by a set of consulting Doctors, as selfish, hard- 
 hearted, and I fear as cruel, as the witnesses to the dying ago- 
 nies of a suffering Saviour. And should we, like him, cry out^ 
 " My G-od ! My God ! why hast thou forsaken me V^ we can 
 expect nothing from such attendants but vinegar mingled^with 
 gall. 
 
 And as if the great Author of Nature was not sufficient, with 
 the assistance of his noblest and loveliest work-women, for 
 their own business, tyrant custom shamefully introduces these 
 men into the presence of our wives, our daughters, and our 
 mothers, at a time when they seldom want more than the pro- 
 tection of their Heavenly Father, and the sympathy and assist- 
 ance of their female friends. And what aggravates this 
 ridiculous custom, after their shameful attendance and partial 
 assistance for an hour or two, they have the effrontery unjustly 
 to charge and accept from five to fifty, and even a hundred dol- 
 lars ; while the poor woman that has endured the toils of a 
 wearisome day, and had scarcely closed her eyes on her hum- 
 ble pillow before she was called to the assistance of her neigh 
 bor, spends the whole night in the most assiduous attentions, 
 and would feel herself insulted if she was offered moneyas a 
 compensation for her kindness. 
 
115 
 
 I know just such a woman now in our borough, whose 
 meritorious usefulness makes her worthy of double honor, and 
 were it not for awakening those mean, insignificant passions, 
 jealousy and envy^ I would record her name, in hopes that it 
 might be handed down to posterity. But suffice it to say, she 
 is a Deborah indeed, a mother in Israel, a blessing to the neigh- 
 borhood where she lives, and an honor to her family and 
 friends. 
 
 Ah, dear, lovely woman ! I sincerely wish she had a more 
 efficient advocate for her rights, and a more powerful and avail- 
 ing redresser of her wrongs ; but she has my little mite, which 
 I can assui-e her comes sincerely from the very bottom of my 
 heart. 
 
 One more statement of unpleasant facts about these Doctors, 
 and then I hope I will be done finding fault with them. 
 
 Some of them profess to be religious, and I fear too often 
 enter the sick room consummate hypocrites — manifesting in 
 their address suavity and tenderness, while cursed self is coldly 
 calculating how much money they will make out of their pa- 
 tient, which is proven from the enormous bills that are too 
 often produced to the executor or administrator, by which the 
 poor man's widow and children are in one sense robbed — while 
 at the same time, the religious Doctor can support a hireling 
 priest or keep a forte piano. 
 
 They profess to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the hum- 
 ble carpenter of Nazareth, and prove themselves hypocrites by 
 their practice, in which they neither obey his precepts, nor fol- 
 low his example. I read that he told his disciples to do good 
 and lend, hoping for nothing again ; but I never read that he 
 commanded them to make money out of suffering humanity. 
 I read of this heavenly physician doctoring in the family of a 
 very rich Roman military officer, but I never read of his send- 
 ing in a bill of two or three hundred dollars, but understand 
 from the Scripture, that he was amply paid by the Christian 
 faith and humility manifested by the centurion, and gave him 
 the following receipt in full of all demands — '■^ I have not found 
 so great faith, no, not in Israel. '^ I read of Peter and Paul 
 performing divers cures of inveterate and afflicting diseases, 
 and relieving poor suffering men and women, but I always un- 
 derstood from the Scriptures of Truth — or what some call ^^the 
 Word of God'' — they did it without money and without price, 
 
116 
 
 and ministered to their own necessities and them that were 
 with them, by the kbor of their own hands. 
 
 I will now ask those Doctors that profess to be Christians, 
 especially members of the religious Society of Friends, whether 
 they can find an argument in the Scriptures in their favor ; 
 that is, in favor of mahing a inercenary concern of relieving 
 the sufferings of their felloio creatures y that would not equally 
 support a hireling ministry — and whether the two professions, 
 as respects the practice of both Doctors of divinity and Doctors 
 of medicine, are not a great imposition upon society, and call 
 loudly for reform ? ^^ Hireling ministry,'^ said H. Gr. 0., while 
 mayor of the city of Boston, to my friend J. F., ^^ is the great- 
 est curse and darkest cloud that hangs over Christendom/' 
 ^^ It is contrary to my interest,' ' says Doctor Belville, late of 
 the city of Trenton, one of the greatest physicians in the 
 United States, to my friend S. C, ^' but you may depend upon 
 it that we Doctors are the greatest imposition upon the public, 
 and are shamefully living upon poor, weak, credulous people/' 
 The late Nicholas Waler, an eminent lawyer, and afterwards 
 an eminent minister of the Grospel, declared in a public meeting 
 held in London, '' that the priests, the doctors, and the lawyers, 
 were the deceivers of mankind." Seeing, then, that men of 
 the greatest knowledge and experience, unite with the illiterate 
 mechanic, that priest craft and doctor craft are shameful im- 
 positions upon Christians, and a sad evil in the land, I will 
 ofier for the serious consideration of Friends and others, the 
 following proposition, as a remedy or prescription for the 
 disease : 
 
 Let all Christian parents, guardians, and heads of families, 
 consider themselves as delegated shepherds, under the Great 
 Shepherd and Bishop of souls, charged with the care of a flock 
 of lambs, in the wilderness of this world, and for whose present 
 and everlasting welfare they are in a certain degree responsi- 
 ble, and will have to answer it before the tribunal of final 
 judgment. This awful consideration will beget a religious 
 concern to bring their children, even in their infancy, to Clirist, 
 that he may lay his hands upon them, and bless them, answer- 
 able to the concern of those parents we read of in the New Tes- 
 tament. This can most assuredly now be done by praying to 
 Christ, as an omnipresent Saviour, a quickening spirit, that 
 hath all power in heaven and in earth, and has promised and 
 
117 
 
 will undoubtedly fulfil it^ ^^ Whatsoever you ask in my name, 
 I will do it." This name is the j^oioeo^ and quickening sjnrit 
 of all fervent and effectual prayer. Such as are thus exercised 
 will be kind, affectionate, tender-hearted, forgiving one another^ 
 and be the happy instruments of kindling on the altar of the 
 child's heart, the same devotional flame that glows within their 
 own breast. 
 
 Thus the dear rising youth of America niay be brought into 
 the true sheep fold, and hear the voice of the Heavenly Shep- 
 herd, who has promised he will give unto them eternal life, 
 and none shall pluck them out of his hand. '' My "sheep they 
 hear my voice and follow me, but the voice of a stranger they 
 will not follow.'' Hence the next generation of men and women 
 will see through the sheepskins upon those ravening wolves, a 
 proud, pompous, mercenary priesthood will sink undistin- 
 guished into the common mass of the people, and this dark 
 cloud and curse of Christendom be seen no more for ever. 
 
 Let the present rising generation, both male and female, be 
 well educated in itseful knowledge, to fit them for useful 
 business, and let all scholastic learning that is merely orna- 
 mental be dispensed with, and substitute in its place the sub- 
 stantial parts of the science of medicine, particularly anatomy 
 and botany. Let this be taught by competent male and female 
 teachers. 
 
 It can give but little satisfaction to tell our poor suffering 
 fellow creatures about metaphysical ahstracfions. But to be 
 able to tell them concerning their physical structure, how fear- 
 fully and wonderfully they are made, and what part of their 
 complicated system is disordered, occasioning their suffering, 
 and that there is a remedy provided by a merciful Heavenly 
 Father and physician, in the inexhaustible resources of the 
 mineral and vegetable productions of the earth — is an attain- 
 ment worthy of our pursuit. 
 
 This important knowledge being instilled into our dear chil- 
 dren at school, will ripen when they come to maturity, and 
 when they enter upon the stage of active life, to mingle with 
 their elder brethren and sisters in the social and relative duties, 
 they will come forth as TVilliamPennsaid of G-eorge Fox, good 
 neighbors, good physicians, and consistent Christians, all of 
 Grod Almighty's own making. Or in other words, those noble, 
 rational beings, both male and female, that the G-reat Author 
 
118 
 
 of natiwe hatli endowed with the requisite qualifications for 
 physicians and surgeons, will take their proper places in society 
 and shine as stars; while the children of avarice and the 
 nurslings of pride and ambition, will be compelled from ne- 
 cessity to labor with their own hands, undistinguished in their 
 respective channels of usefulness. 
 
 Then, in every neighborhood, there will be raised up a suffi- 
 cient number of such physicians and surgeons, both male and 
 female, that would enter the house of sickness and affliction 
 like good neighbors do now, with the tear of Christian sympa- 
 thy in their eyes, and the noble, benevolent spirit of the Gospel 
 in their hearts; spirits that would be wounded in the house 
 of their friends, were money offered them as a compensation 
 for their services, and should even the selfish thought steal into 
 their heart, they would turn it out as a temptation of the 
 devil. 
 
 I am glad I can speak experimentally of such kind neigh- 
 bors. Some eight or ten years sine?, my family was afflicted 
 with sickness. My wife was a cripple in both of ber hands, 
 my son and three daughters were sick, two of them sadly so. 
 Indeed one of them was so nearly gone that there was scarcely 
 a hope of her recovery left. Ah, it was then I could appre- 
 ciate the value of those noble women, who are a blessing to 
 every neighborhood where they reside. With what tenderness 
 and devotion did they attend upon my poor sick daughters, by 
 day and by night. There was one young woman, whose name 
 I can never recur to but with feelings of love and gratitude, a 
 name that I would record, were it not that there were so many 
 like her, who may see this account and be tempted to feelings 
 of jealousy, that great destroyer of female happiness. It was 
 then I saw what our Lord embraced in one of his sayings, 
 ^' There are last that shall be first, and first last f out of four 
 brothers-in-law, that lived no great distance, the younger — a 
 strong powerful looking man, with his constitutional fondness 
 for fun and frolic marked in the lines and configuration of his 
 face, often called to offer his services, and I can never forget 
 that dear brother the morning we thought one of our daughters 
 was near her end. His strong masculine countenance was 
 melted into more than female softness, and something like the 
 angel of mercy and goodness reflected from the tear that stood 
 m his eye, while his manly bosom heaved with sympathetic 
 
119 
 
 feelings too big to be uttered. This man thougb he made no 
 profession of religion at that time, gave abundant evidence that 
 he was influenced by brotherly kindness, one of the highest 
 perfections of a Christian. I would rather have such a man 
 to nurse me, when sick, and help me when not able to help 
 myself, than any other kind in our neighborhood. Such men 
 as these I have known in every place where I have lived for 
 forty-five years ; and many of them poor men, who have to 
 maintain a large family by the labor of their own hands, after 
 working hard all day, would be sent for to go many miles to 
 sit up with the sick all night, because of their superior skill, 
 attention, and kindness. These men would feel themselves in- 
 sulted if they were offered money for their services. 
 
 Now I want physicians and surgeons made of such men as 
 these, and such women as were before alluded to, who are 
 benefactors and blessings to their fellow creatures. And this 
 in the way I have proposed, appears to me to be the only means 
 that can break up effectually the shameful imposition of doctor 
 craft, which in its present form and practice is a disgrace to the 
 cause of Christianity. 
 
 I am now glad I can record some honorable exceptions to 
 the above severe strictures on Doctors. 
 
 Whilst my family was sick, my wife was anxious to see Doc- 
 tor Parrish. I wrote him a few lines touching the affliction, 
 stating that one of my daughters appeared near the gates of 
 death, and mentioning the particular desire of my wife to see 
 him. About this time I understood he received a message 
 from Joseph Bonaparte, then living at Bordentown, that he 
 wished to see him also, and for which visit I have no doubt the 
 ex-king of Spain would have cheerfully paid him one hundred 
 dollars. But I further understood that the Doctor in- 
 formed the rich potentate, that it would be inconvenient to 
 attend him at his residence, but if he would come to Philadel- 
 phia he would wait on him. Such is the impression I have 
 received. But when Doctor Parrish received a message from 
 his poor friend, he came forthwith thirty miles, and after com- 
 forting and encouraging my afflicted wife and children, by his 
 peculiar sweetness and suavity, I say peculiar because sincere, 
 I took him aside to pay him, when he made use of a language 
 likejhis, '' No, my dear friend, I cannot take thy money. It 
 was not money induced me to come,, hut sympathy and Jove 
 
120 
 
 for tJiec and tliy afflicted family. ^^ Ah, my dear friend, who- 
 ever thou art, who may read these sayings of Doctor, Parrish, 
 let me tell thee they embrace the very thing I want. I want 
 a great many just such Christian doctors as Doctor Parrish, 
 with this great improvement upon their characters, they shall 
 carry on carpentering, merchandising or farming, for the hon- 
 orable support of themselves and families, so that they can do 
 unto every Christian brother and sister as Doctor Parrish did 
 to me and my afflicted family, that the blessed kingdom of our 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ may be established in the 
 heights of civilized America, and the darling attributes of 
 mercy and goodness exalted above all the hills of cursed sel- 
 fishness and pride. 
 
 I rejoice that I can produce another redeeming case in the 
 character of Doctor Isaac Chapman, late of Wrightstown, in 
 the county of Bucks, Pa., whose meritorious example as a phy- 
 sician is worthy to be recorded. I am aware that he was no 
 friend of mine, having, in our Quaker revolution, enlisted in 
 the Orthodox ranks, and was of course taught by his leaders to 
 view me as a heathen man and a publican. But Grod forbid 
 that I should be influenced by that mean, pitiful bigotry, that 
 would deprive him of his due, merely because we differed in 
 Quaker politics. Doctor Chapman was a worthy man, a faith- 
 ful guardian to the orphan, and an upright protector of the 
 widow. But his moderation in his charges to the rich and the 
 poor during a long and extensive practice, has no parallel. I 
 shall only state two cases out of the many I have known. 
 
 Avery rich man's daughter married a respectable young man 
 in Philadelphia. Some short time after their settlement she 
 came on a visit to her father, and was taken sick with an ob- 
 stinate lingering fever. Doctor Chapman attended her nearly 
 three months, riding four miles twice a day a considerable 
 part of the time. When she had recovered so as to be able to 
 remove back to the city, her husband called on the Doctor for 
 his bill, not dovibting but what it would be fifty or sixty pounds. 
 He had brought that sum, but what was his agreeable surprise 
 when the Doctor produced his bill calling for only twenty 
 dollars. 
 
 The other was a poor man that Doctor Chapman had attended 
 in his family for nearly fifteen years, and the poor man had 
 become alarmed in consequence of hearing of the enormous 
 
121 
 
 "bills of other Doctors, and having saved ten dollars, he met the 
 Doctor in the road, and gave it to him. The Doctor at first 
 refused to take it, but the poor man insisting upon his taking 
 it as part pay, he consented ; but observed at the same time he 
 thought it was too much, but he could hand him the change. 
 Some days after, the poor man met the Doctor again, when the 
 Doctor handed him five dollars and a half change, out of the 
 ten : charging only four dollars and a half for fifteen years' at- 
 tendance on his family. Now, dear Doctor, whoever thou art 
 that may read this, go and do likewise, that thy name may 
 leave a savor grateful to surviving generations. 
 
 I have wandered so far from my path I hardly know how to 
 find my way back, or at what point to start again. I believe 
 I started from the path of narrative after some of my dear 
 friends who had run wild after the Thomsonian system of 
 doctoring, and having overtaken them, I do not wish to up- 
 braid them with their folly, for I do not doubt the honesty and 
 sincerity of their motives ; but I would try to persuade such 
 as have left the path of humble industry, for this new mode of 
 making money out of suffering humanity, to return to it again 
 as soon as possible ; for the jjatJi of humble indus.try wiU he 
 found to he the path of the just mauy whose increasing hright- 
 ness will lead to present and everlasting peace ; and I think that 
 some who may read this will be prepared, having learned 
 from the things they have suffered, to take the above advice. 
 
 Yes, there are too many valuable Friends that have suffered 
 by running after new things ; and I have noticed that when 
 Friends give way to unsettlement, they hardly know when to 
 stop. Now their medical speculation seemed to prepare the 
 way for a morns multicaulis speculation, and whether it was 
 the losses and crosses attendant on this wild scheme, bringing 
 many into the bondage of debt and difficulty, which led them 
 into sympathy for the poor slaves — or whether it was their fine 
 patriotic feelings; certain it is, that many of these Friends 
 were prepared to embrace, and did join, the political aholition 
 speculation. I wish here distinctly to be understood, that I 
 make use of the word or term political, to distinguish between 
 the present aholition 'mania and the sober, serious testimony 
 against Slavery, recognized by the Society of Friends. It led 
 the political abolitionists to open their meeting houses to law- 
 yers and lecturers, which led many to still greater weakness; 
 
 10 
 
122 
 
 eyen a kind of head philosophy, by which they undertake to 
 account for all the peculiar exercises of the soul, by particular 
 protuberances on the head. Now ministers and elders profes- 
 sing to believe in this, and going about feeling young people's 
 heads, grieves and discourages me. But to cap the climax of 
 absurdity, and show what ridiculous inconsistency Friends are 
 running into, too many Friends profess to believe in a system 
 of deception called animal magnetism, and are actually en- 
 couraging men who are going about operating on poor weak 
 little girls — I suppose at an age when the peculiar state of 
 their nervous system answers their diabolical purpose. 
 
 Now I cannot help looking upon this deception with anger; 
 being grieved not only at the hardness of the conjurers' heartS;, 
 but the cruelty of parents, in letting their dear little girls be 
 so shamefully abused. If this is suffered to go on, I should 
 not be surprised, feeble as my hold on life is, to live to see with 
 sorrow too many of our dear young women ruined, and virtue, 
 honor, and even common decency, trodden under foot with im- 
 punity. 
 
 When the Jesuits, those great deceivers of Catholic Christen- 
 dom, commenced their operations, they began by teaching chil- 
 dren, but ended in teaching princes; and nothing but a provi- 
 dential interference prevented them from putting civil and re- 
 ligious liberty into a common grave. 
 
 I hope there are but few Friends that have run into this sad 
 extreme, but there are many who are running after the other 
 bubbles. Indeed, some of the best Friends belonging to our 
 Monthly Meeting, were caught by that rattle and conceit called 
 morus multicaulis, and two of them acted so Christian like, that 
 their conduct ought to be recorded. 
 
 One of them was a worthy, exemplary elder, and the other a 
 young married man, with a lovely wife — a sweet preacher — and 
 an interesting family of young children. 
 
 The elder was a farmer and a renter, and thinking to make 
 something, he laid out a hundred dollars in mulberry trees, 
 and when they were at their perfection for market, another 
 very clever Friend bought them, and gave his obligation to 
 the elder for seven hundred dollars, payable in nine months. 
 Before the money was due, the bubble bursted. Some time 
 after the nine months had expired, the elder called on his 
 friend with the obligation for seven hundred dollars, and see- 
 
123 
 
 inn- him look dejected, he said very pleasantly, ^^ don't he dis- 
 couraged, I have not come to insist upon thy fulfilling thy 
 promise. But as thou art a rich man and I am a poor one, 1 
 thought I would propose to thee to pay me the one hundred 
 dollars I payed for the trees — I will then give thee up thy bond 
 for seven hundred and lose all my labor. Here was practical 
 Christian feeling. 
 
 The other was a young Friend who was a hatter, that like 
 the dear primitives' studied to be quiet and mind his own busi- 
 ness, and work with his own hands, so that he walked orderly 
 towards them without and lacked nothing ; but he was in debt 
 for his house and lot, and had to pay usury to a money-monger. 
 This sometimes discouraged him, and being a little melan- 
 choly, one day this money-making gipsy, morus multicaulis, 
 came singing into his shop, and her song was so musical 
 about making a little money so easily and so honestly, to pay 
 the debt on his house and lot, that in spite of his better judg- 
 ment, he bought a small parcel of mulberry trees and planted 
 them on his lot. When they were ready for market, the son 
 of a wealthy Presbyterian elder, brought up by his father an 
 honorable carpenter, in the path of humble industry, whom 
 the priests and their satellites persuaded to go to some eastern 
 college to study idleness, arrogance, and speculation, prepara- 
 tory, perhaps, for holy orders,— bought our young friend's trees 
 for three hundred dollars, and gave his note for the money, 
 payable in nine months. But the bubble breaking, as in the 
 other case, our young collegian fled, and our friend wot not 
 what had become of him. But it appeared in the sequel that 
 this young Presbyterian had had too good an education, under 
 the care of his excellent father, in the path of humble industry, 
 to be entirely spoiled, even by priests and colleges, for he went 
 to sea, and being diligent and faithful in his business, saved 
 money and came back like an honest man to pay his debts. 
 Calling on our friend he said, " Charles, I have come to pay 
 you part of that money I owe you, and renew the obligation, 
 and if it takes me fifteen years, if I live, I will pay you every 
 cent." Our friend went and got the note, and holding it in 
 his hand, thus addressed him in substance : " Dost thou think 
 I could take money from thee, for which thou never hadst a 
 valuable consideration ? No ! poor as I am, I would suffer any- 
 thing rather than act so dishonestly," So saying, he put the 
 note in the fire. 
 
124 
 
 See wbatan honorable Presbyterian and an honestbeneyolcnt 
 Quaker can do. I sincerely wish that all Presbyterians and 
 Quakers, were influenced by the same noble, generous spirit. 
 The partition wall which divided the Jew from the Gentile^ 
 would be thrown down, and the children of God gathered into 
 one, ''That there may be one God and his name One." 
 
 I now return again to the Spring of 1827. The OrthodoX;, 
 consisting of the English and Royal Americans, haying, as they 
 supposed, gained the ascendancy in the Yearly Meetings, ap- 
 peared in full force at Philadelphia quarter, carrying all before 
 them. But at Abington, the same week, they were totally de- 
 feated after a contest of nearly seven hours. At Concord, 
 Salem, Western, Shrewsbury, Rahway and Southern quarters, 
 they had to retreat. At Cain and Burlington they were the 
 strongest, and came over to aid Bucks, flushed with victory and 
 confident of success. 
 
 I can never forget Bucks Quarterly Meeting, held at Buck- 
 ingham, in the Fifth month, 1827, especially the meeting of 
 ministers and elders. It was to me a distressing, indeed I maj 
 say, an awful time, for I felt the weight of the responsibility 
 that rested upon me, as the only minister belonging t© 
 Bucks quarter then present, that the anathema of ecclesiastical 
 censure was to be hurled at, or, in other words, the only victina 
 branded as an infidel, and marked for certain disownment, and 
 the importance of sustaining, with decency and dignity, the con- 
 templated shock. In the agony of my feelings I prayed most 
 fervently, and was comforted with the words of the blessed 
 Saviour, ''My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death, tarry 
 ye here and watch with me." I remembered that these ex- 
 pressions were used by the blessed Jesus, just before he was 
 arraigned before the Orthodox Israelites that composed the Jew- 
 ish Sanhedrim, and I thought it a blessed privilege that a worm 
 of the dust, as I was in comparison, should drink of the cup 
 of suffering a Saviour drank of. Whether it was this 
 opening or what it was that stayed my mind, I must leave, 
 while I acknowledge with thankfulness, I was willing to su0"er 
 patiently for about seven hours. 
 
 I might have fared worse had it not been for my dear friend 
 Abraham Lower and Samuel Noble, for a great deal of time 
 was spent by Orthodox Friends in trying to get them out of 
 the meeting. The distressing alteiGation drove our tender 
 
125 
 
 friend William Taylor, from the table, as clerk^ to the select 
 quarter, and several other valuable Friends, like him, left the 
 house; so that the contest on the part of Friends of Bucks quar- 
 ter, had to be sustained principally by six elders, and one min- 
 ister, with the assistance of A. Lower and S. Noble. 
 
 I think it right to record the names of those elders whose 
 conduct on that day was so Christian-like; to wit : — Thomas 
 Carey, Benjamin Smith, Issac Buckra an, Joseph Briggs, Jere- 
 miah Mahan, and Samuel Swain. I have no recollection of an 
 act or saying of either of these Friends that was not in perfect 
 propriety. If there was any impropriety of conduct I would 
 rather charge it to myself, thought feel no comdemnation for any 
 thing I said or did. Our dear friend, Stephen Comfort, was 
 with us that dreadful day, but beiug under peculiar depression 
 of spirits in consequence of the distressing illuess of his truly 
 valuable brother Samuel, I do not remember his saying any 
 thing. 
 
 At the general quarterly meeting next day. Friends arose in 
 the full majesty of their strength, and Orthodoxy was defeated 
 at every point, and that in the shortest time I ever knew the 
 meeting to hold. All their written and verbal communications 
 were rejected, and the remonstrance of the representatives against 
 the proceedings of the late Yearly Meeting, signed by twenty- 
 two out of the twenty-four, was read and united with. 
 
 Notwithstanding this apparently signal victory, the battle 
 had^to be fought over again three times. First, in the Monthly- 
 Meeting immediately succeeding the quarter ; secondly, in the 
 next Quarterly Meeting, held at the Falls, and thirdly and last- 
 ly, at the Monthly Meeting in the Ninth month, which com- 
 pleted the separation, and the Orthodox lost all but the books 
 and papers belonging to the women's meeting at the Falls, and 
 the privilege of holding their meetings in that meeting 
 house. 
 
 Having brought into view two dear friends, Abraham Lower 
 and Stephen Comfort, valuable ministers, I feel it right to re- 
 cord a brief memorial of them, more especially as their re- 
 spective Monthly Meetings have never noted them. Though 
 they are dead as to the outwardman, they still live in my mind. 
 Dear Stephen, I loved him affectionately as a Christian brother 
 in Christ, and verily believe, although a great sufferer, Jesus 
 loved him as his c we and ^' loved him to the end;'' granting 
 
 10* 
 
126 
 
 his immortal soul an admittance into those glorious mansions, 
 where the morning stars join in singing hallelujah, and all the 
 Sons of God forever shout for joy. 
 
 Dear Abraham may be said^in the language of Scripture, tohaye 
 been a valiant man. Living in Philadelphia where he was exposed 
 to Orthodox intolerance, some of the last years of his life, he 
 seemed almost always to be in arms or in action. Hence his 
 resemblance to Joab, that valiant captain and faithful friend to 
 the house of David, when the house of Saul was rejected in the 
 counsels of infinite wisdom ; and if he had failings, they were 
 somewhat like those of Joab, whose violence and zeal caused him 
 to slay with his spear, what the king's mercy would have spared. 
 This man, like his friend Stephen, has never been noticed by 
 his Monthly Meeting, for what cause I know not. One thing 
 is certain, there have been those who have been highly me- 
 morialized, that had not the courage or decision of character to 
 show themselves where such men as John Comly and Abra- 
 ham Lower, in the begining of the revolution, stood with their 
 lives, as it were, in their hands ; and I am sorry to say, I ve- 
 rily fear there are some now among us who are assuming a 
 commanding position, and heading a party, who appear to me 
 to be going off from Friends, that at the trying time before al- 
 luded to, stood behind the screen — or perhaps like the bat in the 
 fable, hovering over to see which would be the strongest side. 
 Orthodox or Friends, and, if this was the case, I do not wonder 
 they are now to be seen flying in the dark, catching and car- 
 rying off so many of our youth, that like the insects of a sum- 
 mer's evening, are gamboling in the twilight. But when they 
 receive the due reward of their deeds, it will be like the afore- 
 said bat, they will be rejected by both sides. 
 
 After the monthly meetings in the 9th month, 1827, Or- 
 thodox Friends got their ecclesiastical machinery organized, 
 as they supposed, exactly to suit the latitude of the United 
 ^tates, and commenced disowning, preparatory to carrying out 
 the advice of their great lawyers, in a regular and systematic 
 prosecution for all the property. This ridiculous farce, for I 
 can call it by no better name, rouses my indignation, and I 
 cannot help looking back upon their conduct, I hope as our 
 Saviour did upon rotten hearted professors formerly, when he 
 was grieved for the hardness of their hearts; for the hearts of 
 such must be hard, who are coldly pursuing a malignant, un- 
 
127 
 
 just plan of operations, tliat has for its object, all the injury 
 tliej could possibly inflict. I may be in a wrong spirit, and 
 express myself in unpleasant terms, for I confess 1 never bad 
 any thing so to try me as the cold, supercilious and insulting 
 manner in which they entered our houses, assuming a juris- 
 diction over our families. I confess I got angry, and perhaps, 
 like Peter, drew my own sword and cut off their right ear. 
 . In the Monthly Meeting of Makefield, of which I am a 
 member, there was but two obscure families went off with the 
 Orthodox. Not one of our select members went with them, 
 so that they could not hold a meeting. Yet these two fami- 
 lies, consisting of two youngish men and their wives, with a 
 few small children, were considered all sufficient, agreeably to 
 the wtfndrous power of their ecclesiastical machinery, to dis- 
 own a large Monthly Meeting, and lay down and discontinue 
 two large meetings for worship, and take several thousand dol- 
 lars worth of property in direct opposition to every principle 
 of justice and equity. 
 
 I will here present the proceedings of Makefield Monthly 
 Meeting, in relation to the few Orthodox that left them, as a 
 striking contrast to their unkind and unjust proceedings against 
 us. After waiting five or six years and finding their conduct 
 would occasion some difficulty, we united in the following tes- 
 timony, which was placed upon record. 
 
 "In the 9th month, 1827, J. B., C. B., M. B., S. B., M. 
 B., and M, J., went off and left us, and uniting with others 
 that acted in a similar manner in other monthly meetings, set- 
 ting up separate meetings, both for worship and discipline, 
 thereby dissolving their connection, and resigning all their 
 right in our religious society ; and although we can have no 
 unity with their proceedings, nor consider ourselves in any 
 way accountable for their conduct, or those minor children 
 under their care, that have decided on going with them, never- 
 theless we cannot for conscience sake make use of the disci- 
 pline as a sword to pursue them, hoping they are iiifluenced 
 by sincere and conscientious motives, and as free, intelligent 
 beings they have an equal right with ourselves to the enjoy- 
 ment of religious liberty. We therefore feel most easy to 
 make this record of the fact, leaving them in the hands of a 
 merciful and most gracious Being, sincerely desiring their pre- 
 sent and everlasting welfare ; standing ever disposed, not only 
 
128 
 
 to compromise or settle as respects property on the great prin- 
 ciples of justice and equity, but should any of them become 
 convinced it was their duty to return, to receive them with joy 
 into the bosom of our religious society/' 
 
 Indeed, it appears to me that the English and Koyal Ameri- 
 cans, would have rejoiced in the destruction of Friends' meet- 
 ing at Newtown, and have been glad to take our meeting 
 house, and put it in possession of the original owner of the 
 land, and see him convert it into a cocoonery, or steeple-house; 
 for this man, though a descendant from one of the most re- 
 spectable families of Friends in Bucks county, was disowned 
 for getting married by an hireling priest, and then did one of 
 the worst things, I think, he could have done for his standing 
 in this world, if not in the world to come, by turning against 
 the friends of his honorable father, and his own best friends^, 
 and joining the Episcopalians — Friends' greatest enemies; 
 who have taken more of their property — more of their liberty, 
 and more of their lives, than all other societies put together. 
 For a. proof of this charge, I refer the reader to Sewel and 
 Gough's history, and to the bitter attack upon Friends, by an 
 Episcopal clergyman, in the Doylestown paper, in 1837, over 
 the signature of ^'Americus.'^ 
 
 Having given a sketch of the hostile spirit of Orthodoxy, 
 against our meeting, I will state a few facts, as relates to the 
 attack of the same spirit upon the poor preacher. 
 
 Their first open attack was upon my public character, part 
 of which they embraced in a declaration from the Yearly Meet- 
 ing of 1828, in which they labored to destroy it, by trying to 
 make me out an infidel, and an unbeliever in the great doc- 
 trines of Christianity. This they had a right to do, if they 
 really thought so, for my public character is certainly a kind 
 of public property; but they were sadly mistaken, even in 
 this, for the public mind in the little circle in which I moved, 
 would not believe them, and moreover their spreading my name 
 beyond that circle, gave me a celebrity that my talents and 
 qualifications never merited. But their attack upon my pri- 
 vate and moral character, was shamefully unchristian, ungen- 
 tlemanly and even unmanly, manifesting that hardness of 
 heart, and deficiency of understanding that have characterized 
 the m.ad brained Orthodoxy of the priests and their satellites 
 from the days of the outward advent of the Saviour, down to 
 
129 
 
 tlie present time. Being in a serious difficulty to get a charge 
 sufficient to blast my private and moral character, in conse- 
 quence of the merciful care of the Shepherd of Israel in pre- 
 serving me from gross evil, when I was wicked enough to have 
 plunged into the worst, they had recourse to an old superannu- 
 ated stale report that was raised about me ten or twelve years 
 before, by a lawyer, then living in our town, and at that time a 
 complete tool for a popular Baptist preacher,/Who preached to a 
 small class in the old Court House, once a month. These Baptists 
 being placed at antipodes to the great Baptist John, were filled 
 with chagrin and sorrow to find that Friends were increasing, 
 and they were decreasing, and being Orthodox they must do 
 all they could do against Friends. Hence the importance of 
 knocking down Friends' poor minister, right or wrong ; and I 
 being a poor painter and^ coachmaker, may have disappointed 
 the said lawyer, in not getting his carriage done for him, ac- 
 cording to promise, although I have no recollection of any 
 thing of the kind, sufficient for him to report me as a common 
 liar, which I believe he did, for a professed Deist told a dear 
 friend of mine, he had it from the aforesaid Orthodox lawyer. 
 Unfortunately for me, I have been, and still am, the butt of 
 the Orthodox and the Deist. Hence the extreme parties in 
 the Society of Friends are unfriendly to me, and I do not 
 know that I ought to blame them, for I certainly have no 
 unity with either of them. Be that as it may, the Orthodox 
 Friends got hold of this report, and tried their best to destroy 
 my character as a man of truth, both far and near, as the fol- 
 lowing fact will abundantly prove. 
 
 Towards the close of 1827, I received through the post 
 office, a large letter, and on opening it found there was no 
 name to it, only initials, but it appeared to be written in a 
 friendly spirit, and in substance was as follows : ^^I have 
 heard thee in days that are past, as I then thought, preach 
 the gospel, and I loved thee, but lately I heard it told in a 
 large company of Friends, thirty or more, principally minis- 
 ters and elders, that thou hadst become a kind of leader in a 
 party that denied the Christian religion, and trampled all dis- 
 cipline and order under foot with impunity, and had become 
 BO loose and immoral in thy conduct, that thee was thought 
 nothing of by respectable people, and so a great a liar that it 
 was proverbial in the neighborhood, if any one told a great 
 
130 
 
 lie, to say, it was as great a one as Edward Hicks could tell, 
 and such was the loss of confidence in thee, thee could get 
 very little to do. If this is true, thou hast sorrowfully fallen. 
 If it is not true, it is then sorrowful that there should he 
 members of our religious society, so lost to every sense of 
 goodness, as to circulate such scandalous reports 3 and if thou 
 canst send me sufficient evidence that the report is false, I 
 stand ready to assist thee in calling them to an account, and 
 will send thee the names of thy principal enemies/' This is, 
 as nearly as I can recollect, the substance of my friend's let- 
 ter. I immediately called on our post master, who, on exam- 
 ining his list, found the post office from whence the letter had 
 come, and the name of the post master. It was in New York 
 State, near Connecticut. There being sufficient room on the 
 large sheet of paper, I wrote an answer in substance as fol- 
 lows : " I deny the charges, and declare that I am not a leader 
 in a party that denies the Christian religion, and is trampling 
 upon the excellent discipline of the Society of Friends, for 
 there never was a time in my life, when the religion of Jesus^ 
 in its blessed simplicity, as recorded in the New Testament, 
 and professed by Friends, was more near and dear to me, and 
 I think I would be willing to lay down my life for it. And I 
 have an increasing attachment and love for our discipline, and 
 verily believe it to be the most efficient evangelical code of 
 laws ever given to any sect of Christians. And as to the other 
 charges, they are scarcely worthy of notice, when I can state 
 the following fact. I am now employing four hands, besides 
 myself, in coach, sign, and ornamental painting, and still more 
 in repairing and finishing carriages, and I think I should find 
 no difficulty in doubling my business. I have done the paint- 
 ing for two respectable coachmakers for ten years, and if I am 
 not mistaken, were I disposed to prosecute for such a shameful 
 attack upon my private character, these respectable neighbors 
 would furnish depositions in direct opposition to these back- 
 biters. But, conscious that I have the unity, the love, and es- 
 teem of my friends and neighbors — living in peace and harmo- 
 ny with Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, &c. — conscious, 
 too, that I have the unity and Christian sympathy of 
 the great body of Friends, constituting Bucks Quarterly 
 Meeting, and the Yearly Meeting of Philadelphia, I would not 
 go over the sill of my door to clear up a report that is nothing 
 
131 
 
 but an effervescence of the gall of bitterness in tbe bond of 
 iniquity. As to the names of those ministers and elders that 
 spread the report, I should be sorry to know them, lest they 
 might darken a- long list of worthy men and women, wHo fill 
 those stations and stand high in my esteem/' 
 
 This is as nearly as I can recollect the substance of the an- 
 swer I wrote, and having just room enough left to write a short 
 address to the post master. I told him that the within letter 
 which he was entirely at liberty to read, I hoped would be a 
 sufficient excuse for the liberty I had taken. The post master 
 was a Presbyterian or a Methodist, as was the neighborhood 
 generally, and the contents of these letters getting out, milita- 
 ted much against Orthodox Friends. 
 
 In a week or two, I got another letter from my friend, with 
 his name in full, apologising for the mistake he had made in 
 sending the copy instead of the original letter. In this letter 
 he bespoke a carriage of me, and to show the confidence he put 
 in me — the testimony of Orthodox ministers and elders, to the 
 contrary notwithstanding — when I told him I would deliver his 
 carriage in New York on such a day of the week, between the 
 hours of ten and eleven, he came thirty miles with his horses 
 and harness, and we met within ten minutes. This carriage 
 turned out to be a good one, and I got others to make from the 
 same neighborhood; and when I went into that country at the 
 time of the separation of Purchase Quarterly Meeting, in com- 
 pany with my kinsman, Willet Hicks, I was rather astonished 
 at the number of Friends I met with; and after the separation, 
 and the Orthodox had left the house, they were scarcely missed 
 there were such a body of Friends and friendly people ; and 
 although the English and Eoyal Americans were there in full 
 force, and gave notice as they went off, that they would hold 
 their meeting for worship, in a large school house, in a beauti- 
 ful grove, where seats would be provided for a very large com- 
 pany, I understand their meeting was rather a slim concern, 
 while the people seemed to come in amass to Friends' old meet- 
 ing house j I suppose the Orthodox might think, out of mere 
 curiosity to hear a mighty big liar. 
 
 I could fill a sheet of paper with interesting incidents that 
 occurred at this Quarterly Meeting, but I shall only say I was 
 astonished, amused and comforted, while the Orthodox remain- 
 ed with us. I was astonished at the audacious manner in which 
 
132 
 
 Ann Jones prophesied of the destruction of Friends' Quarterly 
 Meeting at Purchase. After denouncing Friends in her usual 
 manner, comparing them to men "without heads, clouds without 
 rain, trees without roots, and wells without water ; I think I 
 remember distinctly she said in substance, that Friends would 
 be scattered in less than two years, so as not to be able to hold 
 a Quarterly Meeting, and then added emphatically, '-^ Mark my 
 words, in less than three years, at the farthest, you will be 
 scattered to the four winds.'' Now I do not know precisely 
 the state of that meeting, but I believe it has been regularly 
 kept up ever since, which, I think, will be sixteen years next 
 week. 
 
 I was amused at the ingenious manner in which the English 
 preachers managed, in time of the meeting for worship. The 
 meeting was not settled before one of them arose and began to 
 preach, and as soon as she took her seat, another would rise, 
 and so they occupied the time, to the exclusion of all others. 
 But what amused me most, was the mistake they were under, 
 if they supposed they were disappointing and worrying me, for 
 1 was pleased to be excused from preaching, and as the time 
 was taken up principally by Ann Jones and Elizabeth Robson^ 
 or Anna Brathwaite, I sat most comfortably and heard them, 
 for I did love to hear Ann and Elizabeth speak, and I don't 
 know but the apostle Paul himself might be pleased to hear 
 Ann Jones, even when she " preached Christ, of envy and 
 strife,"* for she was so beautiful a preacher, and I am thank- 
 ful I have not a bad feeling in my heart towards her. But I 
 rather think the apostle would have confined her to the island 
 of England, and not sufi'ered her to speak false prophecies in 
 the church. 
 
 It is quite possible that I may have overdrawn this picture 
 of Orthodox defamation, at any rate it would be right to say 
 what I verily believe, that Orthodox Friends of New York 
 had nothing to do with it, and if I should judge from the re- 
 spect and kindness with which they have always treated me, 
 they did not believe the report, but that it emanated from the 
 dark strong hold of Orthodoxy, in Philadelphia; for I now 
 recollect what I had entirely forgotten, that I got a letter 
 about the same time from an Orthodox minister in Philadel- 
 phia, containing the same charges embraced in my friend's let- 
 *Phil. i. 15. 
 
133 
 
 ter from New York State^ to which I wrote a similar answer ; 
 and that a good old ministering friend, belonging to Burling- 
 ton Quarter, that I came up with, on board the steamboat from 
 Philadelphia to Bristol, after the Yearly Meeting of 1827, 
 told me, some months afterwards, in Trenton, that he felt un- 
 easy in his mind, and felt it his duty to make an acknowledg- 
 ment to me for the manner he treated me on board the steam- 
 boat. For hearing, as he had, among the Orthodox in Phila- 
 delphia, that I was so notorious a liar and unprincipled a man, 
 he could not feel a freedom to speak to me; but hearing, as 
 he had since, from respectable people in my own neighbor- 
 hood, so very different a character, he was satisfied that the 
 Orthodox account of me was defamation and detraction, and 
 being disgusted with them, he had entirely left them. 
 
 I will now just advert again to my Baptist neighbor, the 
 lawyer, already alluded to, who, I supposed, gave rise to the 
 report of my lying, some ten or twelve years before the Ortho- 
 dox got hold of it. This man, when he saw through the 
 sheepskins of his priest, which was not a difficulty to a man 
 of his superior discernment, became one of my warmest and 
 firmest friends, and one of the best neighbors I ever had; and 
 in the last interview. I had with him, before he was taken 
 sick, he told me I might think it strange, but it was true, 
 that if he had not accepted an appointment in the Baptist as- 
 sociation, the fulfilment of which seems so necessary at this 
 time, I can assure you I would much rather go to your meet- 
 ing. And I can never forget the last time that I saw him, 
 which was just before he died. I had called to enquire how 
 he was, and he insisted on my coming into his room. I found 
 him sitting in his chair, for he could not lie down; when he 
 took hold of my hand, while his intelligent countenance bore 
 the impress of love and affection, he with great difficulty ar- 
 ticulated, ^^ how glad I am to see thee,'' three times, and was 
 exhausted. He was too hard of hearing for me to speak to 
 him, I therefore could only drop over him the tear of tender 
 sympathy and love, and silently offer the living aspiration of 
 my soul, to that blessed Saviour, that for ever seeks to save 
 that which is lost, and has declared there is more joy in heaven 
 over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and nine just 
 persons that need no repentance. 
 
 Now, had our Orthodox Friends succeeded in carrying out 
 12 
 
134 
 
 all their plans, what acts of injustice and persecution they 
 would have been guilty of. They would have destroyed our 
 meeting at Newtown, while their lawyers would have taken 
 our meeting property, worth three or four thousand dollars, 
 and given it to one man, whose subscription and labor did not 
 exceed one hundred dollars, which Friends have since oifered 
 to pay him. They would, if they could, by the assistance of 
 their formidable auxiliaries, the hireling priests and their satel- 
 lites have destroyed my public character as a Christian minister, 
 and fastened upon me the black stigma of infidelity and unbe- 
 lief; and, from the evidence already given, would they not, if 
 they could, have blasted my moral character, robbed me of 
 my reputation as a mechanic, and rejoiced to see me sinking 
 into the lowest degradation of shame and poverty, a disgrace 
 to my friends, and a burthen on society? And those dear 
 children, who have been placed under my care, as a delegated 
 shepherd, in the wilderness of this world, for whose present 
 and everlasting welfare I have been and still am deeply anx- 
 ious, and to preserve from the influence of the prowling hire- 
 lingj — I say, would not these Orthodox Friends have rejoiced 
 to have seen my interesting charge led off by these wolves in 
 sheep's clothing, to the barren mountains of empty profession, 
 or lost in the wilderness of vice and immorality, floating- 
 down the stream of insignificance, where Orthodoxy wished to 
 see their poor father, until they sank, like him, broken-heart- 
 ed, into an untimely grave ? Would not these Orthodox, then, 
 in passing my once humble, happy home, have shaken their 
 heads, like some formerly, saying, '^Ah! he could preach to 
 others how they should be saved, but see what a miserable 
 end he has come to. He could tell us many fine things about 
 the right education of children, but see the shameful end of 
 his own. Ah ! we thought it would be so, he was a bad man.'' 
 Oh ! cruel, hard hearted Orthodoxy ; no marvel that the in- 
 spired patriarch, when he beheld thy grim visage, should ex- 
 claim, '^Oh! my soul, come not thou not into their secret;'^ 
 and a greater than Jacob should say, on beholding the same 
 sight, " Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers." But, oh ! 
 humbling, yet joyful consideration, Friends are not destroyed 
 and scattered to the four winds — their property is secured to 
 them, and guarded by the genius of our republican govern- 
 ment; our meeting at Newtown still continues a large, respect- 
 
135 
 
 able and increasing meeting, considered by all but the priests 
 and their Orthodox satellites, a blessing to the neighborhood; 
 and enlightened public sentiment is disposed to frown on the 
 feeble efforts of Orthodoxy and priestcraft, to fix upon my 
 public character, as a minister of the Gospel, a stigma of inji- 
 delity and unhelief. INly moral and private character, I think 
 I may say with humble thankfulness, is established beyond 
 the reach of suspicion, having the confidence, unity and love, 
 not only of my friends, but my neighbors of every description, 
 young and old, and even the followers of the hireling entrust 
 me with some of their most important concerns. Yes, I make 
 the record of the fact with gratitude and humble thankfulness, 
 not with exultation and boasting, that so far is the malignant 
 anticipation of a respectable Orthodox from being realized — 
 who thought if I appointed a meeting, no one would come to 
 it — that 1 have now several written and verbal invitations to 
 hold meetings among the people, and when I feel a freedom to 
 accept such invitations, which is not often the case, the houses 
 are filled to overflowing. I say I do not make this statement 
 boastingly ; far from it, for I verily believe it is " the grace 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ," graciously bestowed on the chief 
 of sinners, that the people love ; therefore, to him be ascribed 
 all praise, thanksgiving and renown for ever and ever. And 
 my dear children are so far from being scattered and led off 
 by the prowling hirelings, that they continue steady members 
 of society, and those that are married, were married according 
 to our Christian order, and are a comfort and consolation to 
 me y and even those young men that served an apprenticeship 
 with me, are in unity with me ; and when I sit down in our 
 meetings for worship, twice a week, I am surrounded by dear 
 Friends and friendly people, that I love, and I have good rea- 
 son to believe they love me. In a word, I am as happy as any 
 man ought to be in this world, and have every blessing that I 
 ought to ask for, and, conscious from whom these blessings 
 come, I feel a daily concern to rejoice ever more, and in every 
 thing give thanks. 
 
 Bucks Quarterly Meeting is nOw, 1844, larger than it has 
 ever been since my knowledge of it. Indeed the concourse of 
 people is so great at Buckingham, that the house, though very 
 large, will scarcely accommodate one half of them. So that, 
 after twenty years^ notwithst«Txlir - {h^. great exertions of Or- 
 
136 
 
 thodox Friends to get the property and name of Friends in 
 Bucks Quarterly Meeting, they appear now to have lost 
 both. 
 
 But it must be confessed that some of their predictions have 
 almost been fulfilled, ^' that we would be overrun with ranter- 
 ism/' for there was a time when our Quarterly Meeting was 
 sadly tormented with these wrong-headed enthusiasts, whose 
 principal strength was one of our superior women. She at 
 one time brought a concern before the Quarterly Meeting held 
 at Wrightstown, where I think she sat among the men nearly 
 one hour, manifesting with her party the most decided deter- 
 mination to carry her point, I opposed her to her face, I trust 
 as Paul did Peter, because I thought then, and still think, she 
 was to be blamed; but I could not question for a moment the 
 sincerity and purity of her motives. But she appeared to be 
 drawn away and enticed by some of the most popular and plausible 
 subjects that could possibly be presented to the minds of Friends 
 in the then unsettled state of Society ; and I have no doubt that 
 excellent woman sustained a great loss as a Gospel minister, by 
 attending political abolition meetings, temperance meetings, 
 and so forth, and undertaking to be a lecturer therein. She 
 is now gone to the eternal world, and the sweetness and love I 
 feel for her, embraces a hope that I shall, ere long, meet her 
 glorified spirit in the presence of God, who is the judge of all. 
 But certainly, dear Martha Smith presented to my mind a 
 case, which exhibits in a clear view, the great importance of 
 superior women always being right, for when they get wrong 
 they are so difficult to manage. This the apostle Paul expe- 
 rienced in the Corinthian church, and did what he thought was 
 the best thing at that time, by commanding them to be silent ; 
 and I think it was well for me that I had not Paul's influence 
 and authority, as I think I should have made a bad use of it, 
 for I found myself strongly tempted to be Orthodox, with 
 those wrong-headed enthusiasts, that were troubling Society. 
 But I learned one valuable lesson from what I suffered at that 
 time: I found how easy it would be for me to become Orthodox 
 in my turn, when I got a standing and influence in Society ; 
 in the consciousness I felt of this standing and influence, there 
 was fostered a seed of pride and ambition that made me feel 
 indignant and hard towards those that were opposed to me, 
 and I was tempted to correct a thing wrong in itself, in a 
 
137 
 
 worse spirit. The same evil seed made me unhappy, when I 
 heard even my friends, especially great ministers, spoken of 
 in a language like this : G. W. is the greatest preacher I ever 
 heard. 
 
 Now why was I hurt to hear a friend that I had loved and 
 united with, thus spoken highly of? Because I had listened 
 to, and^ been delighted with the same foolish song, sung by 
 some silly women, directly or indirectly after me, and had 
 been secretly lifted up with pride, and was now to be thrown 
 into the condemnation of the Devil. This sin, which to me ap- 
 peared exceedingly sinful, brought me very low, and I besought 
 my Saviour fervently, that this messenger of Satan might 
 be removed, when I thought I was answered as Paul was an- 
 swered on a similar occasion, "My grace is sufficient for thee.'' 
 Thus I was relieved from this bondage of corruption that 
 would have led me to envy and hate my brother. By " the 
 grace of our Lord Jesus Christ," I learned, moreover, from 
 what I suffered, how deficient I had been in Christian charity, 
 that crown and diadem of the redeemed soul ; that charity 
 "that suffereth long and is kind ; that envieth not; that 
 vaunteth not itself; is not puffed up; thinketh no evil; re- 
 joiceth not in iniquity.'' But alas ! I had indulged too much 
 a secret joy when I heard of any evil befalling my en- 
 emies, especially the Orthodox Friends. How then could I, 
 while indulging such evil thoughts, obey that commandment 
 of my blessed Redeemer, "I say unto you, love your enemies; 
 bless them that curse you, and pray for them that despitefully 
 use you and persecute you." Ah ! I think I have learned 
 something from, the things I have suffered in the depths of 
 temptation, and am prepared to receive the encouraging ex- 
 hortation of the apostle James, "My brethren count it all joy 
 when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing this that the 
 trying of your faith worketh patience; but let patience have 
 her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting 
 nothing." Oh ! dear brother or sister, whoever may read this, 
 do not rest satisfied with thy standing and influence, as a min- 
 ister, or an elder, while the enemy of thy soul has a secret in- 
 fluence over thy thoughts, making them too busy for thy 
 peace— making them too often the dark postern to secret pride 
 jealousy, envy and hatred ; but keep thy eye single to thy 
 blessed Saviour, as a quickening spirit, who will enable thee 
 
 12* 
 
138 
 
 to overcome all evil, and give thee to sit with him on his 
 throne. This is the only way we can sit in heavenly places, 
 in Christ Jesus, 'Hhe mark for the prize of the high calling." 
 I have a humble hope I shall yet attain to this blessed esta- 
 blishment in the truth, that the fear of the Lord, as a foun- 
 tain of light and life, will preserve my poor soul from thinking 
 evil, or indulging a secret joy when it comes upon my ene- 
 mies, of whom I have spoken freely, in making a statement of 
 what I verily believe to be facts; and if I know myself and am 
 not deceived, I certainly have no unkind feeling towards those 
 whose names I have mentioned, especially dear old Jonathan 
 Evans, for whom I have ever felt, and still continue to feel, 
 a decided partiality. But I believe what I have said of him 
 was true ; that he was a violent, choleric man, and too much 
 like myself, malignant and bitter against his enemies, which 
 he supposed we were, and called us Hicksites, separatists, infi- 
 dels, &c. But I cannot help considering him as honest as 
 Saul of Tarsus, and when Jesus Christ was revealed in him, 
 and established his kingdom, the lion eat straw like the ox, 
 and Jonathan Evans became a changed man, and consequently 
 was sorry for all his acts of madness and violence; and should 
 I ever be permitted to enter the abodes of the ransomed and 
 redeemed of the Lord, I shall hope to see the angelic spirit of 
 dear Jonathan Evans and Elias Hicks, clothed in white rai- 
 ment, with palms of victory in their hands, united for ever in 
 that innumerable company that '^ shall hunger no more ; neither 
 shall they thirst any more; neither shall the sun shine on 
 them or any heat; but the Lamb that is in the midst of the 
 throne shall feed them; he shall lead them unto fountains of 
 living waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their 
 eyes.^^ Oh ! that that death that has destroyed the life, love 
 and unity once so eminently manifested in the Society of 
 Friends, could be swallowed up in victory, in the church mili- 
 tant, that God might wipe away all tears from all eyes, and 
 the rebuke of his people remember no more, that ^'the 
 mountain of the Lord's house might be established in the top 
 of the mountains, and exalted above the hills ;'^ and that the 
 Society of Friends might once more flow together, beating 
 the swords that have been employed in smiting each other, 
 into something like the ploughshare of humble industry and 
 Christian benevolence, forgiving one another, as God for Christ's 
 
139 
 
 sake forgives them ; and that spear that has pierced the tend- 
 erest feelings of the nearest and dearest friends, separating 
 husbands and wives, parents and children, might he converted 
 into something like the pruning hook of brotherly and sister- 
 ly kindness, that would watch over one another for good, and 
 cultivate those precious branches that still remain in the vine, 
 ^^ gathering the children, and those that suck the breast,'^ 
 while ^^ the bridegroom goes forth of his chamber, and the 
 bride out of her closet, while the true priests and ministers ^ of 
 the Lord are weeping between the porch and the altar, with 
 unwearied intercession, saying, spare thy people, oh ! Lord, 
 and give not thy heritage to a reproach/^ 
 
 Newtown, 2d month 12th, 1846. 
 
 I have thought it right this day to commence a little diary, 
 or memorandum of passing events. 
 
 Since the beginning of this year, according to the course of 
 nature and mortality, several of my particular friends and ac- 
 quaintances in the little circle in which I move, have passed 
 out of time into eternity ; among which was John Blaker, aged 
 70 ; Jacob Heston, 96 ; Isaac Longstreth, 82 ; Joshua Paxson, 
 80. The first was an old fellow soldier, a poor man, like my- 
 self, that was blessed with a good wife and some good, useful 
 children — the best of earthly riches. The others were Friends. 
 
 I attended Isaac's funeral at Horseham, day before yester- 
 day. It was large and instructive. My dear friends Joseph 
 Foulk, Daniel Comly, Margaret Longstreth, and Anne Garri- 
 gues, I believe had good service in the line of the ministry.^ 
 
 This is our meeting day. Oh, that I may be favored with 
 the company of the beloved of souls, that I may worship in 
 the beauty of holiness.' 
 
 II th. At the close of yesterday I was favored with the pres- 
 ence of my blessed Saviour, as a quickening spirit, preparing 
 my soul to offer a living aspiration — thanksgiving and praise 
 for my many blessings, both spiritual and temporal. How 
 fervently I could then pray, not only for those that were the 
 nearest and dearest to me in the little circle of acquaintance, 
 but all the precious visited children in the world; especially 
 the sick, the sorrowful, the broken-hearted and discouraged 
 souls, that are sinking in the quicksands of despair. 
 
 22d. A day of favor. I begged on the bended knee of my 
 soul before I left my pillow, that I might have a good, silent, 
 
140 
 
 solemn meeting. My prayer apj^eared to be granted, for it 
 was a precious baptizing opportunity to my poor soul. The 
 meeting was large, and my dear friends J. M. S. and S. A. S. 
 appeared to have good service in the ministry. I laid my head 
 on my pillow with a grateful and thankful heart. Oh ! that I 
 may be thought worthy of the continuation of such a blessing. 
 
 2bth. Yesterday Benjamin Swain, of Bristol, was buried. I 
 did not attend the funeral. This day was our select Quarterly 
 Meeting, quite large on the men's side. Several ministers 
 from neighboring quarters were with us, and seemed to be 
 favored; especially if we might judge from the length of their 
 discourses. I suffered in silence the fore part of the meeting, 
 but being favored with a portion of the quickening spirit, I got 
 some relief in the house of secret prayer. 
 
 2Qth. This day was our general Quarterly Meeting, held at 
 "Wrightstown. A very cold day, much snow in the roads, and 
 of course pretty good sleighing. Much people were in at- 
 tendance, and much speaking by the several ministers, whose 
 bells seemed to me to send forth but a dull, unavailing sound, 
 excepting our young friend S. L., who I thought had the most 
 of the pomegranate which is the essence of the Gospel. I was 
 favored to sit in silence, and at times blessed with the spirit of 
 prayer. Indeed, I thought concerned Friends of Bucks Quar- 
 terly Meeting might thank Grod and take courage. 
 
 21 th. This day a messenger arrived from New York to inform 
 us of the illness of my very dear grand daughter, Phoebe Ann 
 Carle, which brought my mind under a close exercise in sorrow 
 and anxiety. My dear Elizabeth went on the same evening. 
 
 28i!A. A day of sorrow on account of my dear grand child. 
 Towards evening got relief in a sweet exercise of prayer and 
 supplication. 
 
 3(i Month 1st. Had an excellent devotional meeting in 
 silence. 
 
 2c?. The most snow on the ground, and the coldest weather 
 I ever knew in the Third month. No mail from New York, 
 of course no notice or information about my children. 
 
 3g?. Intelligence from New York respecting my dear little 
 grand daughter of a very discouraging character, which pro- 
 duced heart-rending sorrow, for I certainly loved her, if possi- 
 ble, too much y notwithstanding I would rather she would die 
 in her present innocence, than live to be proud and wicked, 
 
141 
 
 for I could now hope tliat in heaven her angel could behold 
 the face of the eternal Father. 
 
 Ath. Pretty much the same to-day. Oh ! how hard it is to 
 resign those that are so near and dear to ns. What a renewed 
 evidence of my own weakness, when I consider how much ad- 
 vice I have given to others, in the time of affliction ; and am so 
 little disposed to take my own advice, when sorrow and trouble 
 come to my own door. 
 
 bth. This day intelligence a little more encouraging from 
 New York. 
 
 QtJi. Quite encouraged by a few lines from my son in New 
 York ', but alas ! will not to-morrow's news be like a lowering 
 cloud ? This day attended the funeral of Rachel Heston, a 
 woman of sorrow and acquainted with grief. Had a solemn 
 time in testimony and supplication, but a fear has rested on 
 my mind that my remarks on war had more of party zeal than 
 Grospel authority. 
 
 1th. A letter from my dear Isaac in New York. Not quite 
 so encouraging respecting our dear little Phoebe Ann, only the 
 Doctors think now her disease is a congestion of the brain in- 
 stead of a dropsy. If she is raised I shall believe it is the 
 Lord's doings, and will be marvellous in my eyes. I feel as if 
 I could say " Thy will be done.'' 
 
 ^th. I feel almost as if I had been at the funeral of my dear 
 little Phoebe Ann — the corpse of Louis Willard's little daughter 
 Hannah was so much like her, only one year older. Indeed 
 like her in almost every respect — almost a perfect young wo- 
 man, at the age of thirteen, the darling of her father, to whom 
 he never had occasion to speak a harsh word. It seemed as if 
 it would almost break his heart. Louis lives in Southampton, 
 among Presbyterians. He is not a member among Friends. 
 The opportunity was to me a solemn one. "We met at the 
 house this morning. First day, at nine o'clock. 
 
 9th. This day received a letter from New York containing 
 the heart-rending intelligence of the death of our precious little 
 Phoebe Ann. She died a little after nine o'clock on First day 
 morning, and what seems a little remarkable, it was at the 
 very time I was standing by the coffin and beholding the very 
 image of her, in the lovely corpse before alluded to. I remem- 
 ber I was so affected I had to retire to a back window, and al- 
 most wept aloud. I referred in my communication to my pe- 
 
142 
 
 ciiliar feelings, having a grand-daughter ahuost exactly like 
 her, then at the point of death, if not a lifeless corpse. Itwas 
 one of the most solemn and aiFecting oj^portunities I ever had; 
 and after my return home, my mind seemed clothed with some- 
 thing like a solemn melancholy, until the arrival of my very 
 dear daughter, Sarah H. Parry, and her husband. I had 
 written to her of the illness of dear Phoebe Ann, but she felt 
 so anxious that she left her little babe, and came eleven miles, 
 the worst of travelling, to see us, and returned that evening. 
 
 This day, the 10th, myself and wife, my son Isaac and 
 daughter Elizabeth, were to have been at the wedding of 
 Joseph Saunders and Mary Parry, daughter of my very dear 
 friends and brother and sister, Isaac and Mary Parry. But 
 our allotment is the house of mourning, instead of the house 
 of feasting. The Lord knows best what is best — blessed be 
 his holy name forever. 
 
 11th. The remains of our dear Phoebe Ann Carle were taken 
 to-day to Westbury, Long Island, to be laid by the side of her 
 dear little brother Silas. The meeting was at the house in 
 New York, at eight o'clock. My mind has been with my dear 
 afflicted children all day. I have wept, I have prayed — what 
 can I do more ? I have never known what such sorrow was 
 before. Oh! that my blessed Saviour would put forth his arm 
 of power, as he did to Peter, that my poor head may be kept 
 above the rollings of the tempestuous billows. Oh ! that I 
 could have got a letter to-day. 
 
 ISth. A day of gloom and sorrow. Oh! that I had more 
 faith that works by love, which is that charity that suffereth 
 long, and is kind ; and oh ! that I had more hope that would be, 
 an anchor to my poor soul, which seems tossed upon the tem- 
 pestuous billows, without sun, moon, or stars. 
 
 14ith, Seventh Day. My dear son Isaac has returned from 
 New York, without any accident, and reports that my dear 
 John and Susan Carle are supported beyond what could have 
 been expected, and behave with Christian dignity under their 
 sad loss. It is the Lord's doings, and in connection with what 
 I have suflPered with them, marvellous in my eyes. Thanks- 
 giving and praise be ascribed to the Lord God and the Lamb, 
 for ever and ever. My poor soul feels relieved from the most 
 intense suffering for ten days I ever experienced. 
 
 Second Day, the IQth. Yesterday, till afternoon, was com- 
 
143 
 
 fortable, for I had a solid, silent, sensible meeting ; but in the 
 afternoon talked too much, and too lightly for my peace. Our 
 sober, goodly neighbor, James Roberts, was buried to-day. 
 He formerly attended our meeting, but got taken with the 
 Methodists. I hope he was a lover of the Lord Jesus, and if 
 so has experienced his ever blessed salvation. 
 
 l\th. Yesterday was a day of favor, for I obeyed the apos- 
 tolic injunction, being diligent in business, and, at the close of 
 the day, fervent in spirit, that the Comforter might bind up 
 my almost broken heart ; for I feared I had mourned too much 
 for the loss of my dear little Phoebe — weeping almost every 
 hour of the day. But oh, precious favor ! my prayer appeared 
 to be answered, and I can truly adopt the language of dear 
 Job Scott : 
 
 " A thankful heart I feel, 
 
 In peace my mind is stay'd, 
 Balsamic ointments heal 
 
 The wounds by sorrow made." 
 
 \^th. Was invited to attend the funeral of Elisha Wilkinson, 
 of Philadelphia, buried at Wrightstown. Heard of the death 
 of Daniel Stroud — both old men like myself. 
 
 \^th. A day of favor; had a precious meeting in silent sup- 
 plication. ^' Thanks be to Grod for his unspeakable gift.^' 
 
 23<^. Yesterday was First day. Had a precious meeting, for 
 my poor soul was quickened into life, and blessed with the 
 spirit of prayer, which was poured forth in silence, with 
 many tears. I felt thanksgiving and praise to cover my 
 mind through the rest of the day, yielding sweet peace when 
 I laid my head upon my pillow at night. I have heard of the 
 death of one of the companions of my youth, Margaret Rich- 
 ardson, wife of John Richardson, near Wilmington, in the 
 State of Delaware. 
 
 25th. Been quite unwell to day, though upon the whole a 
 profitable time, for I was engaged in writing to my dear sor- 
 rowful children in New York, with much feeling, and many 
 tears. Heard of the death Aaron Eastburn, a goodly Ortho- 
 dox Friend, of Solebury, that so loved the Lord Jesus, as, I 
 hope, to witness his salvation. I felt great love and sweet- 
 ness for him. Heard of the death of William Brown, a poor 
 colored young man, that lived with Edward Leedom, who, 
 with his valuable wife, were kind and suffered him to want for 
 
144 
 
 notliing. All ! blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain 
 mercy. 
 
 26th. A good day for me, though quite unwell. Had 
 a good solid silent meeting, two of my dear sisters preached 
 the Gospel. 
 
 27th, 2Sth, 29th, ^Oth and Slst. Laid by with something 
 like an inflammation of the breast. Received the affecting ac- 
 count of the death of Joseph Davis' wife, Ellen, the once 
 lovely daughter of my dear old friend Stephen Stevens, of the 
 Yalley. Her death was attended with peculiarly distressing 
 circumstances. Oh ! how I felt for her dear husband and 
 children. 
 
 Ath month 1st. I thought it would be right to make a few 
 remarks on a subject that I fear will add to the unsettlement 
 of Society, prefacing them by a reference to an act of my own, 
 which some Friends think is quite censurable. 
 
 I published last year an extract from my narrative, the pur- 
 port of which was to try to encourage the youth of all parties 
 in the Society of Friends, to unite together again, and by 
 practical Yighteousness ^nd practical reform (not speculative,) 
 save the Society of Friends. Notwithstanding I know my 
 motive was to do good and not evil, my little milk and water 
 concern has given offence, and perhaps set a bad example, for 
 poor J***^ (no matter who, for when I blame I pity, and there- 
 fore must conceal the name,) thought he had a right to publish 
 a book, and put his name to it, and it may be that his motive 
 was as good as mine. But he was certainly a little more un- 
 fortunate in publishing sentiments that make him an offender 
 against the plain letter of discipline, which has given his ene- 
 mies an advantage over him. I think, with all his learning, 
 he has shewn a want of wisdom, if not of common sense ; for 
 his book would certainly have been better without denying the 
 authenticity of the Holy Scriptures. And may we not apply 
 to him those pertinent remarks of a Christian poet, ^^He 
 is learned in volumes deep, he sets — in wisdom shallow. His 
 learning is like the lunar beam, it affords him light, — but no 
 heat. It leaves him undevout — frozen at heart while specula- 
 tion shines.'^ 
 
 It appears that poor J*** was betrayed into this notion by 
 what is but too common with young preachers, a fondness for 
 distinction and speculation — hence a few ambiguous remarks 
 
145 
 
 contained in a letter of that great man, E. S., of Alexandria, 
 appears to have been sufficient. 
 
 And here I will leave E. S., and his letter, that poor J***'s 
 defenders have produced to assist him in his contest with his 
 friends, and the plain letter of discipline, which says in sub- 
 stance, ^' If any of our members deny the authenticity of the 
 Holy Scriptures, it being evident that they are not in unity 
 with us, they should be immediately dealt with, and if they 
 cannot be convinced that they are wrong, they should be dis- 
 owned. Now I fear poor J*** has committed himself in this 
 objectionable part of his book, for if I understand him, he 
 considers Samuel the prophet, like Peter the hermit, and Da- 
 vid, king of Israel, like Pope Urban the 2d, and that part of 
 the Holy Scriptures are not to be depended upon, being writ- 
 ten by nobody knows who ; who was just as likely to be mis- 
 taken as any other writer. If poor J*** expected to make 
 his book better, by this eccentric flight from Jerusalem to 
 Jericho, I think he is greatly mistaken, and I am mistaken if 
 he does not find in the end, that the skeptical company and 
 spirit he has now introduced himself to, will strip him of his 
 youthful innocence, rob him of his peace of mind, wound him 
 in his feelings towards his best friends, and eventually leave 
 him more than half dead ; and, although there may be good 
 Samaritans that will try to bind up the wounds, and keep him 
 on his own beast, that beast may be so crippled in its feet as 
 to not carry him straight any more. 
 
 And now, after having expressed some of my feelings and 
 fears respecting poor J***^s book, I will leave him with my 
 own little word of exhortation to pass for what it is worth, 
 advising my dear friends to do the same; and to remember for 
 our instruction that when Hannah Barnard came out in Eng- 
 land, over fifty years ago, with the same speculation, Friends, 
 by getting into a bitter Orthodox spirit, made bad worse, by 
 the manner in which they opposed her, and only proved the 
 truth of that old saying, '^ that two wrongs never made one 
 right.^^ I say then, better let poor J*** and his book alone; 
 and, if I am not very much mistaken, this redoubtable book, 
 with my own little penny production along side of it, will 
 soon sink with their own dead weight, undistinguished among 
 the numerous productions of a quibbling, scribbling age. 
 
 But if Friends will be Orthodox at poor J***'3 book, they 
 
146 
 
 will make him the hero of a party, in spite of all his consti- 
 tutionally amiable imbecility. 
 
 Ath month Ath. I am this day sixty-six years of age, and I 
 think it will be safe for me to say that few, and full of evil, 
 have been the days of my pilgrimage, I do not know that I 
 have done any good for my merciful Heavenly Father's cause, 
 unless it was publishing that very little book that has given 
 offence. I feel sorrowful, and I feel straitened, and hardly 
 know what to do. I am not well enough to work, and I am 
 not sick enough to be confined to my house or bed. I receiv- 
 ed the first rudiments of my religious education among Friends, 
 and came among them from a sense of religious duty, verily 
 believing that they were what they professed to be, ''the peo- 
 ple of God, called Quakers.'' I have been trying to defend 
 them against the charges of their enemies, but I confess I am 
 discouraged, and almost disposed to put my hand on my 
 mouth and be silent, when such men as J. J., above alluded 
 to, come out with such sentiments as are contained in his 
 book. 
 
 5^^. First-day went to meeting very feeble in body, and got 
 into a belief that I must preach, and I fear my little service, 
 at best, was like Gideon's teaching was to the people of Suc- 
 coth, as it were with briers and thorns ; although I verily 
 thought what I had to say was the truth, notwithstanding 
 it appeared so uncharitable. I am going to try to attend all 
 our Monthly Meetings. Oh ! that I may do it in silence. I 
 have preached much for Friends of Bucks Quarter, and I wish 
 now to pray for them in solemn silence, the little time I have 
 to be with them. 
 
 6fh. Much better in health, but got discouraged, and gave 
 out going to the Monthly Meetings, though dear George Hicks 
 came with his carriage and horses, and kindly offered to take 
 me. I did not understand my Divine master to command me 
 to go, or I would have tried to go at the risk of my life. I 
 only thought I felt a freedom to go, and was afraid I 
 was not in a right state of mind, I have thought very 
 seriously of my uncharitable discourse yesterday, and cannot 
 see that I was wrong in declaring what I did for truth, for the 
 Saviour told the Jewish priests, and their preaching and pray- 
 ing satellites, that they did not believe in him, and therefore 
 should die in their sins, and never come to him. This ap- 
 
147 
 
 pears to have been strictly fulfilled^ even to the present day. 
 Will it not be the same with unbelieving professing Chris- 
 tians? Jesus Christ told his disciples that as they believed in 
 God, to believe also in Mm, for in his Father's house there 
 are many mansions ; and that he would go and prepare a place 
 for them, and come unto them again, that where he was there 
 they might be also. The disciples witnessed this fulfilled in 
 his spiritual appearance without sin unto salvation. Now 
 where Christ was, these disciples came ; hence they became 
 Christ-like, humble, holy, harmless, and entirely separate 
 from the sins of selfishness and covetousness, the leavening 
 sin of unbelievers, which Christ had warned his disciples 
 against in this language, '^ Beware of covetousness,^^ and which 
 they ever afterwards considered " idolatry.'' 
 
 To be short, it appears to me that every soul that comes 
 where Christ is, will become Christ-lihe, and all such will show 
 by their faithfulness to his commandments, that they are real 
 Friends, rejoicing when they can do good, and lend, hoping for 
 nothing again. 
 
 I am led to these reflections from having just heard of an old 
 Orthodox elder who has no children, manifesting such a hard 
 spirit of covetous selfishness, when a valuable young minister, 
 with a large family of children, and a heavy debt upon him, 
 could not pay all his interest. I pay it made my heart ache, 
 and caused an awful fear to rest upon my mind, that he was 
 not acquainted with Christ, and therefore would die in the sin 
 of coveteousness, and never come to him, and it is my fear that 
 such professors of Christianity, will, in the end, stand in 
 a worse predicament, if possible, than the unbelieving Jews. 
 
 1th and 8th, Nothing worthy of particular notice has oc- 
 curred, only that yesterday was a serious day with me, occa- 
 sioned perhaps in part, by a distressing dream the night before, 
 and although I have little or no confidence in my dreams, I 
 could not help feeling peculiarly solemn. To-day I think I 
 have been edified and encouraged in reading two of dear Wil- 
 liam Penn's sermons, preached more than one hundred and fifty 
 years ago. Oh ! the unity and love I feel for that precious 
 Friend. How I do wish that Friends could have kept more to 
 their good old doctrine and discipline. One of the sermons was 
 preached at a wedding when a Quaker wedding was a serious 
 thing, a solemn religious institution. But now our excellent 
 
148 
 
 discipline is too much changed into a civil concern^ and I fear is 
 too much like the labor saving and money saving machinery of 
 the day. 
 
 9^/i and \^tli. Yesterday morning I felt myself a man of 
 sorrow and acquainted with grief; and I secretly rejoiced, for I 
 feared I had had too little sorrow and enjoyed too much happi- 
 ness in this world ) but now I hope I am not forsaken, for my 
 sorrow seems to increase, — the Lord knows best what is best,, 
 blessed be the name of the Lord. It was our Monthly Meet- 
 ing, but I could only rejoice that I was silent, for I could find 
 no springs of life. It was a low, discouraging time to me, but 
 I dare not find fault with my brethren and sisterS;, fearing the 
 cloud was in poor me, and me only. 
 
 Will. The doctrine of the apostle opened before me with the 
 greatest clearness that I ever saw it, when he says, there '' Is 
 now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus, that 
 walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. For the law of 
 the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, hath made me free from the 
 law of sin and death.'^ I believe the Christian can attain to 
 this through the fear of the Lord, and watchfulness unto prayer, 
 so that he can lay down his head at night, after a day thus 
 spent, feeling no condemnation. I felt encouraged irom the 
 precious promise of the Saviour, ^' At that day ye shall know 
 that I am in my father, and ymi in me and I in you.'' 
 ' \Zth. Yesterday was First day — a day of favor — had a deep- 
 ly instructive meeting in solemn silence. I say deeply instruc- 
 tive, for I hope I shall never forget the preservation I ex- 
 perienced from preaching from a clear opening, with light on 
 the subject, but a secret command to be silent and reserve 
 the exercise for another occasion. This morning, the 13th, felt 
 as if I ought to attend the funeral of our aged friend Isaac 
 Ryan, but dreaded to meet the scoffer, the game-maker, and 
 the unbeliever, and almost determined to go another way on 
 business ; but felt so uneasy that in my great strait I opened 
 the Bible that lay before me, and was solemnly admonished by 
 an apostolic admonition. I gave up immediately to what I 
 thought a heavenly vision, and went to the funeral, and to me 
 it was a memorable opportunity, for which my poor soul over- 
 flowed with gratitude and thankfulness to the heavenly 
 Shepherd for such mercy and goodness to me, a poor unworthy 
 creature. 
 
149 
 
 I4:th and 16th. Diligent in business and somewhat fervent 
 in spirit, desiring to serve the Lord; but nothing to boast of, 
 save a sense of great weakness of body and mind. 
 
 16th. Just returned from our Fifth day meeting. It was to 
 me a precious silent, solemn opportunity. My dear younger 
 brother, J, M. S. and wife, and S. A. AY. were favored, I 
 thought, to preach the gospel. 
 
 17th, Diligent in business, but I fear not sufficiently fervent 
 in spirit, serving the Lord. Therefore I did not, like Daniel, 
 feel the angel of his holy presence touch mc about the time 
 of the evening sacrifice. 
 
 ISth. Diligent in business, and if not fervent in spirit, se- 
 riously thoughtful about death and eternity. Oh! how awful 
 the consideration ; I have nothing to depend upon but the 
 mercy and forgiveness of God, for I have no works of righ- 
 teousness of my own ; I am nothing but a poor old worthless 
 insignificant painter. 
 
 19th. Just returned from our First day meeting. "Whilst 
 I kept silent it was a precious opportunity, but my preaching 
 I must leave for the judgment of others — not daring to 
 say anything in its favor, only that I have the peaceful evi- 
 dence that I tried to do right. 
 
 20th. Industriously engaged at my trade or business — 
 working with my own hands to provide things honest in the 
 sight of all men, ministering to my own necessities and them 
 that are with me, which always produces peace of mind to an 
 humble, honest Christian. 
 
 21st. I was this day invited to the funeral of my poor neigh- 
 bor Charles Buckman, a few years younger than myself. How 
 soon it may be my turn I know not, but it certainly cannot be 
 long, and with all my high profession of religion, what more 
 can I have to depend upon in a dying hour, than poor Charles, 
 who made little or no profession. If we are saved, it is not by 
 works of righteousness of our own, but the mercy and for- 
 giveness of Grod through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 22d. I have just returned from the funeral of my neighbor 
 Charles Buckman — a great crowd of people to whom I had a 
 word of encouragement, having a comfortable hope that my 
 dear brother had found mercy in the presence of a merciful 
 Saviour. Spoke of the funeral of another of my neighbors, 
 John Ettinger, a young store keeper, and a steady, sober, in- 
 13* 
 
150 
 
 dustrious man. He leaves a wife and two small children to 
 mourn their irreparable loss. Thus while a poor worthless 
 creature hangs on to life, the promising youth are taken 
 away. 
 
 23c?. Arose from my bed this morning comfortable in body 
 and mind. What a blessed favor if we can have an incontesti- 
 ble evidence that we are under the superintendence of Him 
 who careth even for the sparrow, and will not permit any- 
 thing to happen to us but what will work together for our 
 good. This day was our Fifth day meeting; to me it was an ex- 
 cellent meeting, for I was favored to enter into the closet of 
 my heart and shut to my door, and pray to my Father who 
 seeth in secret, who has so often rewarded me openly. My two 
 younger sisters in the gospel preached sweetly. 
 
 2^th. Attended the funeral of John Ettinger ; went very 
 poor and and stript, but thought I was favored with the spirit 
 of prayer, which I offered both spiritually and vocally. Had 
 an humble hope that my dear young neighbor made a good 
 end, and was, through adorable mercy, received into everlast- 
 ing happiness. 
 
 2bth. Renewedly convinced of the necessity of more 
 watchfulness unto prayer and talking less even in my own 
 ftimily. 
 
 26^^. First day morning; my dear S. was very unwell last night, 
 a high fever and pain in the breast. Ah ! we must part even if 
 she gets better this time. She has been an exellent and faithful 
 wife to me for more than forty years, and I may add in 
 the language of the wise man, that her price has been far above 
 rubies. She looked well to the ways of her house, and eat 
 not the bread of idleness. Not a very good meeting- to-day, 
 owing to my own neglect, perhaps, in offering the morning sa- 
 crifice. Had not set long in meeting when a strange young 
 man came in and gave me a note, the purport of which, was 
 to spread an invitation to the funeral of Susan Cadwallader, 
 wife of William and daughter of our worthy deceased friend, 
 Thomas Stapler, senior. Made a few remarks on that inimi- 
 table parable of the householder going out at the different 
 hours to hire laborers in the vineyard, that may only pass for 
 what they are worth, which may be very little. My dear 
 younger brother preached the Gospel, I thought, in its bless- 
 ed simplicity. 
 
151 
 
 21 til. I attended the funeral of Susan Oadwallader, and was 
 led to speak to a sober, sensible, respectable people. But the 
 best part of the opportunity to me was the silent part, because 
 I was favored with the spirit of prayer and supplication, which 
 I offered from the closet of my heart to my Father, who seeth 
 in secret. I am informed that our Orthodox Friends had a 
 quiet, respectable Yearly Meeting last week, with the excep- 
 tion of a storm of words on Second day morning. I am glad 
 they seem disposed to try to cure the sad diseases of Society, by 
 love and silence. Oh! that we may do the same, that the Lord may 
 yet spare his people, and give not his heritage to reproach. I 
 am encouraged to believe that if Friends will only return to 
 the path of humble industry and practical righteousness, that 
 the younger branches of Society will again be united, and the 
 people of Gody called Quakers, gathered into one, and experi- 
 ence what was spoken of by the Lord's prophet, ^^ There shall 
 be one Lord and his name one.^' 
 
 1'^tli. Had an agreeable visit from one of the female com- 
 panions of my youth, and her husband. She was a young 
 woman that I loved, and with whom I had spent many happy 
 hours, innocently. I now enjoy the advantages of being pre- 
 served even in what I call negative innocence. 
 
 2^tfi. Attended our little select Preparative Meeting, at 
 Makefield. A dull, dry time to me, owing no doubt to my 
 own carelessness. I still hope that my silence in all these 
 meetings, which I have been led to prescribe as a remedy to 
 cure the disease of skeptical ranterism, that is getting in 
 amongst us, will meliorate, if it does not remove the com- 
 plaint. 
 
 30^A. This day was our Fifth day meeting, to me a precious 
 religious opportunity, in solemn silence. My dear youngest 
 sister, E. S., preached the Gospel in child-like simplicity. 
 Spoke of the funeral of Elizabeth Buckman, wife of Charles, 
 that was buried last week, which appeared to bring a tender- 
 ing solemnity over the meeting. In the afternoon attended 
 the funeral of Benjamin Dyer, an aged neighbor, near eighty- 
 six. Had nothing given me to say, and was encouraged and 
 thankful for the preservation, for I began to fear I was getting 
 into the habit of preaching at funerals. Oh ! that I may be 
 preserved from being a dead, formal preacher, and a light, idle 
 jester, which I fear I gave way to this evening in too unguard. 
 ed a conversation. 
 
152 
 
 bth mo. \st. A singular thing has occurred to day. I fully 
 intended to attend the funeral of Elizabeth Buckman, but be- 
 ing intent on my work, when I enquired of my son the time, 
 he told me it was a little after the hour of meeting at the 
 house, which was nearly a half mile off. 1 thought then it 
 might be as well to wait until they came to the grave yard, 
 which was close by my shop, and resumed my attention to my 
 work ; and on making a second enquiry whether the funeral 
 was coming, I was told that it had come and gone. I was 
 really astonished, and thought it a singular circumstance, and 
 if I had had a special command to go I should have been 
 grieved at my carelessness, but as that was not the case, I 
 have come to the conclusion that it might have been best for 
 me not to go. It is quite possible for even Quaker preachers 
 to get into a habit of preaching, and the people in a habit of 
 hearing them, till the whole concern terminates in a lifeless 
 form. 
 
 2d. My dear brother, Isaac Parry, came to invite me to 
 the funeral of Evan Jones, a very respectable, useful, and 
 wealthy Friend, of North Wales, and took me home to his 
 house, so that I could attend said funeral on First day morn- 
 ing, at nine o'clock. 
 
 3c?. Attended the funeral of E. J. It was very large. I 
 was thankful to be favored with the spirit of prayer, but it 
 was in the cross I offered a public supplication in the room 
 with the mourners. A very large meeting at the meeting- 
 house, and much speaking, but I think I have cause to be 
 thankful I was preserved in silence. Oh ! that the Heavenly 
 Shepherd may continue to extend the crook of his merciful 
 care, whenever I attempt to preach the Gospel willingly, for 
 there is deep instruction in the testimony of the beloved 
 Paul, ^'For though I preach the Gospel, I have nothing to 
 glory of, for necessity is laid upon me — yea, wo is unto me if 
 I preach not the Gospel. For if I do this thing willingly, I 
 have my reward : but if against my will, a dispensation of the 
 Gospel is committed unto me.'^ I very much fear that the 
 blessed cause of Jesus Christ, as professed by Friends, has 
 been seriously injured by ministers being too willing to preach, 
 or in other words preaching in our own will, and not waiting 
 for that luo that Paul speaks of. 
 
 ^tli. Received two invitations to funerals. First, Mary 
 
153 
 
 KnowleSj an afflicted widow, aged seventy-eight, to meet at 
 the house at ten o'clock tomorrow. Second, Elizabeth Taylor, 
 daughter of Phoebe Taylor, aged fifteen, at three o'clock in 
 the afternoon. 
 
 bth. Just returned from the funeral of our dear friend 
 Mary Knowles. It was large, and to me an instructive and 
 encouraging time, because I did not act in my own will, but 
 from a secret sense of religious duty. The people were seri- 
 ous and solemn, and helped the poor contemptible instrument, 
 and not the poor instrument them, as is too commonly boast- 
 ed of by us preachers. 
 
 Just returned from the funeral of the daughter of the 
 poor widow. It was to me a quiet, silent, solemn opportunity, 
 and although I was led into an interesting view of what con- 
 stituted Paul's "widow indeed,' I am thankful I kept 
 silent. 
 
 Qth. Been pretty steadily engaged in my shop, feeling weak 
 and dull in body and mind, of course nothing worth recording, 
 excepting my serious thoughtfulness of death and eternity, 
 which I have reason to look for daily, if not hourly. Oh ! it 
 will be an awful thing to die. 
 
 My soul, 
 When near thy close, thou hast that gulf in view ; 
 That awful gulf no mortal e'er repassed ; 
 Eternity, thou dreadful, pleasing thought." 
 
 Pleasing, because of my unshaken faith in the mercy and 
 forgiveness of God, through my blessed Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 7th. To-day our Monthly Meeting was held at Makefield; 
 the first and silent part was to me a good meeting, but I was 
 sadly disturbed by a member, respecting what I feared was an 
 extract from a political abolition newspaper, and as I cannot, 
 for conscience sake, read such papers, it was exceedingly try- 
 ing to have to sit and hear such matter said over and over 
 again for Gospel, in a meeting for worship. But I must suf- 
 fer in silence, for my Divine Master has instructed me to starve 
 this spirit by silence, and therefore I have been silent for 
 nearly a year in our Monthly, Quarterly and Select Meetings. 
 Indeed 1 have apprehended there were two or three members 
 of our Monthly Meeting that were particularly employed by 
 a junto of members in Philadelphia, to publicly oppose me in 
 
154 
 
 meetings for business, for even in meetings for worship, one of 
 them has manifested his hostility to me by peculiar contortions 
 of face and gesticulations of body, getting up from his seat 
 and walking to the fire to warm his feet whilst I was speaking, 
 disturbing the solemnity of the meeting, manifesting his own 
 weakness, if not wickedness, and rendering himself ridiculous 
 in the sight of the whole assembly. In one instance, I pub- 
 licly reproved him, and had, I think I may safely say, the 
 thanks of the whole meeting, and his own mother in particu- 
 lar. But stop, this perhaps will not do. I ought to know 
 that if such Quakers as these, call the master of the house 
 Beelzebub, if I belong to the household I must expect opposi- 
 tion, and ought to rejoice in being worthy to suffer for Christ's 
 sake. 
 
 I have just received an invitation to the funeral of Joshua 
 Gilbert, of Byberry, a Friend in the station of an elder, about 
 my age, to meet at his late dwelling at ten o'clock on Seventh - 
 day morning, the 9th inst. 
 
 8th. Steadily engaged in my shop. My business, though 
 too trifling and insignificant for a Christian to follow, affords 
 me an honorable and I hope an honest living. Having to 
 work with my own hands, for all the money I get, appears to 
 me to be more in accordance with primitive Christianity, than 
 living on the work of other people's hands; especially on rent 
 and usury. But my view on this subject appears too much 
 out of fashion to be united with, even by Friends. I there- 
 fore must leave it to be settled before the tribunal of righteous 
 judgment, by Him who commanded his faithful servant Moses, 
 to say unto his people, '^ Thou shalt not lend thy money on 
 usury"; and to his son Jesus Christ, ''Do good and lend, 
 hoping for nothing again, and great shall be thy reward in 
 Heaven." 
 
 9th. Went ten miles this wet morning, to the funeral of my 
 friend Joshua Gilbert ; offered a word of exhortation to a sober, 
 sensible, tender people, whose lively spirits, together with su- 
 preme heavenly help, appeared to hold up the hands of a poor 
 trifling preacher, so that he got through his exercise with 
 peace of mind. E. P. was there, and spoke beautifully. Dined 
 with my kind friend Israel Walton. Tried to speak a word of 
 comfort to the poor widow. 
 
 lO^A. First day of the week, a sweet, heavenly meeting, in 
 
155 
 
 solemn, silent supplication, the poor unworthy pilgrim feels 
 refreshed and encouraged, and intends to try to go to-morrow 
 morning to attend the Yearly Meeting, in Philadelphia. 
 
 11th. Passed a sleepless and distressing night, in the course 
 of which I felt satisfactorily released from a religious concern 
 to attend the Yearly Meeting, which I consider to be a release 
 from suffering. So far I rejoice; indeed I will try to rejoice 
 eyer more, and in every thing give thanks. I have reason to 
 give thanks that I have renewed evidence that I may lay some 
 claim to being "a son," " For whom the Lord loveth he chas- 
 teneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth,'^ and to a 
 little hope that I am filling up my portion of the sufferings of 
 the Lord Jesus. Oh ! that I may be thought worthy to drink 
 of the cup he drank of, and be baptised with his baptism. 
 But this has been a day of sorrow, and, I trust, profitable suf- 
 fering, and I hope that it is better for me to be at home, hum- 
 ble and industrious, weeping and praying, than in Philadel- 
 phia, idle, talking and laughing. 
 
 12fh. A day of diligence and industry, but not sufficiently 
 watchful unto prayer, and therefore felt a lack or shortness in 
 coming up to the apostolic injunction, to be " diligent in busi- 
 ness, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." From what I hear 
 from Philadelphia, I have reason to hope my dear friends are 
 getting along quietly in the Yearly Meeting, for which I feel 
 thankful, having sincerely prayed that the Lord would spare 
 his people, and give not his heritage to a reproach. 
 
 l^th. Nothing worthy of particular notice has occurred to- 
 day : but the sound of war, which we hear from almost every 
 quarter is sorrowful. Although we are at a great distance from 
 the immediate seat of war, yet a serious consideration of the 
 confused noise of the warriors, with garments rolled in blood, 
 must be a subject heart-sickening to the true Christian. Friends 
 appear to be favored to get along without much contention in 
 their Yearly Meeting, and I am willing to hope our abolition 
 Friends are getting more moderate and mild, for it appears to 
 me they hurt a good cause, by letting their zeal outrun their 
 knowledge. 
 
 14:th. Our midweek meeting to-day rather small, but to me 
 silent and profitable. Had a pleasant visit from Samuel W. 
 Doak, a Presbyterian minister, who lived in Newtown 33 years 
 ago ; now president of a college in East Tennessee. He appears 
 
156 
 
 the most meek, humble, unobtrusive Presbyterian minister I 
 ever met with. Our interview I think was mutually agreeable. 
 I think I can say sincerely, that I love all who truly love the 
 Lord Jesus, let their name and profession bo what it may. But 
 the true love of Christ is only proved by obedience to his 
 commandments, and where I see no such fruits, I consider such 
 hypocrites and unbelievers. 
 
 l^tJi. Nothing has occurred to-day requiring particular no- 
 tice ; but information respecting our Yearly Meeting is rather 
 discouraging. The political abolitionists among Friends, I real- 
 ly fear, are party in a conspiracy against the doctrine and dis- 
 cipline of the Society, determined upon its dissolution. How- 
 ever, my only hope of the preserTation of the Society of Friends 
 — next to the special care of the Head of the church, — is the 
 uniting of the religious members in the different parties ; and I 
 feel thankful I was enabled to lay before the youth my concern 
 on the subject. 
 
 IQth. I have just had a very agreeable visit from W. B., 
 formerly of Baltimore, and now of the Eastern Shore of Mary- 
 land, who has been attending the Yearly Meeting in Philadel- 
 phia which closed last evening. His account of its several sit- 
 tings was not so discouraging, and my friend J. B.'s. account 
 of the meeting has satisfied me that our sufferings, both individu- 
 ally and collectively, if we keep in the everlasting patience, will 
 work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. 
 Upon the whole I am encouraged to believe that truth gained 
 the victory in this Yearly Meeting. Notwithstanding, I must 
 acknowledge there is a spirit of skepticism, ranterism, and con- 
 fusion, that I have not prescience enough to see where it will 
 end. I am willing however to hope that we have learnt suflBcient 
 from what we have suffered, to act with more Christian kind- 
 ness and moderation, in case of another separation. 
 
 17th. First day of the week and our meeting day of course, 
 but to me our meeting was a heavy, laborious time. Instead 
 of having any bread to hand out to others, I had hardly a 
 crumb to live on myself, owing I conclude to my own careless 
 indolence. My poverty is therefore the due reward of my 
 deeds. My dear younger brother, J. M. S., I thought preach- 
 ed the Gospel, and sister S. W. spoke a few good words. 
 
 ISth. Being indisposed, I have neither been diligent in busi- 
 ness, nor fervent in spirit, of course I have not been serving the 
 
157 
 
 Lord) and sensibly feel the bad effects of idleness, and idle 
 conversation. Oh ! that I could talk less, and pray more I 
 should be better prepared to live, and better prepared to die! 
 
 19^7?-. I have been seriously thinking of the vast iraportance 
 of being favored with the presence of infinite mercy and good- 
 ness. No marvel that the inspired writer should record ex- 
 pressions like this, '' One hour in thy presence is worth a thou- 
 sand elsewhere/' How abundantly I am convinced from ex- 
 perience, as well as observation, that self righteousness in poor 
 frail nnortal man, is the greatest enemy to the cause of God on 
 eart^h. It was certainly the greatest opposer of Jesus Christ, in 
 his outward advent, and constituted then the only unpardonable 
 sin ; and is it not the cause of unbelief in his spiritual appearance, 
 as professed by Friends, and the foundation of all the unsettle- 
 ment and disunity among us? For I find that in proportion as 
 1 sufi'er myself to think lightly of my friends, I think highly of 
 myself. On the other hand, when I abhor myself in dust and 
 ashes, I am concerned to love and respect my friends. 
 
 20^A. Had an invitation to attend the funeral of a woman by 
 the name of Carr, at Wrightstown, an entire stranger. Felt so 
 much willingness of my own to go, that I doubted the propriety 
 of going, for I hope that I have a holy jealousy, lest I should have 
 a life of my own, in preaching at funerals. Yet there is another 
 important consideration arises in my mind — I profess to believe 
 that a dispensation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is committed 
 unto me, — it involves a sacred, an awful responsibility, — and 
 as time to me at this period of life is very precious, ought I 
 not to embrace every opening to finish the work that is given 
 me to do ? and is there not something like an open door, when 
 a special invitation is sent to me by a stranger ? This was the 
 view, my dear deceased kinsman, E. H., took of it, and hence 
 I believe he always attended such funerals, when able. 
 
 2ist. Attended the funeral of the woman above alluded to. 
 A considerable number of sober, serious, tender people were in 
 attendance, whose lively sensible spirits enabled a poor preach- 
 er, to get along in his religious exercise to some satisfaction. 
 Dined with my brother-in-law, T. S., where I met with the 
 life of Henry Hull, a minister among Orthodox Friends. I 
 was sorry to find I had imbibed such strong prejudices against 
 the dear deceased Friend, which were strengthened by what I 
 thought a perverted account of Elias Hicks, and what he call- 
 
 14 
 
158 
 
 ed the separatists. However it is quite possible tbat my strong 
 prejudices were founded in a wrong spirit, or at best a sudden 
 gust or change of feeling, wbicli poor sanguine creatures like 
 me are liable to. 
 
 When I read the account of that most excellent woman, 
 Henry Hull's first wife, who died while he was in England, I 
 felt the tenderest love and respect for her, and sympathy for 
 him, expecting to see in him a man of sorrow and acquainted 
 with grief: but alas! what was my disappointment, in behold- 
 ing a man clothed — as it were — in purple and fine linen, in full 
 pursuit of a youngish wife. Alas ! I say, for poor me, who 
 cannot help thinking that such ministers have never overcome 
 the '* beast, nor the image of the beast, nor the mark of the 
 beast, nor the number of his name.'^ This prejudice was in- 
 creased from my observations in New York Yearly Meeting 
 31 years ago. His spirit towards dear old Elias Hicks ap- 
 peared to me to be malignant and bitter, and was the cause of 
 great discouragement to a poor, weak young man^ who thought 
 be then saw in David Sands and Henry Hull^ the first efferves- 
 cence of that dreadful spirit which has subsequently distracted, 
 divided, and disgraced the Society of Friends. 
 
 The inspired writers used simple but strong and descriptive 
 figures, in speaking of the inconsistencies of high professors. 
 *' As dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send 
 forth an unsavory smell, so doth a little folly those that are ac- 
 counted wise;'' and 1 have been and am still under a sad temp- 
 tation, at times, to feel malignant and bitter at those wrong- 
 headed enthusiasts, that appear to me to be using every effort 
 to destroy the harmony of Society, and should I give way to 
 the temptation, I should be worse than they are. I therefore 
 feel it my religious duty fervently to pray to my heavenly Fa- 
 ther, for power to withstand the temptation, and to experience 
 those angry feelings to be resolved into sorrow, like my divine 
 Master, when he looked round upon such unbelievers " with an- 
 ger, being grieved fur the hardness of their hearts.'' Oh ! 
 that I may be preserved from the indulgence of this gall of 
 bitterness, and bond of iniquity, whose abundant fruits furnish 
 the enemies of Christianity with their most formidable argu- 
 ments against it. 
 
 22d. This day my son and daughter from New York, came 
 to see us, and notwithstanding I love them dearly, and their 
 
159 
 
 dear little children, Sarah and Edward,— -yet my favorite, 
 my darling, my dear little Phoebe Ann, is no more, for this 
 sorrow fills ray heart, and my eyes overflow with tears, while I 
 rejoice ever more, and in every thing give thanks. 
 
 23d. A day of qaietness and ease, but I fear of too much 
 idleness to have been profitably spent. 
 
 24^/?,. First day of the week. Our meeting was large and 
 the silent part of it instructive. A short feeling communica- 
 tion from my dear younger sister E. S., appeared to bring so- 
 lemnity over the meeting, but my own long labored discourse, 
 may have done more hurt than good, by offending some and 
 tiring (^thers. 
 
 2btJi. A day of peace and poverty. The dwelling of my 
 soul seemed on the barren heath of the wil lerness, where there 
 was neither dew, nor rain, nor fields of offerings ; while my 
 outward man is comfortable having the agreeable company of 
 my dear son and daughter, John and Susan Carle, with their 
 children from New York. 
 
 2Qth. Nothing has transpired that needs notice, except a very 
 warm day and night, almost the height of summer's heat, with 
 much lightning and thunder and the grumbling of ungrate- 
 ful mortals about the wet weather, grudging the flies their Siiare 
 of the abundant growth of wheat. 
 
 27tJL. Our select Quarterly Meeting at Buckingham. The 
 day being unfavorable, it was rather small, and to me the first 
 part excjedingly hard and dry; but after wrestling with the 
 angel of Grod's presence, like Jacob, the day dawne 1, and my 
 poor soul was so fur blesssed as to be able to cry, "Abba, Fath- 
 er;" and I had a precious silent opportunity. 
 
 2Sth. The general Quarterly Meeting. A great concourse 
 of people, being many more than the house could hold, but 
 Friends were relieved in part by the kindness of an Abolition 
 lecturer that held a meeting in the woods, near the meeting 
 house, and the favor would have been appreciated more by me, 
 if he had taken all our noisy, troublesome members ; but three 
 or four eloquent orators and cunning artificers were left to 
 worry Friends, and try our patience. However, the meeting 
 was so much better than I had anticipated, that I felt thank- 
 ful, whilst I was favored to set an example of silence, and I 
 thought I saw and felt the cause which led my dear deceased 
 kinsman to avoid making frequent use of the term Saviour, 
 
160 
 
 or Christy in his communications. A Friend in the minis- 
 try that I love, made use of the terms ^^ blessed Saviour" 
 and '^ Christ/' in such a way as to be exceedingly painful to 
 my feelings; while others appeared to avoid the terms with a 
 selfish caution, equally painful. Alas ! I thought no marvel 
 that dear old Elias felt the concern to avoid those terms, at a 
 time when Friends were joining with priests and politicians 
 in Bible societies, &c., making use of those sacred terms with 
 a superstitious selfishness, that might be more abominable in 
 the divine sight, than profane swearing; and although our 
 dear old friend, in his zeal to shun one fatal rock, might have 
 run too near the other, I am abundantly persuaded, were he 
 now living, at the age of seventy years, he would be the first 
 man that would come out against these superficial Quakers, 
 that are trying to make him their patron saint on the subject 
 of slavery; while they are joining with idle lawyers, broken 
 down politicians, and hireling lecturers, in a conspiracy against 
 the doctrine and discipline of the Society of Friends — aiming 
 their deadliest shafts at that religious committee of care, called 
 ^^ Select Meeting" — which Elias considered the key-stone of the 
 arch of our religious order, and said if it was taken out the 
 Society would fall. Could it be possible that such a man could 
 have any unity with such inconstant members, who are in- 
 creasing their folly by a fanatical scruple against rising in the 
 time of public prayer. No, that excellent man would view 
 them in the same light that Fox, Penn and Barclay did John 
 Perrot, Wilkinson, and Story, who tried to subvert and destroy 
 our early Friends. Indeed, the present prospect is very dis- 
 couraging as to the preservation of order and harmony in our 
 Quarterly Meeting, for the ultra-reformers seem determined to 
 go all lengths, to carry their point in subverting discipline^ 
 and introducing something like the anarchy of the Ranters. 
 But should they succeed, and produce universal confusion, I 
 still have a hope that out of it order will arise, and the truly 
 pious souls of every party will take their places as fixed stars. 
 in the firmament of God's poivevy while all these eccentric 
 meteors will sink undistinguished in the common mass of un- 
 digested matter. 
 
 Having adverted to our dear deceased friend E. H., I have 
 been thinking that were he now living, seeing the state his 
 professed friends had got into, by running into the sad extreme 
 
161 
 
 of inconsistency, he would be most likely to make free use of 
 the terms ^^ Saviour" and "Christ," and boldly and powerfully 
 assert the authenticity of the Holy Scriptures, in opposition 
 to Hannah Barnard's speculations, revived by J. J. and others, 
 to which I know he was very much opposed; and unite in 
 sentiment with his old substantial friends, especially J. C, 
 who declared, in our late select Yearly Meeting, there was two 
 parties among us, and they were both wrong. 
 
 2%th. My kind friend M.J. loaned me a book given to her 
 by her father, E, K., who set a high value on it, telling his 
 daughter it was worth one hundred and fifty dollars; and as 
 E. is a friend I love much, I began reading said book pre- 
 possessed in its favor ; and although I have read but little, I have 
 almost come to this conclusion — it is a little like our wheat 
 fields ) there appears to be a great deal of good wheat, with 
 now and then a bunch of cockle with its blue blossom peering 
 out from among the wheat, and by a close examination the 
 wheat will be found considerably injured by the fly, with too 
 much nasty cheat among it. The cockle I shall call ortho- 
 doxy; the fly, self-righteousness; and the cheat, disbelief, hy- 
 pocrisy, and infidelity. 
 
 I shall only paraphrase on three excellent pieces or articles 
 in this compilation of tracts published by orthodox Friends — 
 The dying sayings of James Pemberton ; A striking instance 
 of H. Gr., a lovely young woman of Philadelphia, and William 
 Cowper's account of his brother John. 
 
 The fii'st writer appeared to me to have too much of that 
 orthodox spirit, that would convert sacred things into some- 
 thing like a dagger, to smite a brother under the fifth rib. 
 James Pemberton is made to say, when near his close, "I have 
 nothing to trust in but the merits of the Redeemer,'' and that 
 the " mediatorship of the Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ, was not enough inculcated in our meetings." I wish 
 distinctly to be understood that I do not apply orthodoxy to 
 the mere expressions, as I understand them, but to the spirit 
 in which they were written, and more especially as they were 
 published to serve a ijarty purpose : for it is too well known 
 that Orthodox Friends have been in the practice of ransacking 
 the acts and sayings of early and modern Friends, for matter 
 to support their unkind and unjust charges of infidelity against 
 some of the best of their brethren and sisters, and they appear 
 
 14* 
 
162 
 
 to have been sadly put to it, wlien they garbled from the dying 
 sayings of the mere wreck of a great man. 
 
 I have been credibly informed that James Pemberton — who 
 had been a great Quaker politician, and Speaker of the House 
 of Assembly — in his dotage would speak in meetings for 
 business, where his communications were not approved of nor 
 united with by some of the leading Friends of Philadelphia } 
 and yet when that dotage, or the imbecility of extreme old 
 age, must have increased, these same Friends can make use of 
 his dying sayings, for a party-serving purpose — especially in 
 publishing them in the tract referred to. Now the sacred 
 terms "Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ/' ^'Redeemer/' 
 ^' Mediator,'' &c., are precious to my soul, and I feel it my 
 duty to use them, when clothed with the power of the Gospel y 
 and when I have heard them used in the same power, they 
 have drawn tears of thankfulness and gratitude from my eyes, 
 ; nd my spirit has been grieved and burthened when I have 
 heard the term Jesus substituted in their place, in the same 
 party-serving selfish spirit of Orthodoxy, which formerly almost 
 deluged Christendom in blood, by these breakers of the third 
 commandment, which says, " Thou shalt not take the name of 
 the Lord thy God in vain.'' 
 
 These spirits among Friends are what I compare to cockle 
 in our wheat fields, and their flowery speeches and writings to 
 the beautiful blue blossom of the noxious weed, which in its 
 natural process terminates in a hard, black, poisonous seed, 
 which, if not blown away with the chaff" of the summer's 
 threshing floor, must be burnt with unquenchable fire. 
 
 I will now notice the interesting and deeply instructive ac- 
 count of the conversion and happy close of that lovely young 
 woman, H. G., of Philadelphia, written apparently by an Or- 
 thodox or Methodist minister among Friends. This beautiful 
 piece, which I read with the deepest interest and feeling, ap- 
 peared to me like one of our best fields of wheat, where the 
 ravages of the fly could not be seen until one went into it. 
 The writer appears to have felt so great a concern for this ex- 
 traordinary young woman, as to unburthen his mind by writing 
 a letter to her, and, after she was taken sick, called at the 
 house one evening, in hopes of being invited into her chamber, 
 but was disappointed. Whether it was the disappointment, or 
 what it was, I cannot say, but he certainly appears to me to 
 
talk to her mother more like a zealous young Methodist min- 
 ister, than an humble, experienced Friend ; and can we not see 
 something like the fly among the wheat, or a little self- 
 righteousness? The next we hear of our friend he appears 
 very glad that the young woman sent for him, and, to use his 
 own words, ^' I gladly obeyed the summons ;" and his own ac- 
 count o4the interview, how he talked and how he made a 
 prayer, presented to my mind something very much like the 
 ravages of the fly, in some of our most beautifully looking 
 wheat fields. I, too, have often been sent for to visit the sick, 
 the sorrowful, the dying, but I do not remember that I ever 
 gladly obeyed the summons, especially of later years. I might 
 have felt the temptation to be self-righteous, for I am naturally 
 very proud, but in most cases, I think I may say with thank- 
 fulness, the temptation to self-righteousness was superceded by 
 self abasement; and I have entered the chamber of such pre- 
 cious souls as were washing a JSaviour's feet with tears of re- 
 pentance, with sorrowful sympathy; and when entered, instead 
 of talking and praying, like my Orthodox Friend, I could only 
 weep and pray secretly, in solemn silence. Yes, the Lord 
 knoweth that I have often entered the chambers of sickness 
 and death, with fear and trembling, under a sense of my un- 
 worthiness and unfitness to appear in the presence of one whom 
 a Saviour was washing in the laver of regeneration, fearing 
 lest I should put forth an unsanctified hand to assist in the 
 heavenly work, and, like too many Orthodox ministers, leave 
 the print of my dirty fingers. But I suppose I would be told 
 this weakness was owing to a want of belief in the meints of a 
 Kedeemer, or the ^ro'pitiatory sacrifice made eighteen hundred 
 years ago, without the gates of Jerusalem ; and in not inculca- 
 ting the mediatorsMp of the Son sufficiently, in our religious 
 meetings. Well, if it is so, there must certainly have been a 
 deficiency in my Quaker education, for I have no recollection 
 that my dear old adopted Christian mother ever made use of 
 such words; nor do I remember to have heard such doctrines 
 preached in our religious meetings by dear James Simpson, 
 William Blakey, Oliver Paxson, and other dear Friends that 
 were as spiritual fathers to me, when I first appeared as a min- 
 ister among them. I was therefore taught to believe, with 
 dear George Fox, that Christ had come to teach and to save 
 his people himself, as an omnipresent Saviour, agreeably to his 
 
164 
 
 own blessed promise, ^^ If any man love me he will keep my 
 words, and my Father will love him, and we will come nnto 
 him and make our abode with him" — and again, ^' He that 
 hath my commandments and keepeth them, he itisthatloveth 
 me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I 
 will love him, and manifest myself to him." 
 
 I forbear to go any further into the boundless field* of doc- 
 trinal disquisition, and only add, that I read the last piece or 
 tract referred to, with tears in my eyes and love in my heart 
 for that dear young woman, who, having washed her Saviour's 
 feet with the tears of repentance, wiping them as it were with 
 the hairs of her head, and having in the depths of humility, felt 
 the overflowing of that heavenly love that could kiss his feet — her 
 Saviour freely forgave her her sins, however numerous, for she 
 loved much; and if the writer should suffer the destructive fly 
 of self-righteousness to continue its ravages in his soul, he may 
 turn out in the end, I fear, like too many of our wheat fields 
 in this year, 1846, not worth the gathering. 
 
 I will hasten to finish my paraphrase by a few short remarks 
 on that Christian poet William Cowpei*'s account of his brother 
 John, who it appears was a professed minister of the Gospel, 
 of the established church of England — a very learned man, a 
 very popular minister, who was flattered to the highest pitch ; 
 a perfect modern gentleman, living in idleness and luxury, on 
 a rich salary, drawn from the vitals of the poor. This man, 
 at the very time that he was ofliciating as a minister of the 
 Gospel of Christ, was living without God in the world, ac- 
 cording to his own confession upon his death bed, and was 
 trying, or wishing to establish himself in Deism. Hear 
 his own words : " I was just beginning to be a Deist, and had 
 long desired to be so ', and I will own to you, my brother, 
 what I never confessed before, that my function and the duties 
 of it were a weariness to me which I could not bear, yet, 
 wretched creature as I was, I was esteemed religious, although 
 I lived without God in the world. '^ This is a confession from 
 one of the worst of sinners, for I cannot conceive of any thing 
 so abominably wicked as such a clerical hypocrite, unless it is 
 an unbelieving Quaker minister ; and 1 sincerely wish that all 
 such hireling ministers — and I fear ninety-nine out of a hun- 
 dred are such — could be brought to the same state of sorrow 
 for their sins, that there may be joy in heaven oyqy mani/ sin- 
 ners that repent. 
 
165 
 
 This excellent narrative of Cowper's is well wortli reading :- 
 it is worth more than my dear friend E. K. said the whole 
 book was worth ; for if it confirms my prejudices against these 
 wretched hirelings, it justifies Friends in faithfully hearing 
 their ancient, honorable, and truly Christian testimony, against 
 a set of men who at best will be found like a wheat field that 
 has more cheat than wheat. Happy was it for poor John 
 Cowper, that these tares were burnt up before he went to final 
 judgment. 
 
 SOth. Kead the life of Thomas Shillitoe, an English Friend, 
 for whom I had had a high esteem for many years, but whose 
 missionary services in this country lessened that esteem, more 
 especially his unchristian conduct towards my dear old friends 
 Elias Hicks and Elisha Dawson, and I have been ready to con- 
 clude it would have been better for him if he had never left 
 his own country, because he would have been more like his 
 divine Master, who never had a concern to visit kings and 
 emperors, potentates and priests, or even to travel out of the 
 land of Judea, although he could walk on the waters. If, 
 then, the example of the Saviour is to be respected, and if he 
 and his first disciples never visited potentates, or high priests, 
 only when dragged there to be persecuted, what great value 
 can the admirers of Thomas Shillitoe and Daniel Wheeler at- 
 tach to their extensive missionary labors, that cannot with 
 equal propriety be attached to the far more extensive and suc- 
 cessful missionary labors of Ignatius Loyola, and John Adam 
 Schall, the great missionary to China, whose sufferings and 
 privations were far greater. I will therefore respect and love 
 Thomas Shillitoe and Daniel Wheeler, just as far as they say 
 by their spirit and example, " follow us as we follow Christ,^^ 
 and no farther ; for it is sealed with renewed instruction on 
 my mind, that every sect of professing Christians has suff'ered 
 irreparable loss, just in proportion as it has departed from the 
 precepts and example of Christ, the great head of the Christian 
 Church, the perfect pattern of everlasting righteousness : and 
 what better authority has Thomas Shillitoe, Daniel Wheeler, 
 and others, for their extensive missionary labors, than those 
 devoted missionaries thus referred to by a late and eminent 
 English writer : ^^ In spite of oceans and deserts, of hunger 
 and pestilence, of spies and penal laws, of dungeons and racks, 
 of gibbets and quartering-blocks, Jesuits were to be found, 
 
1G6 
 
 nuder every disguise, and in every country — scholars, phy- 
 sicians, merchants, serving-men, in the hostile court of Swe- 
 den, in the old manor houses of Cheshire, among the hovels of 
 Connaught; arguing, instructing, consoling, stealing away the 
 hearts of the young, animating the courage of the timid, hold- 
 ing up the crucifix before the eyes of the d^dng. The old 
 world was not wide enough for this strong activity. The 
 Jesuits invaded all countries which the great maritime dis- 
 coveries of a preceding age had laid open to European enter- 
 prise. In the depths of Peruvian mines, at the marts of the 
 African slave caravans, on the shores of the Spice Islands, in 
 the observatories of China, they were to be found. They made 
 converts in regions which neither avarice nor curiosity had 
 tempted any of their countrymen to enter ; and preached and 
 disputed in tongues of which no other native of the west un- 
 derstood a word.'^ Should these remarks ever be read by an 
 Orthodox Friend, he may feel oiFended to think that I would 
 presume to compare dear Thomas Shillitoe and Daniel Wheeler 
 to Roman Catholic missionaries, and the devout Catholic may 
 be still more offended at the attempt to make it appear that a 
 Quaker preacher, whom he verily believes to be a poor, ignorant, 
 insignificant heretic, is fit to be compared to that great apos- 
 tolic father of the order of Jesus, Ignatius Loyola, or Mathew 
 Kicci, the Catholic star of the east ; while the truly humble, 
 meek believer in the divine Saviour, may rest satisfied with 
 the words or testimony of eternal truth respecting missionaries, 
 '^ Wo unto you scribes and pharisees, hypocrites, ye would 
 compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is 
 made ye make him two-fold more the child of hell.'^ 
 
 It has been upon my mind for several days past, to write a 
 short memorial respecting our dear deceased friend Hannah 
 Parker, a minister in good unity and high esteem with Friends 
 of Makefield Monthly Meeting, and many others. She was 
 the daughter of William and Mary Parker. Her mother was 
 of an Irish Presbyterian family named Johnson, among the 
 earliest settlers of this neighborhood. Her parents being poor, 
 Hannah was put early to work in the kitchens of the more 
 wealthy, notwithstanding the feebleness of her constitution. 
 When Friends were permitted first to hold a religious meeting 
 in the old Court House, near thirty years ago, she was among 
 the children that attended regularly on First days, but claimed 
 
167 
 
 no particular notice for several years. At last it was perceived 
 that she had changed her dress, little by little, until she was 
 observed in the character of a plain little girl, attending our 
 midweek meetings. x\bout this time the Presbyterians had 
 got a new minister, a fine looking young widower, of course a 
 great favorite with weak women. Agreeably to clerical policy, 
 he set himself about reviving his congregation, and finding 
 Hannah and her family belonged to no particular society, he 
 no doubt felt it his duty to reclaim her from the errors of her 
 way, making use of her mother as a principal instrument in 
 the concern ; and, although Hannah was remarkable for her 
 silent, unobtrusive conduct, it appears that she was persecuted 
 in the house of her professed friends, or led by their mistaken 
 zeal into the street called Strait, where, like Saul of Tarsus, 
 she prayed. During this dispensation of affliction, while her 
 poor body appeared to be hastening to an untimely grave by 
 pulmonary consumption, her immortal soul was deeply exer- 
 cised in the school of Christ. Having laid for some days and 
 nights without taking notice or nourishment, she was thought 
 by her family and physician to be near her end, when she re- 
 vived, and, making signs to her mother — for she could not 
 speak, but in a low whisper — she began to tell her what won- 
 ders she had seen and felt ; and as her strength increased, she 
 spoke to her brothers and sisters, and such of her neighbors 
 as came to see her, in a remarkable manner : and when she 
 had so far recovered as to attend our meetings, she publicly 
 espoused the cause of her Redeemer, who had thus wonderfully 
 raised her up as a monument of his adorable mercy and good- 
 ness. She then made application to be received into member- 
 ship with Friends, and was received with open arms, and soon 
 after opened a concern to visit the families of our Monthly 
 Meetings, which was united with, and she set at liberty, and 
 assisted in the concern ; and it is the testimony of my heart, 
 that a more precious visit was never paid, since nor before. 
 Her gift as a minister was brought before our Monthly Meet- 
 ing, agreeable to our excellent order, and fully acknowledged 
 and united with. Indeed, it was a wonderful gift, for it ap- 
 peared to stand distinct and separate from two of the idols of 
 a fallen world, natural talents and learning, and therefore it 
 might be said of her, in some degree, as William Penn said of 
 George Fox — she was all of Grod Almighty's own making. 
 
168 
 
 Had Ker strengtli of body been commensurate witb the spiritual 
 energies of her soul, she might have appeared one of the most 
 dignified servants or handmaids of the Lord, that has ever 
 been in our Society. But her poor body was, comparatively 
 speaking, a mere shadow, or a compound of weakness ; never- 
 theless, she performed several religious visits, and one as far 
 as Virginia, leaving seals, wherever she went, of a true Gospel 
 spirit. There is one circumstance which continues to present 
 itself while I am writing. Hannah attended the funeral of a 
 Methodist neighbor, and was led, I thought, to speak in a 
 clear and powerful manner — opening some interesting Gospel 
 truths that came in contact with some of the dogmas of the 
 Presbyterian minister, who, being prejudiced against Hannah, 
 made public opposition in a language like this : "If the doc- 
 trine we have heard is true, 1 should have no more hope of 
 salvation than the devils, and damned in hell;'' and other ex- 
 pressions, beneath the dignity of the Christian, or even the gen- 
 tleman. He had scarcely finished, when a proposition was 
 made to move to the grave-yard, and whilst I was filling the 
 grave, I again heard the voice of our friend, in a language 
 like this, "I have no controversy with these people," meaning 
 the priests, " but the Lord has, and will call them to a solemn 
 reckoning ; it is only for me to address them in the pertinent 
 language of the apostle, ^ Oh, full of all subtility and all mis- 
 chief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, 
 how long is it ere thou wilt cease to pervert the right ways of 
 the Lord / " and more to the same effect, which I forbear to 
 give, lest my recollection should not be strictly correct. In a 
 word, poor Hannah Parker was a most extraordinary minister. 
 I have no recollection of ever hearing her misquote scripture, 
 or, according to my little knowledge, make a grammatical blun- 
 der, and to me she was one of the sweetest preachers 1 ever 
 heard ; and the peculiar circumstances of her life not only give 
 incontestible evidence of the power of the principle professed 
 by Friends, but would furnish rich materials to a ready writer, 
 for a memorial that might be worth reading — as for me, I can 
 only give a rough sketch. It appears that her bodily powers, 
 owing to a feeble constitution, could not be sustained without 
 a continual miracle j she therefore gradually sunk under her 
 infirmities till she was pretty much confined to her bed, several 
 years before she died ; and notwithstanding the kindness and 
 
169 
 
 attention of Friends to the poor, slie suffered a complication of 
 troubles, in addition to her sleepless nights and wearisome 
 days ; but in the midst of all, her head appeared to be kept 
 above the rollings of the tempestuous billows, and the feet of 
 her mind fiimly fixed upon the rock of the Israel of God, and 
 if only a few of her comforting and encouraging expressions 
 were recorded, it would extend this memorial to too great a 
 length : suffice it to say, that the last expressions I ever heard 
 from her, gave me more encouragement than any thing of the 
 kind I ever heard before or since. Poor, dear Hannah, she 
 appeared to drink deeply of the cup of suffering her Saviour 
 drank of, for, like Hi7n, she was pretty much forsaken by all 
 her family, but her dear mother ; although a Presbyterian, 
 there appeared to be that unchangeable union of love, that I 
 trust has united their spirits in the mansions of eternal glory. 
 And will it be too much to say that, in some degree, like her 
 blessed Saviour ^ towards the last of her sufferings she was al- 
 most constrained to cry out '^ Eloiy Eloi, lama sahactliani ;" 
 which might have caused some of her secret enemies to wag 
 their heads with that horrible satisfaction that characterised 
 the enemies of a suffering Saviour, in beholding the effect of 
 that depression which frequently precedes the extinction of 
 animal life — especially the life of a poor weak woman. Not- 
 withstanding all this, had she been the daughter of the Honor- 
 able J. J., or even the grand-daughter of the more venerable 
 J. W., there would have been petty poets enough to make her 
 an angel, or hireling newspaper scribblers sufficient to make 
 her a saint. But as she was the daughter of poor William 
 and Mary Parker, brought up in the path of humble industry, 
 with natural talents scarcely standing at mediocrity, and with 
 hardly school learning enough to read and write — and so poor, 
 as to this world, that like her divine Master, she had not where 
 to lay her head — it has fallen to the lot of her poor illiterate 
 brother in religious fellowship, to write this short memorial of 
 one of the most extraordinary ministers that ever belonged to 
 the Society of Friends. 
 
 Having been led into the remembrance of some of my dear 
 deceased friends, I will here notice that excellent man, John 
 Stapler, the elder, who was an elder indeed, worthy of double 
 honor, for he was a practical philanthropist, who not only felt 
 for the oppressed Indian and African, but for his poor 
 
 15 
 
170 
 
 fellow ereatureSj in the circle of which he moved, especially 
 such as were in debt and difficulty, and tried to persuade the 
 rich creditor to lower his interest or usury to three per cent ; 
 at least to the j)oor, declaring that he doubted the consistency 
 of a Christian taking usury from his poor brother, — seeing it 
 was positively forbidden in the Holy Scriptures. This worthy 
 man, by endeavoring to relieve the oppressed debtor, not only 
 involved himself in serious difficulties with money mongers, 
 but was too often treated with ingratitude by the very persons 
 he had exerted himself to relieve. But the emphatical man- 
 ner in which I have heard him express his forgiveness of his 
 enemies, the religious care that he observed not to speak evil 
 of any, — the promptitude and honesty with which he pointed 
 out to his friends, privately, their faults, their failings and con- 
 sequent danger, proved him to be a compound of the gentle- 
 man and the practical Chrisian. His wife Hannah, was like^ 
 wise an elder, and appeared to me one of those silent and 
 loving women (described by the inspired poet,) whose price is 
 far above rubies, a woman whose husband praised her, while 
 sitting in the gates amongst the elders of the land, — ^a woman 
 whose children now rise up and call her blessed ; remembering 
 that she opened her mouth with wisdom^ and in her tongue was 
 the law of kindness. Thomas Stapler was brother to John, 
 and in the language of the English poet — one of '^ the noblest 
 works of God,'' for he was ^' an honest man." His wife 
 Achsah, was like her sister Hannah, one of the excellent of the 
 earth, and an elder indeed. 
 
 Joseph Taylor was a worthy elder, and but for his entire loss 
 of hearing, which abridged his usefulness, he might have been 
 worthy of double honor, for his friends loved him very much, 
 — he being an example of the believers in meekness — in up- 
 rightness — in faith, and in purity. His brother, William Tay- 
 lor, was a minister highly esteemed and beloved by Friends and 
 others, and, although Makefield Monthly Meeting has publish- 
 a memorial respecting him, I cannot pass by him without an- 
 other expression of my great love and unity with him. His 
 interesting widow and daughters are amongst my nearest and 
 dearest of kind neighbors. Jacob Cadwallader was an elder and 
 a brother-in-law to the foregoing Friends, and appeared to be a 
 sweet spirited, tender hearted Friend, who well understood 
 what is called the eleventh commandment, ^^ every man mind 
 
171 
 
 Vis owa business." He likewise possessed some of the best 
 qualifications of a bishop, vigilant, sober, of good behavior — 
 given to hospitality — not given to wine — no striker — not greedy 
 of filthy lucre, but patient — not a brawler — not covetous — 
 laaving a good report of them that are without. 
 
 ^^ Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole 
 world, there shail also that this woman hath done be told for 
 a memorial of her,'' see Mathewj 26th chap. 13th verse. The 
 life of the worthy and venerable Eachael Paxson, who died 
 in the 8th month 1842, at her residence in this township, in 
 tlie 95th year of her age, furnishes a powerful and practical 
 argument in favor of following the Divine Saviour in the path 
 of humble industry. We are informed in the Holy Scriptures 
 that when the infinitely wise Jehovah was pleased to manifest 
 Himself in the fulness, and present to a world of intelligent 
 beings a perfect pattern of everlasting righteousness in the per- 
 son of his beloved Son, that pattern was found walking in 
 the path of humble industry, preaching the doctrine with 
 indubitable clearness, that the wayfaring pilgrim, though a fool 
 as to the wisdom of this world, may walk in the Truth and not 
 err. '^Seest thou this woman V She was left near fifty years 
 ago, by a loving and faithful husband, the object of her youth- 
 ful afiections, a sorrowful widow, with a large family of little 
 daughters, and an infant son in her arms. Like too many poor 
 widows she was left with a little property encumbered with 
 debt : and, what added to her affliction, she was advised by 
 those she thought her best friends, to sell off and break up 
 housekeeping. Thus she would have been deprived of a home, 
 sbe must have put out her poor little daughters to receive their 
 education in the kitchens of the rich, where such children are 
 too often neglected, if not exposed to bad company and hard treat- 
 ment, while she herself and her little son might have had to seek 
 an asylum under the hospitable roof of some kind relative, or 
 been coldly assisted by her friends. This kind of advice, 
 however honest the intentions of the counsellors, has proved, I 
 fear, a serious injury to too many poor widows and orphans, 
 who with a little encouragement might have done better, was 
 not to be taken by this woman. She had been brought up 
 in the path of humble industry, and being now introduced 
 into the school of affliction, she asked counsel of her Divine 
 Master, who encouraged her to exercise the energies of her 
 
172 
 
 body and powerful mind, in that path that is cast up for the just 
 man, and which is compared to the luminous orb that rises in 
 the hemisphere and shines with increasing splendor, till it '* ar- 
 rives at the meridian altitude of a glorious and perfect day." 
 Thus encouraged, she sold the best part of the land with all the 
 buildings, and honestly paid the debt, or so reduced it that she 
 could get along. By the most indefatigable exertions, she 
 raised an humble dwelling on the poorest part of the land, 
 where, by the wonderful power of industry, she kept her little 
 family together, fed, clothed and schooled them ; for this wo- 
 man had recognized in the character of a mother, a responsibil- 
 ity that could not be delegated. Hence the great concern she 
 felt to take care of those lambs herself, that were given her '^ in 
 the wilderness of this world, by the everlasting Shepherd and 
 Bishop of souls.'' Dear widows, be encouraged in beholding the 
 life of THIS WOMAN, and lift up your heads in hope, for the same 
 Shepherd of Israel that sleeps not by day nor slumbers by 
 night, continues to watch over poor widows that are '' widows 
 indeed," that faithfully follow him in the path of humble in- 
 dustry — speaking peace to their afflicted souls, as he spoke 
 through the mouth of his prophets formerly : "^ Oh thou af- 
 flicted, tossed with tempests and not comforted, — behold I 
 will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations 
 with sapphires, and I will make thy windows of agates, and thy 
 gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones, 
 and all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall 
 be the peace of thy children.'' 
 
 This promise was remarkably fulfilled in the family of this 
 WOMAN ; she lived to see her children respectably raised 
 and five of her daughters happily married ; her grand children 
 and great grand children coming up after her in the nurture and 
 admonition of the Lord. She lived to witness what few widows 
 have ever known — her only son foregoing the alluring enjoy- 
 ments in the ways of men, to devote himself with every en- 
 dearing attention to his precious mother, by which her latter 
 days were rendered as peaceful and happy as they could be 
 in this world. Indeed, no serious and reflecting mind could visit 
 this ^' Elect Lady" with her children, and be in possession of 
 her little history, without being renewedly convinced of the great 
 importance of following the blessed Saviour in the path of 
 HUMBLE industry — a path that not only leads to the enjoy- 
 
173 
 
 ment of rational happiness in this world, but everlasting hap- 
 piness in the world to come. For a better description of a per- 
 fect woman, the reader is referred to the inspired poetry in the 
 last chapter of Proverbs, ''Many daughters have done virtuous- 
 ly, but thou excellest them all.'' 
 
 I could notice many other valuable Friends of Makefield 
 Monthly Meeting, but I shall close with a short account of my 
 dear deceased aunt, Margaret T. Hicks, a minister, who stood 
 high, not only with Friends of Makefield, but with Bucks 
 Quarter. Fler maiden name was Thomas, and I think she 
 was a native of Long Island, and a distant relation to her hus- 
 band, and, according to her own account, had been a wild, 
 wayward girl, extremely fond of music and dancing. She mar- 
 ried my uncle, Joseph Rodman Hicks, a very handsome 
 young man, whose constitutional eccentricity, disqualified him 
 from filling, with perfect propriety, his social and relative du- 
 ties ; and hence his wife, as a matter of course, was intro- 
 duced into the street called Strait, or in other words, into a 
 state of suffering and sorrow, which was so sanctified to her, 
 through the eternal power of truth, that the scales fell from 
 her spiritual eyes, and' she saw the way the ransomed in Jacob 
 and the redeemed in Israel must walk in, and taking up the 
 cross of Christ, she pressed forward towards the crown, which 
 she found was not to be obtained but through humble obe- 
 dience. Griving up at last to the heavenly vision, a dispensa- 
 tion of the gospel was committed to her, in which she witness- 
 an enlargement, and became an able minister, that might say 
 in the language of the apostle, '* I was made a minister ac- 
 cording to gift of the grace of God, given unto me by the ef- 
 fectual working of his power ; to me, who am less than the 
 least of all saints, was this grace given, that I might preach 
 among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." In- 
 deed she was a precious minister to me, and a very dear mo- 
 ther in our Israel, whom I loved much. In the decline of life she 
 had to drink deeply of the cup of gall mixed with wormwood, 
 following to the grave her husband and six of her children, after 
 they were grown up. Being thus stript, she took up her resi- 
 dence with her only son Charles, in Philadelphia, where she 
 continued to live until she was between eighty and ninety years 
 of age, closing her earthly pilgrimage in the innocence of a lit- 
 
 15* 
 
174 
 
 tie child, and I hope she has landed safe on that happy 
 and peaceful shore, in that eternal land of rest where sorrow is 
 unknown. 
 
 I have thus endeavored to give a little hiographical sketch of 
 some of the active members of Makefield, in the days of our pros- 
 perity, when all the wiles and stratagems of cunning and Ortho- 
 doxy could not break our ranks or destroy our unity. Not one of 
 our select members went with them, and only two obscure fami- 
 lies in the whole Monthly Meeting. 
 
 This Monthly Meeting was first opened in the 6th month, 
 1820. The Friends who sat in the galleries at Makefield at 
 that time are all dead, both men and women, but on the men's 
 side at Newtown, one minister and two elders are still living. 
 But oh, how solemn the consideration that they must, in the 
 course of nature, soon go ; for thus it is ordered in the immu- 
 table wisdom of an omnipotent Creator, that one generation of 
 men and women should go and another come, and that even 
 our meeting houses should be evacuated and replenished by 
 troops of succeeding pilgrims. 
 
 31s^. First day — a dull day and a dull meeting, owing on 
 my part, I fear, to spiritual indolence, or my mind being like 
 theinn we read of in the New Testament, which was so 
 filled with finer guests, there was no room for a Saviour. 
 
 Qth month 1st. Seriously thoughtful about talking too much , 
 I have been favored to keep silent in our meetings for busi- 
 ness, touching the unsettlement and confusion among us. I 
 wish I could be more silent out of meeting, and more engaged 
 in secret prayer, that the Lord would spare his people and no 
 longer give his heritage to reproach. 
 
 2d. Communicated the above feelings and exercise to my 
 dear younger brother in the ministry, J. M. S., hoping they 
 may be useful to him. 
 
 id. Spent in reading and writing. There are certainly many 
 most excellent pieces among the tracts published by Orthodox 
 Friends. I could have wished they had not tried to imitate 
 the priests in their mode of expression, nor had, what I fear, 
 so much selfish design in the selection of their matter; how- 
 ever, I may be too jealous, and therefore judge them wrong- 
 fully. I will therefore leave it to Him who knows the secrets 
 of our hearts. 
 
175 
 
 4^7i. Our Monthly Meeting at Newtown. I opened a pros- 
 pect to my friends of paying a religious visit to all the Quar- 
 terly Meetings in our Yearly Meetingj including the half-year's 
 Meeting at Fishing creek ; and, if way opened, to appoint some 
 meetings and visit some families. My concern was taken hold 
 of by the meeting and generally united with, — the women with- 
 out a dissenting voice ; but two ultra reformers cavilled while 
 the concern was before men Friends, and after it was settled 
 and a minute prepared, and I had left the meeting, one of 
 them came out with an expression of disunity. They might 
 both be right, for had they expressed unity and sympathy, they 
 might have heaped, as it were, coals of fire on my head, for I 
 certainly had no unity with them, and our difference must be 
 left to be settled by a higher tribunal. I do not know but 
 what L. M., that talented creature in Philadelphia, has done 
 more towards destroying the unity of our Monthly Meeting, 
 than Jonathan Evans with all his influence as a ruling elder, 
 could do twenty years ago ; for he only got two silent satellites, 
 while she appeared to have two of our most chattering 
 members. 
 
 5^A. "Went to Middletown Monthly Meeting, and had a feast 
 of fat things, with wine on the lees well refined. Dear J. C. 
 was there and preached the everlasting gospel, comforting and 
 encouraging my poor soul, more than all the preaching I have 
 heard this seven years, my own included. Dined with him at 
 P. M.'s and parted with him in the tendering cementing power 
 of Eternal T^^utli. The subject matter on which he was led 
 to speak, was the state of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he 
 was besieged by an impious and blasphemous enemy. His 
 preservation and deliverance was brought about by prayer and 
 silence. Oh ! that Friends could be instructed by what ^^ was 
 written aforetime for our learning, that we through patience and 
 comfort of the scriptures might have hope.'' True Christians, 
 according to my view, are now the Israel of Grod. The 
 Christian part of the Society of Friends, are now beseiged by, 
 what I fear I may call, an impious, if not a blasphemous spirit. 
 I was therefore rejoiced to find ray dear friend J. C. united 
 with me — that our safety and deliverance depended upon our 
 rallying to our distinguishing position — SiLENCE in the house 
 of prayer ; answer them not a word. 
 
176 
 
 %th. A day of comparative idleness and ease, with but little 
 if any improvement in best things. 
 
 " Count that day lost whose low descending sun ^ 
 
 Sees from thy hand no worthy action done." 
 
 *lth. First-day a large meeting, but it was not one of my 
 good silent meetings, for I was led into a communication, 
 which appeared to me rather an insignificant concern. Had 
 the company of Sally Janney, wife of my dear friend Phineas 
 Janney, from Alexandria, Silas Edson and wife, from Phila- 
 delphia, and all my children and grand-children, to dinner : it 
 was indeed a social and rational enjoyment, but I had to leave 
 them to attend an appointed meeting at Banner Knowl's, 
 eight or nine miles up the Delaware. My dear young friends, 
 J. M. S. and wife, went with me. A large concourse of peo- 
 ple were in attendance, amongst whom dear E. S. I thought 
 had good service. I said a good deal, and I think it is like- 
 ly to but little purpose, like all the rest of my sayings. 
 However, the people behaved remarkably well, and I believe 
 some thought we had a good meeting. 
 
 ^th. I fear this day has been a day of too much shackling 
 idleness, for a true Christian, whose time in this world ought 
 to be considered too precious to be trifled away. 
 
 ^tli. Went in the stage to Bristol, on my way to attend 
 Haddonfield Quarterly Meeting, held at Medford. At Bur- 
 lington, called to see Joseph Parrish, son of my dear deceased 
 friend. Doctor Parrish, who is now a practising physician in 
 that place. Joseph and his wife were very kind, and offered 
 to take me out to their mother's, but their brother John Par- 
 rish being in town by himself, I went out with him, and paid 
 a visit to the venerable John Cox, a minister among Orthodox 
 Friends, now in his ninety-third year. He appeared to me to 
 manifest the dignity of the gentleman, with the innocence of a 
 child. In the afternoon John Parrish took me to Mount 
 Holly, to the house of my dear friend George Hulme. The 
 children of the excellent Doctor Parrish appear to have a fair 
 start in the world, at almost every point ; but alas ! methinks 
 I see an enemy lurking near their path, "the friendship of the 
 world,^^ that is always courting wealth and fame, and leaving 
 the suffering seed to weep and lament. But perhaps the less 
 I say on this subject the better, for the world appears not to be 
 prepared to receive my testimony. 
 
177 
 
 10th. Went in company with my dear friend George Hulme 
 to the Select Quarterly Meeting, and indeed it was a precious 
 meeting to me, for I was favored to be silent and to get in the 
 house of prayer. Dined at the tavern, and although I fear 
 my conversation, was too light and trifling, some of my friends 
 thought some good was done. 
 
 11th, Attended the general Quarterly Meeting, held in a 
 beautiful new house, built and presented to Friends by the late 
 valuable Benjamin Davis, of Medford. I tried to have a good 
 meeting, but really I could scarcely get a crumb of bread, for 
 our ministers seemed a little like school boys, playing ball, 
 and appeared to me to be all the time tossing the loaf of bread 
 about in the air, so that I could not seemingly get any, and 
 therefore thought I had reason to complain, like the little 
 Presbyterian boy did of their meetings, telling his mother that 
 they would not give him time to think, and asked permission to go 
 to a silent Quaker meeting. However, I was truly glad that 
 I labored after heavenly bread in silence. 
 
 12tJi, My kind friend Greorge Hulme sent me in his carriage 
 to Burlington, in company with two of his cousins^ John Hulme's 
 daughters, pretty little Episcopalians, who appeared to be 
 pious girls. It is astonishing how successful the Orthodox 
 have been, with the assistance of the priests, to fix prejudices 
 in young and tender minds against Friends, and it is sorrow- 
 ful to think how these prejudices are confirmed by the skepti- 
 cal speculations of some of our own members. I had consi- 
 derable difficulty to convince them that the religious Society 
 of Friends that I belonged to, did not deny the authenticity 
 of the Holy Scriptures, nor did we hold the sentiments that 
 we were charged with by our enemies. In a Friend's house, 
 at Bristol, I met with an Orthodox publication, in which was 
 what they called an account of the heresy of Elias Hicks, and 
 the separatists, a perverted, sophistical statement, designed to 
 produce the prejudices above alluded to, and the writers as 
 well as publishers must have been ignorant, or very wicked, 
 for I know their account is false; and considering the situation 
 the Orthodox are now in, they ought to be ashamed of them- 
 selves, to be thus venting their spleen and bitterness on such 
 Friends as dear old Elias, and John Comly. Why, I do not 
 know but what the apostle Paul, if he was to read such an ac- 
 count, and know as well as I do that it was false, would not 
 
178 
 
 be constrained to address the writer as he did one formerly^, 
 ^' Oh ! full of all siibtilty, and all mischief, thou child of the 
 devil, thou enemy of all righteousness ; wilt thou not cease to 
 pervert the right ways of the Lord.'^ 
 
 IZth. It is to me a sorrowful and discouraging consideration 
 to behold again belligerent parties rising up among Friends. I 
 thought I saw in the late Quarterly Meeting '' sorrowful symp- 
 toms, big with death/' A dear brother in the ministry, whom 
 I love, made use of the term ^^ blessed Saviour,^' which sound- 
 ed unsavoury, while his opponent, with an eloquence that 
 sounded like that of a learned clergyman and lecturer, appear- 
 ed carefully to avoid the above term, and substituted that of 
 Jesus, which to me was equally unsavoury, and if I am not 
 mistaken in the real sentiments of the speaker, a little pro- 
 fane. Understand me, the words ^'blessed Saviour and 
 Jesus/' I love, and would wish to use them with rever- 
 ence and a feeling hearty not for party purposes and unbe- 
 lief. 
 
 \4:t}i. First-day, had one of my most precious, silent meet- 
 ings. I had craved or begged on my pillow a good silent 
 meeting, and my prayer was granted in a most memorable man- 
 ner; for which my soul feels gratitude, thanksgiving, and 
 praise to him that sittith upon the throne, and the Lamb. My 
 dear younger sister, E. S., appeared in solemn supplication, 
 and although I could not hear her distinctly, it was attended 
 with a precious feeling that had no fellow. 
 
 Ibth. Engaged in my shop, working with my own hands, 
 and minding my own business, studying to be quiet, and walk 
 orderly amongst my neighbors, which brings sweet peace. 
 
 l^th. Went to my dear friend Isaac Parry's, where I have 
 been in the practice of visiting for nearly thirty years, and 
 now that we have become connected, by the union of his 
 youngest son with my youngest daughter, my visits are of course 
 peculiarly pleasant. Eut Isaac and myself are growing old, 
 and feel at times discouraged about the unsettled state of 
 Society, ready to exclaim in the mournful language of the pro- 
 phet, "By whom shall Jacob arise, for he is small?" 
 
 yith. Diligent in business, and if I had been as fervent in 
 spirit, serving the Lord, it would have been a good day with 
 me; but I certainly feel deficient in heartfelt dedication to the 
 great cause of my heavenly Father, and a sense of this defi- 
 
179 
 
 ciency hangs as a dark curtain or cloud over my path through 
 life, and if my poor soul is saved, it must be by mercy, ''infi- 
 nite, adorable mercy,'' not by merit. 
 
 ISth. Our midweek meeting, a laborious travel of spirit, 
 crowned with peace, for I did not give way to the current of 
 drowsiness, but breasted it with all my might, but was sorry 
 to see so many goodly Friends carried along with the down- 
 ward stream, having always understood that it is sick and dead 
 fish that swim with the current. There was a circumstance 
 occurred at our meeting to-day, which, if I am not mis- 
 informed, is worthy of recording. J. J., who lives at Addis- 
 ville, four miles from this, has been brought up a Presbyterian, 
 though latterly dissatisfied with them, and partially convinced 
 of Friends' principles, but discouraged by his family. This 
 morning he says he felt it right to go to Quaker meeting, but 
 being unwell, and having no way but to walk, he felt discour- 
 aged ; but he thought he heard a secret voice like this, " Pre- 
 sent thy body, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, 
 which is thy reasonable duty." With this impression he came 
 to meeting, in the course of which our dear E. S. was led to 
 speak from the same text most feelingly and practically, which 
 appears to have made a deep impression upon J. J.'s mind. 
 But what it will come to I know not, for many are called but 
 few are chosen, and I fear that J. J. is too much like myself, 
 he talks too much. 
 
 19t7i. Neither sick enough to lay by, nor well enough to 
 work, and of course spent rather an unpleasant and unprofita- 
 ble day. 
 
 20th. Went to White Marsh to pay a social visit to my dear 
 sister, Susan W. Phipps, and her husband and children; one of 
 the most heavenly visits of the kind I ever paid. I say 
 heavenly, fori have no recollection of ever feeling more Chris- 
 tian tenderness and love than I did towards my dear sister's 
 interesting family of children. 
 
 21st. Attended their meeting at Plymouth ; went, I hope, 
 in that state of mind that our Saviour pronounced^ blessed, 
 when he said, '^ Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the 
 kingdom of Heaven." The silent part of the meeting was a 
 precious exercise to my poor soul ; but my preaching I must 
 leave to others to judge of, for if I was qualified to preach 
 Christ and him crucified, in my humiliation my judgment was 
 taken away. 
 
180 
 
 22 c?. Returned home, and on my way, attended the funeral 
 of Sarah Wood, daughter of Seth Davis, an elder. She had 
 scarcely been married three years. I remember attending her 
 wedding : it was one of the most Christian weddings, and the 
 meeting was peculiarly solemn and affecting. Her husband, 
 John Wood, was the son of our worthy friend, Joseph Wood, 
 an elder, all members of Horsham Monthly Meeting. The 
 dear young friends had just got nicely settled, and John had 
 gone to market, when dear Sarah was taken with the cramp 
 cholic, and died in about an hour, leaving a child fifteen or 
 sixteen months old. The circumstances of her marriage and 
 settlement, were so much like my dear S. P., that it called 
 into action all my tenderest feelings, awakening the deepest 
 sympathy for her poor afflicted father, who appears to be now 
 trembling on the brink of the grave. I could only pour forth 
 my tears and prayers in silence, fearing the " cloven tongue as 
 of fire," had been already sounding its bell unavailingly 
 amongst them. 
 
 2Srd. This day has been so cold that I could scarcely "work in 
 my shop. In the evening was favored with a solemn exercise 
 in spiritual prayer, not only for myself and family, the afflict- 
 ed and suffering seed, but for the religious Society of Friends, 
 who like Joseph, may be still alive, but a prisoner in Egypt, 
 under a charge of having attempted to commit adultery with 
 the world, and the mantle or garment that they once wore is 
 produced in evidence against them, while the priests, the Or- 
 thodox, and political abolitionsts, like Pharoah's General, de- 
 ceived by a wicked world, are sustaining the prosecution, or 
 more properly speaking are the persecutors. Oh! that the religious 
 Society of Friends could keep in the everlasting patience, like 
 meek innocent Joseph, witnessing the salvation of the Lord in 
 bringing them out of prison, and making them as saviours on 
 Mount Zion. 
 
 24cfh. Was spent in attending to my business, and domestic 
 concerns, and was favored in the evening with a sweet, tender 
 spirit of prayer, which extended to the sick, sorrowful, and af- 
 flicted throughout the world of mankind, for which blessed fa- 
 vor my soul was filled with thanksgiving and praise. 
 
 2^th. Our meeting day to-day. I had a good meeting, and 
 was favored to keep silent. S. T., from Baltimore was with us 
 and spoke I believe to general satisfaction, and our friend J. 
 
181 
 
 M. S. had a few words of Grospel for ujj. In the afternoon took 
 S. T. and his wife to Warminster, and on my return found a 
 poor old fellow soldier, sitting by the road-side, just from the 
 Alms-house; took him into the carriage and brought him to 
 Newtown where he was trying to come. I felt glad that I 
 could help this poor brother, who was once an honorable and 
 useful carpenter in easy circumstances, and a far more useful 
 and valuable citizen than ever I have been, but now separated 
 from his wife and eleven children, is an offcast from society, 
 dragging out the feeble remains of a miserable life, upon the 
 cold hard-hearted charity of a county poor house. I was 
 thankful to be favored with Christian sympathy, and a fervent 
 prayer for^him to the Saviour of sinners, to whose mercy I could 
 only commend him with my own poor soul. 
 
 2Qth. Diligent in business if not fervent in spirit, fulfilling 
 part of the duty of a 'Christian, which is better than to be en- 
 tirely idle. Heard towards evening of the death of our cousin, 
 Andrew Ashton, a man of peace and Christian propriety. Oh! 
 the love and sweetness I feel for him. Happy would it be for 
 the Christian world, if there were more like him. If it were 
 not so far, and I so feeble, I would attend his funeral, I think 
 he was an abolitionist of the right kind ; and while I am writing 
 it occurs to me to give a short account of another abolitionist 
 of the right kind, my namesake, Edward Hicks, of Chester 
 County, who has been dead nearly thirty years, and although 
 like Cowper's Cottager, he was hardly known '' a half a mile 
 from home," he gave a more practical demonstration of his 
 love of justice and mercy, than even the celebrated Elias Hicks. 
 If I am not mistaken in my impression, he was the son of 
 Charles Hicks, of Bucks County. His mother was a Kimble, 
 whose father died in England, and left her some estate, part of 
 which was slaves in the West Indies. She sold all but one, 
 the young widow of an African king, who died soon after they 
 were married. This woman she brought with her to Pennsyl- 
 vania, and while at sea she was delivered of a son, which the 
 mistress called County Cornwall, after the place she came 
 from in England. This was that remarkable colored man known 
 by the name of Corn, so well remembered in Wrightstown, 
 Newtown, and Middletown. After the death of Charles 
 Hicks, Edward's father. Corn was sold among other slaves, 
 and the money for which he was sold came to Edward, who 
 
 16 
 
182 
 
 being a minor; was placed as an apprentice to a cooper in Dela- 
 ware County. After lie was free, lie became convinced of 
 Friends' principles, and although not a member at that time, 
 he felt uneasy at having in his possession money that was the 
 proceeds of the sale of a slave. This uneasiness continuing, 
 Edward came up into Bucks County, seeking for the slave, who 
 was found with a Presbyterian, that set a very high value on 
 him ; and if superior dignity of character is any proof of a de- 
 scent from the royal line of Africa, he certainly had a valid 
 claim, and well deserved the money that was paid to him in 
 gold and silver, with its interest in full, by the hands of Edward 
 Hicks. This remarkable act of justice produced considerable ex- 
 citement among Friends of Wrightstown, who were then consist- 
 ent abolitionists, and the sum so nobly paid not being enough to 
 meet the demand of the Presbyterian, Friends of AVrightstown 
 nobly came forward and paid the residue of the demand, and 
 set the colored man free ; who abundantly proved that he was 
 worthy of the favor, through a long life, distinguished not only 
 by superior dignity of character, combined with the steady con- 
 sistency of the Quaker ; but such scrupulous attention to the 
 great principles of honesty, that his acts and sayings were never 
 called in question. Such was the colored man long known by 
 the name of Corn, the grist grinder in the mill of John Hulme 
 & Sons, in Hulmeville, alias Milford, Middletown township, 
 Bucks County, Pa. Having recorded the evidence of my name- 
 sake's distinguished reverence for the great attribute of justice, 
 I think myself happy in being able, if I am not mistaken in my 
 information and impression, to record a still greater evidence of 
 his peculiar love for the pre-eminent attribute of mercy, with 
 which he closed a long and virtuous life. E. H. from travel- 
 ling so long in the path of humble industry, strictly observing 
 6uch remarkable frugality as to become honestly possessed of a 
 large estate for a farmer, and being now a member of the So- 
 ciety of Friends, he felt bound to take the advice of their ex- 
 cellent discipline, and make his will and settle his earthly con- 
 cerns while in health ; and being near fourscore, and blessed 
 with sound mind and memory, he made his will and appor- 
 tioned his property to his wife and children, showing them 
 what he had done, and having the unspeakable satisfaction to 
 know they were all satisfied. He then felt a concern to go 
 over all his bonds, notes, and book accounts that were standing 
 
183 
 
 against his friends and neighbors ; and every bond and note 
 against persons in straitened circumstances^ or more especially 
 if they were poor, he burnt, because he feared the collecting of 
 such debts by his executors would cause suffering and sorrow ; 
 and all such book accounts- he settled himself by balancing the 
 book, thus offering a sweet smelling sacrifice of thousands, to 
 the darling attribute of mercy and goodness. After perform- 
 ing this truly Christian act he expressed the great peace he felt 
 in doing what he thought was his duty, and in a few hours af- 
 ter died suddenly, but in peace with Grod and man. Dear old 
 Friends, you that are able go and do likewise. 
 
 27^7i. Spent pretty much in writing, which I am afraid will 
 be of but little use : for should it ever be published, no body, 
 will think it worth reading, except some few of my friends who 
 may be left. 
 
 2%th. First day — dull, rainy weather — a sleepy time at 
 meeting with many : but a good silent meeting for me, for I 
 realized the truth of the Saviour's promise, ^^seek and ye shall 
 find, knock and it shall be opened.'' How can Friends expect 
 to have good meetings, if they will not observe or attend to the 
 conditions contained in the text ? 
 
 2%th. Steadily employed in the line of my business, feeling 
 it my duty to do what I can for my family, while I am able to 
 work ; when the time comes which must be near at hand, that 
 I can no longer use these hands to minister to my own neces- 
 sities, and them that are with me, my dear children must take 
 care of me. 
 
 30^A. Feeble in body and mind. I have but little to say, 
 only I thought I felt something like the angel of God's holy 
 presence, touching my soul about the time of the evening ob- 
 lation, producing fervent prayer and living aspirations, which I 
 nope was an acceptable sacrifice. 
 
 1th month \st. As I am with great propriety classed among 
 the poor working men, I am thankful I have been trying to do 
 my duty in great weakness both of body and mind, under which, 
 in the evening, felt peculiarly solemn, feeling that the time of 
 my departure from this world is nigh at hand. 
 " When rising from the bed of death, 
 O'er whelmed with guilt and fear, 
 I see my Saviour face to face, 
 Oh ! how shall I appear ?'* 
 
184 
 
 A discouraging time for the poor farmers; so wet and warm, 
 that they cannot get their hay and wheat secured. 
 
 2<f, od, 4:th. Wishing to avoid sameness and repetition, I 
 have but little to. say, but that seriousness and solemnity have 
 been increased by hearing of the death of four of my old friends: 
 Joseph Price, Hannah L. Smith, Mary Hulme, and Mary Sto- 
 ry. They were Orthodox Friends. 
 
 5th. First day, went to see my children at Horsham ; called 
 on my way at Warminster Meeting. The silent part of it was 
 a strength and encouragment to my exercised soul, for it was to 
 me a precious prayer meeting : but I am afraid my telling the 
 people my experience naight have done more hurt than good. 
 
 6th. A day of great favor as to the outward ; but yesterday 
 the farmers were quite discouraged ; some wheat fields nearly 
 destroyed by the fly, others so beat down by the wind and rain 
 as to make it difficult gathering; others growing in the swarth ; 
 abundance of hay spoiling in the field, with wet weather ; to-day 
 the sun shines and the farmers are encouraged to exert them- 
 selves. We were favored to secure enough for bread, which is 
 certainly cause for thankfulness, and the weather continuing to 
 look favorable, hope increases. Thus our being in this world 
 depends upon the blessing of our Heavenly Father. Without 
 his sun, which he causes to rise upon the just and upon the 
 unjust, and vi'ithout his rain, which he sendeth upon the good 
 and upon the evil, how soon should we cease to exist. 
 
 7th. This day, forty-four years ago, I well remember making 
 a record like this, " Where shall I be, and what shall I be, in 
 forty years from this time?" I think my mind was under a 
 solemn impression, and I prayed for preservation. Oh ! thou 
 covenant keeping God, thou heardst my feeble cry, for thou 
 hast granted my request, and blessed me, unworthy wretch as I 
 am, and oh! where shall I be, and what shall I be, in the half 
 of forty years to come ? Shall I be permitted to enter thi/ city 
 whose walls are salvation, and whose gates are eternal praise ? 
 This day has been peculiarly favorable to the farmers for get- 
 ting in their grain and hay. Oh ! that their hearts may be 
 tender and contrite before the Lord, in thanksgiving and praise. 
 
 8^^. Another remarkably fine day for harvesting and getting 
 in the hay — the most pleasant summer weather. The farmer 
 ought to rejoice, and, indeed, every Christian in the United 
 States should rejoice ever more, and in every thing give thanks 
 
185 
 
 for the many blessings they enjoy. They ought to rejoice 
 with thankful hearts^ and bear their testimony against that 
 wicked, grumbling, growling, fault-finding spirit, that would 
 destroy the religious and civil institutions of our beloved 
 country, turn our liberty into licentiousness, and introduce 
 universal anarchy and confusion into both Church and State. 
 
 ^tli. Our Monthly Meeting at Makefield ; and as our chatter- 
 ing reformers were both absent, we had a good little Monthly 
 Meeting. One of our young members who had been persuaded 
 by the Presbyterian priest, and one of his silly women, with 
 whom the young Friend was hired, to join their meeting, came 
 forward to-day with a voluntary acknowledgment and con- 
 demnation of his conduct, which was accepted. It is a cause 
 of encouragement that, notwithstanding our unsettled state, 
 and the scattering of our youth, the priests and their silly 
 women cannot get and hold them. We had some speaking 
 from a stranger, and some solid Gospel truths from J. M. S., 
 and two of our female ministers. 
 
 lO^/i. An exceedingly warm day, and it was with difficulty 
 that I could make out to work, though I did make a good day 
 of it, for a poor feeble old man. Had the company of a friend 
 in the afternoon, that I was rather glad of, for I had feared 
 that I had offended him when at the funeral of his father. 
 
 11^7^. Another exceedingly warm day, which has an en- 
 feebling effect upon my poor worn out constitution. Notwith- 
 standing, I did my day's work, as to the outward, but the inner 
 man of the heart I fear has been too shackling and idle. 
 
 Vltli. First day, very warm weather. The professed wor- 
 shippers of an infinitely perfect spiritual Being, that had col- 
 lected at our meeting house, appeared to me too careless, idle, 
 and indolent, which made hard work to keep to the life. I 
 was led, I thought rightly, to speak of the great loss we sus- 
 tained by sitting in a lounging posture or position, which 
 nursed the weakness of our common nature, and rendered our 
 meeting for worship a poor, lifeless thing. Whereas, if we 
 were concerned to obey the commandment our Saviour gives 
 to his disciples, '^Strive to enter in at the straight gate; for I 
 say unto you, many shall seek to enter and shall not be able ; 
 for straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leads to 
 life, and few there be that find it : because wide is the gate 
 and broad is the way, that leads to death or destruction, and 
 
 16* 
 
186 
 
 many there are that go in thereat/' — I say I tried to encourage 
 Friends that if we wouki be obedient to this commandment, 
 and strive to enter into life, or a living exercise, sitting up- 
 right, with the loins of our minds girded up, we could not fail 
 coming at the life, and having a profitable meeting. But oh ! 
 the dreadful consequences of spiritual idleness ; it is as much 
 greater than bodily idleness, as the soul is greater than the 
 body. But all I said seemed to me to pass as the idle wind, 
 and after I sat down, a few words from my younger brother, 
 J. M. S., had more Gospel in them than all that I said. 
 
 IBth. Feeble as I was, I did a pretty good day's work. I 
 have thought it right to exert myself to get ready to attend the 
 Quarterly Meetings in the western part of our Yearly Meeting, 
 which commence on the 20th. I think it will be best to go in 
 my ow^n wagon, and be as little trouble and hindrance to Friends 
 as I can, although my age and infirmity would justify my having 
 company. 
 
 lith. Astonishing change in the weather, from excessive 
 heat to a cool fall air. I feel these changes very sensibly, and 
 feel it hard to keep at work ; and my weakness of body predis- 
 poses to discouragement about the state of our religious Society. 
 A lovely young Friend in our town, though not a member of 
 our Monthly Meeting, has lately married an Episcopalian, the 
 daughter of an Orthodox Friend, and almost of course has left 
 us. This circumstance has revived a sorrowful feeling I have 
 had for years, of the sad loss that children sustain for the want 
 of religious education. The father of this young man, who is 
 in the station. of an elder, appears to have spared no pains and 
 expense to give him scholastic education ; but I fear has left 
 his soul too much as the ostrich leaveth her eggs, caring not 
 if the foot of the passenger crush them. But how can it be 
 otherwise? if the fathers have eaten sour'^grapes the children's 
 teeth must be set on edge — or, to speak more plainly, if pa- 
 rents have no heartfelt belief in an after state, or in the awful 
 doctrine of rewards and punishments, how can they impress it 
 on the minds of their children? If parents have never entered 
 the inner court of the temple, by Jesus Christ, who is the only 
 door, how can they feel a right concern that their children 
 may enter by the same door ? No marvel, then, that such 
 sadly neglected children of Friends should leave Christ, the 
 only door into the true sheepfold, and be found climbing up 
 
187 
 
 some other way, after the mercenary hireling ministers, spend- 
 ing their precious time in pursuit of ^' bubbles, deviled o'er by 
 sense,'' those rattles and conceits of trifling cast, which can 
 only drag their patient through the tedious length of a short 
 winter's day. 
 
 Wits, oracles — say, ye dreamers of gay dreams, 
 How can you weather an eternal night, 
 When such expedients fail V^ 
 
 I make not these remarks as only applicable to the above 
 case, for alas ! I fear it will be found they will bear too general 
 an application, if we judge the professors of Christianity by 
 the standard or rule proposed by the Divine Saviour : '^ By 
 their fruits ye shall know them." 
 
 X^tli. A remarkably cold day for mid-summer. Paid an 
 agreeable visit in company with my wife, to an old friend, a 
 widow, who appears, like myself, to be going fast to her long 
 home. 
 
 \^ih. Our midweek meeting to-day; rather a laborious time, 
 but upon the whole a peaceable and profitable meeting. Went 
 in the afternoon with my wife to see a dear sick friend, which 
 was to me peculiarly satisfactory. But my mind is made sor- 
 rowful by what I saw this morning, at the hotel, in our town ; 
 the son of a dear deceased friend, whose remains I sorrowfully 
 followed to the grave, a year ago, now tending bar, while his 
 widowed mother, with the care of his own little motherless 
 children, is left alone on a little farm near Bristol. How sor- 
 rowfully affecting to see so many young Friends ruined by 
 keeping bad company. Oh ! that I could warn them of the 
 dangerous consequences that attend the frequenting of taverns 
 and places of diversion ; but worst of all, and most to be de- 
 plored as human nature's broadest, foulest blot, houses of ill 
 fame-r-sinks of pollution, degradation, and gambling tables. 
 
 VI th. In corapany with my old friend Joseph Briggs, who 
 has sat by me in the station of an elder for nearly thirty years, 
 I left home after dinner, to attend the western quarters ; lodged 
 at my brother and sister Phipps', at Whitemarsh. 
 
 18^7i. Went to Newtown Square, in Delaware County, to the 
 house of our friend S. 0., who had notice spread of our being 
 at their meeting in the morning, and at Willistown in the 
 afternoon. 
 
 \^th. First day, attended said meetings. A very large com- 
 
18S 
 
 pany of tender, goodly people got togetlier, whom tlie Lord 
 blessed with his living presence; and we had a good meeting. 
 In the afternoon, Joseph Foulk had some service, and we had 
 the company of John Hunt, of Darby, and John Townsend, of 
 Philadelphia; and though they were silent, I thought they 
 were a great help to the meeting. John Hunt is the third son 
 of that venerable mother in our Israel, Rachel Hunt, of Darby, 
 a dignified minister of the Grospel, so well known and so uni- 
 versally beloved and respected, that her character stands above 
 any eulogy of mine. John has been one of those noble, jolly, 
 generous men of the world, who take the tour of Europe, visit- 
 ing taverns, fashionable watering places, and places of diver- 
 sion, travelling with rapidity, 
 
 "to fly that tyrant Thought^ 
 To lash the lingering monaents into speed, 
 And whirl us (happy riddance) fronri ourselves." 
 
 Dear John Hunt saw before it was too late, the awful gulf, 
 and, like the penitent prodigal, returned to his father's house, 
 giving, I hope I may say, incontrovertible evidence that he 
 has been clothed with the best robe, and his feet shod with a 
 right preparation of the Grospel of peace, while his friends, and 
 the friends of Christ, participate in that heavenly joy over one 
 sinner that repenteth. Oh ! that the Shepherd of Israel, who 
 sleeps not by day, nor slumbers by night, may preserve him 
 from being overcome by the temptations of the Devil, and the 
 flattery of silly women — male and female — who are his most 
 powerful agents, and whom he employs to ^' boost,^' — as we, 
 when we were little boys, used to say, when we wanted help in 
 climbing a tree — poor ministers, when trying to climb up after 
 the Devil, on to the pinnacle of the temple, from which, alas ! 
 too many have been persuaded to throw themselves, in awful 
 presumption, to the disgrace of the Society of Friends, and the 
 great discouragement of the dear visited children. Went, after 
 meeting at Willistown, to Jonathan Paxson's, a nephew of 
 that almost super-excellent Oliver Paxson, that elder worthy 
 of double honor, that pillar in the Lord's house, that father in 
 the church of Christ, and prince in our Israel. Jonathan's 
 valuable wife is a daughter of the late Phillip Price, an Ortho- 
 dox elder, who, when he found his son Benjamin would go with 
 Friends, acknowledged that there were valuable Friends among 
 US, but said we would be overwhelmed with ranterism : is not 
 
189 
 
 his prophecy coming true ? Benjamin and his wife came to 
 see us in the evening, and appeared serious and dignified ; but 
 I thought I felt something distant and reserved in him, which, 
 if my feelings are correct, I can easily account for. B. P. has 
 become the principal of a boarding school, consequently he 
 must rank amongst the learned and great of Society, whilst I 
 have, with great propriety, taken my place among the illiterate, 
 the ignorant, and simple; and like Cowper's cottager, 
 
 " Know this, if nothing more, my Bible true, 
 A truth the learned skeptic never knew." 
 
 Be that as it may, however diversified with afflictions and 
 vicissitudes the remaining part of my life may prove, I shall 
 ever remember the time I have spent with him, with this pe- 
 culiar acknowledgement, that of all the companions in travel 
 I have ever had, take him in the whole, I have never had the 
 equal of dear B. P. 
 
 20^/i. Second day, we went in company with Joseph Foulk, 
 John Hunt, and John Townsend, to London Grove, and at- 
 tended the select Quarterly Meeting, which was large ; where 
 we met with John Comly, who, with John Hunt, had good 
 service. I was favored to keep silent, and feel after the spirit 
 of prayer. Lodged with Thomas Hicks, in company with 
 divers valuable Friends. 
 
 21st Attended the general Quarterly Meeting, which was 
 very large— a strong, substantial body of Friends, and some 
 very strong ultra reformers. Of course there was a strife of 
 tongues, which I was favored to take no part with, but to re- 
 main silent, though I felt a little like the Presbyterian boy, 
 who wanted to go to a silent Quaker meeting, where he might 
 have time to think. I tried to get to the place where prayer 
 was wont to be made, but almost labored in vain, there was 
 such a continual speaking, reading, and lecturing, for nearly 
 five hours. Lodged at Joseph S. Walton's, in company with 
 John Comly, on our way to Cain Quarter. 
 
 TV hat a sorrowful list of fallen Quaker preachers is pre- 
 sented in a retrospect of fifty years. How many that once 
 spoke as it were with the tongues of men and angels, have 
 turned out worse than nothing. Many have been pufied up 
 with spiritual pride and self-righteousness, and have become a 
 disgrace to their friends, and a burthen to Society. There must be 
 a cause for this sad effect, and I verily believe it is unbelief or 
 
190 
 
 hardness of heart, selfishness, and pride. And oh ! I should 
 have been added to this dreadful class, had it not been for the 
 mercy and goodness of Grod, through Jesus Christ, my dear 
 Redeemer, who loved me and gave himself for me — he has 
 snatched me as a brand from the burning, he has preserved me 
 thus far as a monument of his mercy, and oh ! that the last 
 sound which may be heard from this tongue, may be thanks- 
 giving and praise to the blessed Saviour of the world. My 
 only hope of being saved from the foregoing evils, is the daily 
 care of my Heavenly Shepherd, for of myself I can do nothing ; 
 and oh ! that I may continue to look to him oftener than the 
 morning, for power to do his will, and finish the work he has 
 given me to do. 
 
 22d. Some remarks of my dear friend J. C, this morning, 
 had a tendency to corroborate some of my views touching the 
 radical deficiency of the ministry, and the weak, scattered state 
 of Society. He said it would be better not to publish a per- 
 son's writings till three or four years after they were dead, so 
 as to let their foibles die with them. I would seriously ask, 
 whether it can exalt the cause of truth, for the Society of 
 Friends to give their sanction to the publication of the writings 
 of such. If it were my own case, I would say they had better 
 be burned ; for if ministers can not live up to their own doc- 
 trine, they had better quit preaching. ^^Thou that sayest a 
 man should not steal, dost thou steal ?'' Before we indulge 
 such anxiety to have our writings published, let us be able to 
 say to the people, in the language and spirit of the apostle, 
 " Seeing we are compassed about with such a cloud of wit- 
 nesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily 
 besets us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our 
 faith.'' Ah ! I fear that here is the cause of all our deficien- 
 cies : some of us do not believe in that Jesus, as Paul did — do 
 not believe he is any thing ^^more than a man,'' ^^a great re- 
 former," although not as great as a Catholic priest of Ireland; 
 and yet we want to be called by his name. What abominable 
 hypocrisy ! my very soul sickens with the subject matter be- 
 fore me, and I turn from it with disgust, rejoicing to behold 
 on my right hand a valuable body of precious ministering 
 Friends, who give a practical evidence that they believe in the 
 doctrine of the beloved John, " If we walk in the light as Grod 
 is in the light, then have we fellowship one with another, and 
 
191 
 
 thie blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleauseth us from all 
 sin." 
 
 About twelve o'clock we left Joseph S. Walton's, in com- 
 pany with J. C, J. F., and other valuable Friends, to attend 
 the select Quarterly Meeting at East Cain, in the afternoon. 
 A weak, low time, only six members present — Greorge Massy 
 an aged and very respectable elder, seemed very much tried, if 
 not discouraged. Went in the evening to the widow Davis's, 
 a worthy elder. Though feeble with age and infirmity, she 
 reminded me of the apostle John's elect lady, with her chil- 
 dren- She is the daughter of William Mode, that valiant man 
 in our Israel. When the house of Saul was to be superceded 
 by the house of David in the Western Quarterly Meeting, 
 William Mode stood as an upright pillar, that would not 
 go out. 
 
 2Sd. Attended the general Quarterly Meeting held at East 
 Cain. It was quite small in comparison to the Western Quar- 
 ter, though it had one great advantage, the meeting for wor- 
 ship was held nearly one hour in solemn silence. To me it 
 was a precious opportunity, for through adorable mercy my 
 poor soul was made fruitful in the field of offering, and joyful 
 in the house of prayer. But the precious silence was at last 
 broken by my dear brother J. F., and it appeared to me that 
 the life soon left the meeting, which still continued its session 
 for nearly four hours. Ah ! poor Cain, I do not' know what 
 will become of thee, when a few such men as Gr. M. and E. K. 
 are taken from the evil to come. Thou appearest to me to be 
 already scattered, shattered, and peeled by a political whirl- 
 wind, bearing upon its forehead the plausible concerns of civil 
 liberty and temperance, while I fear too many of their most 
 distinguished advocates are withering away, as to_ the life of 
 Christianity, under the influence of the cold east winds of Uni- 
 tarian skepticism. 
 
 After meeting, returned with our dear friend Joseph Chan- 
 dler, living near London Grove. 
 
 24cth. Paid a very pleasant social visit to T. E. and family, 
 at New G-arden. He has a lovely wife and an interesting 
 family of children, who I fear have been hurt by the vain spirit 
 of a fallen world, where the priests bear rule by their means, 
 and the deluded people love to have it so ; and wherever these 
 gentry get an influence in Friends' families, they are almost 
 
192 
 
 sure to leave the print of their soiled fingers. I love T. E., 
 his dear wife and children, who treated me, as usual, with 
 great kindness. In the afternoon attended an appointed 
 meeting at Unionville ; a beautiful, new house, filled to over- 
 flowing with a respectable, sober, tender people. I felt feeble 
 in body and mind, and secretly prayed to my Heavenly Shep- 
 herd for help, for without him I can do nothing to the honor 
 and glory of his cause on earth; and although I had sitting at 
 my right hand, that valuable female minister, Ruth Pile, who 
 helped to hold up my hands, I fear my little, service partook 
 too much of the nature of the instrument, to be of much use 
 to the people. Lodged with Doctor Seal, one of those sub- 
 stantial men who are as sinews to the state. He appeared to 
 have a lovely wife and children. 
 
 2^th. Paid a social, I had almost said a religious visit to a 
 Baptist woman — one of those valuable women who are a blessing 
 to every neighborhood where they live. We had been school- 
 mates in our youth. In the afternoon, visited a Friend's fami- 
 ly in trouble, for the head thereof appeared sick with com- 
 plexional melancholy. I tried to encourage him, but alas ! this 
 sad disease is beyond the reach of a poor weak disciple, and can 
 only be cured by the Divine Master. Attended an appointed 
 meeting at Marlborough, The house appeared to be filled with 
 intelligence, tenderness, talent and self-will— a heterogeneous 
 mass, to whom a heterogeneous discourse was, perhaps, best 
 suited. It was thought by some Friends to be a good meeting 
 — if so, give Grod the glory, for the preacher was nothing but 
 a poor sinner. After meeting, went home with Thomas Hicks, 
 to lodge on the way to New Garden. 
 
 26^A. First day, attended New G-arden Meeting, which I fear 
 had more of numbers and novelty, than seeking souls and 
 gospel truths. In the afternoon attended an appointed meet- 
 ing at Kennet Square. There were too many people by half, 
 in attendance, and as to the public service, it appears to 
 me such a mixture, that it would ^have puzzled a chemist to 
 analyze it. After meeting, a very respectable looking man 
 came to me, either in the capacity of a messenger of encourage- 
 ment or an agent of the Devil, and told me as to physical 
 strength I was a living miracle, and the doctrine I preached 
 was calculated to restore harmony and peace ; be that as it may, 
 one consideration affords peace, I tried to have my own will 
 
193 
 
 so completely subdued as to have nothing to do with the con- 
 cern, and there I am willing to leave it and follow dear Ruth 
 Pile and her son to Susannah Way's, near Brandy wine, to 
 lodge. This widow I hope was an Elect Lady, having three 
 very intelligent, interesting children living with her. 
 
 27^A. Went on to Concord to the house of our kind friend 
 Doctor Marsh. In the afternoon attended the select Quarterly 
 Meeting, which was large and strong, and conducted with more 
 dignity than I have lately been a witness to — the only defi- 
 ciency I observed was in us ministers 3 we could not be silent 
 enough. I tried to get down to the waters of life, but found hard 
 digging and but little water, but it was sweet. Lodged at the 
 Doctor's in company with dear John Hunt, Phoebe Iladley, 
 and other valuable Friends. Phoebe is a precious minister, and 
 her company was, I thought, a strength to me. 
 
 28^/i. Attended Concord Quarterly Meeting — a large, sub- 
 stantial body of Friends, but I^cannot say, as a meeting, they 
 were either dignified with imriiortality or crowned with eternal 
 life, for there was a young nlah amongst them whose right 
 hand appeared to me to be withered. He was so paralysed that 
 he did not know it, but thought he was strong enough to stand 
 forth in the midst, without the Saviour's power or command ; 
 and for nearly one houi* he tried to stfetch forth^ his hand, but 
 it appeared to me still withered, atid I think will remain 
 so until he complies #ith the terms laid down by the great 
 head of the church : '* When thou bringest thy gift to the altar 
 and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, 
 leave there thy gift — go, be reconciled to thy brother, then come 
 offer ^thy gift.'' Several wotnen exercised their gifts I trust, to 
 edification and comfort. I was favored through mercy to keep 
 silent, and when dear John Hunt rolled away the stone from 
 the mouth of the well of life, I could say in the secret of my 
 soul, '^ Spring up, well, and I will sing unto thee.'' I could 
 then weep, as it it were, between the porch and the altar, and 
 offer for my own sins a broken heart and a contrite spirit, say- 
 ing to my Father who seeth in secret, ^^ spare thy people, O 
 Lord, and give not thy heritage to a reproach.' ' I wish it to be 
 distinctly understood that none of those active, forward preach- 
 ers, that I have taken the liberty to find fault with, stood in my 
 way in the Quarterly Meeting ; far from it, for if I understand the 
 command of my Master, it was to pray to him in secret and 
 
194 
 
 suffer in silence, not to preacli ; but a superficial ministry dis- 
 turbs the solerauity of a Quaker meeting, for Christ's saying 
 remains an unchangeable truth, " he that gathereth not with 
 me scattereth/^ 
 
 In Concord Quarterly Meeting for business, there was a case 
 of an appeal from the judgment of one of the Monthly Meet- 
 ings, and it appeared to me that Friends were more concerned 
 to sustain, what they would call *' the dignity of a Quarterly 
 Meeting," than the attribute of mercy and forgiveness, which 
 should ever be the distinguishing badge of a Christian assem- 
 bly ; and I ventured to tell them of it in a few words. My 
 cough increasing so much and having sat a long time, I felt a 
 freedom to excuse myself and leave the meeting, walking 
 slowly back to the Doctor's, nearly a mile. Doctor Marsh has 
 a son at home with him, apparently a talented, dignified young 
 Doctor, who I fear is in the last stage of a pulmonary con- 
 sumption. I felt the tenderest sympathy for him and his lovely 
 young wife and infant child. My secret fervent prayer 
 has been offered to the Shepherd of Israel on their account. 
 
 Came on in the afternoon as far as Darby, in company with 
 Abraham Gr. Hunt, the youngest son of liachel Hunt, already 
 alluded to. He and his dear wife were so kind and pleasant, 
 that it dispelled the gloom that might otherwise have rested on 
 the place, (which is now left vacant,) from a view of several 
 memorials of a dear departed mother in the truth. 
 
 29th. Left in the morning for home. My friend Joseph, 
 having some business in the city, I felt more than a freedom 
 to attend Cherry street meeting for worship, and after a pain- 
 ful, laborious exercise to keep above the overwhelming flood of 
 sleep and sluggishness, truth arose triumphant over all', and 
 furnished me with a word of encouragement which I offered 
 publicly to my friends, and we parted in peace and love. I 
 came home and found all well, for which I am thankful. My 
 old friend J. B. in his seventy-seventh year and myself sixty- 
 seven, were gone from home twelve days and a half, and I at- 
 tended thirteen meetings, and he twelve, but the most extraor- 
 dinary circumstance is, that we have sat along-side of each 
 other for more than thirty years ; he in the station of an elder 
 and I in the station of a minister. 
 
 ^Oth. Our Preparative meeting — a very laborious spiritual 
 exercise, but a precious triumphant meeting ; wherein I saw 
 
v\ 
 
 195 
 
 the incalculable loss that Friends sustain, especially in their re- 
 ligious meetings, by giving way to the weakness of our common 
 nature, sleepy sluggishness and busy thought ; carelessly glid- 
 ing down the tide of time, though not "■ on time intent,] and 
 so unconscious of the passing time, that to the niercy 
 of a moment's left the vast concerns of an eternal scene/' 
 
 Si St. Hearing of the sickness of my daughter Susan in New 
 York, and not knowing what day we may be sent for, I gave 
 out attending Philadelphia and Abington Quarters next week. 
 My dear Susan being sick, leads me again to mention her dear ■ 
 deceased daughter, mi/ siveet littte Phcebe Ann. Though nearly 
 five months have passed since her departure to the eternal world, 
 there has not been a day in which I have not wept more or less 
 for the loss of a child whom I loved, if possible, better than my 
 own life; while I have sorrowfully rejoiced at her safe arrival 
 in that city whose walls are salvation and whose gates are 
 eternal praise. 
 
 ^tli month 1st. Comfortably and happily at homo with 
 my dear wife and children, in the enjoyment of peace and 
 plenty, 
 
 *^ Oh for a thousand tongues to tell 
 My dear Redeemer's praise." 
 
 2d. First day — a triumphant victory over weakness and a 
 precious baptising meeting, held in solemn silence. 
 
 3c? and 4:th. Spent pretty much in writing, bringing up my 
 diary to the present date. 
 
 5^/i. Went from a sense of religious duty to Wrightstown 
 Monthly Meeting, and sat along-side of H. W. in the back 
 part of the meeting; a Friend who has stood in the station 
 of a recommended minister for ten or twelve years, but is now 
 under dealing for contracting debts that he was not able to pay, 
 and then a making a partial assignment, and other misdemean- 
 ors, for which he made a fall and ample acknowledgement, 
 which being brought before the meeting was ably discussed. I 
 certainly tried to feel tenderness and sympathy for my poor 
 friend, but for some cause, which I hope was my own fault, I 
 could neither shed a tear nor offer a living prayer. T certainly 
 felt that I had been as bad, if not worse than he, but I re- 
 membered that when in the street called Strait, like Saul of 
 Tarsus, I prayed, and the good Ananias was sent to shew 
 
A^'V 
 
 y. 
 
 19C> 
 
 mc a way where there appeared no way ; but I feared that ray 
 poor friend H. AV. had never fervently prayed in the depth 
 of humility for himself, but was retaining a secret hardness 
 against his friends whom he had deceived, and like had begat 
 its like — hence the hardness of heart and diflSculty of under- 
 standing. I therefore arrived at this conclusion, that if H. W. 
 would now go to each of his creditors, humbled as it were in the 
 dust, and say in a language like one formerly, " have pati3nce 
 with rae and I will try to pay thee all," I cannot believe there 
 is one of them so cruel as to seize him by the throat saying, 
 *^ pay me that thou owest." With this conclusion I left the 
 IMonthly Meeting at Wrightstown and returned home, satisfied 
 that I had tried to do what I thought was my duty. 
 
 It very ill becomes us, professing ministers of the gospel, 
 when we get a standing among our friends, and borrow their 
 money, or otherwise get in debt to them, when we are not able 
 to pay them, to add insult to injury by trying to bully them 
 down in a Monthly Meeting, by a party of pretended Friends, 
 who perhaps are influenced by no better feelings than Ahab's 
 foolish pity. As for our creditors, if they are hard-hearted, selfish 
 usurers, they will have an awful account to settle before that 
 Judge, of quick and dead, whose commandment to his people is 
 clearly and positively laid down in Holy writ, " Thou shalt no 
 lend thy money to thy poor brother on usury ; I say unto you 
 do good and lend hoping for nothing again, and your reward 
 shall be great and ye shall be called the children of the Highest." 
 
 6th. Our Monthly Meeting at Newtown. I had a lively ex- 
 ercise in silence, though truth did not rise in dominion. I 
 thought that Friends had cause to thank God and take cour- 
 age, seeing that the instruments of disorganization and con- 
 fusion amongst us were so very few and so very weak and 
 insignificant. 
 
 Itli. Pcissed through some exercise and sorrow on account 
 of the particularly tried state of some of my friends, especially 
 two ministers, one of whom I have alluded to. The other is 
 a brother with whose gift and spirit I have great unity, and his 
 lovely wife still more, although she is not an acknowledged 
 minister. They are in debt for the property they hold, so that 
 the grub-worm of usury is eating up what little substance they 
 have, and I fear if they do not sell their place soon, they will 
 not have enough left to pay their just debts, although now I 
 
197 
 
 believe they are solvent. I was certainly once In a worse pre- 
 dicament than they are, but my tried situation seemed to ex- 
 cite a general sympathy in the Society, and dear friends came 
 forward to relieve me. But no feelings of tenderness or bro- 
 therly kindness seems to be manifested towcirds these dear 
 Friends, though I am sure they are better than ever I was, and 
 more worthy of the sympathy of Society — hence I conclude 
 the Society of Friends are retrograding from practical Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 Sth. Felt an anti-christian spirit to arise on hearing of the 
 bigotry and bitterness of a Methodist minister, now living in 
 our town, although upon self examination found I was too 
 much in the same spirit, with greater inconsistency than my 
 Methodist neighbor, for he declares in favor of war, and is 
 ready to carry his bigotry and bitterness to the field of battle; 
 but I profess to be the follower of the meek, humble carpenter 
 of Nazareth, who was an antipode to all bigotry, bitterness, 
 and war, and therefore if I indulge these wicked spirits, I am 
 a hypocrite, and worse, if possible, than the Methodist minis- 
 ter. Oh ! that I had more of that heavenly charity, that is 
 not so easily offended. 
 
 9th. First day, a pretty large meeting, and while I remain- 
 ed silent, it was a precious encouraging opportunity, but my 
 preaching I fear was a poor concern — however, I tried to do 
 the best I could, and I feel no condemnation. 
 
 lOtJi. Wrote a letter for the benefit and on behalf of a very 
 dear friend who is in trouble and difiiculty : I have but little 
 hope that it will have much effect. I am too little a man, and 
 consequently will have too little influence. 
 
 11th. Our dear Isaac returned from New York quite un- 
 well, which is a cause of anxiety, but brought the agreeable 
 intelligence that our dear Susan is better, and we have the ad- 
 ditional pleasure of a visit from Caroline Seaman, a grand- 
 daughter of the venerable Elias Hicks. 
 
 12th. "Went to Byberry meeting. It appeared small and 
 scattered : but I was brought under a lively exercise, and 
 thought I saw more clearly than ever the cause of their dwin- 
 dling state, the same disease that was in apostate Israel. They 
 forsook the Loirl Ahnighti/, the fountain of living waters, and 
 hewed to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that would hold 
 no water, in consequence of which, children had become their 
 
 17* 
 
(^ 
 
 198 
 
 oppressors, and women ruled over them. Paid tlie most agree- 
 able visit to my dear friend, J ohn Comly, and his interesting 
 family, I ever did. 
 
 ISth. Returned home and found my family well ; but my 
 dear friend Elizabeth Roberts, wife of David Roberts, one of 
 our aged members, died this morning. Received a letter to- 
 gether with a box or chest of tea, (from William Moore, son 
 of my dear deceased friend. Doctor John Moore, late of Phi- 
 ladelphia,) from China. The letter was peculiarly acceptable, 
 containing a sweetness that made the most tendering impres- 
 sions. My dear cousins, V. and A. H., children of the excellent 
 E. H., arrived this evening from New York. Their visit to 
 me is more than acceptable; and had it been at any other 
 time, the daughter of dear P. Gr., who likewise called with 
 her children, would have been to me peculiarly pleasing : but 
 we were rather unpleasantly crowded. 
 
 IQfli. First day, attended the funeral of our dear friend, 
 Elizabeth Roberts, who was buried before meeting, and of 
 course the meeting was larger than common, to whom I was 
 led to speak. Our mucli loved E. S. added a short com- 
 munication, which I did not distinctly hear, but thought 
 that it was as usual sweet and savoury ; but some thought it 
 unbecoming the occasion, and were offended. Well, if the dear 
 little creature, did get a little wrong, even that may have its 
 use, for some of us were rather idolizing her ; for all things 
 work together for good to them that love God. 
 
 17th. Had the very agreeable company of John Comly and 
 his two children, Charles and Sarah; these, in addition to my cou- 
 sins Valentine and Abigail Hicks, with their daughter, made 
 a very interesting company, with whom the day was spent 
 agreeably. Received in the evening, from my dear friend 
 William Folwell, of New Jersey, a truly encouraging letter, 
 filled with brotherly kindness. 
 
 18^/^. Spent in company with my cousins from Long Island 
 and New York, very pleasantly if not profitably. I certain- 
 tainly have some doubts of the propriety of Friends spending 
 their precious time unprofitably in visits merely for pleasure, 
 and am almost ready to conclude that it increases weakness, 
 idleness, and pride among us. 
 
 IQth. I was made sorrowful to day on hearing that one of 
 our members said that Franklin's works were as good as the 
 
190^ 
 
 Bible. Tliis man Is at tlie liead of a rising family, In which, 
 in all probability the Scriptures are never read. Alas ! for 
 the cause of Christ, as professed by Friends. I feel something 
 like a concern to speak privately to the member, but I have 
 but little hope that he will hear me, for all these fault-finders 
 and unbelievers of the Scriptures, are self-righteous, and I 
 fear in the broad way to commit the unpardonable sin by blas- 
 pheming against the Holy Ghost. A Veil, let others do as they 
 will, as for me and my house we will try to serve the Lord, 
 In the way of our early Friends, walking by the same rule, 
 and minding the same things, for I am increasingly confirmed 
 In the belief that every departure from the primitive path, 
 either into right hand or left hand errors will end in darkness 
 and confusion. 
 
 2,0 th. Our moetiBg day. My active mind was too full of 
 cogitation about publishing another extract from my writings, 
 and too much confused to come to any safe conclusion. I cer- 
 tainly think I am sincere in singly desiring to promote the 
 cause of my dear Redeemer ; but while this cloud of confusion 
 continues, I shall be, afraid. Was made sorrowful towards 
 evening in hearing that a son of a very dear Friend, who had 
 recently reformed from Intemperate habits had fallen back 
 again, and In dark confusion, married one of those unfor- 
 tunate females who too much abound \\\ o.ur towns and cities, 
 and was now in a state bordering on distraction. Poor, dear 
 children, how I feel for themj I would go aU the way to Phi- 
 ladelphia If I could see them, together and -persuade them to 
 come to a Saviour^ s feet to wash then^ with tears of repent- 
 ance, and be clothed in their right mind. I have been led of 
 late into serious thoughtfulness and fervent prayer for those 
 wretched females who have become the inn\ates of those sinks 
 of pollution. How many of them might have been saved had 
 their parents or friends been clothed with ^hat mercy and 
 goodness which shone so conspicuously in the liivine Saviour. 
 When he saw such a wretched sinner stand before him, self-con- 
 demned, self-abased, bathed in tears of contrition and confusion of 
 face, the darling attribute could only say, ^/.go, sin nomore.^' 
 Those cruel monsters who first seduce these w-eak young wo- 
 men, and glory In their shame, are the unhappy wretches that 
 cannot escape the damnation of hell. 
 
 21st. Having been persuaded that I had better not work in 
 my shop during what Is called dog days, I find a difiicultyand 
 
200 
 
 uneasiness, in being so mucli of my time idle, and must cer- 
 tainly go to work after next week, or after Quarterly Meeting, 
 if I am able. 
 
 22d. Had a visit from a prepossessing young man, a stran- 
 ger, who appeared to possess uncommon intelligence, to whom 
 I was led to explain Friend's doctrine and discipline, together 
 with the cause of the division among us. 
 
 2od. First day, dull and rainy ; a small, silent, satisfoctory 
 meeting. Spent the afterpart of the day and evening pretty 
 much in reading, especially one Sumner's discourse, shewing 
 the political inexpediency of war. He appears one of those 
 strong men who are laboring hard for moral reform, without 
 Divine assistance, and has such confidence in his own resources 
 that he feels no need of a Saviour. 
 
 24:th. Made a feeble attempt to preach the Gospel of Christ 
 privately to one of my neighbors, who is in the habit of indulg- 
 ing in drinking frolics. Dear creature, I felt great love in my 
 heart for him, and tried to encourage him to look to a Saviour 
 to save him from sin. 
 
 2bth. Had considerable company, and I fear talked too 
 much and too lightly on serious subjects. Oh ! this idle, shack- 
 ling, gabbling spirit, it too often destroys my peace, and I fear 
 it is increasing among Friends. But what can I say, but 
 " like priest, like people.^' I fear some of us ministers are 
 setting a bad example. 
 
 26^7i. Our select Quarterly Meeting at the Falls ; a dull 
 rainy day, and it appeared to me that a dull, lethargic, scat- 
 tering spirit, seemed to predominate ; under which my poor 
 soul was in an agony, and I prayed earnestly, fervently, and I 
 hope effectually, for I thought the guardian angel of God's 
 holy presence appeared to me, with healing in his wings, and 
 I had a precious meeting, for which my soul bows in gratitude, 
 thanksgiving, and praise to him that sitteth upon the throne, 
 and the Lamb. And I saw, I thought, with renewed clear- 
 ness, that many Friends had committed the two great evils, which 
 the Lord's people of old committed. They had forsaken Ilim, 
 the fountain of living water, and hewed out to themselves 
 cisterns, broken cisterns, that could hold no living water — 
 hence it had leaked away, little by little, and left the souls of 
 Friends dry and barren as to a belief, much less a dependance, 
 on an omnipresent Saviour — hence too, their love of the world, 
 
201 
 
 and tlie things of the world, their love of money and scho- 
 lastic learning, their childish speculations in Morns Multicaulis, 
 Thompsonian doctoring, Phrenology and Animal Magnetism. 
 These two last ridiculous bubbles, I fear, have been carried to 
 an impious, if not a blasphemous, extreme, even by some 
 ministers and elders. Is it any marvel then that the So- 
 ciety of Friends should have children for their oppressors 
 and women to rule over them? 
 
 21th. Our general Quarterly Meeting; a very large concourso 
 of Friends, and others. In the meeting for worship there was 
 silence enough for me to get a little heavenly bread, which was 
 nourishing to my poor soul : but the public speaking that I 
 heard, if life to others, was like death to me. I therefore had 
 to suffer in silence, to that degree, that it was a great relief to 
 me when meeting ended. I verily believe there is a valuable 
 body of religious Friends in Bucks Quarterly Meeting, and oh! 
 that I could persuade them to pray more, and talk less ; and 
 set the exam.ple myself, and lay down that life of selfishness and 
 activity : for our active, restless, chattering Friends, appear to 
 me to have so enthusiastically espoused the cause of the slave 
 and the drunkard, as to be intoxicated themselves, but not 
 with wine, and to reel to and fro, though not with strong drink, 
 and to be sowing to the winds and reaping the whirlwind. 
 Like Ephraim of old, they appear to me to be living on wind, 
 and strangers are devouring their strength, and they know it 
 not. Notwithstanding, upon the whole, I am willing to hope 
 that truth rather gained the victory in our Quarterly Meeting, 
 although it certainly was a very trying time. 
 
 2%th. This day has been spent too idly, and of course neither 
 profitably nor peaceably. 
 
 29^A. Diligent in business, and of course more profitable and 
 peaceful, leading to quietness and serenity at night. 
 
 30^A. First day ; a large meeting, in which I was favored to 
 be silent, and to me it was a good time. The afternoon was 
 spent agreeably in agreeable company. 
 
 Z\st. Went in company with my friend J. M. S. to Mount 
 Holly, to attend Burlington Quarterly Meeting of ministers 
 and elders, which was to me a memorable religious opportunity : 
 feeling myself a sinner, I begged for forgiveness, and had an 
 evidence that ray Heavenly Father was still graciously disposed 
 to be merciful to me. 
 
202 
 
 dth month l.s7. Burlington Quarterly Meeting of Friends 
 held at Mount Holly was large. Samuel Comfort and bis dear 
 Elizabeth were there, and I thought in their places. J. F. was 
 likewise in attendance as usual, and as usual had considerable 
 to say ; but lam afraid that I was wicked in feeling Orthodox at 
 some of our troublesome members from Bucks Quarter, particu- 
 larly a J. M., who had been trying nearly twenty years, to 
 convince his friends that he was a great preacher, without giv- 
 ing any satisfactory evidences that he has even the bell, with- 
 out the pomegranate, so essential for a gospel minister, and 
 having apparently got out of patience, prudence, and modesty, 
 because his friends have no unity with him, he pushes himself 
 into the upper gallery, and tries to imitate some eloquent ora- 
 tor. His companion in speechification, W. L., T do not consider 
 worthy of notice. But stop ; would it not be as well for me to go 
 back twenty years, when some poor, old, peevish, fretful Or- 
 thodox Friends wrote or were prepared to write just such re- 
 marks about E. H ? However, I suffered in silence, which 
 appears to be my lot in Quarterly Meetings ; and am more 
 discouraged about poor old Bucks, than any of the quarters. 
 I wish it distinctly to be understood that my objection to the 
 ultra characters above alluded to, is that I think they are try- 
 ing to overturn civil and religious government, and to intro- 
 duce the anarchy of skeptical ranterisra, and, of course, are not 
 in unity with their friends at home. 
 
 2d. A very warm day, much prostrated in body, and quite 
 feeble in mind, bub preciously visited about the time of the 
 evening sacrifice, with the spirit of prayer, thanksgiving and 
 praise, which enabled me to close my eyes in peace. 
 
 3f?. Just returned from our Preparative meeting. It ap- 
 peared to me rather too lazy a time with some of us, but my 
 mind was silently impressed with that saying of the Saviour, 
 "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the king- 
 dom of Heaven." The reason appeared to me obvious; for if 
 a professor of the religion of Jesus has earilily rklici^ or treasurej 
 where his treasure is there will his heart be also ; he is 
 therefore satisfied with an earthly kingdom, like those whom 
 the wo was pronounced against for being at ease in Zion, and 
 trusting in the mountains of Samaria. Christ said, "wo unto 
 you that are rich, for you have received your consolation." 
 
 4^/i, In company with my wife, paid a social visit to my 
 
203 
 
 brother-in-laW; Thomas Smith, of Wrightstown, where I receiv- 
 ed information of a very discouraging character ; first, of the 
 inconsistent conduct of a Friend, who has stood in the station 
 of a recommended minister; secondly, of two young men, de- 
 scendants of the old Smith family of Friends, who are now 
 learning the trade of preaching, as mechanically as learning to 
 be lawyers, and with worse selfishness and pride. I have been 
 credibly informed that Doctor W., one of the most learned, 
 eloquent and popular hirelings of latter times, and who had 
 once been an eminent lawyer, some time before he died, 'made 
 use of a language like this: " Had I my time to go over again I 
 think I would continue at the law, for I have found a better 
 spirit among my brethren of the bar, than my brethren of the 
 pulpit/' No doubt a very truth. Alas ! for the republic of 
 America. Alas I for the cause of Christ on earth, if such dal- 
 liers, such doll babies, are to continue to be flirted about by 
 silly women, exercising a sorrowful and affecting influence over 
 the rising youth. My soul is sick when I behold something 
 like a prophetic vision opening before me, of the Roman Catho- 
 lics,^ Episcopalians, and other deluded votaries of anti-Christ 
 uniting together, like the Pharisees and Saducees among the 
 wicked and forsaken Jews, to fall like them by the edge of the 
 sword, and like them to be carried away captives ; and the 
 New Jerusalem that came down from God out of Heaven, 
 adorned as a bride for her husband, trodden down by infidels 
 till the time of those infidels be fulfilled. 
 
 6th. Had an invitation to the funeral of a woman in Wrights- 
 town, to meet at the house to-morrow at 9 o'clock. Yery 
 doubtful whether I shall be able to go. 
 
 Qth. First day ; our meeting pretty large, considering it was 
 one of the warmest days I ever knew in this month. Our friend 
 Joel Layer, from Plymouth, I thought preached the gospel, 
 and I had something to say, not very savory to myself, and 
 much less to some others. Ah ! I am a poor old man, weak in 
 body and feeble in mind, and I believe some Friends are get- 
 ting very tired of me. 
 
 7t7i, 8th, and 9th. Nothing worthy of notice — the weather 
 very warm— my little strength almost exhausted — while I fear 
 my time has been spent too idly for the last three days. 
 
 10th. Our Monthly Meeting at Makefield. Before I went I 
 heard of the death of Edwin H. Swain, oldest son of Charles 
 
204 
 
 and Sarah Ann Swain, of Indiana, late of Newtown. The loss 
 of this lovely boy, a lad of about 14, affected me very much; 
 and what must be the sorrow of the parents I can scarcely 
 conceive. The silent part of our meeting was to me a tender- 
 ing but strengthening time, for my poor soul was favored with 
 the spirit of unusually fervent prayer. G. M. W., from Salem, 
 was with us and I thought spoke well. Indeed we had a good 
 Monthly Meeting, for which I thank God and take courage. 
 
 11th and 12th. Spent in my shop attending to my business. 
 Had the company of a couple of young collegians, to whom I 
 talked too freely for my own peace of mind. 
 
 I am afraid 1 am wrong in the indulgence of unfriendly feel- 
 ings towards one who has parted from her husband, the object of 
 her youthful aiSPections, a poor wretched sinner, because he used 
 her badly. But is bad usage a Sufficient reason for a Christian 
 minister to leave and forsake a husband or a wife ? Did infinite- 
 ly worse usage induce our Heavenly pattern to go and leave his 
 sinful people, the hard'heat-teid tlbeli^ving Jews ? No ; he laid 
 down his life to save them, and I verily believe it is the duty of 
 every Christian man, and every Christian woman to be willing 
 to lay down his or her life for A husband or wife. 
 
 l^th. First day. A large gathering of people ; the silent 
 part of the meeting was to me a blessed time, wherein my exer- 
 cised soul was comforted and encouraged in spiritual prayer, 
 thanksgiving and praise : but I thought there was a little jostle 
 by one of our goodly Friends, who, I fear, like some of the rest 
 of us, thinks quite enough of himself, undertaking to preach 
 the new doctrine that the right way to kill the Devil, was to love 
 him to death. I confess that his preaching was paradoxical to 
 me, and as I do not believe what I cannot understand, I must 
 leave it. After I took my seat iti meeting, I was requested to 
 spread an invitation to the funeral of John Knowles, a friend- 
 ly man, a little older than myself, and like me he has appear- 
 ed consumptive for several years. His case brought an awful 
 solemnity over my mind; 
 
 14:th. In company with my old friend, Joseph Briggs, at- 
 tended the funeral of John Knowles. He appears to have 
 been generally respected ; for much people were in attendance, 
 though his hjibitsltion was small. Agreeably to my divine 
 Master's comndandment I tried to go without purse or scrip, 
 and felt so poor in spirit when I took my seat by the house, 
 
205 
 
 that I could not get at one crumb of heavenly bread, or one 
 drop of living water, but [ soon felt the necessity of standing 
 forth in the midst, when to my astonishment, my drv withered 
 soul was quickened into life, and to me it was a satisfactory 
 opportunity. I was applied to by a tender mother and her son 
 to visit her husband, now near his end; but I had to make the 
 excuse I have had to offer for some time, that my hearing was 
 so dull and my cough so troublesome, I was no longer *fit to 
 visit the sick, and must try to visit more in spirit and with 
 Divine assistance pray for them. Oh! that I was righ- 
 teous enough for this great work, for we are told in holy 
 writ that the fervent effectual prayer of the righteous avaiieth 
 much. 
 
 15th and IQfh. Had another evidence of the important 
 truth that like will beget its like. I took a sign, which I 
 had painted to a store-keeper, and told him my price, but ob- 
 served that I was afraid it was too much, and if he thought so, 
 I would make it less. The store-keeper paid me cheerfully, only 
 manifesting a fear that I had charged too little. Ah ! there 
 is such a thing as dealing on Christian principles, there is such 
 a thing as doing right and being happy in this world. 
 
 lltJi. Our midweek meeting. Dear E. S. furnished my 
 mmd with evidence that if she keeps humble she will make a 
 workman in the ministry that need not be ashamed. Ah ! there 
 IS the danger— keeping humble— the Lord will continue to 
 teach her of his ways, always guiding her in the nath of true 
 judgment. We had a good meeting. 
 
 iSth and 19th. Diligent at my trade and business, which 
 must be right for me, as it brings peace of mind. 
 
 20th. First day— a large meeting, but I fear a bad one for 
 poor me, for I thought it my duty to speak, and really it was 
 one of the hardest throughs I ever had. The text given me was 
 a hard one, and my exposition of it was hard, rough and un- 
 pleasant to myself; and I think it was most likely so to all that 
 heard me. ^ Indeed I have but one comforting reflection, and 
 that is, I tried to do my Eeavenly Father's wHl and not my 
 own, and most sincerely prayed that not one word should es- 
 cape my lips but what would promote my dear Redeemer's 
 cause. 
 
 2\st and 22d. Attending to my little farming business, and 
 working in my shop, where I got a little relief from my distress 
 
 IS 
 
•206 
 
 of mind siuco First day, by a Friend telling me that lie had 
 fujl unity with my testimony. But whether he was a messenger 
 from the good spirit or the bad, I must leave, and be willing 
 to suifer if I have done wrong; and if not, I ought to be will- 
 ing to suffer for the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jcsits 
 OhrisL 
 
 tlod and 2Ath. Our midweek meeting to-day, and a precious 
 meeting it was to me, for I was favored to keep silent and have 
 a prayer meeting. My dear sister in the gospel, E. S., I 
 thought was led to preach with the Holy Ghost sent down 
 from heaven, and her husband spoke a few words with eight 
 and solemnity. But I am almost put out with preaching elders, 
 and I am almost ready to think that, according to our order, 
 when an elder so frequently undertakes preaching, he ought to 
 withdraw from the sislect meeting. 
 
 2bt]i. My dear friends, B. P. and wife, came to see me, and 
 although it was peculiarly pleasing to have a visit from an old 
 friend whom I had so much loved, I thought I could discover a 
 change in him ; instead of that open, child-like simplicity, there 
 was a prudent reserve and caution, — a studied course of eon- 
 duct, after the traditions of men, — after the rudiments of the 
 world, and not after Christ. But such is the wisdom of schools, 
 and such the distinguished advocates for scholastic education. 
 My friend spoke of the improvements making, and about to 
 be made in the buildings of West-town boarding school, which 
 led my mind to the conclusion that such seminaries were anti- 
 christian, and would succeed in the same way and spirit that the 
 Roman Catholic policy has, and will prevail " by money, all 
 powerful money," drawn from the deluded votaries of anti 
 Christ by the still more powerful policy of priestcraft. 
 Let the reader of these remarks turn to the history of the Catho- 
 lic church after the reformation, when their immense funds 
 were appropriated to such seminaries of education, and see the 
 astonishing influence of the " De propaganda fide ;'^ let him then 
 behold a miniature likeness in such seminaries as West-town 
 and Haverford, and the manner in which they are to be sup- 
 ported. When Judas sold his Saviour for money, he wound 
 up his sad career by throwing the price of his everlasting ruin 
 at the feet of the priests in the temple ; and arc not rich 
 Orthodox Friends — especially such as have no children — whose 
 money has been drawn from the vitals of the humbly industri- 
 
207 
 
 ous, by usury and rents, too often mingled with the tears of 
 sorrow and the sighs of despair — pursuing a similar course by 
 throwing their pieces of silver at the feet of priestcraft in these 
 temples of worldly wisdom, while poor Lazarus can scarcely 
 get a crumb from their tables, experiencing more mercy and 
 compassion from the dogs licking their sores. Liberal dona- 
 tions to charitable institutions cannot save a deluded soul from 
 " going out of the world without Grod, without hope, without 
 one comfortable assurance from the sacred ransom of a suffering 
 Saviour," who emphatically declared, " It is easier for a camel 
 to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven." Alas ! for poor me ; mj exclusive 
 attrichment to the doctrines of the New Testament, where I am 
 informed that God manifested himself in the fulness in the 
 person of an hamble, illiterate carpenter, who was rejected, 
 despised and hated by the learned priests and scribes of that 
 day, has completely disqualified me for swimming with the 
 popular current, and hence I am looked upon as a poor, igno- 
 rant, obstinate enemy to scholastic education. 
 
 2Qth. Had a visit from a young man whose father is said 
 to bo a rich Jew in Philadelphia, lata of Attleborough, where 
 he got sadly o'Tondcd at me for speaking against Friends hav- 
 ing anything to do with a great foolish college in that place, 
 which has swindled rich Friends out of some of their superflu- 
 ous cash, and stands now as a monument of their folly. The 
 young man appeared to me a lovely, interesting youth. Went 
 in the afternoon to Warminster with my wife to see my 
 children. 
 
 27th. Went to Horsham meeting; it being First day, the 
 meeting was pretty large, and having spent the morning in 
 reading the Journal of that faithful and dedicated servant of 
 the Lord, Hugh Judge, I felt myself a mere child, yea, less 
 and worse than a child, a fool, a nothing, compared to such a 
 precious Friend. I appeared, therefore, a poor beggar in the 
 Divine sight, covered with sores from the crown of my head 
 to the soles of my feet. Oh how I did beg for one crumb of 
 heavenly bread, though I felt myself unworthy the favor, but 
 which was graciously granted, and I had an humbling, good 
 meeting, in solemn silence. My dear sister in the truth, Eli- 
 sabeth Warner, had a short but pertinent communication, and 
 C M.^ a young man, spoke like Ephraitu, trembling, and I 
 
208 
 
 think was exalted in Israel. Keturned in peace to my Lome 
 and found all well. 
 
 2Sth and 29^/?. Diligent in business, poor and quiet. Heard 
 of the funeral of an old fiiend, M. E., of Solesburj ; felt a lit. 
 tie unpleasant at not having an invitation to his funeral, but 
 •was instructed in discovering my enemy, selfish pride, which 
 was now wounded, and I bope will be slain. It is quite possi- 
 ble that his children may have some selfish views in burying 
 their father this afternoon, rather than to-morrow before meet- 
 ing, for time saving andraonej^ saving inventions are becoming 
 very fashionable. 
 
 I have parted with A. P. an honest, industrious, smart 
 young man near 19, who came to live with us to learn to be a 
 painter and do the little farming on my lot of twelve acres, 
 and he has learnt more at lettering in nine months, than any 
 boy I ever had has learnt in five years. But he was too much 
 like myself, he would speak what bethought, and was not suf- 
 ficiently guarded in his thoughts, and I found myself too poor 
 to pay him for working on my lot and find him clothes to 
 please him, — so we parted peaceably, and I hope I have done 
 my duty towards the young man, for whose present and ever- 
 lasting welfare I feel sincerely desirous. 
 
 SOth. Steadily at work in my shop, having now to do all my 
 little chores myself- It may be best for me to exert my little 
 strength to wait upon myself, for I am verily a poor, weak old 
 man, and ought not to be proud. 
 
 10th month 1st. Our mid-week meeting — silent. I toiled 
 hard and got little or nothing. I fear that I was not suiFt- 
 ciently attentive to the command of the Divine Master, 
 and therefore did not cast the net on the right side of the ship. 
 
 2d and od. Nothing of importance has transpired, but 
 being favored through mercy with sufficient strength, I have 
 worked night and day; for unless I am industrious and frugal, 
 I shall go behind hand, which would be wrong, for beings 
 as we are, created to glorify God, should always go for- 
 ward in temporal things, as well as spiritual, for our souls 
 were designed to shine with new accessions of glory, and 
 brighten to all eternity. 
 
 4th and 5th. Our First day meeting was large, and the si- 
 lent part of it was peculiarly refreshing to my poor soul. A friend, 
 , from New Jersey, was with us, and his testimony 
 
209 
 
 was strengthening to my mind. To me it was a good meet* 
 ing. The driest and warmest fall, thus far, that I can recol- 
 lect. 
 
 ^thj 7th and StL Nothing particular but a continuation 
 of very dry, hot weather. A remarkably healthy fall thus 
 far. 
 
 9th. Our Monthly Meeting, held at Newtown, at which 
 were our dear friends, John Hunt and Isaac Bartram, from 
 Darby. John had good service, and my daughter Elizabeth 
 and I went with the friends to an evening meeting, at Make- 
 field. Ah ! I feel myself a poor worthless thing ; like the 
 heath in the desert, I know not when good cometh. Oh ! my 
 poverty, my poverty, if I should die in this state, what will 
 become of me ! And really I feel so weak, short-breath' d, 
 and miserable, I may soon die like my father, in the old arm 
 chair in the shop. 
 
 IQth. Had an invitation to the funeral of Sarah Walton, 
 wife of John Walton, near the Alms House, entirely out of 
 the neighborhood of Friends. 
 
 11th. Attended the funeral of S. W. Had to go ten miles 
 by nine o'clock. Went poor and destitute, but went in obe- 
 dience to what I thought to be the will of my Heavenly Fa- 
 ther, and had an opportunity with the people to the peace of 
 my own mind. 
 
 12th and IMi. Did more work and better than I ever did, 
 in the sanie time, for which I am thankful to my Heavenly 
 Father, for the ability to work, and the poverty that drives 
 me to it. Heard of the death of John Miller, Junior, a truly 
 valuable Friend, who will be greatly missed. 
 
 14:th and Ibth. Our mid week meeting I thought was well 
 attended, and a profitable time, though my mind was under 
 some serious discouragement, fearing I had jealousy, envy and 
 malevolent feelings in my heart, against some of my brethren 
 in the ministry, which led into a most serious and solemn 
 search for the bause^ and I did most fervently beg of my bless- 
 ed Saviour, that if it was a root of bitterness from the enemy 
 of my soul, that the evil spirit, or devil might be cast out ; 
 when it opened, I thought in the light that the hatred which 
 I felt was towards that vanity, pride, and unbelief in these 
 preachers, that I had discovered in myself, and had been and 
 was so concerned to overcome, as a temptation from the prince 
 
 18* 
 
210 
 
 of the power of the air, who rules in the hearts of proud, as- 
 piring preachers. 
 
 IQih and 17th. Our once benevolent and highly respected 
 M. J., wife of M. H. J., of this borough, has just passed out 
 of time into eternity, and I can scarcely forbear expressing 
 myself in a language somewhat like an eminent English wri- 
 ter, on the death of the great English General, the founder of 
 the British empire in India : '^ We view with sorrow the wreck 
 of a great mind, r>^oduced by a most direful disease, made 
 worse by more dir^fal remedies/' But I have a comfortable 
 hope that her precious soul was saved from sinking in the tre- 
 mendous gulf, by the hand of that merciful Saviour, to whom 
 she prayed, and conducted safely into that city, whose walls 
 are salvation, and whose gates are eternal praise. She died of 
 a complicated dropsical disease, surrounded by her husband 
 and children, and was buried on First day morning, the 18th 
 inst,, before meeting. I went to the house with no expecta- 
 tion, much less a wish, to speak, but felt myself called upon 
 to offer a short exhortation, especially to the female part of a 
 very large and respectable audience, and my dear elder brother 
 Emm or Kimber, preached the Gospel with perspicuity and 
 power at meeting ; and in the evening we had an interesting 
 opportunity with the family, offering a word of encouragement 
 and consolation. 
 
 22c?. Our midweek meeting was a comfortable time, but 
 the best time for me was by myself, before the people met. In 
 the afternoon, G. H. and wife, and myself and wife, attended 
 the wedding of M. B. and E. G., at the house of her father, 
 J. G. I expect it was an orderly wedding of the kind, yet it 
 appeared to me a light concern, but I suppose its time saving, 
 and money saving qualities will be quite equivalent to the 
 former religious dignity and weight, and, as it is a monied age, 
 every thing must conform to the sovereign ruler, " the love of 
 money.'' 
 
 25ifA. This was First day. Our meeting wa» large and ap- 
 peared to be under a lively exercise, in which our friend S. S. 
 spoke a few words with dignity, tenderness and solemnity. 
 Such a meeting is a nursery for a true Gospel ministry. 
 
 28^A. Attended our select Preparative Meeting, at Make- 
 field. It was to me a light^ hurrying time, with little or no 
 feeling. 
 
7 /w^ 
 
 211 
 
 29th, Our midweek meeting, whicli was a solid, silent op- 
 portunity. 
 
 SOth and olst. Busily engaged in my shop, and in attending 
 to my domestic duties. 
 
 ll^A month ist. After attending our First day meeting, whicli 
 was small, in consequence of the rain, I went in the afternoon 
 to my brother, Isaac Parry's, in order to go with him to Phi- 
 ladelphia Quarterly Meeting. 
 
 2d. Attended the select Quarter, held at Cherry street, where 
 I was rather disappointed and sorry to see L. M. and Gr. T., 
 who, I understood, informed the last select Yearly Meeting 
 that they were now decidedly opposed to such meetings, and 
 had no unity with them. It was a precious meeting to me, 
 where I had the agreeable company of dear George F. White, 
 and other valuable Friends. 
 
 3c?. Attended the general Quarterly Meeting, which was 
 pretty large. Before it was settled, a member from New York 
 State, commenced speaking with such high philosophy, and I 
 fear, vain deceit, that I could not understand him, and to me it 
 was exceedingly unpleasant ; but perhaps it was prejudice and 
 party spirit that made me think so. He was followed by 
 George F. White, in one of the most solemn and impressive 
 G-ospel communications I think I ever heard, and I almost 
 regret that I am not able to do justice to one of the most sub- 
 lime and beautiful pictures of the mercy and goodness of God, 
 through Jesus Chinst, to poor, lost, suffering souls, or I would 
 try to record it. Suf&ce it to say, it appeared to me to have 
 made so deep an impression on the meeting, that all the elo- 
 quence and sophistry of L. M. could not dissipate it, although 
 she exerted herself to the utmost. Whatever may be the end 
 of the short, but certainly most luminous career of Gr. F. W. 
 I know not, but at present I love him dearly, I hope in the 
 fellowship of the everlasting Gospel. I trust that truth gain- 
 ed the victory in Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting, in the 11th 
 month, 1846, and I was encouraged. Notwithstanding I heard 
 some things which were really painful, especially in the select 
 meeting, from H. W. E,., who said he considered it very un- 
 sound to apply the terms our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 
 to the son of Mary. Oh! how unsound, according to his 
 view, the apostles were. 
 
 4:th and tth. Attended Abington Quarter, held at Horsham. 
 
212 . 
 
 To me, both meetings were baptizing, cementing, and encour- 
 aging seasons, for I was favored through all to be silent, grate- 
 ful, and adore. Abington Quarterly Meeting, in the 11th 
 month, 1846, appeared to me to be honorable, dignified, and 
 encouraging to Friends, yet there was a discouraging consi- 
 deration haunted my mind, which was, that one of the great 
 purposes for which Friends were raised up as a people, ^^ to 
 bear a consistent testimony against priestcraft,'' would fail; not- 
 withstanding all the abuse of the priests by such as H. W . R., notic- 
 ed before, who appear to me to be establishing themselves in de- 
 ism, will amount to no more than the man we read of in the Acts 
 of the Apostles, who was possessed of the Devil, but yet he 
 could leap upon the sons of Sceva, who were chief of the 
 priests, and prevail against them, and drive them out naked, 
 and wounded, but that was all he could do, for the Devil kept 
 possession of him. Therefore, it appears to me that these sons 
 of Sceva and chief of the jmests, will increase as they did in 
 the second century, in spite of all the fuss that men and wo- 
 men possessed of the Devil are making, for it remains an un- 
 changeable, immutable position, that evil can only be over- 
 come by good. The Devil and his agents will always fly from 
 the presence of Jesus, and such consistent believers as the be- 
 loved Paul, who was humble and industrious, and ministered 
 to his own necessities, and them that were with him, by the 
 labor of his own hands. But interlopers and unbelievers the 
 Devil will withstand to their faces with a language like this, 
 '' Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye." At the 
 last Quarterly Meeting I attended, there was a lovely woman 
 who appeared to speak with the tongues of women and angels; 
 but in following her from her theory to her practice, if 1 am 
 not mistaken, she will be found living in ease and idleness, on 
 something like a thousand dollars a year, drawn from the poor 
 renter, or the poor debtor, by usury, while she, like too many 
 modern Quaker ladies, nurses that fanatical melancholy, that 
 so destroys the energies of her body, that she cannot fix her 
 own clothing, but must impose upon more industrious women. 
 I am awiire that I make myself liable to be charged with be- 
 ing an accuser of the brethren, and so ungentlemanlike as to 
 expose 4he character of a sister in the Gospel. But alas! 
 what am I to do ? In my hand I hold the New Testament, 
 which I have always accepted as eternal truth. This informs 
 
•21S 
 
 ine that our Soli/ Head, the Loi^d Jesus Christ, who created all 
 things, and hy whom all things consist, took upon himself the 
 form of a servant, and humbly and industriously worked at 
 the trade of a carpenter, for the support of his own outward 
 body, and that of his widowed mother. Being meek and 
 lowly of mind, he taught the primitive believers the great and 
 indispensable doctrine of humble industry, which they prac- 
 tised. How then can I reconcile proud, idle, Christian minis- 
 ters, with the truth as it is in Jesus ? How can I help coming 
 to the conclusion that the practical deficiency among us min- 
 isters in coming up to the line of Divine appointment is the 
 cause of the present failure of the Society of Friends^ in 
 answering the purpose for which they were intended, and 
 of the astonishing increase of hireling priests in protestant 
 Christendom. 
 
 Qth and 7f7i. Industriously engaged in my shop, feeling 
 peace in a review of m}^ late religious visit, and in securing 
 the arrangement for publishing the work I verily believe it 
 was my religious duty to give to the people. 
 
 8th. First day. Our meeting small, but comfortable and 
 edifying. Our dear E. S. appeared in a feeling testimony. 
 
 9ch and 10th. Spent in close application to business, with 
 some thought of trying to get to Salem Quarterly Meeting, 
 held at Woodbury, but felt myself released from making an 
 exertion, which might have been too much for me, in my pres- 
 ent feeble state of health. 
 
 12lh. Just returned from our midweek meeting; the silent 
 part of it, spent in secret supplication, was relieving, comfort- 
 ing, and strengthening to my poor soul. M. S. spoke a few 
 words with great propriety of speech, but it appeared to me to 
 want life. But is not that ap)pearance owing to my prejudice 
 against her ? I fear that it is ; for I have let in a notion, and 
 I hope only a notion, that she is a very proud, self-righteous 
 woman, and if so she cannot be in a Christian spirit, and con- 
 sequently is not fit to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But 
 thou knowest, blessed Saviour, the secrets of all hearts^ and 
 oh ! if I am wrong, put me right. 
 
 ISfh and 14ith. Industriously employed in my shop. 
 
 Ibth. First day. Still continues dull and rainy. Our meet- 
 ing too large to be held in one end of the house. A solid, 
 serious opportunity to some of us. Our dear friend, J. M. S.., 
 I thought^ preached the Gospel in a few words. 
 
214 
 
 16^A, 17th, and iSfA. Too closely engaged at work in my 
 isliop, for the health of either body or mind. Ah ! my poor 
 zig-zag nature predisposes me to extremes. 
 
 Idth. Our midweek meeting. A good time for some of us, 
 whom our modern reformers consider poor, deluded, supersti- 
 tious, ignorant Quakers, because we esteem it a great privilege 
 to meet together to worship our Heavenly Father in spirit and 
 in truth, waiting for the blessed appearance of the great God, 
 and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that 
 he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself 
 a peculiar people, zealous of good works. But our wise 
 modern reformers consider such rema. ks mere nonsense, now, 
 as mankind have become too much enlightened to be influenced 
 by such old, stale, superannuated opinions, as are contained in 
 what is called the Scriptures. Ah ! every sensible feeling of 
 my soul responded to the short, feeling testimony of truth, de- 
 livei-ed by my younger brother, J. M. S., when he said in sub- 
 stance, that infidelity appeared to be gaining ground, and that 
 the standard of truth was trodden under foot with impunity. 
 
 20th, 21st. Spent in my shop, and devoted to humble in- 
 dustry, which produces peace and plenty. 
 
 2!2(/. First day. A pretty large meeting, and to me a memo- 
 rably good one, for my poor soul was favored to have access 
 to the thi^one of grace, in solemn, silent supplication. I am 
 thankful for the ftivor of being silent in our religious meetings. 
 
 2Sd and 24:th. Diligently employed in my shop, but not so 
 fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, as I could wish; but was 
 favored at times with the spirit of living prayer, which is always 
 comforting to my poor soul, when, in self-abasement, I can beg 
 for preservation. 
 
 2hth. Our select Quarterly Meeting, held at Middletown. 
 A very rainy day, and of course many of our members absent • 
 but we had the truly acceptable company of S. H., foimerly 
 S. U., and D. C. S. H. has now married a rich man, with 
 no children, and I fear that ease and idleness may sully her 
 beautiful gift in the ministry; and if so, it will furnish my mind 
 with anotlier evidence of the truth of our Lord's sayings, that 
 liis disciples cannot serve God and mammon. While this 
 dear woman was a poor widow, she certainly was a precious 
 minister. D. C. appears to be a valuable young minister, and 
 bis communication among us to-day was to me peculiarly in- 
 
215 
 
 structive. He made a parable of an inconsistent farmer, wto giif- 
 fered tlie pernicious thistle, carrot, and running briar, to grow 
 in his own field, while he was continually finding fault with 
 other farmers for letting weeds grow in theirs. This led to 
 the following reflections, which I tried to express, but thought 
 I made out very poorly, and was only comforted that I spoke 
 in the cross to my own will. " That spirit of unbelief which 
 I fear is increasing in the minds of some ministers and elders in 
 the Society of Friends, I compare to the Canada thistle, 
 which, when it gets root, will grow even in the middle of the 
 great road, and is dreadfully destructive amongst grain and 
 hay; and it is said that the poor thoughtless sheep will pick 
 it out from amongst other fodder, and eat it, like they do the 
 poison laurel : such as ministers who can say that a Roman 
 priest in Ireland has done greater works than Jesus Christ, 
 and that there are now many greater reformers than he was — 
 that Friends' silent worship is a mere humbug; that there are 
 some good things in the New Testament, if they could be sepa- 
 rated from the absurdities that are in it; and that the book of 
 Samuel is not to be depended upon, having been written by 
 no body knows who. These sentiments being written in books, 
 periodicals, and papers, are to be found in too many Friends' 
 houses, and I really fear in company with Paine's Age of Rea^ 
 son, and other pernicious books. Too often, alas ! our nega- 
 tively innocent, unconscious youth, pick out these books, and 
 read them in preference to the Scriptures and Friends' writings, 
 which are soon turned into ridicule, as bigoted, contracted pro- 
 ductions, not fit to be read in this enlightened age. Mean- 
 while our enemies, the priests and Orthodox, are laughing in 
 their sleeves at the fulfilment of all their predictions. Such 
 elders as can publicly, privately, and practically, unite with 
 the foregoing sentiments, and at the same time declare they 
 know nothing about such books, and express their astonish- 
 ment that the subject should be mentioned, I fear add falsehood 
 to dissirnulation, and thus prove that the fear of the Lord as 
 a fountain of light, has not preserved them from that snare of 
 death, self-righteousness. 
 
 This spirit I compared to wild carrot, whose white blossom 
 and genteel appearance is somewhat beautiful to a superficial 
 observer, while its poisonous seed is blown over the land, to 
 the great injury of the precious wheat. Such Friends, not- 
 
216 
 
 wltlistandlng their plain outside appearance, and activity in 
 our meetings for business, professing great concern for the 
 Indian and the xVfrican, and the spreading of useful knowledge 
 \>j means of scholastic education, are enemies to the cross of 
 Christ, and the baneful influence of their spirit and example 
 on their families, justifies the saying of the inspired prophet, 
 that the " fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's 
 teeth are set on edge/' Hence the pride, the arrogance, the 
 scoffing, jeering, and game-making spirit among too many of 
 our young members. Others appear like the Felixes and the 
 Gallios, that care for none of those things, but are content to 
 creep along on the f\ice of the earth, like the running briar, 
 stronger and deeper in the earth than out of it ; influenced by 
 the strongest law of their common nature called self, they 
 are rough and thorny in their spirit, and whoever puts forth 
 his hand to touch their interest, will be scratched and wound- 
 ed. This spirit being earthly, is sensual, if not devilish ; 
 hence that covetousness and love of money, that leads members 
 of the Society of Friends to grind the face of the poor, making 
 them pay a six per cent, interest for money, when they know 
 it is not worth it, or such a rent as is an oppression, mani- 
 festing a meanness and unmanliness that is disgraceful : hence, 
 too, the want of moral rectitude amongst too many of our 
 members, who are on the highway to become common drunk- 
 ards, visiters of taverns, and, I fear I may add, houses of ill 
 fame. Alas ! what was presented before us at our last County 
 Court? Two members of the Society of Friends arraigned be- 
 fore the said Court, and condemned — one for stealing, the 
 other for a riot, and being a common nuisance. Alas ! I say, 
 for the character of our once respectable Society. 
 
 I am thankful that I have been permitted to sufi"er with the 
 sufi'ering seed, in the several Quarterly Meetings constituting 
 this Yearly Meeting, and in silent supplication to say, ''Spare 
 thy people, Lord, and give not thy heritage to a reproach." 
 
 2Qth. Our general Quarterly Meeting -, hardly as large as 
 usual, the weather being cold and unpleasant. One of our 
 ranters made a speech, of a cold, stale, and to me unpleasantly 
 personal character, scarcely worthy of notice. Then S. 11. 
 delivered an appropriate discourse, which appeared to have a 
 good efi'ect upon the congregation. However, be that as it 
 may, we certainly had a better Quarterly Meeting than we had 
 
217 
 
 at tlie Falls, three months ago. I was constrained at the close 
 of the meeting, and from a real sense of religious duty, to speak 
 in substance as follows : '^ That our meetings for religious 
 worship grew out of the great conviction of our early Friends, 
 that Jesus Christ had come without sin unto salvation, to fulfil 
 his great promise, recorded in the 14th chapter of John, to 
 teach his people himself, and to purify them from all iniquity, 
 and that they might be zealous of good works. Hence their 
 concern to meet together, to wait for the blessed appearance of 
 the great God, and their Saviour, Jesus Christ : for in this 
 blessed appearance they recognized what the Lord's prophet 
 saw in heavenly prospective, a wonderful Counsellor, the mighty 
 God, the everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace; and 
 that of the increase of his kingdom there should be no end. 
 Being fully persuaded it was their religious duty thus to meet 
 together, nothing could deter them from faithfully attending 
 their religious meetings twice a week, even at the risk of their 
 health, their property, their liberty, and their lives. But none 
 of these things grieved them, neither did they count their lives 
 dear, that they might win Christ, and when he appeared among 
 them as a quickening spirit, such was the tenderness and con- 
 trition, that the floor of the meeting house would frequently 
 be wet with their tears, when not a word was spoken. And 
 after all their tremendous sufferings for this precious testimony 
 of worshipping a Heavenly Father in solemn silence, are we to 
 be told now that it is nothing but a humbug, or an abomina- 
 tion in the Divine sight ; and that, too, by some of our own 
 ministers. Alas ! for the Society of Friends, should this spirit 
 gain the ascendancy, which I humbly hope will not be the 
 case.'' I was likewise led to state, in reference to my own ex- 
 perience, that although some might pity me as a fool, and oth- 
 ers ridicule me as an enthusiast, I did verily believe, that 
 every Christian pilgrim must pass through the same tempta- 
 tions, according to their degree, that the Captain of their sal- 
 vation passed through ; and we read that he was led into the 
 wilderness, and there tempted of the Devil, first to command 
 the stones to be made bread, and secondly, being placed upon 
 the pinnacle of the temple, to cast himself down ; and thirdly 
 and lastly, he was offered all the kingdoms and glory of this 
 world, with all their riches, if he would worship the Devil. 
 But the dear son of God rejected them all, with these con- 
 
 ' 19 , 
 
21« 
 
 elusive reasons : ^' It is written that man is not to live by 
 bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the 
 mouth of G od, and that he should worship the Lord his God, 
 and him only should he serve/' Now it appears to me that 
 all who are called to follow Jesus Christ, when, coming up to 
 the perfection of their first nature, are tempted with pride, 
 which, if given way to, their hearts become hard and their 
 spirits fierce, and if they profess to be religious, their religion 
 is like that of Saul of Tarsus, whilst he was .a satellite of the 
 priests — exceedingly mad against those who differed from him. 
 This state of mind is hard, like a stone, and their impetuous 
 zeal, which is not according to knowledge, drives them impe- 
 riously to command this stone-like state to be made bread. 
 Hence, the seed of the kingdom of heaven, which is suffering 
 within them, ^' suffereth violence, and the violent take it by 
 force." Hence, too, the origin of that religious persecution 
 and bloodshed that has disgraced the cause of religion. These 
 become an easy prey to the two following temptations, and 
 consequently, children of the Devil, or deluded votaries of 
 anti-Christ, Such as withstand this first temptation, witness 
 an enlargement of soul and an increase of light, which cannot 
 be hid under a bed or a bushel, and therefore they become the 
 subjects of the praise of silly women and the flattery of fools, 
 which assist the Devil in placing them on the pinnacle — a 
 state of spiritual pride and presumption. This formidable 
 temptation generally takes place at the meridian of life, when 
 the reasoning powers are the strongest ; self-righteousness 
 and presumption take them by the hand ; the Scriptures, that 
 were once read with tears, are superceded by newspapers and 
 other periodicals, and, though containing the most important 
 history, the purest mor£ility, and the finest strains of poetry 
 and eloquence that is to be found in any book, in whatever age 
 or language it may have been comj)Osed, are considered weak, 
 insipid, and absurd, in comparison with the publications of 
 this enlightened age. And even that glorious personage recog- 
 nized by the primitive saints as the Saviour of the world, is 
 considered nothing more than a man, and perhaps inferior to 
 the great Catholic priest of Ireland. If such are preachers, 
 they appear to me to have entered the wide gate, and are 
 travelling the broad way to downright unbelief in the Christian 
 religion ; or in other words, like William Cowper's brother 
 
219 
 
 Joimj wishing and trying to establish themselves in Deism. 
 If such as these profess to be Quakers or Friends, they ques- 
 tion the authenticity of every passage of scripture which they 
 cannot comprehend by their reason, and even consider their 
 own sermons and writings, equal, if not superior, to the Scrip- 
 tures, which now present to their darkened minds many para- 
 doxical contradictions ; for the light that was once in them 
 having become darkness, how great is that darkness ! This 
 appears to me to be the tremendous temptation presented to 
 Society, both in their collective and individual capacity, and in 
 proportion as we have yielded to the temptation, divisions 
 have taken place among the wrestling seed of Jacob, and a 
 sorrowful scattering in our spiritual Israel : and it is my duty 
 to proclaim to such as these, in the fear of Him who is the 
 dread of nations, that if they do not return to their first love, 
 they are in a fair way to become fallen angels, or Devils in- 
 carnate — for remember what is written, " Have I not chosen 
 you twelve, and one of you is a Devil V He spoke of Judas, 
 the son of Simon, that betrayed him ; a man who once had a 
 precious gift in the ministry, and was actually employed in 
 preaching the glad tidings of the Grospel to the people. Oh! 
 my soul, is not this an awful consideration ? 
 
 I have cause for humble thankfulness, that, whilst passing 
 through temptations on ^' the pinnacle,^' that I was preserved 
 from indulging a disbelief of the Holj Scriptures, or the 
 great doctrines of the Christian religion, as professed by 
 Friends ; but I am free to confess that I listened too much to 
 the songs of silly women, and fell a victim to the sinful feelings 
 ofj-ealousy, envy, and ill will, the inseparable companions of 
 spiritual pride, against my brethren and sisters in the ministry ; 
 and was sadly tormented when I heard the women singing after 
 them. My heart being now hard, the Scriptures that I once 
 read with tenderness and contrition, lost in my view much of 
 their interest, and I preferred reading more fashionable books ; 
 and midweek meetings, which I once loved to attend, to weep 
 and pray, became a burthen to me, although I never dared to 
 omit them. But in the midst of all these temptations, the 
 Heavenly Shepherd never entirely left me, but extended the 
 crook of his loving kindness, for my preservation from selling 
 my Saviour, like Judas, or even asking his greatest enemies, 
 the priests, what they would give me. Indeed I am thankful 
 
220 
 
 that I never frequented their company, even to warm myself 
 with their servants, like Peter; but alas ! like Peter, I have too 
 often drawn my own sword in the spirit of war, and cut off, as 
 it were, the right ear of those with whom T was contending. 
 Like Peter I have lied, like Peter I have sworn, and like Peter 
 I have wept tears of bitter repentance ; but never, never like 
 Judas, sold my Saviour fur money. Oh ! blessed preservation ! 
 may my soul bow in humble thankfulness, adoration, and 
 praise, to him that sitteth upon the throne, and the Lamb. 
 Therefore the great temptation of the riches and honors of the 
 world, have but little influence upon me at this period of my 
 life, and the testimonies given me to bear, are not likely to in- 
 crease my danger. I have therefore an humble hope that I 
 shall not be a .worshipper of the Devil. 
 
 I fear there are too few that get through this temptation on 
 ^^ the pinnacle," without being sadly crippled by the Devil, and 
 some of us jjreachers so much so, as to remain in bondage to 
 the love of money, the love of power, and the love of fame. 
 Hence the increasing- number of preacbers who can live like 
 worldly-minded gentlemen, clothed as it were with purple and 
 fine linen, faring sumptuously every day ; and Quaker minis- 
 ters who can live on usury in ease and idleness, although they 
 may preach with the tongues of men and angels, and be as in- 
 dustrious in travelling as Jesuit missionaries, how will they 
 stand to be judged before the humble carpenter, with the ex- 
 ample of the industrious tent-maker, as a witness against them. 
 
 27th, and 28;^^. Industriously engaged in my business, 
 
 29th. First day. I had a favored meeting in solemn si- 
 lence, and was thankful for preservation. M. S. gave us a 
 grammatical communication, and M. F., from Trenton, spoke a 
 few words with solemnity and propriety. 
 
 SOth. My dear old aunt, Sarah Hibbs, died this morning, at 
 the advanced age of ninety-one. I think she was an innocent, 
 good woman. 
 
 12th month 1st. Busily employed in my shop. 
 
 2d Aunt Sarah's house being too small to hold her relatives, 
 Friends thought best to have the meeting in the meeting house. 
 The corpse was therefore brought in, and it was to me a solemn 
 and interesting opportunity. 
 
 SfZ. Oar Preparative meeting. I did not labor hard enough 
 for the blessing of a good meeting, and therefore got but little 
 
221 
 
 pay; but I ought to be content with my wages. Felt a little 
 too Orthodox at one of our active members, who I am told does 
 not walk orderly towards those who are without, and therefore 
 there is not a good report of him; yet he will keep talking in 
 meeting for business, and that, too, while sitting on his seat. I 
 reproved him openly according to the advice of the apostle, 
 and he retorted. I felt uncharitably towards him, but I was 
 silent; of course I did not manifest my feelings. 
 
 4:th. I awakened thib morning with a renewed conviction and 
 confirmation of the dreadful consequences of an Orthodox 
 Spirit. It was unnecessary for me to hunt up some of my poor 
 Orthodox Friends, to try to fit the spirit as a coat upon their 
 backs, for I could find nobody that it would fit better than my- 
 self; for my friend, J. M. S., having been at Burlington quar- 
 ter, told me that a certain B. R. P., sotnewhat remarkable for 
 his poetry and oloquence, and I think still more remarkable for 
 
 "Conceited thoughts indulged without control," 
 displayed his oratorical powers on the subject of moral reform, 
 to great efl'ect on the silly women, male and female, that were 
 present at said meeting; and that a certain J. J., who has be- 
 come somewhat distinguished for his boldly and eloquently ques- 
 tioning the authenticity of the Holy Scriptures, had published 
 another edition of his work, and had brought two of our most dis- 
 tinguished ministers, J. C. and E. S., as auxiliaries to help him 
 confirm the charges our enemies have brought against us. I 
 say the information received, made me unhappy, and upon ex- 
 amination found I was in a state of mind towards these two 
 young members of Society, for Friends I cannot call them, that 
 would rejoice to hear evil of them. Viewing my state of mind 
 in this light, I was really ashamed of myself to think how se- 
 verely I had censured such old Orthodox Friends, as R. J., J. 
 E., J. W., &c.; and here I was in the same spirit, and, getting 
 the wallet fairly turned, I not only saw that I was in that old 
 persecuting spirit, but that I was comparable to a liar, and a 
 murderer, agreeably to the Apostle John's exposition ; '' Who- 
 so saith he loveth G-od and hateth his brother is a liar ; for 
 how can he love Grod whom he hath not seen, while he hateth 
 his brother whom he has seen ; and he that hateth his brother 
 is a murderer. '^ 
 
 I wish distinctly to be understood, that I verily believe my 
 young brothers are wrong, very wrong, yet this may be a mat- 
 
 19* 
 
222 
 
 tor of opinion in 'comparison to the matter of fact, that I am 
 destitute of that heavenly charity that rejoiceth not in iniquity, 
 while I am indulging such evil thoughts. Oh ! how I begged 
 on the bended knee of my soul, of my blessed ^Saviour, for 
 grace sufficient to overcome this evil; for if I can, through this 
 grace of God, experience an overcoming of this dreadful sin, 
 then, and then only, can I sit down with him on his throne 
 agreeably to his blessed promise, '' He that overeometh shall 
 sit with me on my throne, even as I have overcome and am 
 set down with my Father on his throne," then, and then only, 
 can my poor soul make the acknowledgment embraced in that 
 inimitable prayer the blessed Saviour taught his disciples, 
 "thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and 
 ever, Amen." 
 
 But there is another view of this subject that I think is 
 worthy of notice. If I understand what a true Christian state is, 
 it is self-abasement — the soul abhors itself in dust and ashes ; 
 and if I understand what an anti-christian state is, it is self- 
 righteousness, self-exaltation. These two states are at anti- 
 podes ; that is, right opposite to each other. Now I would 
 ask, can a deluded votary of anti-Christ be a brother to a 
 truly humble Christian, or can there be any unity between 
 them ? If a true Christian abhors himself, he must abhor that 
 same self in his fellow creature ; of course they cannot be 
 brethren in the relation alluded to, by the apostle John — but 
 I leave the question to be solved by others. 
 
 6th. Quite unwell with a bad cold ; but how wonderfully I 
 have been favored, this being the fii'st cold I have had for six 
 months. 
 
 QtJi. First day — our meeting large, and our dear E. S. gave 
 us what I thought a real gospel exhortation, which tended to 
 edification and comfort; but poor me thought it right to speak, 
 and I am afraid some might think it a hedge podge piece of 
 stuff: however, I feel no condemnation for exposing myself, 
 and there I must leave it. But having made a bungling refer- 
 ence to an affecting and painful circumstance of a young 
 woman, I think a member of Wrightstown Monthly Meeting, 
 who had recently joined the Methodists — who committed sui- 
 cide — I will simply repeat the most affecting part. She told a 
 cousin of mine that the Scriptures and other good books were 
 not read in her father's family. Now when I knew her father, 
 
223 
 
 lie was a memlber among Friends, and wore a plain coat. H"s 
 subsequent conduct, and present condition, if living, is too 
 painful to record, and having alluded to liim as a steam Doc- 
 tor, in the narrative of my life, I shall leave him to the mercy 
 and forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ, the darling at- 
 tribute of mercy, and just add that my feelings in relation to 
 the final destiny of the poor dear daughter, were of a tendering 
 and encouraging character, attended with sympathy and prayer 
 for her sadly afflicted mother. Alas ! alas I is not the circum- 
 stance above alluded to, additional evidence of the sorrowful 
 fact, that the Society of Friends are declining from the sta- 
 tion they once held in the Christian church. The Scriptures 
 and other good books are superceded by newspapers, periodi- 
 cals, romances, and the sermons of Unitarian pedlars. They 
 are certainly changed from what they were, when I had my 
 education amongst them. I never saw such a thing as a ro- 
 mance, or a Unitarian sermon, much less Paine' s Age of Sea- 
 son, which I never then heard tell of, notwithstanding Paine 
 was then a popular man. I very well remember what my dear 
 old adopted mother said of a Unitarian, who was on a visit 
 from Philadelphia, that she was afraid to talk to him, for she 
 considered him a Deist. 
 
 Ith. Heard of the death of my old friend Benjamin Zelley, 
 of old Springfield, N. J., about my age. I fii'st became ac- 
 quainted with him at Tuckerton, or Great Egg Harbor, thirty- 
 two years ago. He was then travelling as a companion to 
 Clayton Brown, a valuable minister among Friends, while 
 Stephen Comfort, senior, was my companion in travel. Oh ! 
 how solemn the consideration that I only, of the four, am left 
 in this world. 
 
 8^A. Received a precious letter from my dear friend "William 
 Folwell, rectifying a mistake, which was peculiarly relieving. 
 Heard of the death of cousin Henrietta Hicks, at New York. 
 
 Qth and l(itL Our Monthly Meeting held at Newtown. A 
 laborious, hard meeting to me, owing no doubt to my careless- 
 ness and unwatchfulness, though not without instruction. Had 
 an invitation to the funeral of Joshua Paul, of Horsham. 
 Received a friendly letter from Doctor Ralph C. Marsh, of 
 Concord, Delaware Co., and one from Charles and Sarah Ann 
 Swaine, of Indiana. 
 
 The Doctor's letter contained some remarks on war, which re- 
 
224 
 
 vived impressions touching tliat subject, which is now so much 
 talked of, and it may be right for me to try to express or give 
 some views that appear to be given me. 
 
 " My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were 
 of this world, then would my servants fight.'' This is the 
 testimony of eternal truth, from which I argue that the sub- 
 jects of the kingdoms of this world will fight, and alv/ays have 
 fought, and I must rationally infer, that the subjects of the 
 kingdom of Jesus Christ never did fight, never can fight, nor 
 never will fif>-ht. The mission of Jesus Christ to our world, was 
 to redeem man from the fighting state, and to restore him to 
 the primeval harmony, when the fighting animal was governed 
 by a rational soul, created in the image of God; infinite in its 
 nature, and everlasting in its duration ; and this rational soul 
 was governed by God himself, as his perfect child, possessing 
 a portion of the same glorious attributes of infinite power, infi- 
 nite justice, infinite wisdom, and infinite mercy, which are 
 embraced in their perfection, in the everlasting Father. All 
 who are thus restored are regenerated, and born again. This 
 is the new birth ; old things being done away, all things are 
 nev>^, and all things of God. These having grown to the stature 
 of men in CJirist are Christians, and the truth having set them 
 free, they are free indeed. Such are the subjects of Christ's 
 kingdom, and servants that cannot fight with carnal weapons. 
 AlWho have not witnessed this restoration and change of 
 heart, are in their fallen and consequently fighting state, be- 
 cause animal nature governs their souls; therefore they will 
 fight by the same law that all male animals fight. Hence the 
 great family of mankind in their fallen state, are like minor 
 children, and can no more be called Christians with propriety, 
 than boys can be called men. In this great family there is 
 the same variety of capacity and understanding that would be 
 found in twenty children, descended from one common parent, 
 with one year's difference in their ages, or fifty children of the 
 same difference in age and capacity. A wise and good teacher 
 w^ould not ■ only have lessons suitable for the various classes, 
 but rules and regulations adapted to their several ages ; and 
 knowing that play was inseparable from the nature of a child, 
 a judicious teacher would command the time and place, and 
 enforce obedience to his commandments : thus establishing an 
 important point — suhmission to suioerior power. Hence Paul 
 
225 
 
 compares the law of Moses to a schoolmaster, which was added 
 because of transgression, and to remain in force until Christ 
 come, who is the end of the law for righteousness to all them 
 that believe. Now it appears to me, that the infinitely wise 
 and merciful Heavenly Father, knowing that his creature 
 man, in Ms fallen skite, must fight, and would fight as 
 naturally as the game cock, or any other animal creature, 
 instituted laws to regulate his warlike spirit, and bring it into 
 obedience to his commands, and into subservience to the great 
 attribute of justice; therefore the most sacred and import- 
 ant history presents to us some of the elder and more perfect 
 children of this great family, such as Moses, Joshua, Gideon, 
 David, &c., who were great warriors, but faithful, dignified 
 servants of the Most High ; and as the law that embraces 
 cc^reive government continues, the same, and must continue 
 while men are in a fallen, and consequently fighting state, the 
 Iiistory of latter ages presented to ns such warriors and bene- 
 factors as Hampden, Yfashington, &c. Now it appears to me 
 worthy of particular notice, that when the Saviour of the world 
 came to save the souls of the childi-en of men from sin, by 
 delivering them from the bondage of their animal nature, and 
 putting them in possession of the glorious liberty of the chil- 
 dren of God — I say it is worthy of particular notice, that this 
 great minister of the sanctuary, and perfect pattern of ever- 
 lasting righteousness, never spoke against such soldiers as 
 Moses, Joshua, Gideon, and David, much less abused them, 
 or pointed out, when in the temple and synagogues, whither the 
 Jews resorted, their bloody acts and butcheries, or called in 
 question the truths of those Scriptures, which contained their 
 acts and sayings ; but we are informed that he manifested 
 great kindness, and spoke in the highest terms of praise to a 
 Roman soldier, declaring his faith exceeded the faith of all the 
 Israelites. This soldier was not only brave, but he was noble, 
 generous, humane, and humble; and of course a kind sympa- 
 thising master to such as were placed under his . care ; and 
 hence that solicitude for the restoration of his sick servant, 
 which induced him to apply to the Divine Saviour, to cure his 
 slave, as our modern abolitionists would call him, for there is 
 no doubt that this excellent soldier was a slaveholder. 
 
 Neither have I any recollection that Peter or Paul ever 
 prostituted their tongues, or their pens, in abusing soldiers ; 
 
22G 
 
 and in making tliem out murderers and butchers of the hnman 
 family. But we are told that Peter had a most extraordinary 
 meeting with a Roman soldier, who was not only noble and 
 generous, but devout — at which time he was converted to 
 Christianity : and Paul was saved from falling a sacrifice to 
 religious fanatics, headed by wicked priests, by the generous 
 bravery of a Roman General. These consistent and exemplary 
 Christian ministers, so far from abusing the Government and 
 the instruments that were made use of for its support, recom- 
 mended and practiced daily prayers for them, deckring that ' 
 'Hhe powers that be are ordained of God, and whoso resisteth 
 the poW'Cr, resisteth the ordinance of God, and such as thus re- 
 sist, bring upon themselves damnation.^' Such appears to 
 have been the spirit and practice of the primitive saints. And 
 in reading the history of early Friends, I do not remember 
 that they manifested the persecuting, malignant, bitter spirit, 
 which appears in some who go under the name of Friends in 
 our day, towards soldiers -, for many of the first Quakers had 
 been soldiers, or were the children of soldiers. The father of 
 the illustrious Penn was a gToat soldier, and bore a noble tes- 
 timony to the blessed truth, as professed by Friends, on his 
 death bed. The two greatest preachers amongst them had 
 been soldiers, and officers in the Parliamentary army ; and the 
 preaching of one of them made such an impression on a 
 soldier, who, I could wish to believe, was the excellent Colonel 
 John Hampden, that he afterwards so effectually preached to 
 two young men in a tavern, that they both became great 
 preachers. The story, as 1 read it^ nearly forty years ago, is 
 in substance as follows : 
 
 Two gay young men of the world, in England, were one 
 First day drinking in a tavern, and the subject of their di- 
 version was the peculiarities of the Quakers. They had no- 
 ticed a very serious, dignified officer of rank in the same room, 
 a silent, and no doubt sorrowful, witness of their ignorance 
 and folly, who thus addressed them: ^' Young men, you ap- 
 pear to be making yourselves merry at the expense of a 
 people who you are entirely ignorant of ; and as I once in- 
 dulged the same contemptuous opinions, with ybur permission 
 I will tell you how ray prejudices were superceded by love 
 and respect for these most consistent Christians. After the 
 battle of Dunbar, I was riding at the head of my regiment, and 
 
227 
 
 saw at a little distance from the liigh-way a great collection of 
 people ; and it being a time of revolution, I sent the advanced 
 guard to ascertain their design, and, if evil, disperse them. 
 They appeared peaceably to stay, and I marched up with the 
 rest of the army, when I saw a Quaker preacher speakiug to 
 the people with such power and Divine authority, that I trem- 
 bled more at the sight of myself, under the powerful ministry of 
 J. N., than I did at the battle I had just witnessed, when the bul- 
 lets flew round me like hail. I therefore advise you to go and 
 do as I did — go and see and feel for yourselves, and if I am not 
 mistaken, you will change your opinion of them." This ser- 
 mon, so unexpected, and coming from a soldier, had a won- 
 derful effect on those two young men, and induced them to go 
 the next First day, twenty miles to a Quaker meeting, where 
 they were both convinced, and both became great ministers of 
 the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. 
 
 This story, if true, and I have no reason to doubt it, presents 
 to our view a soldier in a very different light from what they 
 are presented by modern reformers and upstart Quaker preach- 
 ers.; for really I must sincerely confess, that I view myself, in 
 comparison with such a soldier as Colonel John Hampden, as a 
 mere insignificant imbecile, and have reason to fear that all the 
 preaching I have done in my life, has not added as much to 
 the stature of truth as the preaching of that soldier, whose 
 character and dying sayings are thus spoken of by an eminent 
 English writer: 
 
 ^'It was when, to the sullen tyranny of Laud and Charles, 
 had succeeded the fierce conflicts of sects and factions, ambi- 
 tious of ascendency, and burning for revenge, — it was when 
 the vices and ignorance which the old tyranny had generated, 
 threatened the new freedom with destruction, that England 
 missed that sobriety, that self-command, that perfect soundness 
 of judgment, that perfect rectitude of intention, to which the 
 history of revolutions furnishes no parallel, or furnishes a pa- 
 rallel in Washington alone. ^In the first charge Hampden 
 was struck in the shoulder by two bullets, which broke the 
 bones and lodged in his body' — then, ^with his head drooping 
 and his hands leaning on his horse's neck, he moved feebly out of 
 the battle/ 'A short time before his death, the sacrament was 
 administered to him,' and ^ when all was nearly over, he lay 
 murmuring faint prayers for himself and for the cause in whicii 
 
-2'2S 
 
 be died. Lord Jesus, he exclaimed in the moment of his last 
 agony, receive my soul — Oh Lord 1 save my country, — Oh 
 
 Lord be merciful to , in that broken ejaculation passed 
 
 away his noble and fearless spirit/' 
 
 With this view, I cannot help looking round with anger on 
 such unbelievers in Jesus Christ, as the apostles apeak of — 
 presumptuous, despisers of governments, who are not afraid 
 to speak evil of dignities— such soldiers and benefactors as 
 Hampden and "Washington ; but I hope I am grieved at the 
 hardness of their hearts and the deficiencies of their under- 
 standing, and I certainly ought to pass by in silence, or treat 
 with silent contempt, the impotent abuse of a silly New Eng- 
 land girl, because the effervescence of the tongue of a terma- 
 gant is not considered slander. But when a Quaker preacher 
 breaks the commandment of the moral law that says, " Thou 
 shalt not speak evil of the rulers of thy people,'^ and the dis- 
 cipline of his own Society, abusing the government under 
 which he lives, and encouraging a faction, which has for its 
 object the dissolution of the Union, and the consequent intro- 
 duction of anarchy and confusion, — I say, that when such pal- 
 pable inconsistency presents itself, it cannot be passed by with 
 impunity. I therefore feel it my duty to bear my feeble testi- 
 mony against such false brethren; for I am grieved at my 
 heart, when I consider that the infinitely wise and merciful Je- 
 hovah has provided through distinguished instruments the most 
 blessed asylum that we Quakers have ever had — a mild, gener- 
 ous, and just government, which extends its wings of protec- 
 tion over our civil and religious rights, that we preachers should 
 manifest so much of the grovelling selfishness of the inferior 
 animals, who enjoy the fruit, but never look up with gratitude 
 to the source from whence the enjoyment comes; but, like 
 them, trample the precious pearl under foot, and turn and rend 
 the hand which presented it. And the manner in which too 
 many treat the Holy Scriptures, justifies the caution of the Di- 
 vine Master, " Give not that which is holy unto dogs." 
 
 I repeat it again, that I am ashamed of every act and saying 
 in my life, of the character above described, and I am ashamed of 
 my brethren and sisters that have been permitted to live in 
 the golden age of the best government under he^^ven, — in the 
 land of Penn, and the vicinity of the city of brotherly love, — 
 the lap of indulgence and luxury, and some, with a mushroom 
 
229 
 
 popularity, that is dandling them about like doll-babies, standing 
 within the walls of a peaceable Quaker meeting house, prating 
 against the government that furnished the asylum ; and, not- 
 withstanding their ugly spirit, still protects their heads from 
 merited insult. Poor, contemptible, womanish weakness, which 
 never felt the noble spirit of patriotism our Lord alludes to 
 when he says, *^* Grreater love hath no man than this, that a man 
 lay down his life for his friend." Upstarts, whose narrow 
 contracted, self-righteous souls were never capable of entering 
 into sympathy with the poor soldiers of 1776, their hardships, 
 privations and sufferings, — whose footsteps were marked with 
 their own blood, — whose tedious nights and wearisome days, 
 involving the most awful responsibility, were so marked in the 
 lines and configuration of the face of the illustrious Washing- 
 ton, that the goodly young Quaker who visited him on busi- 
 ness in Seventy-six, received such impressions of sympathy and 
 respect, that he ever spoke of him with feeling reverence; and 
 BJb the venerable age of more than fourscore, I heard him re- 
 peat it with peculiar energy and simplicity. But this consis- 
 tent Quaker was entirely different from those I have alluded 
 to. He followed his heavenly pattern in the path of humble 
 industry, and like him, maintained and cherished his widowed 
 mother, and like him, was a poor, illiterate mechanic ; no mar- 
 vel is it, then, that he should be entirely different from the pam- 
 pered nurslings of a boarding school. ' 
 I am perfectly aware that these strictures may give offence 
 and confirm the charge that is brought against me of being in 
 favor of war ; but I again declare, that the Prince of Peace 
 came into the world to put an end to war, and to redeem man 
 from his fighting state ; and hence, with legions of angels at 
 his command, he bore the contradiction of sinners. His sacred 
 countenance, impressed with divine glory, was spit upon, — he 
 was buffeted, — he was scourged, and finally put to the ignomi- 
 nious death of the cross, without making any resistance, 
 praying in the last extremity for his enemies. ^' Father 
 forgive them, they know not what they do." Ah! blessed 
 Saviour, thy kingdom is not of this world, therefore thy real 
 disciples never can fight with carnal weapons. Thy children, 
 thy dear disciples, who heard thy gracious words, with their 
 outward ears, as well as their inward, were instructed by thy 
 example to make no resistance, but passively to submit to out- 
 
 20 
 
230 
 
 ward power, and to respect civil government, however corrupt. 
 Thou didst even pay the tax that was laid upon thy people by 
 the sword of the heathen, and thereby declared that the power 
 of the Roman governor was given him from above. But, alas ! 
 bow different is the precepts and example of thy professed 
 followers of the present day. My very soul is grieved with 
 the anarchy of the modern ranters now among Friends. 
 
 llfh and 12th. Spent in my shop at work. Had an invita- 
 tion to the funeral of Jacob Smith, of Lambertville, N. J. 
 It was the particular request of his youngest daughter, who 
 was quite a little girl at the death of her mother, whose funeral 
 I attended ten or twelve years ago. 
 
 13^/^. First day— a pretty large meeting, but not one of my 
 good meetings, for I felt it my duty to speak, and I am afraid 
 
 ither to edification or comfort. 
 
 14^7?, 16th and l&th. Very busy in my shop; nothing that 
 needeth notice. 
 
 17th. Our midweek meeting ; a tremendous snow storm; 
 notwithstanding, we had a good little meeting. 
 
 l^th and Idth. Confined in my shop at work; very diligent 
 in business, though evidently deficient . in fervency of spirit, 
 serving the Lord. 
 
 20th. First day, quite a large meeting, not very comforta- 
 ble to me, for I thought it right to speak ; and if my speaking 
 is as unpleasant to others as it is to me, it must have been an 
 unpleasant time. 
 
 21st, 22d and 2Sd. Diligently employed in my shop, but 
 not sufficiently devout. How true is the saying, " Ye cannot 
 serve God and Mammon. 
 
 24ith. Our midweek meeting well attended. Our friends, 
 J. M. S. and wife, had good service. I was silent, but too 
 sbackling in spirit to be rightly benefitted ; or, at best, like 
 Martha, busy and troubled about many things. Oh ! this 
 restless, active mind, this all pervading, this all conscious 
 soul, this particle of energy. Oh ! that it was more under 
 the government of Jesus Christ as a quickening spirit. 
 
 25^A, 2%tJi and 21tli. Attending to my business in my shop, 
 and reading my new publication, which I call in the title page, 
 " A little present for Friends and Friendly People, in the form 
 of a miscellaneous discourse, by a poor illiterate mechanic." 
 The work is well done, and but few mistakes of any conse- 
 quence. I feel peace of mind in doing what I verily believed 
 
231 
 
 to be my religious duty, and send it forth in tlie language of 
 Young. 
 
 Go thou minute devoted page, 
 
 Go forth among thy foes — go forth, 
 
 And suffer martyrdom for truth. 
 
 2Mi. First day, a large, and to me a precious meeting, be- 
 cause my poor soul was permitted to enter tbe house of silent 
 prayer. My sister, S. W., spoke a few words of a radical 
 character. Ah ! poor woman, she may really think that the 
 religion we profess, is spoken against in the streets, because 
 it is traditional, and handed down from the Bible; but it is 
 quite possible that some who are acquainted with my sister's 
 spirit and conduct, might take the liberty to think that one 
 of the reasons that religion is cried against in the street, is 
 that we preachers preach one thing, and practice another; or, 
 in other words, we do not live up to our own doctrine. 
 
 2^th, SOth and 31st Spent in my shop, and to avoid mo- 
 notony, I must be short. 
 
 1st month 1st, 1847. Exactly such a day as it was seven- 
 teen years ago, warm and mild like spring. 
 
 2d and Sd. The same; our First day meeting large, consi- 
 dering the bad travelling, but I was too idle and shackling in 
 spirit to earn any thing; I therefore came from meeting as I 
 went, poor, and forced to be content with my wages. 
 
 4:tJi. The same as seventeen years ago, rain and snow. I 
 forgot to mention in its proper place, that I had an invitation 
 to the funeral of the wife of John Smith, of Upper Makefield, 
 whose funeral I attended the last day of the last year. It was 
 to me a satisfactory opportunity. Next day there came to my 
 house a stranger from the western part of the State of New 
 York. He appeared to me to be one of those wrong headed, 
 if not wrong hearted enthusiasts, who had been once precious- 
 ly visited with the day-spring from on high, but was now 
 splitting on the fatal rock of self-righteousness. Oh ! my soul 
 be aware of that fatal rock. 
 
 5 th and 6th. Nothing worthy of particular notice. 
 
 7th. Our Monthly Meeting, held at Makefield; a very rainy 
 day and bad roads ; notwithstanding, Friends turned out pretty 
 well. I spoke in the first meeting, and an elder made some 
 remarks, which I thought he had better let alone, and as he 
 had so frequently spoken, even in our meetings for worship, 
 apparently reflecting upon Gr. F. W.; and myself, for saying 
 
232 
 
 hard things, without ever speaking to me privately, I was led 
 in the Monthly Meeting to give forth something like a public 
 reproof of such conduct, which I find met with the approba- 
 tion of Friends generally. 
 
 Sth and 9th. Spent in my shop. It seems a pity that my 
 business should be of such a character as to be of no real use 
 to any body but myself, being the only way that I can get an 
 honest living. 
 
 10(7i. First day; a large meeting for a stormy day, and a 
 sad catastrophe was nigh taking place. Our aged friends, 
 Benjamin and Martha Schofield, were coming to meeting with 
 their daughter-in-law, Lydia, and three children, in the car- 
 riage, with them 3 when near the entrance of the meeting 
 house yard, the horses took fright and ran away, and coming 
 in contact with a tree, which stands as gate post, the carriage 
 was dashed to pieces, and the old folks were coDsiderably hurt, 
 and it is a wonderful thing they were not killed. Oh ! the 
 imcertainty of time; "In the midst of life, we may be nigh 
 unto death." Notwithstanding the above circums-tance, we 
 had a pretty comfortable meeting, which might have been 
 more so if I had kept silent. 
 
 11^^, 12t7L and l^fh. Diligent in business, but not fervent 
 in spirit, serving the Lord, and therefore, like theheathinthe 
 desert, a fear attends my mind, lest I should los-e that cMM- 
 like, tender state, that I have so much desired io be found in. 
 
 14:fh. Our midweek meeting, pretty weO attended, but a low 
 time with poor me. But I am receiving the due reward of my 
 deeds, for I have certainly lacked that fervency of spirit which 
 becomes a Christian. 
 
 16th and IQth. At work in my shop, with nothing worth 
 noticing, but a dry, barren sense of my infirmities. 
 
 17^^-. First day; a cold, raw, unpleasant feeling in the air; 
 predisposing to chill. Notwithstanding, our meeting was quite 
 large, and to me a precious good time, for I was favored to be 
 silent, and to be an humble suppliant for mercy and goodness, 
 to save my poor soul ; for, alas I I have no merit — no works 
 of righteousness of my own, and therefore, if I be saved, it 
 will be according to the mercy of a Saviour, who will wash 
 my poor filthy soul in the laver of regeneration. A few words 
 fi'om J. M. S. seemed to increase the solemnity, which, 
 I fear, was preached all away by a silly little woman, a 
 stranger. 
 
238 
 
 19;^^, I yesterday met with tke great Lord Jeffrey's review 
 of Clarkson's Portraiture of Quakerism. This nobleman I 
 suppose, is considered at the head of the British critics, and 
 is a tory judge of the Scottish sessions, and if I may be per- 
 mitted to add my own supposition, a disciple of the great 
 Lord Bolingbroke. With this view of this great wit, we can 
 appreciate the full value of his criticisms on the people called 
 Quakers. His severe strictures on the author of the Portrait- 
 ure, I am perhaps too willing to wink at, in consequence of a 
 prejudice against that old clergyman, for wheedling Friends in 
 England out of money to educate his son for a hireling priest. 
 But his paraphrase on the customs and doctrines of the Society 
 of Friends, is, in my opinion, one of the weakest and most insig- 
 nificant pieces of criticism I ever remember to have seen from 
 any of their enemies. And, moreover, it appears to me not 
 only weak, but absolutely false, as respects William Penn and 
 his friends in Pennsylvania, I will not pretend to say that 
 some of his remarks would not justly apply to some gloomy, 
 melancholy Englishman, in the dark month of November, 
 when his mind, like the atmosphere with which he is surround- 
 ed, is so dark and murky that the Devil is tempting him to 
 sell his Saviour for money, while he preaches up prudence 
 and charity in a language like this, '^ Why was this waste of 
 the ointment made ;" " for it might have been sold for more 
 than three hundred pence and have been given to the poor -'' 
 not that he has any Christian sympathy for the poor, but be- 
 cause he has turned away his ear from hearing God's holy 
 law, and has taken usury and increase, and greedily gained 
 of his neighbor by extortion, and has forgotten the Lord God. 
 Such English Quakers as these, together with a few fanatics, 
 whose madness was produced by the despotism of priestcraft, 
 and kingcraft, may lie exposed to the scoffing sneers and flim- 
 sy sophistry of such enemies as Jeffrey, but that such insigni- 
 ficant quibbling can have any effect upon the well established 
 character of the religious Society of Friends, in the land of 
 the illustrious Penn, a land where their pure republican prin- 
 ciples are cherished and encouraged, by so mild and generous 
 a government, which recognises no ecclesiastical tyranny, I 
 cannot believe. I think I have had as good a chance of 
 knowing the Society of Friends on this continent as any other 
 man now living, having had a free and friendly intercourse 
 
 20^ 
 
234 
 
 with all classes for more than sixty jears, and I have ever con- 
 sidered them the most happy, cheerful and reasonable part of 
 the hnman family; carefully avoiding the had extremes of 
 civilized life; the mnsic; dancing, and war spirit of the civil- 
 ized savage, and the monkish gloom of the hireling anchorite 
 and begging friar; they fill with propriety all those social and 
 relative duties of life that conduce to the substantial happi- 
 ness of mankind. But I am free to confess that wherever the 
 Pevil has persuaded individuals to sell their Saviour for mo- 
 ney, and their children have come under the influence of 
 critical noblemen, and hireling priests, these emissaries of 
 Satan have left the print of their dirty fingers on their fiiir 
 character, 
 
 I wonder that the noble Lord had not remembered when he 
 imeeringly charges George Fox with insanity, in direct oppo- 
 sition to the testimony of William Penn, who was Je#rey's 
 superior in every thing but insignificant wit, that a more hon- 
 orable and consistent nobleman brought the same charge against 
 the apostle Paul^ and that the prototypes of both of them, the 
 Sadducian Jews, cast the same reproach in the teeth of the 
 Saviour of the world. But it is much more convenient for a 
 light ^'feather''' of a wit to charge an hone&i, good man with 
 insanity, than to withstand the power of eternal truth with 
 which he is clothed. Therefore, I conclude that Jefirey knows 
 but little about the blessed truth, as it is in Jesus, and that 
 his sneering criticism and flimsy sophistry, are a full and am- 
 ple proof of his ignorance. Were honest George Fox, as he 
 gneeringly calls him, now living, he might be moved to write 
 to him, as he did to Adam Sands, a wicked, false hearted man, 
 who would have destroyed both truth and Friends : " Thon 
 child of the Devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, in the 
 light thou art comprehended, and in the light thou art con- 
 demned.'' Or were the apostle Paul to meet with him, he 
 might address him to his face as he did such a character 
 formerly, *' Oh 1 full of all subtility, and all mischief, thou 
 child of the Devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, how long 
 ere thou wilt cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord ; 
 thou hast no lot or part in the Christian religion, for I per- 
 ceive thou art in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity." 
 "With these few unpleasant remarks, I bid Francis Jeffrey fare- 
 well; and in the language of dear old George Fox^ say, " if 
 
235 
 
 ever thine eye seest repentance, thou wilt know me to he a 
 lover of thy soul/' 
 
 18th, Idthy and 20th. Devoted steadily to my husiness in 
 the shop. 
 
 21st. Our midweek meeting. A solemn^ silent opportunity, 
 in which my poor soul was favored with the spirit of prayer, in 
 which I was led to feel deeply for my sick neighbor, particular- 
 ly a young mother, now very ill with consumption. There was 
 something peculiarly solemn and tendering in my feelings for 
 this dear young woman. She will leave an infant son, as my 
 dear mother left me j and oh ! that her dying prayers may be 
 like hers. I may here venture to express some of my feelings 
 in relation to such cases as above referred to, of young people, 
 particularly young women, dying with pulmonary consumption, 
 
 I confess that it is paradoxical to me, how a young woman 
 can have a fine healthy child, and that child improve and grow 
 on its mother's milk, and that mother at the same time dying 
 with consumption. But I think I can understand that the ap- 
 plication of a blister to such a mother's breast or side would 
 have a direct tendency to dry up her milk; and if there was on- 
 ly a predisposition to the disease, give it all the advantage to 
 finish its work with rapidity. In the present case, her father 
 being a physician would do what he thought right, and it 
 would be presumption in me to call his treatment in question. 
 But I must take the liberty to write here that which I think, 
 that scientific doctors, and scientific priests, often do more hurt 
 than good to body and soul, and are a shameful imposition on 
 the people; and that Thompsonian quacks and interloping 
 preachers are no better. 
 
 22d and 23c?. Yery unwell. Notwithstanding which, I 
 worked all Sixth day, but laid by on Seventh. Last evening 
 the young woman before alluded to died, after severe sufferings 
 of body and mind. She was brought under a deep concern and 
 exercise for her everlasting welfare, and sent for her priest to 
 pray for her, and although I fear the prescriptions of the super- 
 ficial doctor of divinity, like the doctor of medicine, did more 
 hurt than good, I rejoiced in the belief that she was in the 
 hands of the Heavenly Physician, where I had been commend- 
 ing her on the bended knee of my soul, the day before she 
 died. I say I rejoiced, and was comforted and encouraged in 
 believing that my secret, heartfelt prayers were acceptable in 
 
236 
 
 the Divine sight, and that her precious soul has found a mansion 
 of undisturbed repose in the paradise of Grod. 
 
 24:th. First day ] very unwell, hardly able to make fire and 
 get the meeting house ready for the people, and then hardly 
 able to attend ; but I did, and that is not the worst of it, I 
 spoke, and I fear hurt the meeting, as well as myself. A week 
 ago I made a record, that a poor little negatively innocent, or 
 insignificantly wicked woman, I feared, preached away the life 
 of the meeting. Had a record been written yesterday after- 
 noon by some of the sufferers, it might have been like this : 
 the meeting was very much hurt by a lifeless communication 
 from a poor, ignorant negatively wicked old man in his dotage, 
 who notwithstanding has too high a conceit of himself. Be 
 that as it may, 1 felt myself I thought grow weaker and weak- 
 er, and went to bed crying and praying, that I might -live one 
 more day like a Chrjistian. 
 
 25^/i. My prayer was heard, and I have spent one day in 
 perfect peace without condemnation. Oh ! that my watchful 
 dependance on my blessed Saviow may continue. 
 
 26^7i. Another day in watchfulness and peace. 
 
 21th, A pretty comfortable day, but the mirror of peace was 
 once disturbed by passion. 
 
 28^A, 29^7i, ^Otli. Peaceable and happy days. Notwithstand- 
 ing my indisposition the two last, I worked a little in the shop. 
 
 31s^. First day -, our meeting pretty large, though not very 
 satisfactory to me, and I think it is most likely to some others, 
 for I thought it my duty to deliver an unpleasant testimony. I 
 was very feeble, having exhausted my little strength in getting 
 the house ready for meeting ; so that having but little life and 
 less strength, I fear I made but a lifeless, weak concern of it. 
 Dear E. S., helped the meeting with a lively, strengthening 
 communication. 
 
 2d month 1st. Though still feeble, I could work a little in my 
 shop. 
 
 2d and M.^ Still better and thankful for the favor of being 
 preserved ; diligent in business, and fervent in spirit. 
 
 Uh. Our Monthly Meeting held at Newtown. The silent 
 part of it was, I thought, a strengthening, encouraging oppor- 
 tunity ; but a dull lecture from one of our self-righteous re- 
 formers, appeared to me to obstruct the life, which however 
 seemed to return to us in reading and answering the queries. I 
 
237 
 
 was invited to the funeral of Samnel Buckman, a very aged 
 man, and the last of the children, even by marriage, of that 
 distinguished minister of the gospel, Joseph White, of the Falls. 
 In the eveniog of this day of favor, was made doubly thank- 
 ful for the safe return of my dear Isaac and Elizabeth, from a 
 visit to their brother and sister in New York, with the report 
 that all was well. 
 
 t)th and Qth. Busy in my shop. On Seventh day afternoon, 
 went to Isaac Parry's ; almost too much for me. Just before I 
 started, was invited to the funeral of a Friend, by the name of 
 Hose, in Solebury; was not able to go — Ah ! how soon there 
 will be an invitation to my funeral. I likewise had a solemn 
 word of exhortation from a youngish woman, who appeared to 
 be partially deranged. She has undertaken to visit the families of 
 our Monthly Meeting. Her father and she came together. They . 
 both appeared to be angry at me, the first for preaching against 
 usury, and the other for publishing some strictures against 
 wrong-headed enthusiasts ; especially such as will not comply 
 with the order and discipline of Society, and not rising in the 
 time of prayer. I treated her with tenderness, though she was 
 very hard : but perhaps it was all right. 
 
 1th. First day ; attended Horsham Meeting ; it was very 
 large in consequence of much notice being spread that a minis- 
 ter from the western part of our State would be there. I think 
 he spoke more than two hours, and I verily thought it an his- 
 torical lecture, which, had the speaker been eloquent, might 
 have been more interesting. I suffered in body and mind. 
 I was disappointed, for I was in hopes I could have another 
 sweet silent meeting at Horsham ; but I must be content to 
 suffer, and oh ! that it may be for Christ's sake. 
 
 %thj 9th, 10th. Industriously engaged at my business, but 
 not without some failure in religious care and strict attention to 
 the truth, which I quibblingly avoid-ed in a very trifling circum- 
 stance, and felt condemnation. Was invited to the funeral of 
 Susan Stapler, but did not go, being feeble in body and mind, 
 and having no special commandment from the Divine Master. 
 
 11th, Our midweek meeting. I could only get a little crumb 
 of bread, the loaf was so tossed about by our preachers. One 
 youngish woman, who is paying a kind of running visit to our 
 families, spoke I think five or six times, and apppeared once in 
 prayer, with four other communications from our own mem- 
 bers. In the afternoon attended the wedding of J. L., and 
 
238- 
 
 A. S. They were'married according to the new discipline ; not- 
 withstanding which, it was to me an interesting opportunity. 
 The young people spoke I think, the best I ever heard. 
 
 12th and 13^/t. At work in my shop in peace and quietness. 
 
 lAth. First day J a pretty large meeting, and to me the first 
 part was precious, my soul being permitted to enter the house 
 of silent prayer. The religious solemnity might have been bet- 
 ter preserved, could I have remained silent j but our dear 
 little E. S., I thought gave us a sweet little communication. 
 In the afternoon there was a very large meeting, for W. M. j 
 but being worn out by getting the house ready for meetings and 
 so very feeble both in body and mind, I staid at home, and let 
 all my family go. There was much complaining with some, of 
 the man's long speaking; and I fear it was too much like some 
 of my great preaching, as the people were pleased to call it ; 
 too much the product of a cloven tongue as of fire, and if so in 
 addition to a subtle, selfish desire to get subscribers to a book, 
 the great preacher is in a sad condition ; and certainly needs 
 to be possessed of Paul's concern — a godly care, lest while he 
 is preaching to others, he himself becomes a castaway. But let 
 me remember that it was only twenty-one years ago, that Ed- 
 ward Hicks was preaching in the neighborhood of poor old Rich- 
 ard Jordan, then on his death bed, and according to the state- 
 ments of his friends, crying out '^Oh cannot there be some 
 way to stop such unsound preachers V Now as I have taken 
 the liberty to fear that that once highly favored minister, died in 
 a bad state of mind ; would it not be profitable to extend that 
 fear in a godly manner over myself ? and remember seriously 
 the late exhortation of A. A. P., when visiting the families of 
 our Monthly Meeting; '^Thou hast been joined to a company of 
 angels and just men made perfect, and canst thou not dis- 
 tinguish between the precious and the vile — art thou not still 
 in danger of the sentence, go ye cursed into everlasting fire, 
 prepared for the Devil and his angels ?" Although I feared at 
 the time the dear young women was a fanatic, which has been 
 confirmed by her subsequent conduct; yet I ought to remember 
 that a dumb ass was once made use of to reprove the back-slid- 
 ing of a once highly favored prophet. At the close of the af- 
 ternoon meeting, one of our cunning, selfish, wise, political, 
 prudent men of the world, and one of the excellent of the 
 earth, mark, '^ of the earth, earthy," gave public notice that a 
 sneeting would be held for the purpose of collecting alms for 
 
239 
 
 the poor in Ireland. I am glad I was not present, for notwith- 
 standing there had been a great deal of preaching, I should 
 have been tempted to add an extract from Chrisfs sermon on 
 the mount ; " Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, 
 to be seen of them, otherwise you have no reward of your 
 Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine 
 alms do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do, 
 in the synagogue, &c." I say I am glad I was not there, for I 
 should have given offence, and perhaps done no good ; for it 
 seems that even Friends are determined not to " exceed the 
 righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees/^ 
 
 I heard asserted in the same house where the notice had been 
 given of the Irish meeting, — and that too, by a professed Qua- 
 ker preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ, — that a certain Ro- 
 man Catholic priest in Ireland had done greater works than ever 
 Jesus had done. I cannot help wondering what has be- 
 come of that wonderful Catholic priest, and why he is not 
 now exerting his wonderful power in keeping his countrymen 
 from starving to death. We are told that the blessed Jesus 
 had so much sympathy for hungry people, who had come some 
 distance from their homes to attend one of his meetings, that he 
 would not suffer his disciples to send them away without giv- 
 ing them something to eat; and there happeningto be a lad in 
 his company who had five barley loaves of bread, and two or 
 three fishes, with these, he fed five thousand ^men, besides 
 women and children, and had twelve baskets full of fragments 
 left. This is recorded in the Holy Scriptures, and we old 
 fashioned Christians believe every word of it. Now I can- 
 not help asking, where is that wonderful Roman Catholic 
 priest, the idol of certain professional Quakers ? Can it be pos- 
 sible that he and his quondam friend, O'Connel, have been 
 wheedling their poor weak countrymen out of their money to 
 support them in the costume, equipage and luxury of fine 
 gentlemen of the world, and now are not exerting their won- 
 derful power to save their countrymen from starvation ! Why, 
 if the reverend gentleman can do greater works than Jesus 
 Christ, would it be unreasonable to suppose that he now might 
 be feeding the poor starving Irish, at the rate of ten thousand 
 men, besides women and children, with ten loaves of bread and 
 five fishes, which would soon bring down the price of Ameri- 
 can produce, and supercede the need of building more vessels 
 
240 
 
 to carry it. But enough of this, for I have been reading a 
 wonderful account in a Quaker paper of the sufferings in Ire- 
 land, and it appears they forgot to tell us that the Catholic 
 priest had sold his fine gentleman's dress, and was appropriating 
 the money, together with what he had been getting for silver 
 shrines for Diana, — no, no ; I mistake, pewter medals for tem- 
 perance, — to purchase barley loves of bread for his poor starv- 
 ing countrymen; and that O'Connel has sold his splendid 
 coach and fine dapple greys, and is, in company with the Rev- 
 erend Father, spending the money, with the thousands he has 
 been getting from men, women and children, to buy bread 
 for his starving countrymen. I say, perhaps, the Quaker pa- 
 per has forgot to show us this pleasant side of the picture, 
 and that it may come next week. But, alas ! the subject mat- 
 ter before me is of too serious a character for irony or 
 sarcasm, and therefore I had better recall some of my re- 
 marks. 
 
 But I am perplexed and worried with the acts and sayings 
 of some of my friends, for I remember that in addition to the 
 declaration of the old popular minister, that the Catholic priest 
 had done greater works than Jesus Christ, — a young conceited 
 bantling of a Quaker preacher, justified and united with 
 Daniel O'Connel's abuse of George Washington about his 
 slaves, whose every comfort and enjoyment was almost infinite- 
 ly superior to those of his own degraded and wretched country- 
 men. Indeed my soul is grieved and disgusted with the 
 vain, empty boasts of proud impious England, reiterated by 
 weak, superficial, apostate Americans, who, I fear, can be hired 
 for almost any wages, to get up a begging mania to feed their 
 wretched poor, while their priests may continue to be worshipped, 
 and their lordly clergy, pampered nobility, and avaricious 
 money-mongers, continue their blood-sucking system in exact- 
 ing the utmost farthing to keep such abominable hypocrites 
 wallowing in wealth and luxury. And should the working 
 poor manfully attempt to redress their own grievances, the 
 standing armies are commanded to murder them by thou- 
 sands as rebels, turning the remnant, like paupers, over to 
 America, to be fed and clothed by the abused slave-holders. 
 
 Ah ! poor, worthy English operatives — I have loved you, 
 I have sympathised with you ; I have prayed for you ever 
 
241 
 
 since I heard from tlie mouth of that excellent female minister, 
 E. G.J of New York, the following affecting circumstance 
 which she was a sorrowful witness of. She said, in substance, 
 that when she was in Ireland, near fifty years ago, after being 
 at a. Friends' meeting in a certain town, she was invited to dine 
 with a wealthy Friend. She had not been long in the house 
 before she was sent for to visit a poor sick neighbor at the point 
 of death. She was introduced into the most miserable hovel 
 that she had ever seen — and mark, she was a citizen of New 
 York, and in the practice of visiting the sick and poor, — where 
 she beheld on a bed of straw, something like the skeleton of a 
 man in the last stage of starvation, whose only attendant was 
 a daughter about eighteen, whose pale, emaciated form, loudly 
 proclaimed that she was following her father to the gates of 
 death. Indeed, if I recollect rightly, the poor girl told my 
 friend she had only eaten one potatoe in the last twenty-four 
 hours. I need not tell any more, although it would be highly 
 honorable to the Christian feelings of the dear Friend whom I 
 love as a precious sister in Christ. Suffice it to say, there is 
 abundant evidence that the sufferings of the poor Irish are not 
 peculiar to 1846-7, though they now may be increased by the 
 failure of some of their crops. But their exaggerated suffer- 
 ings having now the advantage of a popular mania, almost pe- 
 culiar to America^ it will for a while, make a great sound, if 
 it can be fed with puffs innumerable in the newspapers, afford- 
 ing an opportunity for doggerel poets to convert trumpetting 
 hypocrites into angels, and newspaper scribblers and political 
 office-hunters into saints; while the humble, consistent be- 
 liever in Jesus Christ, in that faith that works by love, silently 
 and quietly obeys his commandment, " But when thou dost 
 thine alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand 
 doeth; that thy alms may be in secret, and thy father 
 which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." With such 
 humble, consistent, unpretending Christians, I would freely 
 unite, and, poor as I am, throw in my two mites, not doubting 
 but that an easy and quiet channel could be found to convey 
 pur contributions to the real sufferers in Ireland. 
 
 Wth, IQth, and 17t7i. Busy in my shop, trying to walk 
 honestly towards those who are watching me, that they may 
 not have wherewith to accuse me before the brethren. I 
 am furnished from time to time with renewed evidence that it 
 
 21 
 
242 
 
 was right for me to publish my little book, especially in the 
 manner I did, giving it away. I am satisfied it will promote 
 the cause of truth as professed by religious Friends, and that 
 encourages me, for I love religious Friends. 
 
 18^/i. Oar Preparative meeting; I thought I got a little 
 heavenly bread near the close, although I was so shackling in 
 my mind that it was very little that I deserved. I had an 
 opportunity I long wished for with M. S., a daughter of my 
 dear deceased friend H. and J. J. I sorrowfully thought her 
 self-righteousness and religious consequence was marked in the 
 lines and configuration of her face ; and as she had anticipated 
 the interview, she was prepared to tell me how much her fa- 
 ther had done for me. But I had forgot that I ever stood in 
 need of her father's assistance to put me forward, for I was in 
 the station of a recommended minister, and passing for more 
 than I was worth before I was acquainted with her father, who, I 
 believe, was not then in the station of an elder, though a very kind 
 common Friend. I tried to give her the advice and counsel 
 that dear old Oliver Paxson gave me when young in the mi- 
 nistry — to keep in the bosom of her friends at home, and not 
 be under foreign influence, and then her friends would carry 
 her in her infancy in their arms ; but if she suffered her- 
 self to be under the influence of that cunning artful L. M.^ 
 and a faction in Philadelphia, that she would be in disunity 
 with her Monthly Meeting. I told her that I felt it my duty 
 to deliver that message to ber, and that I had tried to save her 
 brother from the same faction, and hoped I would now be 
 better prepared to meet the glorified spirits of her dear father and 
 mother in an awful eternity. But alas ! I fear in the case 
 now before me, the saying of the blessed Saviour is applicable : 
 '^ The whole need not the physician, but they that are sick. 
 The Son of Mary came not to call the righteous but sinners to 
 repentance." But perhaps I am influenced by prejudice and 
 wrong feelings ; the Searcher of hearts only knows. 
 
 19th and 20th. Spent in attention to m}^ business. 
 
 21st. First day — a very stormy day, and a small, but com- 
 fortable meeting. 
 
 22d. A high day with some of our political companies in 
 consequence of its being Washington's birth-day. Forty-seven 
 years ago, I too participated in this festival, and marched in the 
 ranks as a soldier. Alas ! where are my comrades and fellow- 
 
243 
 
 soldiers ? Grone ! gone — ^^ Oh ! eternity — eternity, thou dread^ 
 ful— awful thought/' One poor, unworthy wretch is left a 
 monument of adorable mercy. 
 
 23c?. Spent too much in idleness, with this language sound- 
 ing in the ears of my soul : there is no such thing as an idle, 
 shackling Christian, no more than a fighting Christian. 
 
 24^A. Our select Quarterly Meeting held at Wrightstown ; 
 a solid encouraging opportunity. 
 
 25^A. The general Quarterly Meeting; a very snowy morn- 
 ing. Notwithstanding the meeting was well attended, and 
 conducted with more propriety than has been usual for several 
 years. An encouraging time, though it was my lot to suffer 
 in silence without one crumb of heavenly bread. 
 
 2QtJi. Received this evening from a very wealthy, respecta- 
 ble Orthodox Friend, an account of the life, death and burial 
 of that distinguished Quaker preacher, Joseph John Grurney, 
 of Norwich, in England, a man of princely fortune, and great 
 scholastic education ; the possessor and inhabitant of Earldom 
 Hall, the palace of the once great Lord Bacon. 
 
 The pamphlet appears to have been written by a priest, or 
 one of their satellites, probably a catch-penny newspaper scrib- 
 bler; be that as it may, after reading said pamphlet, I went to 
 bed sorrowful and discouraged, tempted to call in question 
 what I had thought was to me most sacred and clear, my early 
 impressions in favor of the precepts and example of Jesus 
 Christ, who I verily thought was God manifest in the flesh, 
 the great head of the Christian church, and pattern of ever- 
 lasting righteousness. Alas ! I was ready to say for poor me, 
 I have had wealth and scholastic education both offered to 
 me, and refused them, and now what am I but a poor ignorant 
 mortal, reduced to this sad conclusion, that the record of the 
 New Testament was not the sayings of eternal truth, or this 
 idolized Quaker preacher was no Christian or follower of 
 Jesus Christ, no more than the Bishop of Durham or Dublin. 
 
 21th. Arose this morning refreshed with sleep, but so light 
 in my spirit as to think of Pope's pertinent remarks : 
 
 '' 'Tis from high life high characters are drawn, 
 A saint in crape is twice a saint in lawn." 
 
 After attending to what I consider my daily duties, reading 
 a portion of the New Testament, I was led into secret, silent, 
 and I trust, fervent and effectual prayer, that I might not be 
 
244 
 
 deceived. When it appeared to open with clearness that the 
 sayings of our blessed Saviour are the testimonies of eternal, 
 unchangeable truth, and the standard of everlasting righteous- 
 ness, and his humble, lowly cross the only way to the crown. 
 And if I understand him, he compared his true followers to a 
 poor beggar, and nominal professors to a certain rich man, 
 who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptu- 
 ously every day, and says there was a certain beggar named 
 Lazarus, that was laid at his gate full of sores, desiring to be 
 fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table — 
 moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came 
 to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into 
 Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried, 
 and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and seeing 
 Abraham afar ofi", and Lazarus in his bosom ; he cried, father 
 Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may 
 dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I 
 am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, sod remem- 
 ber that thou, in thy life time, received thy good things, and 
 Lazarus his evil things, but now he is comforted and tho^ arfc 
 tormented. Awful query ! which is the best likeness of J. J. 
 Gr., the rich man or Lazarus. 
 
 In confirmation of the above, we have the Divine Saviour 
 saying most emphatically, ^^ Wo unto you that are rich, for 
 you have received your consolation.^' "It is easier for a camel 
 to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven." "For those things that are 
 highly esteemed amongst men are an abomination in the sight 
 of God." These solemn truths were fully understood and be- 
 lieved by the primitive saints, and hence their powerfully cor- 
 roborating testimonies. "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and 
 howl for your miseries that shall come upon you ! Your riches 
 are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten ; your gold 
 and silver are cankered, and the rust of them shall be a wit- 
 ness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire ; ye 
 have lived in pleasure on earth, and been wanton." "For the 
 love of money is the root of all evil, which while some have lusted 
 after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves 
 through with many sorrows." " For they that would be rich 
 fall into temptation and a snare, and many foolish and hurtful 
 lusts which drown men in perdition and destruction." I will 
 
245 
 
 leave tlie reader to make his own comment, while I anticipate 
 the reply of the trumpeters of the fame of J. J. G., that he 
 gave liberally to Bible Societies, Missionary Societies, &c., and 
 mightily assisted the hireling priests in bearing rule by their 
 means, and their people in loving to have it so. Yes, he gave 
 more than one year's income of his princely estate for this 
 great purpose, besides feeding poor beggars with the crumbs that 
 fell from his table, while the dogs may have had more com- 
 passion for their sores. That is, the common people, such as 
 J. J. G-., and his priests would call heretics and unbelievers, 
 have more Christian sympathy for the suffering, starving, 
 dying English subjects. Witness their passionate attacks on 
 the abominable aristocracy and hierarchy of the British go-- 
 vernment, the anti-christian source of all their sufferings, 
 supported and held up by such men as J. J. Gt. 
 ^ The pamphlet further says, that the Grurney family has been 
 rich and great, and consequently influential in Norwich, for 
 near two hundred years, but that J. J. G-. was the greatest of 
 all. ^ Keeping the standard of Christianity before us, the hum- 
 ble, illiterate carpenter of Nazareth, who maintained his wi- 
 dowed mother by humble industry, while neither of them had 
 where_ to lay their heads as to earthly possessions ; and the 
 poor, illiterate fisherman of G-alilee, and the industrious tent- 
 maker of Tarsus, who ministered to his own necessities and 
 those who were with him, by the labor of his own hands,— I 
 say let us keep this standard before us, and compare an hum- 
 ble trader in Philadelphia, a member of the Society of Friends, 
 with the great idol of Norwich. His parents, about twenty- 
 five years ago, were sold out of house and home, in conse- 
 quence of being eaten up by usury. Falling short of satisfy- 
 ing the demands against him, near five thousand dollars, the 
 poor old Friends, almost broken hearted, went to Philadelphia, 
 taking this son, about fourteen, with them, and with difficulty 
 got a trader to take him. His humble industry and faithful- 
 ness, soon gained the respect and confidence .of his master, 
 who, after he was free, gave him a chance in business, where 
 he succeeded in making money enough to pay all his father's 
 debts, which was the first of his noble acts. Since which, he 
 has given away thousands to poor, helpless, suffering mortals, 
 but in such an humble, unobtrusive way, that his left hand 
 did not know what his right hand did. Nor should I have 
 
 21* 
 
246 
 
 known as much as I do, had he not made me the distributor 
 of some of his alms, expressing a wish that I would not men- 
 tion his name, but I proved such a tell-tale, that he discharg- 
 ed me from my stewardship, and employed others with less 
 tongue. Being inquisitive, I found out that he was still dis- 
 tributing to the necessities of the poor, agreeably to the com- 
 mandment of his Divine Master; "When thou doesi. thine 
 alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do 
 in the synagogues and streets, that they may be seen of men ; 
 verily, they have their reward/' Now if we add our Lord's 
 views of the poor widow's two mites being of a more heaven- 
 ly character than the abundant gifts of rich men, I think we 
 shall be prepared to come to this conclusion, that C H., the 
 the poor tradesman of Philadelphia, walking in the path of 
 humble industry, paying his father's debts, and cherishing his 
 poor widowed mother, is, according to the Christian standard;, 
 far superior to J. J. G., of Norwich, in England, notwith- 
 standing his yearly income of thousands of dollars. 
 
 28^^. First day ; we had a good meeting, especially after our 
 dear little E. S. preached the gospel ; my poor soul was nour- 
 ished with a morsel of heavenly bread. 
 
 Sd month, 1st, 2d and Sd. At work in my shop, trying to 
 earn something, so that I may be able to meet all demands 
 against me this Spring. Oh ! how thankful I ought to be for 
 the blessing of being relieved from debt, which once almost 
 broke my heart. Friends have certainly lost much of their 
 dignified character for punctuality and justice in the payment 
 of debts, and so far from paying their parents' debts, they will 
 not pay their own, even when able, which has almost become 
 fashionable. Therefore, C. H., before alluded to, has been 
 guilty of a great departure from the too common custom and 
 fashion of the day. 
 
 4:th. Our Monthly Meeting at Makefield ; silent worship, 
 and a comfortable encouraging meeting for business. 
 
 ^th and 6th. At work in my shop. 
 
 7th, First day. Last night, near eleven o'clock, a messen- 
 ger arrived from New York, with information that our dear 
 daughter, Susan H. Carle, was sick; and to-day, our daughter 
 Elizabeth went on. Our meeting was pretty well attended. 
 Our sister, S. W., I thought, gave us a good little discourse, 
 and I added a few words that might as well have been left, 
 
247 
 
 for all that they were worth. I tried to have a good meeting, 
 but for some reason ' the heavens seemed like brass, and the 
 earth like iron. 
 
 %tli. This day one year ago, our dear little grand-daughter, 
 Phoebe Ann Carle, breathed her last, and my eyes are filled 
 with tears whilst writing the record. Oh ! the love and ten- 
 derness I feel for that precious child, while I rejoice at her 
 safe arrival among those blessed angels that always behold the 
 face of their Father. Received an invitation to the funeral of 
 our aged aunt, Mary Hilborn. 
 
 ^th and \^tli. Industriously at work in my shop. It was 
 so rainy I could not go to aunt Mary's funeral, but felt peace 
 of mind : yea, sweet peace to flow as a river of life, for which 
 my soul bows in thanksgiving and praise to Him that sitteth 
 upon the throne and the Lamb. Read part of what is called 
 a thanksgiving sermon, by the great Albert Barnes, a Presby- 
 terian minister in Philadelphia, which I consider a great po- 
 litical oration, embracing important political truths, but noth- 
 ing of the Gospel of Jesu& Christ. Indeed I have reason to 
 fear that the preacher is not a heart-felt believer, for if he 
 was, or is, how could he live in pride and idleness on the in- 
 dustry of others. Two thousand dollars a year for preaching. 
 Alas ! my soul grieves at such palpable inconsistency. 
 
 11^^. Our midweek meeting ; a laborious time till dear E. 
 S. rolled away the stone from the well's mouth, when my 
 soul could sing, I trust, like one formerly, who said, " Spring 
 up, well, and I will sing unto thee.'' Indeed I had a 
 precious meeting, in silent, solemn supplication. 
 
 \2th and 13^^. Industriously engaged in my shop, with 
 peace and plenty. 
 
 l^th. First day; a precious, good meeting. I awoke this 
 morning with this language impressed upon my mind, " Straight 
 is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few 
 there are that find it. Because, wide is the gate and broad is 
 the way that leads to destruction, and many there are that go 
 in thereat." And Christ says, "I am the way, the truth and 
 the life; no man cometh to the Father but through me, and 
 he that hath seen me hath seen my Father." When I took 
 my seat in meeting this morning, this prayer sprung up in my 
 heart, ^^ Oh ! for an establishment upon that rock against 
 which the gates of hell shall never prevail." This led to what 
 
248 
 
 I call a precious meeting, and could I have remained silent, it 
 might have added to my peace of mind. But I felt it my duty 
 to give a little transcript of my exercise to the meeting, which 
 I fear, did not add much to the stature of truth. 
 
 15^/4, 16th and 17th. Spent in my shop in close application 
 to business. Received an invitation to the funeral of Abra- 
 ham Buckman, near the Buck Tavern, but did not go, but 
 staid and attended our own midweek meeting, which was large 
 and one of the most precious, encouraging opportunities. J. S. 
 appeared in solemn testimony, and his dear little wife in so- 
 lemn supplication. Indeed it was a refreshing time to my poor 
 soul, for I was silent, only speaking of the funeral of R. J., 
 an aged Friend, say eighty-seven. This woman was left a wi- 
 dow nearly thirty years ago, with an income of ten or twelve 
 hundred dollars a year, from rents and usury. I did not at- 
 tend her funeral, for I was afraid I would find a house of re- 
 joicing and jealousy, instead of a house of mourning; and be- 
 sides, there are always enough to attend upon the rich, and I 
 was fearful if I went I might do more hurt than good. 
 
 Idth. At work in my shop ', and on the 20th, went in com- 
 pany with my brother-in-law, Isaac Parry, to see D. H., a 
 man with a handsome wife, handsome children, handsome 
 farm, handsome buildings, and a handsome fortune, but with a 
 broken constitution, and melancholy mind, brooding, I fear, 
 over the gloomy apprehensions of an after state. Oh ! the 
 fatal mistake that poor, short-lived mortals continue to make. 
 
 21st. First day; a rainy morning, and of course not a large 
 meeting. Several of us ministers and elders had some public 
 service that did not appear to me to amount to much, especi- 
 ally the part that came from me. However, the silent part I 
 thought was a good meeting to me. In the afternoon had an 
 invitation to the funeral of Obadiah Willet, who lived nearly 
 ninety-three years, but at last had to die. "Yes, he is gone — 
 that is all — we know not where,^^ " or how the disembodied 
 soul doth fare.^^ "We may know that he has left a pretty 
 large estate, and two sets of high spirited children, and we may 
 have reason to fear there will be too much bad feeling, if not 
 too much bad action, with reference to law and limitation acts. 
 I have been acquainted with Obadiah Willet nearly fifty 
 years. He once had a lovely daughter, near my age, and 
 some of my happiest juvenile hours were spent under his roof. 
 
249 
 
 22(^. In my shop, where I was most agreeably visited Iby 
 my dear Friend, Emmor Kimber. 
 
 2Sd, Attended the funeral of Obadiah Willet. It was quite 
 large, and I spoke to the company at some length, but I fear 
 to little purpose, though I thought at the time, and especially 
 when I had done speaking, that it was a solemn opportunity. 
 I now think my communication a poor heterogeneous mixture 
 of undigested matter, something like a half baked cake. I 
 was certainly led somewhat singularly. I began to speak with 
 a prospect of giving a paraphrase of the 14th chapter of 
 John, and the 13th of first Corinthians, but struck off upon 
 something- like the following remarks, touching the character 
 of the deceased : " That he was able to say, after he had lived 
 to the full age of a man, say seventy years, that he had never 
 used tobacco in any way, nor had he ever been drunk.^' Now 
 in estimating his character let us act upon a principle of jus- 
 tice — if we charge him with his deficiencies and vices, let us 
 give him credit for his perfections and virtues. If we charge 
 him with not being religious, that is, not going to meeting, nor 
 paying his money to support a hireling ministry, Bible Socie- 
 ties, Missionary Societies, &c. &c., let us give him credit for 
 setting a better example, of a dignified, consistent, rational 
 being, by not using tobacco, or not getting drunk for seventy 
 years, than ninety-nine out of a hundred hireling priests, or 
 their satellites, or even numbers of the religious Society of 
 Friends. This view, taken in connection with his other traits 
 of character, I am induced to believe would present a balance 
 in favor of my deceased kinsman, Obadiah Willet. We are 
 told that the chief end of man, is to glorify God on earth, 
 and enjoy him in heaven for ever, and the primitive Chris- 
 tians testified that God ought to be glorified even in eating and 
 drinking. Now please to consider, whether God is glorified by 
 a high professor of Christianity, when, perverting the whole 
 order of creation, he takes into his mouth a nasty weed, whose 
 poisonous, nauseous qualities are such that a hog, one of the 
 filthiest of animals, will not touch it; or whether a lovely 
 woman, who ought to stand next to the angels in heaven, 
 glorifies him when she defiles her lips with abominable 
 snuff; or when, indulging an irritable temper, she uses 
 harsh language, unbecoming her position, and calculated 
 to sully or blot out every agreeable quality; I say, how 
 does such a woman glorify God, more than the poor man who 
 
250 
 
 gets drunk on whiskey, abuses his wife, and swears. Indeed, 
 I have considered them so nearly equal in perverting the di- 
 vine harmony of creation, that they have no reason to quarrel 
 who should be the greatest, or rather the worst. 
 
 24fh. Closely employed in my shop. 
 
 2bth. Our midweek meeting; a comfortable encouraging 
 opportunity. 
 
 26th and 27th. Yery busy trying to get some work done by 
 the terrible, " first of April,'' a day of trouble and rebuke to 
 poor me for many years. Oh ! how thankful I ought to feel 
 for the fulfilment, so far, of dear old William Blakey's pro- 
 phecy when encouraging my wife and self thirty .years ago, 
 " that our last days should be our best days.'' 
 
 2Sth. First-day. I had a precious silent meeting after hard 
 work to get at the life, though the solemnity was disturbed by 
 a cold lifeless lecture on the Sabbath, but closed well by being 
 favored with a little new wine of the kingdom handed to us by 
 our dear little friend, E. S. 
 
 29th, SOth and 31.s^. Spent in finishing some work and try- 
 ing to persuade a young man who possesses talents to be 
 gTcatly good, to reform from the errors of his way, he having 
 lately given some grounds for hope by an act of justice towards 
 the woman he has married, A man may be a drunkard, a 
 swearer, and indeed, a very immoral man ; still there is hope 
 for him ; but if he uses a woman badly, gaining her afiections 
 and then leaving her in a helpless state, the victim of despair, 
 reproach and shame, such a man, being a great sinner, must be 
 a great penitent or be greatly tormented. 
 
 4:th month Is^. Our midweek meeting, or rather Preparative 
 Meeting, unusually small, but comfortable and edifying. Went 
 in the afternoon with my wife to Warminster, to see our 
 sister E. and her daughter, and our dear S. P., husband, 
 parents, &c. 
 
 2d. Returned home and received an invitation to the funeral 
 of my dear afilicted friend, Sarah Hulme, of Mount Holly, 
 N. J. This day I have had another evidence of my constitu- 
 tional weakness — too easily provoked — Oh ! when shall I over- 
 come this enemy of my soul. 
 
 ^d. Another polite invitation to the funeral above alluded 
 to; in a serious difficulty about going; feebleness of health 
 and activity of mind are discouragements. The first, to my 
 
251 
 
 bodily health; the second, a fear I shall preach in my own will 
 and scatter, instead of gathering to Christ. Finally settled 
 not to go to the funeral of dear Sarah Hulme. 
 
 Ath, This day I am sixty-seven years of age, and seriously 
 think of closing my writing concern, but it being First-day I 
 will try to weigh the concern in the balance of the sanctuary, and 
 view it in the light of the gospel, if I can be favored with a 
 good silent meeting, A good meeting, but not as much light 
 as I could have wished, but if I am not mistaken, the 
 balance of impression is in favor of sealing up such visions and 
 prophecies as may hereafter be given, and write them not, only 
 publishing them by preaching the gospel with the Holy Ghost 
 sent down from heaven, the only way the gospel was ever 
 preached. I had better for ever be silent than to speak in my 
 own will and my own strength, for it is an unchangeable, eternal 
 truth, that ^^He that gathereth not with me — Christ — scatter- 
 eth." The Society of Friends are scattered and divided, and I fear 
 will too soon be subdivided. The two extremes which have 
 produced this, appear to me now to be carrying out their effect. 
 The Orthodox Friends are in two parties called Grurneyites and 
 Wilburites. The Gurneyites are the extreme Orthodox, and 
 are preparing to amalgamate with the Episcopalians, as the 
 Episcopalians are preparing to amalgamate with the Eoman 
 Catholics. Friends, or what are called Hicksite Friends, are 
 m two parties, which I shall call, for the purpose of explaining 
 my views, Hicksites and Foxites. The Hicksites appear to 
 me fully prepared to amalgamate with the Unitarians, as the 
 Unitarians are prepared to unite with the Deists, and finally 
 join the confederacy or conspiracy to destroy the religion of 
 Jesus in its blessed simplicity, and introduce the reign of rea- 
 son instead of revelation. The Foxites, or rather the Society 
 of Friends that unite, or are in union with Fox, Penn, and 
 Barclay, with which I include myself, are in a society capacity 
 m a suffering state, and which will be most likely to increase. 
 The friendly Orthodox are in a similar state and condition. 
 Now if the extreme Orthodox or Gurneyites would quietly go 
 to the Episcopalians where they properly belong, and our ultra 
 reformers go to the Unitarians, their right place, and religious 
 Friends and religious Orthodox could hold a conference, and 
 let that '^charity that suffereth long and is kind,'' sit as 
 moderator, I think there would be but little to prevent their 
 
252 
 
 uniting again. The greatest difficulty will be the deep rooted 
 prejudice against that excellent Friend, Elias Hicks. Indeed 
 the Orthodox spirit has most improperly and unjustly dubbed 
 as Hicksites the great body of Friends constituting the Yearly 
 Meeting of Philadelphia, when neither Elias Hicks nor his 
 doctrine had any thing to do with our Quaker revolution in 
 Pennsylvania, which originated in a contest between the repub- 
 licanism of William Penn, planted in America and watered 
 and cherished by the free institutions of our country, and the 
 aristocracy of the Yearly Meeting of London, under the influ- 
 ence of the British hierarchy. This being the fact, and that 
 Elias Hicks never united with John Comly's excellent Chris- 
 tian plan of re-organizing our Yearly Meeting, through its 
 constituent branches, nor came into it, till after it was effected, 
 and the Genius of Pennsylvania had offered its protection to 
 Friends; this of itself, certainly shows the inconsistency of 
 calling us Hicksites. If we must have a nick-name there 
 would be much more propriety in calling us Comlyites. But 
 be that as it may, one thing is pretty certain with me, that dear 
 old Elias in his day saw but one of the sad extremes which 
 are now distracting the whole Society of Friends. He only 
 saw, as he thought, the Society going, *' to use the figure of a 
 distinguished minister, full gallop towards Rome,^' or, in other 
 words, towards Trinitarianism } and fearing they would finally 
 split on that fatal rock of anti-Christ, Elias exerted himself with 
 great zeal and ability ; and as great men are not always wise, 
 nor wise men always prudent, he might sometimes have run so 
 near the opposite rock of Unitarianism as to be a little 
 scratched and injured by some of its cold barren points. But 
 even that partial evil, if it may be called an evil, proved the 
 truth of the Scripture testimony, that all things work together 
 for good to them that love God, for it convinced him that the 
 Unitarian rock was likely to be the most dangerous to his pro- 
 fessing Friends. Hence his declaration a short time before he 
 died, 'Hhat he was now more afraid of his professing friends, 
 than he was of his professing enemies ;'' and had the dear old 
 man lived until this time, he would more than have realized 
 his fearful apprehensions, in beholding his professing friends, 
 to use the figure by way of parody, so afraid of galloping to 
 Home that they were on something like the long trot to Con- 
 stantinople, with not as much reverence for Jesus Christ as 
 
258 
 
 the Turks, and where he might have heard one of their most 
 distinguished speakers declare from a Quaker gallery, as a 
 gospel truth, that a Catholic priest in Ireland had done greater 
 works than ever Jesus Christ had done ; and that peculiar 
 doctrine or position of the primitive Quakers, that Christ had 
 come as a quickening spirit to teach his people himself, was 
 all a delusion ; and that Friends now going to meeting and sit- 
 ting in silence, to wait upon him as a teacher that will lead 
 into all truth, was an abomination in the Divine sight; and all 
 those Scripture testimonies that Friends being in favor of such 
 a practice, are absurdities, as well as many other parts of the 
 New Testament. Add to this, Hannah Barnard's skeptical 
 speculation about the Scriptures revived, (by a nursling of a 
 boarding school) with all the flimsy sophistry of a quibbling 
 age, — I say had dear old Elias Hicks lived to see and hear all 
 this, and had he been in the same state of mind that he was 
 when seventy years of age^ he would have looked upon such 
 professing Friends as his Divine Master did upon the hypo- 
 critical priests, ^^with anger, being grieved for the hardness of 
 their hearts," 
 
 I am aware that these sorrowful truths may give offence 
 and some Orthodox may reply that what is acknowledged above 
 is nothing more than the carrying out of the doctrine preached 
 by Elias Hicks. To which I answer ; not as much so as the 
 opposite extreme, now existing among Orthodox Friends, which 
 is driving their members by hundreds to the priests, is 'the ef- 
 fect of the preaching, writing, and example, of Joseph John 
 Ourney and Elisha Bates ; and if Orthodox Friends would be 
 honest and candid enough to make a fair comparison between 
 their redoubtable champions, Joseph John and Elisha, and 
 that venerable and consistent Quaker, Elias Hicks, I think 
 they would be ashamed of themselves, and be willing to put up 
 their sword into its sheath. I could say much about the in- 
 consistency of the wealthy and learned Joseph John Grurney 
 in continuing his connection with the Society of Friends, and 
 at the same time going hand and glove with hireling priests 
 giving them thousands of pounds to support their Bfble Soci- 
 eties, Missionary Societies, &c., the means by which they bear 
 rule. I could say much about the learned and mutable Elisha 
 Bates' extreme orthodoxy, but final consistency, in leaving 
 Friends and joining the Episcopal Methodists. But enough 
 
 22 ^ ' 
 
254 
 
 if not too much, has already been said, and my object is to try 
 to restore peace among religious Friends, and get them together 
 again, for they will stand in need of all the sympathy and 
 help that they can give each other ; and I should be willing to 
 retire with such religious Friends, from all these noisy, turbu- 
 lent parties, now in Society, and let them hare our big meeting 
 houses, and money at usury, boarding schools, worldly honors, 
 &c. &c. All we would ask would be our old-fashioned Quaker- 
 ism, whose gratitude and love to God could wet the floor of a 
 log cabin with its tears, and whose excellent old-fashioned dis- 
 cipline was particularly concerned that poor Friend's necessi- 
 ties should be duly inspected, and they relieved, and assisted 
 in such business as they were capable of. With such Friends 
 I should be more than willing to renew covenant with a cove- 
 nant keeping God, and with each other, in the good, old-fash- 
 ioned resolution, that, let others do as they would, we would 
 love the Lord Jesus Christ, and try to promote his blessed 
 cause on earth, in accordance with the views of Fox, Penn, and 
 Barclay. My precious mother died in this faith, and left her 
 infant a legacy of unutterable love — the fervent, effectual 
 prayer of her righteous soul — that the Shepherd of Israel, the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, would bless and preserve her son ; and it 
 seemed so ordered, in infinite goodness and mercy, that my lot 
 was cast under the superintending care of a pious Quaker 
 woman^ who, like Cowper's cottager, knew, 
 " And only knevv' her Bible to be true, 
 
 A truth some modern schoolmen never knew, 
 And led her infant charge, with sparkling eyes, 
 To seek a heavenly treasure in the skies.'' 
 
 This was the instrument that was made use of to assist in 
 kindling the first devotional fire on the altar of my heart ; a 
 fire that was partially covered, but never put out — a fire that 
 was kindled with renewed fervency, under a heavenly visita- 
 tion, about the twenty-first year of my age, and now furnished 
 with additional fuel, from the grateful remembrance of the 
 unmerited mercy and goodness of my Heavenly Father, in 
 keeping me and feeding me, to the commencement of my sixty- 
 eighth year. I can set up my Ebenezer, and say, hitherto the 
 Lord has been with me, he has blessed me with every thing in 
 this world that I could ask for. It is true, my comfortable 
 home consists of a house which some might think of but mean 
 
255 
 
 appearance, and a lot of twelve acres of land, the produce of 
 which, with mj working industriously with my own hands at 
 my trifling trade, I can pay cash for every thing I buy, and 
 owe no man; and, taking the apostle's advice, can ^^ Study to 
 be quiet, and do my own business, and work with my own 
 hands, that I may walk orderly towards them that are without, 
 and that I may lack nothing,'^ How much better is such a 
 Christian independence, than living idly, on an income drawn 
 from the sweat of the brow of a poor Christian brother, by 
 usury, or even the rent of a farm. I can now appeal to the 
 elders of Bucks Quarterly Meeting, as Paul did to the elders 
 of the Grecian Church, ^'I hav€ coveted no man's silver, or 
 gold, or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know that these hands 
 have ministered to my necessities, and them that are with me.'' 
 
 I am aware I stand charged by the priests and their satel- 
 lites, with receiving pay for preaching, and presents and favors 
 from Friends, with an extraordinary price for my work ; which 
 charges I now solemnly declare to be false. I admit that I 
 receive ten dollars a year of Newtown Preparative JMeeting, 
 for taking care of the meeting house, making fires, sweeping, 
 &c., out of which I pay from a dollar to two dollars towards 
 the contingent expenses. And as to favors and presents, with 
 the exception of the Leedom family, descendants of my adopted 
 mother, I receive no presents or favors. Indeed, a case has 
 just occurred that will show what kind of favors I receive from 
 Friends. 
 
 When I bought the last addition to my little lot, I bor- 
 rowed of a member of a neighboring Monthly Meeting, one 
 hundred and fifty dollars; aad after paying him more than one 
 hundred dollars usury, or interest, when i sent him a day or 
 two since, his one hundred and fifty dollars, he refused to give 
 up the obligation until I paid him about twenty-seven dollars, 
 compound interest. This man has no children, and is putting 
 out every year near a thousand dollars at usury : therefore let 
 the priests and their satellites put their hands upon their 
 mouths, and be silent, for the reverse is the fact, as respects 
 us poor Quaker ministers, since our Quaker revolution. Ex- 
 cepting a few cases of popular bubbles, we are the butt, the 
 Jest, and the laughing stock, of the fourth proof dandy, who 
 lias learned at school how to write a receipt, cut up a dog, and 
 Bjcgue against the immortality of the soul; and by the assistance 
 
256 
 
 of the redoubtable Thomas Paine, to consider the Holy Scrip- 
 tures a mere jest book. Yes, I know three poor Quaker min- 
 isters, within ten miles, that have been permitted to sink — one 
 of them, I fear, downright. 
 
 " O'er him and o'er his name, 
 
 The billows of affliction e'er will close; 
 
 The morrow knows not he was ever born." 
 
 This poor dear brother was a member of one of the richest 
 Monthly Meetings, whose active members have latterly ap- 
 peared to me pre-eminent for usury, ranterism, and self- 
 righteousness. Another has a short memorial of mercy from 
 his friends, connected with the records of his Preparative 
 Meeting, which, like the flag floating when the bark is en- 
 gulphed, may 
 
 " A moment float, and then be seen no more." 
 
 A third, although not a recommended minister, but acknow- 
 ledged by his neighbors to be a most excellent young Friend^ 
 was sold out by the Sheriff for a debt of two hundred dollars, 
 and then his Monthly Meeting, with funds at usury, tried to 
 disown him 3 while in the same and an adjoining neighborhood, 
 six hundred or a thousand dollars could be raised for the bene- 
 fit of a colored man, a native of Maryland. I do not make 
 these remarks from any imkind feeling I entertain against 
 these Friends, on account of any treatment I have received ; 
 far from it. But I make a statement of facts, in defence of 
 the cause of truth, as professed by Friends, to meet the charges- 
 of a set of lazy, proud hirelings, who can live idly on the in- 
 dustry of their weak, superstitious satellites, and to relieve the 
 wear and tear of their guilty consciences, are throwing out 
 their unjust insinuations against poor Quaker ministers, who 
 receive no salary nor favors, more than other members of Soci- 
 ety, but have to exert every energy of body and mind, to meet 
 the contingent expenses of a too often too extravagant family ; 
 and should they fail to meet all their engagements, and pay 
 their simple and compound interest, are sufi'ered to sink, if not 
 downright, in a crippled state for life; while the Monthly 
 Meeting to which one of them belongs, has ten thousand dol- 
 lars at interest or usury. But the present leaders of the meet- 
 ing, and managers of the funds, appear to have no Christ-like 
 mercy or forgiveness, and hence no sorrowful look is cast upoa 
 poor Peter, while perplexed and worried by a set of inq[uisi- 
 
S5T 
 
 tive, supercilions creditors j on tlae contrary, kis sins must be 
 confessed to the Monthly Meeting, in a degrading acknowledg- 
 ment. Oh ! that there could have been honest Christianity 
 enough in that Monthly Meeting, to have recorded at the 
 same time its own acknowledgement, that a little timely Chris- 
 tian care, with a very small part of the compound usury that 
 that Monthly Meeting had been exacting from honest industryj 
 would have saved this poor Friend. Oh ! how unlike the babe 
 of Bethlehem — oh ! how unlike the Lamb that groaned on 
 Calvary— oh ! how unlike that darling attribute of mercy, that 
 suffering Saviour, who turned and looked upon Peter, when 
 overwhelmed with temptation, confusion, and darkness, he was 
 equivocating, lying, and swearing — not a look of anger, not a 
 look of reproach, but a look of sorrow and sympathy for poor, 
 sinful, fallen man- a look of light and life, that made poor 
 Peter's sins appear exceeding sinful, and he wept bitterly tears 
 of repentance not to be repented of. It was all that was deemed 
 needful ; he. was never charged with being a liar and a swearer. 
 He was only cited three times in the following language : 
 ^' Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?" when Peter could 
 sorrowfully answer, "Lord, thou knowest all things, thou 
 knowest that I love thee.''' 
 
 Some of the foregoing remarks may be thought rather too 
 invidious, but, dear reader, they are not made on my own ac- 
 count, or in consequence of the dealings of Friends towards 
 me ; far from it : for however delinquent I may have been, 
 the Shepherd of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ, has raised me 
 up Friends, who have kept me above the disciplinarian treat- 
 ment of such cold, unfeeling Monthly Meetings. One whose 
 name already stands recorded in the narrative of my life, I 
 again refer to in this closing paragraph. Bear S. H. of New 
 York, an honor to the commercial character of that great city, 
 not only stood by me as my friend while liviuii:, but I believe 
 remembered me in death, and requested his children to do as 
 he had done. Hence, his beloved son H., a wealthy and re- 
 spectable nierchant of the same city, who I hope is walking in 
 the footsteps of his honored father, called on me, generously 
 offering to assist in any thing I needed. I told him I needed 
 nothing that this world could give me, and while I was able 
 with these hands to minister to my own necessities, and them 
 
 *22 
 
258 
 
 that were with me, I felt conscientiously hound to do it^ and 
 covet no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. 
 
 And here I will give my reasons for not suhmitting my 
 writings to the Meeting for Sufferings, or Representative Com- 
 mittee. Because they would not have united with their plain^ 
 simple form, neither would they have published them so that 
 they could be given away. Nevertheless, had all the members 
 been like my very dear friends John Comly, Isaac Parry, &c., 
 &c., I should not have been afraid that my writings would 
 have lost any thing of their Christian character by their re- 
 visal. But as too many members of that committee would be 
 a much more consistent ornament to a seat in Congress, than a 
 Quaker gallery, and consequently much better qualified to 
 serve on a committee of " ways and means,'^ than to judge of 
 Christian experience, I am not at liberty to submit to that 
 order of Society, believing I have a right, as a member of the 
 Society, to have them published on my own responsibility, and 
 clear Friends from any accountability whatever, for any errors 
 that may be in them. 
 
 And now, before I lay down my pen, I think it right to de- 
 clare again an increasing love and unity with faithful, religious 
 Friends, wherever they are to be found : mark what I say^ 
 faithful, religious Friends ; such as love the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and believe, with Fox, Penn, and Barclay, that He has come 
 without sin unto salvation, as a quickening spirit, to teach and 
 save his people himself, agreeable to his own heavenly promise 
 and the faith of his primitive disciples, " I will not leave you 
 comfortless, I will come nnto you,^^ in the character of the 
 spirit of truth that shall lead into all truth, which the world 
 cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him ; 
 ^' But ye know him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in 
 you.'' Therefore, ^^you need not that any man teach you,'' 
 save that Holy anointing '^ which is Christ within, the hope 
 of glory/' which teacheth and leadetli into all truth. 
 
 JSFewtown, 1th mo.lotJi, 1849. 
 I feel as if I ought to try to write a few lines more before I 
 die, which some of the Doctors think will be this summer. 
 Indeed I feel scarcely able to walk up and down stairs, such is 
 the weakness of my body, though I humbly hope, I am favored 
 with sound mind and memory, and want simply to say, in as 
 few words as possible, something by way of encouragement 
 
269 
 
 to such precious visited minds as may come after me and 
 read this. 
 
 Dear, precious children, believe me, an establishment in the 
 ever blessed truth as it is in Jesus, is infinitely — infinitely su- 
 perior to every thing of this world. Press after it, lay fast 
 hold of it, in this your day of visitation, remembering that by 
 ^' G-race ye are saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, 
 it is the gift of Grod.'^ Put no confidence in your own strength, 
 your own resolutions or resolves, for should you thus attain to 
 a religious standing among men, it may terminate in self- 
 righteousness, or at best, that of the elder brother, which was 
 not the Christian state. 
 
 I now feel that it was a great blessing when I came to 
 see my lost state, about the 21st year of my age, that I lost all 
 confidence in myself, and felt the need of a Saviour to save 
 my sinful soul, for I knew without such a Saviour I must fall ; 
 and this fear of falling, which has been the companion of my 
 mind for nearly fifty years, I now see has been an additional 
 blessing to me, for it led to care and concern, and this concern, 
 in the day of my espousal, when I first began to attend Friends' 
 meetings, led to fervent prayer, which was efi"ectual, and 
 hence my preservation as a monument of the mercy and good- 
 ness of Grod. I say monument of mercy, for I certainly have 
 no merit, and am really astonished that such a poor creature 
 as I have always been, should have ever attained to such a 
 standing in Society, and had so many good friends. 
 
 I now have a lively recollection that in those days of tempta- 
 tion and tremendous tossings, when I sometimes thought I 
 was lost for ever, when favored with the spirit of prayer, how I 
 begged for preservation. I felt as if I ought to suffer the due 
 reward of my evil deeds, but like the penitent suff"erer on the 
 right hand of Jesus, I often exclaimed, " Lord, remember me 
 when thou comest into thy kingdom. '^ This prayer has been 
 graciously answered, and I have been snatched as a brand 
 from the burning, and preserved as a monument of unmerited 
 mercy and goodness, which has put it into my heart, especially 
 these last years of my life, to pray daily for an increase oi faith 
 in Christ and an increase of love for him ;'and I now think I feel 
 an incontestible evidence that this prayer has been granted, 
 and my poor soul has become established in the eternal Truth, 
 as it is in Jesus, with that faith that works by love ', for oh ! 
 the love I feel for my dear Kedeemer is inexpressible; and the 
 
260 
 
 increase of love I feel for all his dear children the world over, 
 let iheir name and profession be what it may. This faith in 
 Christ and love for him, furnishes the precious hope that I 
 shall be saved, and this hope is like an anchor that keeps me 
 quiet, steady and Jinn under the canopy of heavenly peace j 
 ^Aa^ legacy that he hath bequeathed to all true believers, *'My 
 peace 1 leave with you, my peace I give unto you ; not as the 
 world giveth, give I unto you; let not your hearts be troubled, 
 neither let them be afraid/' I therefore humbly hope that 
 death to me will have no terrors, nor will the grave have any 
 victory, but through that faith that works by love, my soul will 
 triumph over death, hell and the grave. 
 
 I write this seriously, and awfully, and thoughtfully, being 
 under no excitement from preparations of opium, or any other 
 medicine. But in a short time I fear I shall not be able to say 
 so, for unless I can get relief some other way, I shall have to 
 have recourse to some kind of an anodyne ; and in that case, 
 whatever expressions I may use, will be more or less incohe- 
 rent, in proportion to the irritability of the nervous system, the 
 exquisite connection of soul and body. 
 
 In the covenant of grace, all are included under sin, that 
 the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of Grod should 
 abound in Heaven with the angelic host over repentant sinners. 
 Hence Paul felt himself, in the presence of Infinite purity, the 
 chief of sinners, saying, oh! wretched man that I am who shall 
 deliver me from the body of this death ; but joyfully exclaims, 
 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. This faithful 
 saying, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, 
 Paul considered worthy of all acceptation, and although he 
 looked upon himself as the chief of sinners he could testify 
 that the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, had made him 
 free from the law of sin and death, and that he had fought a good 
 fight, he had finished his course, he had kept the faith; hence- 
 forth there was laid up for him a crown of righteousness, which 
 the Lord, the righteous Judge, would give him at that day, 
 and, (0 encouraging consideration) not to him only, but to 
 all that love his af)pearing. With these views and experience of 
 the beloved Paul, I most cordially unite, according to my little ex- 
 perience ; and with much more propriety than Paul can sincere- 
 ly say, that in the presence of infinite purity I view myelf not 
 only the chief of sinners, but a wretched sinner, a fool, a worm 
 of the dust, a nothing ; but oh ! that compassionate darling at- 
 
261 
 
 tribute of mercy, wliich seeks to save that wliicla is lost, that 
 saw me when a great way off, and came to meet me, and I 
 humbly hope is preparing my poor soul to add to the joy in 
 Heaven, over one sinner that repenteth. 
 
 But I am writing too much and saying too little, and had 
 better mind my own business, which if I am not mistaken is 
 to bear a simple, child-like testimony to this mercy and good- 
 ness of my blessed Saviour' ; which will subject me to be pitied 
 by the wise and prudent of this world, as a fool, or ridiculed 
 as an enthusiast ; my doctrine considered madness, and my end 
 without honor. Yet I would not part with this child-like be- 
 lief in Jesus Christ, for ten thousand times ten thousand 
 worlds, and I am encouraged in this faith by his precious tes- 
 timony, where he says, ^' I thank thee, Father, Lord of hea- 
 ven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and 
 prudentj and revealed them unto babes; even so Father, for so 
 it seemed good in thy sight." Oh that I may be a babe in 
 Christ, and permitted to cry Abba, Father ! Oh that I may 
 have that precious life that is hid with Christ in God, as a pass- 
 port from this world to the Heaven of Heavens. 
 
A LITTLE PRESENT 
 
 FOR 
 
 FRIENDS 
 
 AND 
 
 FRIENDLY PEOPLE: 
 
 IN THE FORM OF 
 
 A MISCELLANEOUS DISCOURSE. 
 
 BY A 
 
 POOR ILLITERATE MECHANIC. 
 
PREFACE: 
 
 The heads only of the following Discourse were delivered at 
 Goose Creek meeting house, Loudon county, Virginia, on the 22d 
 of the 2nd month, 1837, and taken down in writing by a person 
 then present, who subsequently placed the manuscript in the 
 hands of the speaker, with a request from his hearers that he 
 would publish it. And notwithstanding he had hitherto rejected 
 all such applications, especially when he suspected that pedling 
 and speculation were the principal objects of the Stenographer, — 
 having a righteous testimony to bear against making a mercenary 
 traffic of gospel truths, — yet, the disinterestedness and respecta- 
 bility of the present applicants induced him again to take the 
 subject into serious consideration, when he apprehended he felt 
 more than a freedom to comply with the request by writing out 
 the several heads, — of course there is now more than was then 
 delivered, — which is offered to the public without money and with- 
 out price. 
 
 28 
 
DISCOURSE.* 
 
 (See Math. chap. xvi. 24; and Isaiah, xi. 6, 7.) 
 
 Since I took my seat in this meeting, my mind has been 
 arrested by the unchangeable terms of salvation laid down by 
 the DMne Saviour : " If any man will come after me, let him 
 deny liimself, take up his daily cross, and follow me ]'" and as 
 the subject has spread before the view of my mind, it has 
 opened into a wide field of instruction, and whether I shall 
 be able to lay it fully before this large and interesting assem- 
 bly, depends much upon Divine assistance, and the Christian 
 sympathy and feeling of others. As I feel very poor and 
 weak, and as the fervent and effectual prayer of the righteous 
 availeth much, I feelingly desire the prayers of all that can 
 feel for and with me, to enable me to fulfil the important trust 
 of a gospel minister, to the honor of my Creator, the edifica- 
 tion of my fellow pilgrims, and the peace of my own mind. 
 It was in a view similar to this great testimony of Christ that 
 the divinely inspired prophet Isaiah held forth this language 
 when alluding to the fulness; of the glorious gospel dispensa- 
 tion : ^^The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leo- 
 pard shall lie down with the kid ;^^ ^' The cow and the bear 
 shall feed ; their young shall lie down together ; and the lion 
 shall eat straw like the ox.'' Now the prophet was not only 
 a righteous man, but a true philosopher, and understood the 
 astonishing variety embraced in the wonderful creature called 
 man, viewing him, no^doubt, as he ought to be viewed, as the 
 
 " Connection exquisite of distant worlds ! 
 
 Distinguish'd link in being's endless chain ! 
 
 Midway from nothing to the Deity." 
 
 ^^ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth — 
 and he said, let there be light, and there was light.'' ^'In the 
 beginning was the Wordy and the Word was with God, and 
 the Word was God : all things were made by him, and with- 
 
 *The MS. of the following Discourse was put into the hands of the 
 printer by a respectable merchant, with a request that it might be pub- 
 lished — together with another edition of ** A Word of Exhortation.''' . 
 
268 
 
 out him was nothing made that was made : In him was lifej 
 and the life was the light of men/^ In these last days God 
 hath spoken by his Son (Jesus Christ), whom he hath ap- 
 pointed heir of all things, and by whom he made the worlds. 
 Thus the testimony of the Holy Scriptures, which contain the 
 most important history, the purest morality, and the finest 
 strains of poetry and eloquence, that can be found in any 
 book, in whatever age or language it may have been composed, 
 tells us that this wonderful phenomenon of the material uni- 
 verse was created by the eternal Word in six dayS; aiM pro- 
 nounced by Infinite Wisdom to be good. 
 
 " Look nature through, 'tis neat gradation all j 
 By what minute degrees her scale ascends ! 
 Each middle nature joined at each extreme, 
 To that above it joined, to that beneath! 
 Parts into parts, reciprocally shot, 
 Abhor divorce : what love of union reigns : 
 Hpre dormant matter waits a call to life : 
 Half lifcj half death, joined there;" — 
 
 As in the egg and some of the lower orders of animal exist- 
 ence, particularly a species of shellfish, called the polypus — 
 
 ''here life and sense; 
 
 There sense from reason steals a glimmering ray ;" — 
 
 As in the fox, and the dog and some other animals subservient 
 to man, whose actions, at times, evidently appear to partake of 
 something like reason; but 
 
 " Reason shines out in man. O how preserved 
 
 The chain imbroken, upward to the realms 
 
 Of incorporeal life ; those realms of bliss, 
 
 Where death has no dominion. Grant an earthly part 
 
 And an etherial; grant the soul of man 
 
 Eternal ; or in man the series ends." 
 
 The animal body of man was the finishing work of all ani- 
 mated nature, and consequently the highest order of terrestrial 
 creation ; being compounded of the four principal elements — 
 Earth, Air, Water and Fire. As either of these predominat- 
 ed in the animal economy, it gave rise to the constitutional 
 character or complexion, called by the physician and philoso- 
 pher — melancholy, sanguine, phlegmatic and choleric. Hence 
 
269 
 
 arises that astonisliing variety in the appearances and actions 
 of men and women, as creatures of this world. As the ani- 
 mal man possessed the nature and propensities of all other an- 
 imals, being superior to them all, — so that strong law of ani- 
 mated nature, called self or self-will, was commensurate with 
 or equal to his standing in the scale of beings ; that is, his 
 self-will was as much stronger as he was superior to other an- 
 imals; being the spirit of the animal so essentially necessary 
 to its perfection, and in man was to be governed by his supe- 
 rior rational, immortal soul, which was created in the image of 
 God, who said — Let us create man in our own image : Grod 
 being an all-powerful, incomprehensible, eternal mind or spi- 
 rit, that pervades immensity of space; a being whose centre 
 is every where, and whose circumference is no where ; the Grod 
 and father of all, that is above all, through all, and in all ; in 
 whom we live, and move, and have our being. If the soul of 
 man is made in the image or likeness of such a being as this, 
 it must be spiritual, infinite in its nature, everlasting in its 
 duration. Hence the correctness of the conclusion that the 
 soul of man is the lowest order of celestial, and his body is 
 the highest order of terrestrial creation ; which is confirmed 
 by the testimony of the inspired psalmist, ^^Thou madesthim 
 a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with 
 honor and glory ; thou madest him to have dominion over the 
 work of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet.'' 
 Thus man is placed before us a superior being, composed of 
 two natures, material and immaterial : the first, being a part 
 of the material universe, was designed by its author for change 
 and decay, as it is written, '^ Dust thou art, and unto dust 
 thou shalt return.'' The second is an immaterial being, pos- 
 sessing an immortal life that can never be annihilated. It was 
 into this spiritual, or, as the apostle calls it, the inner man of 
 the heart, that Grod breathed the breath of life, and it became 
 a living soul — not a living body, for the body had been com- 
 pleted in all its organic structure in the finishing of animated 
 nature, and, breathing the atmospheric air that surrounds this 
 globe, it became a living creature; which life continued seve- 
 ral hundred years after Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, and 
 therefore could not have been the life involved in the solemn 
 declaration of Jehovah, when he said, the day thou eatest 
 thereof thou shalt surely die. But the life that was lost by 
 
 23* 
 
270 
 
 transgression was that precious life of God that was breathed 
 into man's immortal soul; that not only made him a pure, 
 free, intelligent being, but endowed him with a capacity for 
 the everlasting contemplation of infinite goodness and perfec- 
 tion, placing him amongst the constellations of heaven, where 
 he might shine with new accessions of glory, and brighten to 
 all eternity, where the morning stars sing together, and all the 
 sons of God forever shout for joy. 
 
 But this wonderful being, created to glorify God and enjoy 
 him for ever, gave way to temptation, which is the best de- 
 scribed by the apostle James, where he says, ^^ Let no man 
 say, when he is tempted, I am tempted of God ; for God can- 
 not be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man ; but 
 man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and 
 enticed; when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and 
 sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death/' This is the 
 death that Adam died the day he transgressed the Divine com- 
 mand, having lost that life that is hid with Christ in GoD ; 
 the stream of heavenly light and love that united him to his 
 Heavenly Father, which constituted the only substantial source 
 of rational happiness in time and eternity, was cut off, and his 
 soul fell from its dignified station in the divine harmony, (when 
 it governed the animal man with all its propensities, making 
 them subservient to the purposes for which they were intend- 
 ed,) and became a slave to that cruel, selfish nature, em- 
 blematically described by the wolf, the leopard, the bear, and 
 the lion; having lost the innocent angelic covering of God's 
 righteousness, in vain did he attempt to hide his nakedness 
 with a patched covering of fig-leaves; — there was nothing now 
 so suitable to his state and condition as to be clothed with the 
 skins of beasts. Therefore the Lord's prophet was bid to make 
 use of the interesting figure contained in the text. The lamb, 
 the kid, the cow, and the ox, are emblems of good men and 
 women — while the wolf, the leopard, the bear, and the lion, 
 are figures of the wicked. These last, we know, if they were 
 confined in a small enclosure, would cruelly destroy each other, 
 while the four innocent animals in the same enclosure would 
 dwell harmoniously together. It was the innocent nature of 
 the lamb that ruled in Abel, that made his offering so accepta- 
 ble to God, while the cruel, carnivorous nature of the wolf was 
 producing in Cain jealousy, envy, hatred, and murder; so that 
 
271 
 
 it was marked in the very lines and configuration of his face. 
 Hence the expostulation of the Almighty with him, saying, 
 ^^Why art thou wroth, and why is thy countenance fallen? if 
 thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? but if thou d^est 
 not well, sin lieth at the door/^ It was this wrathful, selfish, 
 cruel, carnivorous nature that so increased and predominated 
 over all good in the antediluvial world, that mankind became 
 so dreadfully wicked that they were destroyed by an awful 
 deluge. 
 
 Noah and his family, in whom the most of the innocent na- 
 ture reigned, was saved to re-people the earth; and notwith- 
 standing his own uprightness, the same evil genius made its 
 appearance in his family. The same was prefigured in Ishmael 
 and Esau, as allegorically alluded to by the apostle Paul, and 
 therefore the paradoxical difficulties that some have discovered 
 in the writings of that truly spiritually-minded saint, with 
 respect to the Almighty's loving Jacob and hating Esau, is 
 easily understood; Jacob being in the innocent nature of the 
 lamb, while Esau was in that of the wolf, the leopard, the bear, 
 and the lion^ where cursed self reigns with all its cruel, blood- 
 thirsty violence — the fountain of hatred, envy, jealousy, and 
 all those malevolent passions and propensities that make man 
 the enemy of man; producing not only bloody and destructive 
 war, but all that dark catalogue of crime that characterises a 
 fallen world of intelligent beings separated from the Divine 
 harmony — justifying the correctness of a further view of the 
 apostle James, when he says, " From whence come wars and 
 fightings among you ? come they not hence, even of your lusts 
 that war in youi* members ? Ye lust, and have not : ye kill, 
 and desire to have, and cannot obtain. Ye fight and war.'' 
 Oh! the confused noise of garments rolled in blood! Oh ! this 
 direful disease of the soul, that commenced with the fall of 
 man ! when the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the 
 world, and a door was opened at which a dreadful wolf has 
 entered, and made great devastation among the flock and family 
 of God. This inveterate foe' or enemy to man's happiness 
 again showed itself in the elder sons of Jacob, when they sold 
 their brother Joseph into slavery, an act of cruelty and injus- 
 tice that has continued from generation to generation, down to 
 the present day ; and is certainly one of the dark shades that 
 tarnish the lustre of our excellent republican government, that 
 
272 
 
 might be more and more the admiration of the world; a shade 
 that can only be effectually and consistently removed by the 
 shining of the same sun of righteousness that shone forth in 
 Joseph^ that enlightened the whole circle in which he moved, 
 and opened a way where there appeared no way, not only for 
 his emancipation from slavery, but his exaltation to the high- 
 est station of trust and honor, where he manifested the most 
 merciful, forgiving and benevolent spirit towards those that 
 had cruelly treated him, by tearing him, as it were, from the 
 arms of a fond and affectionate parent, and selling him to the 
 Ishmaelitish merchants, that dealt in slaves. Oh ! that the 
 descendants of Africa could be influenced by the same blessed 
 spirit ! The same blessed God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and 
 Josej)h, could open a way where there appears no way, so that 
 the master and slave could settle their own business in justice, 
 equity, harmony and peace, without the interference of politi- 
 cal abolitionists, whose zealous exertions, notwithstanding the 
 sincerity of their motives, appear to me to be obstructing the 
 peaceable kingdom of Christ. I have a case exactly in point 
 that now occurs to me, that will be an additional matter of 
 fact argument in favor of my position. There lived, some 
 sixty or seventy years ago, not twenty miles distant from the 
 place of my nativity, a young colored man that was a slave, 
 and being brought into a strait and difficulty in his mind fi'om 
 the fear of death, he entered, like Jacob and Joseph, into co- 
 venant with Grod ; and witnessing the regenerating power of 
 eternal truth, it set his soul free from the law of sin and 
 death. Thus become a changed man, the light of his meek 
 and humble spirit so shone before his master, that he glorified 
 God by an act of justice and mercy in setting his slave free, 
 and that too without any solicitation from man. And the 
 young man that was thus freed gave abundant evidence that 
 he was worthy the blessing he enjoyed, by continuing to fol- 
 low his Saviour in the path of humble industry, all the days 
 of his life, which was lengthened out to more than ninety 
 years. Oh ! that every slave and every slaveholder in my be- 
 loved country would go and do likewise. The first would re- 
 alize the estimable blessing embraced in the doctrine of Christ : 
 *'If the Son and Truth set you free, then are you free in- 
 deed 'y^ while the second would fulfil one of his greatest com- 
 mandments, that embraces practical righteousness in its bless- 
 
273 
 
 ed simplicity, " As ye would tliat men should do unto you, do 
 ye even so unto them/' Oh ] that our modern philanthropists 
 who, like the sister of Lazarus, are busy and troubled about 
 many things, and who are complaining and casting reflections 
 on their brethren and sisters who may be afraid of being im- 
 pertinently officious without the gracious word from the Di- 
 vine Master, — I say, that these would attend more to the 
 one thing needful, and choose, like Mary, that better part, the 
 glorious liberty of the children of God, which can never be 
 taken away from them. 
 
 But to return from a digression which some may be ready 
 to think improper. The same enemy of man was again 
 prefigured in Pharaoh king of Egypt, the same was also in 
 Amalek, Moab, and all the enemies of Israel, influencing the 
 apostate kings of Israel and Judah, the priests and false pro- 
 phets — causing the Lord to mourn over his people, through 
 the mouth of his true prophet, in language like this : ^^ Oh, 
 my people I they that lead thee have caused thee to err, and 
 have destroyed the way of thy paths." Thus heaping up 
 wrath against the day of wrath, crowding a dreadful account, 
 that people whom He had known above all the families of the 
 earth, had forsaken him, the fountain of living water, and had 
 hewn out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that would 
 hold no water- So that when the fulness of time had come, 
 and Grod sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law 
 to redeem them that were under the law, that they might re- 
 ceive the adoption of sons, he came to his own, but his own 
 received him not ; but to as many as received him he gave 
 them power to become the sons of Grod; and if children, then 
 heirs ; heirs of Qod, and joint heirs with Christ. But such 
 was the corrupt and desperately wicked state of the Jewish 
 priesthood, the arrogance and spiritual pride of the high pro- 
 fessors of religion, the sordid, selfish, avaricious, hard-hearted 
 state of the great mass of the Jewish nation, that the Son and 
 Sent of God was constrained to tell them that they were the 
 children of the devil, and the lust of their father they would 
 do, who was a liar and a murderer from the beginning, and 
 abode not in the truth ; and for bearing testimony or witness 
 to the Eternal Truth, they not only rejected him, but used 
 all the power they were clothed with, and put the man that 
 had told them the truth, and that was made of a woman, to 
 
274 
 
 the ignominious death of the cross. While the Lamb of God, 
 that taketh away the sin of the world, remained a propitiatory 
 sacrifice for all that believe in him and experience repentance, 
 to the end of the world, the Jew as well as the Gentile. Thus 
 the darling attributes of everlasting mercy and goodness tri- 
 umphed over all the power of darkness, opening a way for the 
 restoration of a fallen world to its primeval state. 
 
 When the blessed Jesus beheld the city of the Jews that 
 was the subject, as it were, of a thousand prophecies, he wept 
 over it in language like this- — " Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou 
 that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto 
 thee, how often would I have gathered thy children as a hen 
 gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. 
 Your house is left unto you desolate. Oh hadst thou but 
 known in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace ; 
 but now they are hid from thine eyes." The destruction of 
 that devoted city by the Romans, and the dispersion of the 
 Jews, is a catastrophe that has no parallel on the page of history; 
 fulfilling literally that remarkably prophetic declaration of the 
 divine Saviour, ^^They shall fall by the edge of the sword, 
 they shall be led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem 
 shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, till the times of the 
 Gentiles shall be fulfilled." And when we take into consider- 
 ation that there remains but about one hundred and sixty 
 years of the two thousand granted to the Gentile world, and 
 that professing Christians have apostatized further from the 
 precepts and example of their Holy Lawgiver than ever the 
 Jews did from the law of Moses, it is a rational conclusion 
 that tremendous and awful judgments will be poured forth 
 upon Christendom in proportion to their high and holy profes- 
 sion. For the Saviour says, ^' Where there is much given, 
 there is much required : and he that knoweth his master's will, 
 and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes." Not- 
 withstanding the ushering in of the glorious gospel dispensa- 
 tion was attended with the heavenly anthem. Glory to God in 
 the highest, on earth peace and good will to all men, the same 
 evil spirit that appeared in the Garden of Eden, in the infant' 
 state of the human family, made its appearance in the infant 
 state of the church of Christ, presenting a, temptation to the 
 lowest and most grovelling propensity of the human mind — 
 a propensity which, whenever given way to, is peculiarly cal- 
 
275 
 
 culated to make man a devil ; and hence the declaration of the 
 Saviour, " Have I not chosen you twelve^ and one of you is a 
 devil?'' He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. This 
 man's besetting sin appears to have been the love of money; 
 and notwithstanding he belonged to the first Christian meeting 
 that was blessed with the ministry of the Saviour of the world, 
 and had actually received from him a commission to preach 
 the everlasting gospel, and to travel in the service, he had 
 never submitted to the conditions contained in the text — " If 
 any man will come after me, let him first deny himself, then 
 take up his daily cross and follow me.'^ Therefore his cursed 
 selfishness strengthened his love of money, and led him to as- 
 similate with his own likeness, the priests and their satellites, 
 who are not only lovers of money, but the greatest enemies of 
 Jesus Christ, whom they bought (as they supposed) of this 
 traitor, for thirty pieces of silver. 
 
 Poor, unhappy, melancholy money-monger ! Instead of sub- 
 mitting to the unchangeable terms of salvation laid down by 
 thy blessed Saviour, thou aufferdest thy cursed selfish lust for 
 money, and the friendship of the priests, to conceive and bring 
 forth sin ; and that sin, when finished, produced the death of 
 the Lamb, and the carnivorous reign of the Wolf; and there- 
 fore thy name, wretched man that thou art, instead of being 
 gloriously enrolled upon the records of eternity, is only to be 
 found in the long living annals of infamy. Seeing then, that 
 the love of money not only led one of the first Christians to 
 commit the unnatural, unmanly and wicked act of suicide, is 
 it any marvel that it should have occupied so prominent a 
 place in the last exercises of that great apostle of the G-entiles, 
 that, when writing to his son Timothy, he warns him to flee 
 from all its consequences, adding, " they that would be rich, 
 fall into temptation and a snare, and many hurtful and fool- 
 ish lusts, which drown men in perdition and destruction ; for 
 the love of money is the root of all evil ; which while some 
 coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced them- 
 selves through with many sorrows." 
 
 I now feel a freedom in the ability I may be endowed with, 
 to apply the subject more particularly to the several states in 
 this large company of men and women, who, notwithstanding 
 they may be composed principally of Friends, and friendly 
 people, are before me as an epitome of the great family of man- 
 
276 
 
 kind, whose animal bodies being compounded of the four 
 principal elements — earth, air, water and fire — I shall divide 
 them into four classes, and denominate them melancholy, san- 
 guiiT^, phlegmatic and choleric. 
 
 The man or woman in whom the element of earth predomi- 
 nates, so as to produce that peculiar constitutional trait of 
 character called melancholy, in their unregenerate state have 
 all the characteristics of the wolf; and the Lord's prophet could 
 not have been more happy in his choice of a figure, had he 
 searched the whole chain of animated nature. The skulking 
 solitary habits of the wolf, who generally retires in the day- 
 time to the inmost recesses of the swamp, or the gloomiest 
 glens of the forest, only coming forth to prowl and devour in- 
 nocent and helpless animals under cover of the darkness of 
 night, — he whose carnivorous appetite can never be satiated, 
 presents the strong law of nature called self, in one of its most 
 incorrigible attitudes ; and the reasonable beings whom it re- 
 presents, that will not submit to the terms of salvation laid 
 down by the blessed Saviour, to deny this cursed self, and take 
 up the cross, are undoubtedly the most unhappy of mankind. 
 This gloomy, hidden, reserved disposition enables them to 
 keep their sorrows to themselves, till in the accumulation of 
 imaginary troubles, their animal spirits, and indeed their whole 
 system, become so affected as to produce that dreadful disease 
 called complexional melancholy, which is as hereditary, and al- 
 most as incurable as the pulmonary consumption; and all the cases 
 of suicide, from Judas down to the present day, have sprung 
 from this source. I know of no state more to be pitied, or one 
 that has stronger claims on the sympathies of the true Chris- 
 tian disciple 3 and it seems as if the beloved Paul might have 
 been led to describe this state, when he so emphatically ex- 
 claimed, "Oh wretched man that I am I" who shall deliver me 
 from the body of this death ?" and oh that they could see like 
 this precious saint, that it is Jesus Christ our Lord, who, 
 when suffering in the flesh without the gates of Jerusalem, the 
 just for the unjust, and baptized into this dreadful state, cried 
 out, "My God! my G-od! why hast thou forsaken me?'' 
 When these make profession of religion without being regene- 
 rated and born again, they are wolves in sheep's clothing, and 
 hence the origin of hypocrisy and deception in the religious 
 world ; for this complexion being naturally disposed to be re- 
 
277 
 
 ligious, there is more of tliem than all the other three put to- 
 gether. Their steady, solid deportment, and very serious, 
 solemn countenances, enable them to pass, as religious men 
 and women, for more than they are worth; and they are put 
 forward in religious communities, as the leaders of the people. 
 This was, I apprehend, the state of Israel in the apostacy, when 
 the Lord, through his prophet, solemnly reproved them; and 
 our Saviour advises his disciples against carrying their religion 
 in their faces, saying : " When ye fast, be not as the hypo- 
 crites, of a sad countenance ; for they disfigure their faces, that 
 they may appear to men to fast.^' Nothing is so obnoxious to 
 this infinitely pure BeiDg, as a hypocritical state; and indeed 
 it may be said at this door the enemy entered and made great 
 devastation in the Christian church, and none have sufiered 
 more according to their relative numbers, than the Society of 
 Friends. 
 
 And here permit me to declare the sentiments of my heart. 
 Independent of all sectarian prejudices, I verily believe the 
 people called Quakers, or Society of Friends, as they stood a 
 distinct organized body of Christians, in the days of Fox, 
 Penn and Barclay, were nearer the primitive standard than 
 any others, both as respects doctrine and discipline. I loved 
 them in my infancy, and although not born a member, I re- 
 ceived my earliest and best impressions among them; 
 and during my juvenile infatuation, when marching in 
 the ranks as a soldier, my heart elated with the sound of the 
 martial music, and the feathered foppery of the regimentaled 
 warrior, the very sight of a plain, steady, consistent Friend, 
 either young or old, filled me with respect and awe. And 
 when I arrived at maturer age, and more serious consideration, 
 I was united with them in religious fellowship, and few that 
 have ever come among them have less cause to speak of their 
 failings, or uncover their weaknesses, than I have ; because 
 few have ever been treated with more brotherly kindness and 
 affection; and however diversified with affliction the remainder 
 of my life may prove, I shall ever consider it one of the great- 
 est blessings that my lot was cast among them; nor can I con- 
 ceive of any greater trouble in this world, than to be separated 
 from the Society, and lose the unity of the spirit and the 
 bond of peace. Nevertheless I dare not omit the discharge of 
 a duty that appears to be required of me — to endeavor to 
 
 24 
 
278 
 
 point out some of the causes that have led to the present 
 weak state of Society. Therefore, bear with me, beloved 
 Friends, for flattery and smooth tales may feed fools, but it 
 will not be acceptable to intelligent, honest people ; much less 
 will it please Him whom I would wish to please in the gospel 
 of his dear Son. 
 
 I have 'already said that there were more men and women 
 of a melancholy complexion professors of religion, and I may 
 add especially in the Society of Friends : their quiet, steady, 
 unobtrusive habits — their silent retirement — exemplary in- 
 dustry and frugality — all unite in forming an asylum peculiar- 
 ly fitted to a melancholy complexion, where its first nature 
 may remain unsubdued; or, as oui- Saviour says, the strong 
 man armed may keep the palace, and his goods be at ease ; 
 where men and women that have never denied self, never wit- 
 nessed the wolf to dwell with the lamb, may fill the most im- 
 portant stations in Society, if they are only steady in their at- 
 tendance of meetings, exemplary as to plainness of speech, 
 behaviour and apparel; and more especially if they are of 
 respectable connections, and are in the way of making money, 
 and can lend their poorer brethren a few hundred dollars every 
 year on usury — notwithstanding lending money to a brother 
 on usury or interest is condemned and positively forbidden by 
 the infinitely wise Jehovah, through his faithful servants, 
 Moses, Nehemiah, David, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, 
 and in these last days by his beloved son Jesus Christ. Friends 
 not having recognised it as an evil, it by no means disqualifies 
 them from being appointed clerks, overseers, elders and even 
 preachers; and the apostle's excellent advice to his son Tim- 
 othy, when making such appointments, not being attended to, 
 in many meetings, the dreadful consequences that Paul allud- 
 ed to have been realized ; they have been puffed up with pride 
 and too many have fallen into the condemnation of the devil, 
 ending, a disgrace to the cause of Christ, and a burthen on 
 Society. In the small circle in which I have moved, I have, 
 alas, known too many Friends, and among them three minis- 
 ters, two of which crossed the Atlantic ocean, come to this 
 most wretched and melancholy end. I am aware I may lay 
 myself open to censure by publishing such things ; but the 
 time has come that the hidden things of Esau must be brought 
 to light, and effects traced to causes : for I have no doubt but 
 
279 
 
 that one of the principal causes of the weak state of Society 
 is the injudicious appointment or promotion of Friends, both 
 young and old, to important stations, that are what the apos- 
 tle Paul called Novices, that is, men and women without heart- 
 felt religious experience; having never denied self, or witness- 
 ed the wolf to dvfeli with the lamb. Hence the spiritual 
 pride, religious consequence and malignant enthusiasm that cha- 
 racterized the belligerent party among Friends, in the late un- 
 happy and disgraceful controversy. 
 
 And here I will meet the sceptical cavillers, and more or- 
 thodox enemies of Friends — one of which, a neighboring 
 physician, informed me that it was the opinion of the faculty 
 that there were more cases of suicide occurred in the Society 
 of Friends than in any other society. Since which I have 
 been informed, by respectable authority, that it was the pre- 
 vailing opinion among the same class in England. Admitting 
 it to be the fact, there being so many more melancholy people 
 belonging to the Society, for reasons already given, rationally 
 accounts for it, without leaving a stigma on the principles of 
 the Christian religion as professed by Friends. Indeed, I have 
 no doubt but the greater part of the Friends of the first con- 
 vincement were of this constitutional make; but as the great 
 doctrine of regeneration and the new birth was the burthen of 
 their ministry, they had experimental knowledge of it within 
 themselves, and knew Christ, the Lamb of God, that taketh 
 away the sins of the world, to bring into subjection all their 
 wolfish nature, and establish the kingdom of heaven, which 
 Jesus emphatically declared was within. Hence their non- 
 resistance, their love for each other, their unexampled patience 
 under sufiering, and steady perseverance in well-doing to a 
 peaceable and happy conclusion. • But such as did not witness 
 this change of heart, but retained a part of their first nature, 
 not having the same swamp of worldly-mindedness, or com- 
 fortable glen of money-making, to retire to, like the Quakers 
 of the present day, in consequence of an unjust and cruel law 
 then existing in England, — by which they were dragged from 
 their religious meetings, arraigned before a despotic tribunal, 
 where the oath of allegiance being tendered, which they 
 could not take for conscience sake, their real estate was con- 
 fiscated for life, and their personal estate for ever, and their 
 bodies imprisoned during the king's pleasure: I say, such of 
 
280 
 
 the primitive Quakers as remained in the mixture, and were 
 like Ephraim, a cake not turned, showed their wolfish nature 
 by the same wild, fanatical howlings and eccentric wanderings 
 that have hung ujjon the rear of the Christian church in all 
 ages, from the hateful Nicolaitans alluded to by John in his 
 Revelations, down to the wrong-headed enthusiasts of the pre- 
 sent day. Witness John Parrott's insignificant quibble about 
 rising in the time of public prayer, which ended in his decid- 
 ed opposition to Fox, Penn and Barclay, and becoming one of 
 the most subtle and bitter persecutors of our early Friends ; 
 witness, too, the fanatical ranterism of Story and Wilkinson, 
 opposing the established order and discipline of Society, which 
 ended in a similar manner. 
 
 Oh ! how sorrowful the consideration, that the religion of 
 Jesus Christ, embracing a system of ethics so pure, so hea- 
 venly, so rational, so peculiarly calculated to make mankind 
 happy in time and in eternity, should be so shamefully man- 
 gled and perverted by that man of sin and son of perdition, 
 when the evil can so easily and certainly be prevented by sub- 
 mitting to the unchangeable terms contained in the text. 
 What a pity that a people that the Lord Almighty raised up 
 for the purpose of reviving and preserving primitive Christi- 
 anity, who were led to assume the awful responsibility of be- 
 ing the friends of Christ, to do whatever he commanded them, 
 should by their disobedience be only the transient glory of a 
 couple of centuries, when it was designed in the councils of 
 infinite wisdom they should be an eternal excellency — the 
 joy of the whole earth. A people that have j^roclaimed to 
 the world that they have submitted to the terms laid down by 
 Christ, by placing self-denial on the forehead of their high 
 and holy profession, but have suffered an insidious enemy to 
 draw them so far away from the weightier matters of Grod's 
 holy law, judgment, mercy and faith, as to be in danger of be- 
 ing engulfed in the same vortex that has swallowed up other 
 reformers from the church of Rome. 
 
 Oh ! that the precious visited youth would arise and shake 
 themselves from the dust of the earth — the love of money — 
 the love of superficial learning — the love of fame— the love of 
 speculation, and those vain babblings that are leading them 
 away from the religion of Jesus in its blessed simplicity into 
 the broad way that must lead to destruction. Oh ! that they 
 
281 
 
 would put on tlie beautiful garments of primitive Christianity, 
 that they might be judges as at the first, and counsellors as at 
 the beginning — such ministers of the Lord as would weep and 
 pray between the porch and the altar before ofiering their gifts 
 — such gifts as would sanctify the congregation, assemble the 
 elders, gather the children, and them that suck the breast, 
 from the renewed visitation of Infinite Goodness and Mercy 
 to the rising generation. 
 
 I am revived with a hope of better things and things that 
 accompany salvation, though I thus speak -, and if there is 
 now within the audience of my voice, one poor, dear, suffer- 
 ing child of G3d, that in consequence of this melancholy cast 
 is ready to sink into the quicksands of despair, whose sins" 
 have become so exceeding sinful that they are crying, " Oh ! 
 wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body 
 of this death?" let them thank God, who will undoubtedly 
 give them the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has 
 promised to him that overcometh evil, ^^ will I give to sit with 
 me in my throne, even as I have overcome and have set down 
 with my Father in his throne ] let them be encouraged from 
 the consideration that they are now drinking of the cup the 
 Saviour drank of, when he said, " I have a baptism to be bap- 
 tized with, but how am I straightened till it is accomplished;" 
 and that they are filling up their portion of his sufferings 
 when he said, ^^My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto 
 death ;" let them lift up their heads in hope, for their salva- 
 tion draws nigh, when the comforting language will be ad- 
 dressed to their souls — " Ye are they that have continued 
 with me in my temptations^ and I appoint unto you a kinf^-- 
 dom/' 
 
 The best examples of practical righteousness I have ever 
 known, both amongst Friends and others, have been of the 
 melancholy cast, that have denied self, taken up the daily cross, 
 and followed Christ; they become as innocent as lambs; and 
 though playfully cheerful, they are as incapable of hurting their 
 fellow-creatures ; and in whatever nation, tongue, or people, 
 they are to be found, they are such as fear God and work ricrht- 
 eousncss, and, consequently, are accepted with Am,— "and 
 whether an Indian or an African sun has shone upon them, 
 they are Christ's sheep, that hear his voice and follow hiio, and 
 he will give unto them eternal life, and none shall pluck them 
 
 24* 
 
282 
 
 out of his hand. Some of the brightest stars amongst our 
 
 primitive Friends were of this constitutional cast. Dear J 
 
 AY , whose righteousness, innocence, and purity of life has 
 
 never been exceeded in latter days, manifested, when on the 
 confines of eternity, what I consider the true Christian state^ 
 self-abasement and humility of soul, as expressed in the follow- 
 ing testimony : "• My trust is in the Lord Jesus, who, I hope, 
 will forgive my sins f^ and in allusion to the trials and tempta- 
 tions through which he had passed, he added, ^' they now seem 
 to be pretty well over, and I look at the face of my dear Re- 
 deemer, for sweet is his voice and his countenance is comely/^ 
 These last expressions shew such a belief in Christ as my sonl 
 longs after. Oh, that every melancholy soul could arrive at 
 this truly Christian state, — they would be happy in time and in 
 eternity. 
 
 I have still greater encouragement, as well as some solemn 
 instruction for my fellow-pilgrims of this class. The beloved 
 John, as well as Judas, was constitutionally melancholy ] the 
 one shews that by denying self and taking up the daily cross, 
 and steadily persevering in following- Christ, the highest state 
 of perfection may be attained. While the other places before 
 us the dreadful consequences of slighting a Saviour's supreme 
 command, and giving way to that sin that ceaselessly besets 
 this state — the love of money. For we are told, that at the 
 last supper Judas sat next to the beloved John at the table, 
 and though apparently listening with the greatest attention to 
 the gracious words of his Divine Master, his right hand appears 
 convulsively to grasp the bag of money, for he had just been 
 preaching, what in this day might be called a charity sermon, 
 shewing the impropriety of wasting any thing that could be 
 sold for money. Hear a part of it, and what the inspired writer 
 says of him : " For what purpose is this waste ? this ointment 
 might have been sold for three hundred peuce and given to the 
 poor; not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a 
 thief, and kept the bag and bare what was put therein." I do 
 not wish to dwell on this gloomy subject, but reall}'-, dear friends, 
 my mind is most seriously and solemnly impressed with an ap- 
 prehension that this, our besetting sin — the love of money — is 
 sending more Quakers to perdition and destruction than all 
 other causes put together ; for this appearance of Satan is so in- 
 sidious — so subtle — keeps such good and respectable company 
 
283 
 
 "=-goes so well dressed^ and lias become so popular and highly 
 esteemed among men, that although an abomination in the sight 
 of God, the devastation that it is making in his family is incal- 
 culable ; and the consideration is awful that this sordid, selfish 
 spirit, will constitute that worm that will never die, and the 
 malevolent passions of jealousy, envy, and hatred, which stands 
 inseparably connected with it, will form a part of the flames of 
 that fire that is never quenched ; and this fire, said the primitive 
 Quaker preachers, the unregenerate soul must dwell with to all 
 eternity. 
 
 I said that the beloved disciple John was constitutionally 
 melancholy; I verily think so; and I may add, that Greorge 
 Fox was of the same natural complexion, being remarkable for 
 his sobriety and seriousness from a child ; so was John, who even 
 in his minority became one of the first converts of his name- 
 sake, that truly great Baptist preacher that produced such an 
 efi'ect upon the Jewish nation, that all Jerusalem and Judea 
 went out to him and were baptized in Jordan. The beloved 
 disciple was now a follower of the Baptist, and one of the testi- 
 monies of this great preacher appears to have made the deepest 
 impression on bis mind, where he said, «^I indeed baptize you 
 with water, but there cometh one after me that is preferred be- 
 fore me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose ; 
 He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire ;" and 
 seeing Jesus pass by he cried out, ^' Behold the Lamb of God, 
 that taketh away the sin of the world." This appears to have 
 convinced John that he must now leave the Baptist and follow 
 Christ. And notwithstanding that he was evidently advancing 
 in the great work of regeneration, his selfish nature was still 
 strong, more especially when he wished to monopolize the chief 
 seats on the right hand and on the left in Christ's kingdom, and 
 actually made private application, in company with his mother 
 and his brother James. This act, together with his forbidding 
 one that he saw casting out devils in the name of Christ, be- 
 cause he did not follow with him, is abundant proof of that sel- 
 fish, narrow, contracted spirit that is ever the companion of the 
 unregenerate, melancholy state ; and the reproof that it met 
 with from the Divine Saviour, ought for ever to silence such 
 intolerance and bigotry : ^' Forbid him not, for no man can do 
 a miracle of this kind that speaketh lightly of me ;" '' he that 
 is not against us, is on our part.'' This short but powerful 
 
284 
 
 sermon had the desired effect, and this beloved disciple was pre- 
 pared to follow a suffering Saviour to Golgotha; and when the 
 other disciples forsook him and fled, John was found with the 
 mother of Jesus and thoac faithful and affectionate women that 
 stood by the cross, where neither the grim visage of the Ro- 
 man soldier^ nor the malignant scoffs and sneers of the priests 
 and their satellites, could prevent them from pouring the ten- 
 derest sympathies of their souls in a flood of tears, till it drew 
 from the Heavenly Sufferer a language like this : *' Daughters 
 of Jerusalem, weep not for rae;" and although laboring with 
 the most excruciating pain of body, with still greater anguish 
 of soul, occasioned by the tremendous weight of the sins of a 
 fallen world, which caused him to cry out, "Eloi ! Eloi ! lama 
 sabachthani \" he remembered his precious mother, commend- 
 ing her to the care of his beloved John. Oh ! what depth of 
 solemn instruction is presented here. 
 "Heaven's sovereign blessings, clusterinG: from the cross, 
 
 Rush on and close around the prisoner of amaze. 
 
 In his blessed life we see the path, and in his death the pure. 
 
 And in his great ascent the glorious Truth supreme. 
 
 Did he arise ? He did ! Hear it, oh ye heavens ! 
 
 Hear it, oh thou earth ! He rose ! He rose ! 
 
 He burst the bands of death ! Lift up your heads, 
 
 Ye everlasting gates, and give the King of Glory to come in." 
 
 Oh ! dear young man, whoever thou art, that feels a longing 
 after heaven and holiness, here is not only instruction, but 
 great encouragement. See what a state of perfection this young 
 man arrived at by obedience and steady perseverance in the 
 line of Divine appointment. What an important lesson to 
 young men, touching the concern they ought to feel for their 
 dear mother, who supported them on her breast in their in- 
 fancy, watching their sleeping couch, and anticipating all their 
 wants; that mother that nursed them in sickness — the blessed 
 instrument that should kindle the first devotional feelings on 
 the altar of the heart. Oh, dear children, you owe much to 
 this precious parent ; and if she is a widow, she has a double 
 claim upon your attention — an attention that will undoubtedly 
 be paid by the peculiar blessings of heaven. Never then, I be- 
 seech of you, pierce with sorrow that breast that has been your 
 support in your infantile years, by acts of disobedience, imperti- 
 nence, or neglect. What confidence was placed in the beloved 
 John, that he should have the care of the mother of the blessed 
 
285 
 
 Jesms ; and tlien be tlie first man that witnessed his resurrection, 
 and continuing with him during the forty days he was going in 
 and out amongst them, speaking of the things pertaining unto 
 the kingdom of Grod. He was present on the ever memorable 
 day of Pentecost, and received Mm in his blessed spiritual ap- 
 pearance, agreeably to his promise, " I will not leave you com- 
 fortless, I will come unto you again in the character of the Corn- 
 former, or the Spirit of Truth, which the world cannot receive, 
 because it seeth him not ; but ye see him, for he dwelleth with 
 you, and shall be in you, and at that day ye shall know that I 
 am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you." From hence- 
 forth the beloved John shone forth as the brightness of the 
 firmament, and as an instrument that turned many to righteous- 
 ness. He will continue to shine as one of the brightest stars 
 for ever and ever. 
 
 Such was the perfection of this precious saint, that he seem- 
 ed all light, and all love ; and like his Divine Master, he delight- 
 ed in saving that that was lost. A certain young man, that 
 was convinced through John's ministry, whose talents and quali- 
 fications were of the highest order, and whom he had adopted 
 as one of his children, during his absence on a long journey, 
 went ofi", and walked no more with him; joining a band of rob- 
 bers in the mountains, he had become their captain. When 
 John returned, he made particular inquiry after this son, of 
 those to whom he had committed the care of him, no doubt 
 with a charge to deal gently with the young man. When he 
 was informed of his departure, he wept and grieved like the . 
 patriarch Jacob, in beholding the bloody garment of his dear 
 Joseph, but not willing to give him up, he determined to leave 
 the ninety and nine and go after the lost sheep. In vain did his 
 friends try to persuade him his life would be in danger^ and that 
 the object of his pursuit was irreclaimable ; he persisted in his 
 determination, and had not penetrated far into the mountainous 
 country before he was taken by a straggling detachment of the 
 gang, and he requested they would take him to their captain. 
 As soon as the chief of the robbers recognized his Christian father, 
 he precipitately fled, when the dear old man ran after him, cry- 
 ing, "Stop, my son, my dear son," in so affecting a manner that 
 the young man, who by this time was so overcome with emo- 
 tioas of sorrowj stood still,— when the loving disciple fell upon 
 
286 
 
 his neck weeping aloud and kissing him as a mother would her 
 only child. The ferocious visage of the mountain robber was 
 now changed into more than female softness, and baptized, as it 
 were, in his own tears, he returned with his Christian father as 
 a penitent prodigal to the bosom of the church, and continued 
 faithful to the end of his days. Oh ! ye that profess to be fathers 
 in the church, ministers, elders, deacons, or overseers, here is 
 an example worthy of your imitation. How many precious 
 young men that have gifts and qualifications to be greatly good, 
 through a want of your Christian care, have strayed from the 
 fold of Christ, and though they may not directly be joined to a band 
 of robbers, or idle speculators, are they not wanderers on the bar- 
 ren mountains of empty profession, exposed to those devouring 
 wolves in sheep's clothing — and are calling loudly for such 
 fatherly concern as was manifested by the beloved John ; a 
 concern that continued with him to the close of his earthly pil- 
 grimage, in his ninety and ninth year ; for we are infoimed that 
 the last meeting he ever attended, he was so weak and feeble 
 his friends had to carry him in their arms, when he preached 
 his last sermon, which should never be forgotten— cZ<?ar little 
 children love one another — " God is love, ivnd they that dwell 
 in love dwell in G-od, and God in them." 
 
 Seeing then, that there is such a state as perfection in Christ 
 to be attained to, even in this state of existence, or he never 
 would have commanded his disciples to be perfect, even as their 
 Father that is in heaven is perfect, let the aged, the middle-aged, 
 and the dear youth of this class be encouraged, for the same 
 God and Father of all, that is above all, through all, is in you 
 all, an omnipresent Saviour, pre-eminently clothed with the 
 glorious attribute of mercy, and will never leave nor forsake 
 you; but will preserve you in the time of temptation and deliver 
 you from all evil. Lift up your heads in hope, oh ye that 
 see your sins to be exceeding sinful, for your salvation draws 
 nigh. It is true you owe an abundance to your God, and there 
 is an abundance that you can never pay, but oh that precious 
 Saviour that said to the poor palsied man, '' Son, thy sins are 
 forgiven thee," and to the tender-hearted woman that washed 
 his feet with tears, " Daughter, thy sins, which are many, are 
 forgiven thee," will speak peace to your afBicted souls. Let not, 
 then, your hearts be troubled ; believe in God ; believe also in 
 
287 
 
 his dear Son, who emphatically declares to his discouraged dis- 
 ciples, "In my Father's house there are many mansions^ if it 
 were not so, I would have told you ; I go to prepare a place for 
 you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come unto 
 you again, that where I am, there ye may be also. My peace 
 I leave with you, my peace I give unto you ; not as the world 
 giveth give I unto you ; let not your hearts be troubled, neither 
 let them be afraid/' 
 
 I come now to a class so entirely different, that they may be 
 considered almost like antipodes to those I have been address- 
 ing ; men and women in whose animal economy the element of 
 air predominiites, producing that constitutional character called 
 ■ sanguine. To describe these, in their unredeemed and unregen- 
 erated state, the Lord's prophet has been equally bappy in the 
 selecting of his figure from the animal creation, "The leopard 
 shall lie down with the kid." The leopard is the most subtle, crue 1, 
 restless creature, and at the same time the most beautiful of all 
 the carnivorous animals of the cat kind ; but wo be to the un- 
 suspecting admirers of its beauty, should they attempt to mani- 
 fest any personal familiarity or kindness, because it will destroy 
 the very hand that feeds it. Men and women of this class, in 
 their sinful state, are not to be depended upon, and when young 
 are impatient of the restraints of virtuous discipline ; and even 
 in their minority, break through the enclosure of parental care 
 and commence that terrible career in vanity that must end in 
 vexation of spirit. Excessively fond of company, more especial- 
 ly where there is gaiety, music and dancing, they frequent 
 taverns and places of diversion, where young men too often be- 
 come an easy prey to the demon of intemperance and sensuality ; 
 and the poor negatively innocent female is too often seduced by 
 these beautiful monsters, more cruel than the leopard, who rob 
 them of their virtue, and destroying their innocence and reputa- 
 tion, leave them in a state of desperation or despair, where, 
 afraid to meet the tears of their parents, the chidings of their 
 relations, or the scoffs and sneers of their youthful companions, 
 they too often fly to those sinks of pollution in our towns and 
 cities, where being further debased, even below brutality, they 
 blot out of their very nature every thing that was once agree- 
 able and beautiful, and, at last, come to an untimely and most 
 miserable end. 
 
288 
 
 " Where groaning hospitals eject their dead, 
 While many groan for sad admission there ; 
 While many, once in fortune's lap high fed, 
 Solicit the cold hand of charity.'' 
 
 Oh! that such libertines would solemnly reflect upon the 
 dreadful account that thej must finally settle before the judg- 
 ment seat of quick and dead ^ and oh that they could be per- 
 suaded, before it is too late, that there still remains an ever- 
 lasting friend and blessed Saviour of sinners, that seeks to 
 save that that is lost; the same that cast out of one for- 
 merly the whole number of evil spirits: licentiousness— ig- 
 norance — intemperance — ivrathfulness — clevilishness — covetous- 
 ness— pride ; — and filled the empty soul with seven heavenly 
 and angelic spirits — virtue — linowledge — temperance — pa- 
 tience — godliness — hrotherli/ Idndness and cliarity ; but alas ! 
 for these when they reject this darling attribute of mercy and 
 call into their aid that abominable abomination of all abomina- 
 tions, unbelief, and a persuasion that death is an eternal sleep. 
 To such, the writings of the sophistical Paine are the most re- 
 lieving and edifying, because they are peculiarly calculated to 
 work on their narrow and debauched understandings. Should 
 such men and women marry, the act certainly would be highly 
 honorable ; but the sacred covenant would be likely to be broken, 
 if not trampled under foot with impunity; for there is no con- 
 fidence to be placed in such, particularly men, who too often 
 leave their poor wives to sufier for the want of the comforts, if 
 not the very necessaries of life, while the careless, shackling, 
 unmanly husband is found spending his time and money at 
 taverns, tippling houses, gambling tables, or houses of ill-fame, 
 participating in the most tremendous quarrellings and fightings, 
 attended with blasphemous expressions and the most vulgar 
 and bitter imprecations,' with a confused noise that could scarce- 
 ly be equalled by the howling of the wolf— the screaming of 
 the leopard — the growling of the bear, or the roaring of the 
 lion — thus debased below the very brute creation, with all the 
 manly feelings totally extinguished. Such poor creatures are 
 too often seen in our country, staggering along the high way, 
 with their black jug and corncob stopper, containing the re- 
 mains of a quart of whiskey, purchased of some Judas that 
 would sell his Saviour for money. Should the sanguine wife 
 of such a man as this be, what they too often are, prodigious 
 
289 
 
 scolds, tlie scene thafc would be likely to take place, when he 
 arrived at his uncomfortable home, I have no language that 
 possesses force sufficient adequately to describe. I shall, there- 
 fore, leave it for the temperance lecturer, who, perhaps, has 
 ransacked the scriptures from G-enesis to Revelations for ap- 
 propriate texts, and committed to memory the novel incidents 
 so awfully painted in the temperance tracts ; telling the same 
 story so often, that by this time he has it so pat that his eloquence 
 may be irresistible; notwithstanding it may be among the pos- 
 sible circumstances that he has never denied self, or taken up 
 the cross of Christ, but is pursuing that echo of folly and sha- 
 dow of renown, called popularity, or the more common and, if 
 possible, more selfish object of a good salary. If so, he is an 
 hireling, to all intents and purposes, and careth not for the 
 sheep, and, therefore, may be compared to one of the seven 
 sons of Sceva, a Jew and chief of the priests that we read of in 
 the days of the apostles, who undertook to make a mercenary 
 concern of casting out evil spirits, saying, " We adjure you by 
 Jesus that Paul preaches;'' and the evil spirit answered and 
 said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye;" and 
 the man in whom the evil spirit was, leaped upon them, and 
 overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled 
 out of the house naked and wounded ; but the man who seems 
 to have gained the victory remained possessed of the devil. 
 
 Such appears to me most likely to be the end of all these 
 popular advocates for moral reform, that has neither the 
 
 pure religion of Jesus, nor the noble patriotism of Paul 
 
 The drunkard will leap upon them and overcome them, while 
 the demon of intemperance will keep possession of his unhappy 
 victim. I know of no class of American citizens more truly to 
 bo pitied and felt for than the poor, habitual drunkard, deprived 
 of almost every acquisition that can procure the comforts of 
 life ; deprived of the social and relative enjoyments of their own 
 families — scolded by their wives — hated by their children — de- 
 spised by the proud and looked down on with contempt by the 
 rich ; shunned by the moral and pitied by the pious, without 
 reputation, without property, compelled from necessity to un- 
 dergo the most unpleasant and laborious employments, by land 
 and by sea, by night and by day, in summer's heat and win- 
 ter's cold ; and after thus ploughing the waves of the deepest 
 affliction, they at last may reap despair. Oh I that the Shep- 
 
 25 
 
290 
 
 herd of Israel, that sleeps not by day nor slumbers by nigbfr, 
 would extend the crook of his love and mercy and snatch 
 these poor dear creatures from the horrible pit. Oh ! that he 
 would now, in his spiritual appearance cast out the legion of 
 evil spirits, and bring these poor bruised and naked souls to his 
 blessed feet^ where, clothed in their right mind^ they will know 
 Jesus Christ to be a propitiation for their sins. And oh ! that 
 these poor, discouraged, peevish, fretful wives, and all cross, 
 scolding women, especially such as have been so long afflicted 
 with this direful disease, so as to become crookedly deformed, 
 (that is) entirely different from what they were when they con- 
 stituted the beloved object of their husband's youthful affections, 
 — I say, could these believe in an omnipresent Saviour, and 
 press through the crowd of difficulties till they could touch, in 
 a spiritual sense, the hem of his garment, his heavenly virtue 
 would cure their sin-sick souls, as certainly as he cured the 
 woman we read of in the New Testament ; and that selfish, cat- 
 like nature, that was the source of their misery, would be de- 
 nied, and taking up the cross of Christ, they would wit- 
 ness the leopard to lie down with the kid ; and when they had 
 experienced this great change of heart, they could no more hide 
 themselves amongst the gay, the light, and chaffy spirits of 
 the world, than the woman that was cured by touching the Sa- 
 viour's garment could hide herself in the crowd ; but like her, 
 they would be constrained to come forward, and in the presence 
 of Christ, declare publicly what great things he had done for 
 their souls. Blessed are such among women, and blessed is 
 the fruit of their lips. I have heard the everlasting gospel 
 preached in the demonstration of the Spirit, and with more feel- 
 ing power, from such a woman, than I ever heard from the lips 
 of man. 
 
 I will now take a view of sanguine men and women. As 
 members of civil society, while under the influence of their 
 first nature, they are so light and chaffy in their spirits, and 
 moreover as changeable as the element and animal that rules 
 them, that there is very little confidence to be placed in their 
 promises or engagements. Having more imagination than 
 mind, they too often spend their little stock of energy in think- 
 ing and telling what they intend to do, so that they have 
 nothing left to carry out their plans, or meet their contracts. 
 Hence the cause of the almost total loss of private and public 
 
-^91 
 
 confideQce^ by a series of failures and bankruptcies, that are 
 not only unchristian, but unmanly and dishonorable, a dis- 
 grace to religion, and a serious injury to the commonwealth. 
 Speculation being so fashionable, attended with a gambling 
 spirit so fascinating, that sanguine people I fear are approach- 
 ing a vortex of greater ruin, as respects the risk of credit, the 
 war of interest, and the crush of property, than this country 
 has ever experienced ; when the wolf, the leopard, the bear and 
 the lion, while biting, scratching, squeezing, and tearing each 
 other, will cause many a poor lamb, kid, cow, and ox to suffer 
 severely. 
 
 But it is under a profession of religion without a change of 
 heart, that sanguine men and women do the most injury to the 
 cause of Christ ; for they are quite disposed to be religious, 
 provided they can have it on their own terms; but it must be 
 spotted, like the beautiful animal that rules in them, and full 
 of excitement and activity. They are more especially at home 
 in tbeir favorite element, under the influence of a popular 
 mania, called religious revivals and moral reforms. Every 
 kind of business must give way to religious meetings, night 
 meetings, camp meetings, class meetings, prayer meetings, 
 singing meetings, temperance lectures, abolition and coloniza- 
 tion lectures, and many others that I cannot mention, where 
 they are the most active and the most happy creatures; but 
 being naturally disposed to shackle, they too soon fall into 
 the sin that the primitive saints considered worse than infi- 
 delity ; that is, neglecting to make a proper provision for their 
 own families. For the sons of that glorious morning were so 
 Tery tenacious of the example that God had placed before 
 them in the person of his dear Son, walking in the path of 
 humble industry, that they required of every member of the 
 church, that they should maintain or support themselves and 
 families by the labor of their own hands, (not their heads) : 
 and hence the commandment in their pure but simple disci- 
 pline, ^^if any would not work, neither should they eat :^^ a 
 commandment that would be very unpopular amongst the san- 
 guine members in the present day, who not only neglect to 
 work with their hands, that they may walk honestly towards 
 them that are without, and that they may lack nothing ; but 
 are content to live on the industry of others, by getting a sala- 
 17 as preachers, or their expenses borne out of the funds of 
 
292 
 
 Society, or some profession or office of profit and honor, by 
 which they can live without working with their own hands ; 
 and such as cannot gain this point too often run in debt and 
 borrow money : then the melancholy and phlegmatic brother 
 must be applied to for money or credit, with all the sancti- 
 monious, long-faced innocence of a very pretty spotted kid 5 
 their feelings and interest being excited, the money is forth- 
 coming, and a promise is made to pay at a certain time, with 
 legal interest from the date thereof. But when the kind usurer 
 calls for his money, the poor sanguine debtor is neither able 
 nor willing to pay ; and should the honest • creditor appeal to 
 the laws of his country for redress in such a grievance, he 
 will soon find himself in contact with something like a cruel 
 leopard, that would now destroy the hand that was stretched 
 forth for relief; tearing the reputation of their friend to pieces 
 and having the eye of the cat, that is peculiarly calculated to 
 see best in the dark, with a restless impetuosity they will try 
 to destroy every good trait in the character of the object of 
 their resentment. Such are the effects of the besetting sin of 
 sanguine men and women, professing to be Christians while 
 they remain strangers to regeneration and the new birth. The 
 astonishing quickness with which they can see faults and fail- 
 ings in their friends and neighbors, often reminds me of the 
 man in the fable, who had his neighbor's faults and his own 
 in a wallet on his shoulder, taking good care to have his neigh- 
 bor's always in the fore end of the wallet, so that he could 
 always see them first. Such, I conceive, were those women 
 that Paul tried to silence in the Corinthian church — the same 
 that he alludes to in one of his epistles to Timothy — idle wo- 
 men, wandering from house to house, and not only idle, but 
 tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things they ought not. 
 Now such women as these, that always will have their friends 
 and neighbors' failings in the fore part of the wallet, under 
 the continual inspection of their restless cat's-eyes, which, as 
 I said before, can see best in the dark, unless they can be per- 
 suaded to have the wallet turned so that their own faults can 
 be placed before them, are very troublesome members of meet- 
 ing, and hence the propriety of the apostle commanding them 
 to be silent in the church -, but I am not prepared to believe 
 that the great apostle of the Gentiles would ever command a 
 good woman to be silent in the church. Paul was a heavenly- 
 
293 
 
 mirded man, and consequently, as a man of good sense, must 
 liave known that there were no sexes in souls, and that the 
 gift of the ministry was a gift bestowed upon the soul to save 
 souls ; and having declared his belief that male and female 
 were one in Christ, he never could have been so inconsistent 
 as to have even supposed that in the church of Christ men 
 were only eligible to the office of prophet, or preacher, when 
 he must have known and united with the four daughters of 
 Philip, that prophesied, and his beloved sister Phebe, whom 
 he so highly commended, and by whom he sent his epistle to 
 the church at Rome, and all those women that he tells us 
 helped him in the gospel ; and as to his remarks about the 
 woman being in the transgression, they appear to me to em- 
 brace the same allegorical instruction as similar remarks about 
 the son of the bond woman and the son of the free woman, in 
 the case of the children of Abraham; and even if Paul was 
 at times partially influenced by the prejudices of his college 
 education, or the traditions of his fathers, the very declaration 
 he makes, that the Son of Grod was made of a woman, will 
 more than counterbalance all the illiberal and irrational con- 
 structions that have been put upon his sayings touching the 
 rights of women. Adding to this the fact, that the fii'st per- 
 fect Christian that was made by this Son of G-od was a woman 
 — a woman, too, that manifested more Christian tenderness, 
 more Christian humility, more Christian love, more Christian 
 faithfulness, than eleven out of twelve of the men that were 
 first chosen by Divine appointment to preach his gospel, — and 
 mark, it was this woman that had the high honor of being the 
 first witness of his glorious resurrection 3 no doubt the be- 
 loved Paul would place such women, where every consistent 
 Christian man ought to place them, next to the angels of 
 heaven : and so far from commanding them to be silent in the 
 church, would further unite with every consistent Christian 
 in sincerely wishing that there were more such precious women 
 that were constrained by the love of Christ to preach the ever- 
 lasting gospel. But I am free to confess that I think it quite 
 possible that the apostle Paul felt a freedom to call into his 
 aid the opinions of darker ages respecting the inferiority of 
 women, in a case of a serious difficulty in the Corinthian 
 church : for it appears that some deluded females then and 
 there perverted the order of nature, and destroyed the divine 
 
 25* 
 
294 
 
 harmony of grace, by usurping an authority or position that 
 did not become them, and sacrificing modesty, humility, and 
 love, (the crown and diadem of a good woman), at the shrine of 
 pride, presumption, arrogance, malignant enthusiasm, bigotry, 
 hardness of heart and cruelty — those seven spirits that our 
 Lord said entered into the man out of whom the unclean spirit 
 had gone, and made his last state worse than the first. When 
 such women as these have sufficient influence to be acknow- 
 ledged teachers or preachers, they are likely to make sad work 
 in the church, by tearing asunder the most sacred and tender 
 ties, separating husbands and wives, parents and children, 
 brethren and sisters, and causing some that professed to be the 
 friends of Christ to hate one another. And, should I be at 
 liberty to judge from the fruits I have seen of such preaching 
 even in my day, had I Paul's authority and influence, 1 should, 
 like him, command such women to be silent in the church ; 
 but I wish distinctly to be understood, that I do not apply this 
 mischievous spirit exclusively to females ; far from it : for I 
 think I have seen too many men that would wish to pass for 
 gentlemen and Christians, that were like Paul's silly women, 
 led captive by this sin, and laden with the lusts thereof, and 
 therefore never could arrive at the knowledge of the Truth as 
 it is in Jesus. 
 
 These deluded votaries of Anti-Christ, wherever they are to 
 be found, are too often blowing the flames of discord and con- 
 tention; not only destroying connubial happiness and the 
 peace of private families, but the harmony of neighborhoods 
 and the unity of religious associations, to the great grief and 
 trouble of the more peaceable members of civil and religious 
 society. I would appeal to the presiding elders among the 
 Methodists, the respectable deacons among the Presbyterians, 
 and, in a word, the faithful watchmen in all societies, with 
 the overseers among Friends, for the truth of the declaration. 
 
 I believe there are fewer sanguine people among Friends, in 
 proportion to their numbers, than any others, (for rea- 
 sons which I think I have already given,) and what there 
 is are mostly birth-right members, who are too often 
 finding fault with the order of Society— particularly plain- 
 ness of dress, behaviour and apparel ^ and animadverting 
 with great severity on the bigoted notion of keeping to their 
 own meetings, and not mixing with other societies; and 
 
295 
 
 appear so liberal that I am afraid they would turn Christian 
 liberty into licentiousness. These kind of Friends remind me 
 of a set of restless, discontented Jews, that we read of in the 
 days of the outward advent of the Saviour, called Gadarenes, 
 who opposed the order and economy of the Israelitish church, 
 and seemed so particularly offended at Moses prohibiting the 
 use of swine's flesh, (in consequence of its predisposing the 
 human body to putrid diseases in that warm climate,) that 
 they would, in their perverse selfishness, keep whole herds of 
 hungry hogs on their barren mountains, to the great annoy- 
 ance of their more orthodox neighbors. These sanguine Ga- 
 darenes, being in a state of mind in such perfect accord- 
 ance with their favorite animal, it is no marvel that our Saviour 
 found a legion of devils among them ; which, when dispos- 
 sessed of their more comfortable quarters, would naturally 
 wish to go into what they would think the next best place for 
 them, notwithstanding the rational supposition that such a 
 superabundance of obstinate selfishness might drive the poor 
 swine headlong to destruction ; and being disappointed in their 
 hoggish speculation, it is no wonder these G-adarenes wished 
 to get rid of so unprofitable a visiter as the Divine Saviour. 
 
 This singular miracle appears to me designed to show the 
 Jews, in the sad condition of the swine, the national destruc- 
 tion their growling and cruel selfishness were bringing them 
 to ; that the evil spirits that had degraded the Grentile world, 
 which are represented by Legion, would be cast out, and en- 
 tering into the Jews, would complete their ruin ; and the G-en- 
 tiles would come and take away their place and nation. I be- 
 lieve in this remarkable circumstance that was recorded for 
 our instruction; and while it excites the sceptical smile in 
 these sanguine latitudinarians, it allegorically describes their 
 unhappy state and condition. And it is certainly an awful 
 consideration that if they continue obstinately to follow this 
 selfish, swinish speculation, that however glossed over with all 
 the subtlety of the serpent, it will be likely to lead down a 
 steep place into thatlake where they will eventually be choked. 
 No marvel that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ should 
 be so unpleasant to them that they seem to carefully avoid it, 
 if not, like the G-adarenes, beseech it to depart out of their 
 coast. No marvel that too many of them should seem to pre- 
 fer the sceptical philosophy of Thomas Paine to the precepts 
 
296 
 
 of Jesus ; and even publicly declare that it was as good as the 
 scriptures. This cold, withering spirit, which was described 
 by the Lord's prophet under the figure of the east wind, com- 
 menced its blasting influence on this continent, with what are 
 called the New Lights in New England, and extending west as 
 far as Friends were settled, formed something like a conspira- 
 cy against the doctrine and discipline of Society ; but the 
 chain that was stretched to so great a length broke by its own 
 weight, and its disconnected links are now hanging as dead 
 weights on the skirts of the several Yearly Meetings, and 
 wherever they have spliced on with modern abolitionism and 
 temperance, they are causing considerable unsettlement • for 
 while they are in the leopard state, to be still seems impossi- 
 ble J and hence their fondness for preaching — following popu- 
 lar preachers from meeting to meeting, and by puffing them 
 up with flattery and smooth tales, they assist the devil in 
 placing them upon the pinnacle of the temple, from which 
 too many popular but sanguine preachers have fallen — dis- 
 gracefully fallen — while they presumptuously expected that 
 the very angels of heaven would bear them up. 
 
 There must be a cause for this direful effect; and having 
 been led to the subject unexpectedly, I feel more than a free- 
 dom to give some views, touching the ministry, that I think have 
 been given to me from the right source. The requisite quali- 
 fications for preaching the gospel of Christ are the same that 
 they ever were, and are most admirably described in the se- 
 cond chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. The subjects for 
 this great work must first be gathered together in Christ's 
 name, which is Ms power ; and then, agreeably to his promise, 
 where two or three are gathered together in ray name, there 
 am 1 in the midst of them, will be fulfilled. They must be of 
 one accord, that is, they must be in perfect unity. Then the 
 following appropriate figure describes the exercise of the soul 
 on which the gift of gospel ministry is bestowed : 1st. " And 
 there was a great sound, as the rushing of a mighty wind." 
 The nervous system, the exquisite connection of soul and body, 
 is first affected; and such is its irritability, that the whole 
 body shakes, sometimes to a degree bordering on convulsions; 
 and too often, for the want of getting into the child like state 
 of resignation, ends in fanatical derangement. 2dly. '' And 
 there appeared to them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and sat 
 
297 
 
 upon each of them/' This figure is peculiarly appropriate; 
 for the light and power of Eternal Truth, which may be com- 
 pared to the sun when it shines in the soul, giving the know- 
 ledge of the glory of Grod in the spiritual appearance of Jesus 
 Christ, that faculty of the soul called reason is enlightened, and 
 shines forth like the moon, a glorious but subordinate lumi- 
 nary. But having been so long the distinguished agent of self, 
 (the strongest law of the unregenerate man,) reason yields with 
 great reluctance its independence, and the disparity between 
 reason and revelation divides them into two parts, and hence 
 the gift of the ministry in this mixed state is called a cloven 
 tongue as of fire ; and while reason continues its separate stand- 
 ing, and refuses to be entirely influenced by the Divine light, 
 being ever fertile in invention, it produces that astonishing va- 
 riety of speculative opinion in the Christian church ; and 
 though such preachers may continue to preach with the tongue 
 of men and angels, for the want of celestial charity, it will 
 end in sounding brass or tinkling cymbals. Thirdly and last- 
 ly : "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost; then 
 spake they with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utter- 
 ance." Mark ! they now spoke with other tongues (not cloven) 
 as the Spirit gave them utterance. Here was the everlasting 
 gospel of Christ preached in its blessed simplicity and purity, 
 that reached the witness in those devout people that were 
 then in Jerusalem from the surrounding nations. Those pre- 
 cious visited children of Grod that had been born of the Spirit, 
 were now spoken to in a language they understood ; not an 
 unknown tongue, but their own tongue, in which they were 
 born. Such was the preaching of the first disciples of Jesus 
 Christ, from the day of Pentecost, which shook the foundations 
 of the Jewish hierarchy ; and such I believe, in a good degree, 
 was the preaching of the first Quakers, when they shook the 
 foundations of the church of Anti-Christ in England to the very 
 centre. 
 
 The devout people, that Luke tells us were then in Jerusa- 
 lem, providentially drawn there from all nations under heaven, 
 appear to me to have been the representatives of those several 
 nations that the disciples were commanded to go and teach, 
 baptizing them into the name of the Father, Son and Holy 
 Ghostj which commandment was obeyed, and the end and de- 
 sign of the Saviour fulfilled on that ever memorable day of 
 
298 
 
 Pentecost, when three thousand were converted to Christianity. ' 
 This stupendous act superceded the necessity of the disciples 
 travelling further than their Divine Master. And moreover it 
 appears clear to me that had those representatives of the various 
 nations of the earth that were thus miraculously introduced into 
 the gospel dispensation, returned to their several places, keeping 
 their eyes single to the pattern of everlasting righteousness placed 
 before them on the holy mount, they would have shone as stars 
 in the firmament of G-od's power, and their several lights 
 within their several orbits would have properly enlightened the 
 whole world of mankind with the pure gospel of Jesus 
 Christ, agreeably to the heavenly plan of Infinite Wisdom, as 
 expressed by the prophet Isaiah in this beautiful and appro- 
 priate language ; '^ And it shall come to pass in the last days 
 that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in 
 the top of the mountains and exalted above the hills, and all 
 nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and 
 say, Come ye, and let us go up unto the mountain of the 
 Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us 
 of his ways, and we will walk in his paths ; for out of Zion 
 shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusa- 
 lem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke 
 many people; and they shall beat their swords into plough- 
 shares, and their spears into pruning hooks ; nation shall not 
 lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any 
 more/' 
 
 But it appears to me that this most glorious work of the 
 Almighty to restore a fallen world, by the establishment of 
 peace on earth and good will to man, was marred or frustrated 
 by some cause or other ; and what cause can we more reasonably 
 suspect than that which showed itself amongst the first disci- 
 ples : " Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a 
 devil?" This devil that influenced Judas to associate with the 
 priests and their satellites, Christ's greatest enemies, and finally 
 sell his master for money, may have worked more subtilly, but 
 too efl"ectually, on the weaknesses and prejudices of those sons 
 of the morning, who being Jews, were so strongly attached to 
 the rituals of the law as to introduce circumcision and water bap- 
 tism among those Christian converts, which became a bone of 
 contention and kept alive the spirit of war. Add to this the 
 strong prejudice in favor of missionary travelling, then in 
 
299 
 
 great estimation among the apostate and forsaken Jews, and 
 although condemned by Christ in this most powerful language, 
 " Wo unto you. Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! For you 
 compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is 
 made, you make him twofold more the child of hell/' Yet 
 some of the disciples appear to have embarked in the mission- 
 ary travelling far beyond the jurisdiction embraced in the 
 example of their Divine Master, and although they may have 
 made a hundred converts where their Master made one, it does 
 not appear that the true joy or interest of the church was in- 
 creased. 
 
 For alas ! the successors of the apostles preferred preaching 
 with cloven tongues, as it was more pleasing to itching ears, 
 which soon degenerated into wind, and became, like Ephraim, 
 a cake not turned. A ministry that commenced in the mix- 
 ture, led into the apostacy, robbed the church of its perquisites, 
 its liberty and its life ; and from generation to generation its 
 footstep has been marked with darkness and blood, down to the 
 present day, when it is followed by flatterers and fools, sung 
 to by silly women, (male and female,) fed by witchesfwi'th calf 
 on its way to Mount Gilboah, stimulated by the genius of in- 
 temperance with the sly behind-the-door beverage of a little hot 
 toddy, a little brandy and sugar, a little egg and wine, — and 
 worst, and worse than all, and most to be deplored as popular 
 preachers' foulest blot, the snug little opium pill, slipped into 
 one corner of the mouth under cover of the handkerchief, while 
 entering the pulpit, or even the Quaker gallery, where I have 
 heard with my own ears, to my after mortification and sorrow, 
 an extemporaneous effusion of eloquence peculiarly calculated 
 to captivate the ear and bring tears from the eyes of poor, weak, 
 silly, sanguine people. Is not this something like the abomi- 
 nation of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing 
 where it ought not, in the most holy place ? And if the 
 condition contained in the text is the unchangeable truth, that 
 &elf must be denied, what must be the ultimate end of such 
 ministers as take Christ's jewels and deck and adorn their cursed 
 self ? Is it not to be feared that they will have their portion 
 with hypocrites and unbelievers, and go out of the world with- 
 out God, without hope, and without one comfortable assurance 
 from the sacred ransom of a dying Saviour. Will it not be in 
 vain for these to plead before the judgment seat of quick and 
 
300 
 
 dead, — Have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name 
 have we not cast out devils, and in thy name done many won- 
 derful works? Will not the answer be — Depart from me, 
 ye workers of iniquity, into everlasting fire prepared for the 
 devil and his angels. Oh ! that I could sound the alarm in the 
 ears of all such preachers in Christendom, that they might be 
 brought to see their state and condition before it is too late. 
 Oh ! that the millions of blind sanguine professors, that are led by 
 these blind guides, could be saved by an omnipresent Saviour 
 from that ditch or gulph into which they are led. Such, I fear, 
 are the priests and such are the people that compose the mass 
 of the professors of the religion of Jesus in gentile Christendom. 
 Would not the Lord's holy prophet Jeremiah, were he now a 
 divinely anointed minister ofthe everlasting gospel, take up the 
 lamentation when he mourned over apostate Israel — ^' A wonder- 
 ful and horrible thing is committed in the land; the prophets 
 prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their means, and my 
 people love to have it so ; and what will ye do in the end 
 thereof?" 
 
 I turn from this sorrowful side of my subject to considera- 
 tions more encouraging; to things that accompany salvation, 
 though I have thus spoken : for the truth remains to be truth, 
 though all men forsake it ; therefore let God be true, if every 
 man is a liar ; for his foundation for ever stands sure ; having 
 this seal, the Lord knows who are his. Therefore let sanguine 
 men and women be encouraged, and lift up their heads in 
 hope, for their salvation will draw nigh just in proportion as 
 they are humble and obedient : for there is no constitutional 
 character among mankind on which sorrow and trouble has a 
 better effect through the sanctifying influence of the Spirit of 
 Truth. Is there then within the audience of my voice, a dear 
 brother whose debts and difficulties are so great that he is 
 ready to sink into the quicksands of despair ? Is there one 
 whose sleepless pillow has been a witness to many a mournful 
 sigh, while the anticipated sufferings of a beloved wife, and 
 consequent separation from precious children, rend his soul 
 with anguish, and makes even life itself a burthen ? I have a 
 word of encouragement for such, from heartfelt experience 
 having been in the same state ; and like one formerly, when 
 in the street called Strait, I fervently prayed, not that I might 
 be relieved from suffering, for I was suffering the due reward 
 
301 
 
 of my deeds, but that the cause of the blessed Saviour, that I had 
 espoused, might not suffer and be reviled through my disobe- 
 dience to the heavenly vision. And when I was brought to 
 the depth of humility, and could thankfully adore the chasten- 
 ing hand, it was made bare for my deliverance, and the good 
 Ananias was sent to remove the scales from my eyes, and show 
 me a way, where there appeared no way. Thus my feet were 
 plucked, as it were, out of a horrible pit, and placed upon a 
 rock, where I have sung the praises of Redeeming Love on the 
 banks of deliverance. 
 
 And here permit me to say, that it has been a source of un- 
 easiness to my mind, when I see religious young men, especi- 
 ally such as believe they are called to the work of the ministry, 
 branching out into business so extensively as to be under the 
 necessity of borrowing money. Oh ! that such could read with 
 a seriousness and instruction proportionable to its value, the 
 advice given by Paul to his son Timothy, when warning him 
 of the danger of the greatest evil in the Christian church — the 
 love of money. ^^ But thou, man of G-od, flee those things, 
 and continue to follow after righteousness, :*godliness, faith, 
 love, patience, meekness. For we brought nothing into this 
 world, and it is certain we can take nothing out ; and having 
 food and raiment, let us be therewith content. ^^ The poor 
 sanguine minister that neglects to attend to this apostolic ad- 
 vice, and goes on borrowing money of usurers till he sells his 
 Christian liberty to money-mongers, is really to be pitied ; 
 for should they, by the most assiduous attention to business, 
 succeed in meeting all their contracts, and at last extricate 
 themselves from the fangs of the usurer with that honor that 
 is so highly esteemed among men, it is often at the expense of 
 some of the finer feelings of an enlightened and quickened 
 soul, and the establishing of a habit of money-making and 
 money-loving, which if it does not drown the man in perdition 
 and destruction, it too often eclipses the glory of that star-like 
 radiance that was to shine forever in the firmament of God's 
 power. Therefore, dear sanguine children, young men and 
 young women, that have just come upon the stage of active 
 life, let me conjure you by all that is sacred, and by all that 
 is dear, for Grod's sake, for your own soul's sake, for the sake 
 of the cause of everlasting righteousness, submit to the condi- 
 tions contained in the text — deny self, and take up the daily 
 
 26 
 
302 
 
 cross ; then your life and conversation and all things may he 
 like that blessed pattern shown you on the holy mount j for 
 when the infinitely wise Jehovah was pleased to manifest him- 
 self in the fulness, and present to a world of intelligent beings 
 a perfect pattern of everlasting righteousness, in the glorious 
 appearance of his beloved son Jesus Christ, that blessed pat- 
 tern was found walking in the path of humble industry — 
 showing with indubitable clearness that the path of humble 
 industry will not only lead to the enjoyment of rational happi- 
 ness in this world, but everlasting happiness in the world to 
 come. If you have true Christian humility, your wants will 
 be so few, that your industry will more than supply them, and 
 you will be prepared to minister to the necessities of the poor 
 that are hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or sick, or in prison, or 
 strangers, and should these be the least of the brethren of 
 Jesus Christ, as beautifully alluded to in that inimitable para- 
 ble, you will be prepared to receive that blessed sentence ; 
 ^^ Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared 
 for you from the foundation of the world/^ 
 
 I will now close this part of my subject, by a concise view 
 of a penitent prodigal^ who appears to have been of a very 
 sanguine constitution, in hopes it will be an encouragement to 
 some dear children that have left their heavenly Father's 
 house, and in a far country spent their portion of the unsearch- 
 able riches of Christ, that was graciously given to them in the 
 visitation of their youth, and are now endeavoring to satisfy 
 the cravings of their immortal spirit with spiritless husks and 
 shells of sensual enjoyment, which they find to be vanity and 
 vexation of spirit ; and while they cast many a mournful look 
 towards their Father's house, they are ready to say — How 
 many hired servants are there in my father's house, that have 
 bread enough and to spare, while I am here perishing with 
 hunger. To encourage these to arise and go unto their Father, 
 who is undoubtedly disposed to meet them though they may 
 be a great way ofi*, I will place before them an interesting ex- 
 ample, in the young man alluded to. He was the son of a 
 humble dedicated minister of Jesus Christ, and had received a 
 guarded religious education, that had made deep impression 
 on his youthful mind. During his apprenticeship in a popu- 
 lous city, he strayed far away from the fold of Christ, partici- 
 pating in almost every species of folly and wickedness. But 
 
303 
 
 about the twenty-first year of his age, lie was renewedly visited 
 with, the dayspring from on high, and it was moreover shown 
 to him that this would be the last visitation he would ever 
 receive ; but trying to persuade himself it was all a delusion, 
 he was determined to join his bottle companions and drink it 
 off, or disown his solemn convictions. But, on his way to join 
 his company, he had to pass the meeting-house, where he had 
 heard his father preach the glad tidings of the everlasting gos- 
 pel to penitent sinners. Such was the deeply exercised state 
 of his mind, that he thought he saw over the door of the house, 
 in large letters of gold, the language addressed to the apostle 
 Paul. This appears to have been conclusive with him, for he 
 gave up to what appeared to be a heavenly vision, and consult- 
 ed no longer with flesh and blood, having the Son of Grod 
 again revealed in him. Like Paul, he was constrained to 
 preach to others, and for their encouragement tell them what 
 God had done for his soul ; thus he became one of the most 
 dignified ministers of Jesus Christ of his day. In his last 
 sickness, some of his friends called to see him on their way to 
 attend the Yearly Meeting, to whom he addressed himself as 
 follows : "I should be willing that the Yearly Meeting, might 
 be informed, that as I have lived, so I shall close, with the 
 most unshaken assurance that we have not followed cunningly 
 devised fables, but pure, living, and eternal substance ; and if I 
 am to be removed now from the church militant, where I have 
 endeavored in some degree to fill up my duty, I have an un- 
 doubted evidence that I shall be received into the church tri- 
 umphant in heaven.^^ And his last expression was — " my 
 dear love is to all them that love the Lord Jesus. ^^ His bio- 
 grapher (though not a member of the same Society) closes with 
 these expressions : '' Such was his exemplary life, and such 
 was his triumphant death; a life so spent is truly honorable, 
 and such a death unspeakably glorious.^^ 
 
 Dear sanguine young men, that are now spending your pre- 
 cious talents in riotous living — talents that are almost angelic 
 in their nature, and have been given you to make you greatly 
 good — will you not be encouraged to return to your heavenly 
 Father's house, where a Saviour stands graciously disposed to 
 receive you, and clothe you with the best robe of his right- 
 eousness, and qualify you to gather his scattered and dispersed 
 sheep, from the east and from the west, from the north and 
 
304 
 
 from the south, to the one great Shepherd and Bishop of souls. 
 My dear elderly friends of a sanguine constitution, let us not 
 be discouraged in a retrospective view of what is past; for 
 Jesus Christ, our blessed Saviour, that has come spiritually a 
 second time without sin unto salvation, is a propitiation for our 
 sins ; and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole 
 world of rational beings, provided the sorrow for sin is a godly 
 sorrow, that worketh repentance not to be repented of, as in the 
 case of the apostle Peter, who, when he saw his sins to be ex- 
 ceeding sinful, wept bitterly — 
 
 <'When the cock crew, he wept — smote by that eye 
 That looks on me, on all— that power that bids 
 The midnight sentinel, with clarion shrill, 
 Emblem of that that shall awake the dead, 
 Call souls from slumber into thoughts of heaven." 
 
 It appears that Peter indulged so much in pride and specu- 
 lation, as to be in the spirit of the devil ; and hence his Mas- 
 ter's severe reproof, "Get thee behind me, Satan; for thou art 
 an offence unto me, for thou savourest not the things that are 
 of God, but the things that are of men." Dear Peter, not- 
 withstanding he had the inestimable privilege of the personal 
 presence and precepts of the Saviour of the world, he showed 
 in strong colors the besetting sin of poor sanguine mortals, who 
 promise much and perform little — assent to the blessed truth, 
 and then depart from it in the first gust of impetuous passion. 
 '' Though all men forsake thee, yet will I never forsake thee ; 
 though all men deny thee, yet will I never deny thee ; I will 
 follow thee to prison and to death ; I will lay down my life for 
 thy sake.^^ This last promise Peter was certainly disposed to 
 fulfil; for, when the enemy appeared, he asked permission to 
 smite with the sword ; but his leopard nature made him so im- 
 patient, that he could not wait for permission, but, under the 
 influence of impetuous passion, smote one of the servants of the 
 high priest, and cut off his right ear ; and although the act 
 was in direct opposition to the commandment that Peter had 
 received from his divine Master, to love his enemies, and not 
 to smite even when he was smitten, yet the gentleness of the 
 reproof seems to show that it was Peter's least failing. "Suf- 
 fer it thus far," said the merciful Saviour, and he put forth his 
 finger and healed the wound of his greatest enemy. Then 
 
305 
 
 turning to Peter, lie said : "Put up tliy sword, for tkey tkat 
 take the sword shall perish bv the sword" — a prophetic decla- 
 i-ation that has been verified and will be fulfilled, in individual 
 experience, families, societies, communities, nations, empires 
 and kingdoms. I said this warlike act of Peter's appeared to 
 be the least of his failings, for there was something noble, gen- 
 erous and brave in his defending his master, whom he so dear- 
 ly loved ; for the Saviour says — Greater love hath no man than 
 this, that he lay down his life for his friend. The man that 
 has arrived at such a state of disinterested friendship, as to 
 sacrifice his own life to save his friend and fellow-citizen, is 
 the first of patriots ; and although it is not the Christian state, 
 it is certainly one of the best stocks that Christianity was ever 
 engrafted into. And hence Peter, who appears to have been 
 the only warrior among the disciples, is styled the Prince of the 
 Apostles, Now it appears to me that all those great and good 
 men that we read of, who professed to be Christians, and yet 
 have drawn the sword to smite their enemies, either in de- 
 fence of their own persons, their property, or their friends, 
 the rights and liberties of their country, or their religion ; 
 they are at best no further on their way to the Christian state 
 than Peter was when he drew his sword to defend his Divine 
 Master. And may we not reasonably conclude from the sa- 
 cred record, that Peter was not only not in a Christian state, 
 but too soon lost the nobility of the patriot and the man. And 
 the cause for this additional weakness, if not wickedness, ap- 
 pears to be his associating with the servants and satellites of 
 the priests ; for he continued to follow on after Jesus, but he 
 got into bad company ; and what appears to have made bad 
 worse, the priests' party made a fire to warm themselves, and 
 Peter stood with them and warmed himself; and after getting 
 warm by the priests' fire, this courageous warrior became so 
 cowardly, mean and wicked, that the inquisitive look of a ser- 
 vant girl set him to quibbling and evading the truth; and being 
 closely questioned by the enemy, he not only told a positive 
 lie, but cursed and swore that he knew not the man. But 
 when the cock crew, the Savioui" turned and looked upon Peter, 
 not with anger, nor yet with a frown of contempt, but with a 
 look of sorrow and love that so afiected the confused and 
 wretched heart of Peter, that he was broken into self-abase- 
 ment and contrition, and he went out and wept bitterly. 
 26* 
 
S06 
 
 My dear sanguine friends, is there not the greatest instruc- 
 tion and encouragement in this remarkable circumstance ? In- 
 struction, by showing the cause why so many great and good 
 men, that once appeared as spotless patriots and distinguished 
 advocates for the rights of man, should at last become the as- 
 sassins of Christian liberty ; encouragement, by showing us 
 that God our Creator, in the blessed appearance of Jesus 
 Christ our Lord, is no angry God, neither is he clothed with 
 vindictive justice; neither is there wrath in heaven that re- 
 fuses to be appeased by heartfelt sorrow and repentance. But 
 God is love, and they that dwell in love, dwell in God, and 
 God in them. The dispensation of the gospel of Jesus Christ 
 is all mercy and goodness, and they that come to it and dwell 
 under its influence will love their enemies, do good and lend^ 
 hoping for nothing again; such are the true children of God, 
 and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with 
 Christ. These can never smite with the carnal sword, neither 
 can they lie or swear ; for they are all taught of the Lord, and 
 in righteousness and peace shall they be established for ever. 
 This state Peter came to on the day of Pentecost, and was 
 made a Christian by receiving Christ in his spiritual appear- 
 ance, without sin, unto salvation ; and thus he was anointed 
 and appointed on that memorable day, to preach the everlast- 
 ing gospel, not in the enticing words of man's wisdom, as his 
 sermon plainly shows, but in the demonstration of the Spirit 
 and with power; for he was now changed from a bloody warrior 
 to a Christian, from a leopard to a kid; and, self being de- 
 nied, he had become a soldier of the cross, and was following 
 the captain of his salvation — being willing to spend and be 
 spent. And such was the humility and self-abasement of his 
 soul, when he was condemned to be crucified — thinking him- 
 self unworthy to suffer like his Divine Master — he is said to 
 have requested to be »crucified with his head downward. 
 
 In this remarkable and interesting history of the apostle 
 Peter, we are shown what a sincere heartfelt belief in Jesus 
 Christ will do for one of the most sanguine of mankind, and 
 notwithstanding all their restless eccentricity, what a state of 
 perfection they are capable of coming to. Peter's name is not 
 only gloriously enrolled on the records of eternity, but as the 
 prince of the apostles is beloved and revered by millions of in- 
 telligent beings. 
 
307 
 
 I now come to a third class of mankind^ called Phlegmatic^ 
 in whose animal body the element of water predominates. 
 This element is cold and unfeeling, but powerful by its great 
 weight and influence upon the other elements ; and when put 
 in motion by the laws of gravitation, or agitated by air or fire, 
 its strength is irresistible. Hence the Lord's prophet, in de- 
 scribing these in their unregenerate state, brings forward in 
 poetical figure two of the larger and more powerful animals : 
 '' And the cow and the bear shall feed, their young shall lie 
 down together/' Men and women of this class, while under 
 the influence of their beastly natures, are not only cold and un- 
 feeling, but dull and inert ; but when agitated by some of 
 the stronger passions, they are too often powerful, cruel and 
 voracious, and therefore more like the bear than any other ani- 
 mal. For the bear is a dull, sluggish, inert creature, and ap- 
 pears more peaceable and contented than most of the carnivo- 
 rous tribe, and will seldom if ever prey upon other animals, if 
 they can find plenty of nuts, fruit, grain, or even roots ; they 
 will then, especially in autumn, become very fat, and retire to 
 their den, curl themselves up in their bed of leaves, and live 
 by sleeping and sucking their paws. In this quiet retreat, they 
 may appear inofi"ensive and entirely harmless; but wo unto 
 th« man or beast that would presume to take away one of the 
 leaves that compose their bed, or even disturb their repose ; 
 they would soon show their carnivorous teeth, and if within 
 their reach, they might feel the weight of their tremendous 
 paws, or be crushed in their powerful hug. 
 
 Could the prophet have found in the whole chain of carni- 
 vorous animals, one link that would so completely describe a 
 phlegmatic worldly-minded man, wholly intent on the acquisi- 
 tion of wealth ? One who adopts for his motto the Dutch pro- 
 verb, " My son, get money; get it honestly if you can, but be 
 sure to get it." One that pursues this object with an eye that 
 never winks, and a wing that never tires ; if he can get money 
 fast enough, and by the regular routine of business and a legal 
 six per cent., may be apparently satisfied; but if trade should 
 be dull, and the regular course of business obstructed, attend- 
 ed with s(ftne loss of property, he will have recourse to shaving 
 some poor, weak, straitened brother's notes or paper, and then 
 adding their shavings to his bonds and mortgages, he will 
 have a comfortable dry bed to retire to ; and having grown fat 
 
308 
 
 like the bear, he can sleep securely, and while sucking the 
 paws that have done such great things, can adopt the language 
 of one formerly : " Soul, thou hast much goods laid up in 
 store for many years; take thy ease, eat, drink, and be merry." 
 But if God should say to such a man as this, as he did in the 
 parable, "Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of 
 thee,'' then whose would all these shavings and dry leaves be? 
 what relief could they afford ? 
 
 <' The frantic soul 
 Raves round the walls of her clay tenement ; 
 Runs to each avenue, and shrieks for help; * 
 But shrieks in vain. How wishfully she looks 
 On all she's leaving, now no lon;^er her's ! 
 A little longer, yet a little longer, 
 Oh ! mii!;htshe stay to wash away her stains. 
 And fit her for her passage ! Mournful sight ! 
 Her very eyes weep bloody and every groan 
 She heaves, is big with horror. But the foe, 
 Like a stanch murderer, steady to his purpose, 
 Pursues her close through every lane of life. 
 Nor misses once the track ; but presses on. 
 Till, forced at last to the tremendous verge, 
 At once she sinks to everlasting ruin." 
 
 For the rich man also died, and was buried ; and in hell he 
 lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and seeth Abraham afar off, 
 and Lazarus in his bosom ; and he cried, " Father Abraham, 
 have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip 
 of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in 
 this flame." Ah, my dear friends, what will be the difference 
 in the eternal world between such rich men and their poor 
 debtors, that have been brought, Lazarus-like, to their gates, 
 full of sores, occasioned perhaps by being squeezed too hard in 
 dealing with something like a grizzly bear, while their only 
 crime may have been they could not add sufficiently to the su- 
 perabundance of his dry bed, by paying up their interest or 
 rent. In vain did the poor Lazarus desire a crumb of mercy; 
 the dogs were only permitted to lick his sores. But it came to 
 pass that the beggar died, and was carried by angels into 
 Abraham's bosom. Oh! that I could persuade professing Chris- 
 tians to return to those first, glorious, and heavenly fTrinciples, 
 that so adorned the infant and innocent state of the primitive 
 church — sympathy and feeling for suffering humanity — which 
 laid the foundation for true Christian discipline ; which made 
 
309 
 
 provision for the poor saints ; — when ministers of the gospel 
 were conscientiously concerned to maintain themselves and 
 families by the labour of their own hands, and could appeal to 
 the elders of the church in a language like this : ^' I have covet- 
 ed no man's silver or gold,^ or apparel; yea, ye yourselves know 
 that these hands have ministered to my necessities, and to them 
 that were with me : and I have shown you, that so labouring ye 
 ought to support the weak, remembering that it is more blessed 
 to give than to receive/' Such was the precept and example 
 of the first Christian ministers, and such was their sympathy 
 for suflFering humanity in the household of faith, that they beg- 
 ged the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table, not to 
 clothe themselves in purple and fine linen, and fare sumptu- 
 ously every day, but to relieve the poor Lazarus that lay with- 
 in their own gates, full of sores. Oh ! that I could persuade the 
 Society of Friends to return to their first principles, that Chris- 
 tian benevolence that shone so conspicuously among them for 
 the first half century, when poor Friends' necessities were duly 
 inspected, and they relieved, and assisted in such business as 
 they were capable of. They would then cease their running in 
 the ways of the G-entiles, and joining those extraneous specula- 
 tions, so popular in the cities of the Samaritans, for they would 
 then find the lost sheep of the house of Israel ; or, to speak in 
 plainer terms, they would no longer spend that time and money 
 on Indians, a people that do not even profess to be Christians, 
 that ought to be appropriated to save their own poor members 
 from sinking into the quicksands of despair. How manv 
 Friends that might have been ornaments to Society have sunk 
 and are sinking for the want of that relief that our early 
 Friends were the most prompt in affording. How many have 
 had to give up to their creditors, and are either disowned or 
 under dealing for partial assignments, when it was occasioned 
 perhaps by a cold unfeeling creditor, that had let in the sus- 
 picion that he would lose his money if it were not immediately 
 secured, and therefore had presented himself before his poor 
 debtor in all the terrific appearance of a grizzly bear, demanding 
 security by judgment bond or partial assignment; the poor 
 man, who has now become like a striken deer, or a poor chased 
 and starved heifer, without strength or spirit to resist, complies 
 with the unjust demand, by which other creditors are excluded, 
 and he must be excommunicated at a time when of all other 
 
310 
 
 times lie stands most in need of friends and assistance ; while 
 the triumphant creditor, like the fat bear, retires quietly to his 
 den, with the commendations of society for being wiser in his 
 generation than the children of light. My soul feels for these 
 poor Lazaruses that are full of sores and discouragements, too 
 many of whom I fear are attempting to drown their sorrows in 
 the gulf of intemperance. Others, under a consideration of 
 hard treatment from those they once thought their Christian 
 friends, have let in hardness of heart and difficulty of under- 
 standing, and are descending the dark turbulent stream of doubt 
 which too often ends in the ocean of scepticism and infidelity. 
 Many of these might be saved to sing the praises of redeeming 
 love on the banks of deliverance, had they only a little timely 
 advice and assistance. But, alas, alas! that Christian sympathy 
 and tenderness, that was once the crown and diadem of the 
 religious Society of Friends, the radiance of whose glorious 
 light caused even their enemies to exclaim — See these Quakers, 
 how they love one another — seems now rapidly transforming in- 
 to the speculative popular mania that characterizes the deluded 
 votaries of Anti-christ, in compassing sea and land to make 
 proselytes. This philanthropic gambling has been placed be- 
 fore the public in rather a ludicrous point of view by an in- 
 genious American writer, one of whose figures, if I recollect 
 right, was something like this : 
 
 " I was sitting in my study, when my reverie was broken 
 by a confident rap at the door, and the entrance of a respecta- 
 ble looking elderly woman, with a book in her hand, who thus 
 addressed me : ^ I have come, sir, to request you to subscribe 
 to a mission to the Hottentots.^ I answered — '■ Why do you 
 go so far from home to exercise your charity? Can't you be- 
 stow it upon the poor colored people in this city, who, in 
 many places, are as ignorant and wretched as the Hottentots 
 can be : and if you must go from home, why go further than 
 the poor slaves at the south V — when she gave me this con- 
 clusive answer : ^ La^ sir, nobody thinks of things so near 
 home, and besides, the Missionary Magazine never mentions 
 them ;' so I subscribed and paid my money, in hopes of get- 
 ting my name in the Missionary Magazine.'^ 
 
 Would it not be a sorrowful consideration if this ingenious 
 satire should apply to the Society of Friends in their Indian 
 and African concerns ? Oh ! that I could persuade them that 
 
311 
 
 wliile they profess to be the Israel of God^ or the Lord^s cho- 
 sen people under the gospel dispensation, that they wonld 
 obey that imperative and positive commandment given by the 
 infinitely wise Jehovah to his people Israel — " If thy brother 
 be waxen poor, and fallen into decay with thee, then thou shalt 
 relieve him ; take thou no usury of him, nor increase, but fear 
 thy God, that thy brother may live with thee. Thou shalt 
 not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy vic- 
 tuals for increase. If thou lend money to any of my people 
 that are poor by thee, thou shalt not be unto him as an usu- 
 rer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury ; thou shalt not 
 lend upon usury to thy brother, usury of money ; for he that 
 by usury and unjust gain increases his substance, shall gather 
 it for them that will pity the poor. Lord, who shall abide in 
 thy tabernacle ? who shall dwell in thy holy hill ? He that 
 putteth not out his money to usury — he that hath not given 
 forth upon usury, nor taken reward against the innocent. He 
 that turneth away his ear from hearing this law, even his 
 prayers shall be an abomination. Thou hast taken usury and 
 increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by 
 extortion, and hath forgotten me, saith the Lord God.^^ These 
 are the words of the Lord through the mouths of his prophets 
 and faithful servants, embracing the great commandment to 
 Israel, touching the subject of usury — a commandment that 
 contained a political as well as a moral good to his people; 
 and although it was only expressly given to the Jews, the 
 light thereof appears to have dawned on the Roman repulDlic ; 
 for when a proposition was made to the Roman senate for lay- 
 ing a one per cent, usury, it was opposed by the most illus- 
 trious senators, particularly by the elder Cato, or Cato the Cen- 
 sor, who considered the deleterious effect of usury on the so- 
 cial happiness of the people to be equal to taking their lives. 
 And had those illustrious American senators, that organized 
 the federal compact, taken the same view of usury, and recog- 
 nized that great commandment given by Jehovah himself, 
 '^Thou shalt not lend thy money upon usury to thy brother,'^ 
 our money matters would have been preserved from a vortex 
 of confusion to which I fear they are rapidly approaching, and 
 thousands of our citizens saved from ruin; for it appears to 
 me that usury is the bane of a republic, and the lever of the 
 power of aristocracy. How those professors of religion that 
 
312 
 
 tell lis that the Bible is the word of God, can ever reconcile 
 lending their money to their brethren on usury, is a matter of 
 difficulty and astonishment to me ; and the difficulty is in- 
 creased from the matter of fact recorded in the New Testa- 
 ment ; the dear Son and Sent of G-od, instead of abrogat- 
 ing this commandment or word of the Lord, recorded in 
 the Bible, has gloriously asserted and corroborated it in the 
 following clear and powerful testimony : ^^ Give to him that 
 asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee 
 turn not thou away ; and if ye lend to them of whom ye 
 hope to receive, what thanks have ye? For sinners lend 
 to sinners to receive as much again. But do good and 
 lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward shall be 
 great ; and ye shall be the children of the Highest, for he is 
 kind to the thankful and the evil. Be ye therefore merciful 
 as your Father is merciful ; ye are my friends, if ye do what- 
 soever I command you." How the people called Quakers can 
 assume the name of the Friends of Christ upon the unchange- 
 able terms He has laid down, is paradoxical to me, while they 
 continue to act in direct opposition to one of his positive com- 
 mandments, and instead of doing good and lending their mo- 
 ney without usury, they are, in too many instances, taking 
 an illegal interest from a poor brother, that is falling into 
 decay. 
 
 Oh this love of money, if it has not been the root of all, it 
 has been and still is the root of much evil in the religious 
 Society of Friends, and the cause thereof appears to me to be 
 that evil seed of usury that lay snugly preserved in the bosom 
 of the landed aristocracy of England, but never vegetated in 
 the Society till after the Toleration Act ; then the warming 
 influence of the sunshine of worldly prosperity, and the great 
 influx of wealth flowing, as a natural consequence, from that 
 inexhaustible source — liumility, faithfulness, and industry — 
 acted as the summer's showers on the spontaneous productions 
 of the earth, causing this evil seed of usury to put forth its 
 branches, resplendent with evil fruit ; amongst which, covet- 
 ousness and pride shone the most conspicuous, and was high- 
 ly esteemed amongst men, but an abomination in the sight of 
 Christ, because they were the greatest enemies to his church 
 militant on earth. About this time, that is, the latter end of 
 the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth century, 
 if I am not mistaken, Friends had near seven hundred meet- 
 
313 
 
 lugs in England, Ireland and Scotland ; but the love of money 
 and the lore of the world, the inseparable friends of usury, 
 were now insidiously drawing them away from their first great 
 principles ; and I think I am safe in saying, their meetings 
 declined at the ratio of two meetings a year for the last hun- 
 dred and thirty years ; and what appears to have added to the 
 rapidity of this retrograde movement, they were losing their 
 faith in Christ as an omnipresent Saviour, and putting their 
 dependence in the arm of flesh; hence, their attachment to 
 those beautiful idols of a fallen world — wealth, poioer and scho- 
 lastic education — the wonderful machinery by which the de- 
 luded votaries of anti-Christ vainly expect to establish the 
 kingdom of heaven throughout the whole earth. I am aware 
 that some of my best friends may be ready to conclude, that 
 on the subject of usury I have certainly got wrong, and my 
 enemies will be disposed to laugh me to scorn as a fanatic ; but 
 I shall comfort myself with the fact, that I have the unity of 
 some of the brightest stars that ever shone in the old and new 
 world of mind, with the testimony of Grod, who is judge of all, 
 before whose righteous tribunal I may now leave the subject of 
 usury to be settled. 
 
 As members of civil society, phlegmatic people, even in 
 their unregenerate state, have the advantage of the other three ; 
 for they may, with some degree of propriety, be called the 
 very sinews of the state. Their steady, persevering, plodding 
 industry, in the pursuit of wealth, almost invariably puts them 
 in possession of the object of their pursuit, and then their 
 superior systematic judgment and pre-science enables them to 
 make the best of their money and property ; hence, they stand 
 pre-eminent as farmers, merchants, and business men; and 
 even in the arts and sciences they certainly may claim some 
 degree of superiority, for the most of the useful discoveries 
 and inventions were first found out by phlegmatic men; and 
 hence G-ermany has been considered the most fertile in useful 
 works. But in no case do they become substantially useful 
 till they experience something of the change embraced in the 
 prophet's figure; for the cow and the bear must feed, their 
 young ones must lie down together ; the wild carnivorous na- 
 ture of the bear must be changed and become like the tame, 
 ruminating nature of the cow; and although self may not be 
 entirely denied, and they may be too much like the dry, fat 
 
 27 
 
314 
 
 cow that keeps her substance within herself, yet with more 
 than the strength and power of the bear, they chew the cud 
 and divide the hoof; this is often the source of stupendous 
 works as well as great and useful inventions. But it is when 
 self is entirely denied, and the daily cross taken up, that phleg- 
 matic men, that are rich, witness a thorough change from a 
 state like that of the cold, cruel, selfish bear, to that like the 
 noble, generous cow, with her distended udder quietly solicit- 
 ing the hand of the lovely milk-maid to draw forth the rich 
 nutritious stream that is to feed the helpless, hungry children 
 of men. Such men, wherever their lot may be cast, or what- 
 ever their profession to religion may be, are a blessing to the 
 city or country where they live, and an honor to the society to 
 which they belong. Permit me to corroborate this position 
 by the strongest of evidence, matters of fact, two of which I 
 am a living witness of. I knew a poor minister, near twenty 
 years ago, that, by imprudence and want of capacity, was 
 brought into serious difficulties, for he had quit a business that 
 he understood, and for which the Author of Nature had pecu- 
 liarly qualified him, because he then thought it was inconsist- 
 ent with his profession, and undertook a business he did not 
 understand, by which he was brought to the eve of bankrupt- 
 cy. Aware of his embarrassment, he exerted himself by work- 
 ing with his own hands, day and night, till his health was 
 broken, and the symptoms of a pulmonary consumption caused 
 him to look with sorrow and discouragement on a beloved wife 
 and little family of children that in all probability must soon 
 be left destitute, to be fed by the hand of charity, or coldly 
 provided for by friends. Winter was fast approaching, and 
 many things were wanting to make his little family comforta- 
 ble, for which he had not the means. In this street called 
 Strait, after spending some sleepless nights and discouraging 
 days, like one formerly, in the depth of humility, he prayed 
 to his blessed Saviour, who stilled the rolling of the tempestu- 
 ous billows, and there was a calm, where heavenly hope be- 
 came an anchor to the soul. A few days after this exercise, 
 his neighbor, the postmaster, told him there was a letter for 
 him in the post-office. When he got the letter, he directly 
 discovered that the superscription and post-mark were entirely 
 new ', but what was his surprise on opening it, to find two fifty 
 dollar bank notes, from a wealthy merchant with whom he 
 
815 
 
 had but little acquaintance, who stated in his letter that he 
 had been led recently to feel sympathy and tenderness for the 
 poor man, and in contrasting his superabundance with a Chris- 
 tian brother's real wants, he felt it his duty to send that little 
 present, and to inform him further not to suffer himself to be 
 improperly discouraged for the want of any little pecuniary 
 assistance — that he was at liberty, at any such time to draw 
 on him. 
 
 This was one of those noble, benevolent men, that, like 
 the generous cow, is a supporter and nourisher of the weak 
 and helpless part of the human family ; of such a man, a 
 member of your own Quarter, I could relate something simi- 
 lar, were it not for reasons ingeniously expressed by the poet, 
 that — 
 
 " Praise from a friend, or censure from a foe, 
 Is lost on hearers who their merits know." 
 
 Another remarkable case of the kind took place lately in 
 one of our commercial cities. A valuable tradesman was so 
 led astray by the sceptical notions of a popular woman, as to 
 open his shop on what is called the Christian sabbath. The 
 civil authorities of course interposed, by first soliciting him to 
 desist from a practice contrary to the laws of the land; his friends 
 joined in the remonstrance, but it proved in vain; he was ob- 
 stinate and determined. A destructive prosecution ensued, 
 which ended in the loss of his property, his business, and his 
 friends. In this destitute condition, he had to move into a 
 small house in the suburbs of the city, where he soon sunk 
 into the quicksands of despair, and his life became such a bur- 
 then that he determined to commit suicide ; but feeling a de- 
 sire to solicit the attention of some distant friend or relative to- 
 wards his helpless family, he went into the city to forward a 
 letter, where he was met by one of those angels of mercy, who 
 spoke kindly to him, expressing the concern he had felt for him, 
 and wished to know what he was doing, and whether he was 
 in any business. The wretched man told him all, and that 
 he had no hope left. This excellent friend requested him to 
 call at his store at four o'clock; he did so, and was asked how 
 the corner of such a street would suit him to commence busi- 
 ness. '' I have taken that place for thee, and here is a check 
 for a thousand dollars." What language possesses force suffi- 
 
316 
 
 cient adequately to describe the feelings that must have been 
 reciproctilly experienced ! What harmony of sounds can set 
 forth the exquisite delight? The one must have experienced a 
 foretaste of the beatific enjoyment of the ransomed and redeem- 
 ed of the Lord, while the other participated in a portion of that 
 joy that reigns triumphant among the angels of heaven, over 
 one sinner that is saved. 
 
 Bear with me, my dear friends, while 1 add one more noble 
 act of those truly great and excellent men. The story I shall 
 tell was told to me near twenty years ago by an aged English- 
 man. The distinguished Dr. F., of London, in one of his 
 nightly visits to the sick, was stopped by a robber, who de- 
 manded his money. The doctor, with perfect composure and 
 presence of mind, handed his purse — observing, the money was 
 of little consequence, but the consideration that a young man 
 of such respectable appearance should embark in so dreadful 
 an enterprise, that must, eventually end in ruin, so affected 
 him that he could not remain silent. The robber immediately 
 burst into tears and sobbed almost aloud. The doctor, with his 
 usual tender kindness, affectionately took the young man's arm, 
 saying, '^ My dear youth, I feel a fatherly affection for thee, 
 and wish to know what desperate circumstance has driven thee 
 to this act/' As soon as the young man could speak, he told 
 the doctor he was a young trader, that had lately started busi- 
 ness in the city, and had been persuaded to risk his little capi- 
 tal in an East Indian speculation, that was likely to prove his 
 ruin, as the vessel had not been heard of 3 and after exhausting 
 every honest means to raise money to meet his obligations, the 
 dread of being to-morrow shut up in a jail, and his wife and 
 child turned into a poor-house, had driven him to that despera- 
 tion. The doctor heard him thus far and replied : '< I am Dr. 
 F. ; I will never betray thee. Call at my residence to-morrow 
 morning, and tell me all that is in thy heart, and whatever sum 
 of money thou mayst need, thou canst have.'' They then part- 
 ed ; the young man to return to the bosom of his precious lit- 
 tle family, for whom he had exposed all that was sacred and 
 dear, to give thanks for having been snatched from the vortex 
 of ruin by a truly Christian friend and father ; and the doctor 
 to his peaceful pillow, to be thankful for having done no more 
 than what it was his duty to do, ageeeably to the commandment 
 of the Saviour to his disciples : " Make unto yourselves friends 
 
317 
 
 of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail they may 
 receive you into everlasting habitations.'' I was further in- 
 formed that this robber was reclaimed, and lived and died a re- 
 spectable and useful citizen, and near his close revealed the se- 
 cret of this remarkable story. 
 
 Here were too men that appear to have been saved from 
 eternal ruin by the care and generosity of phlegmatic Christians, 
 that had denied self and witnessed that change of heart em- 
 braced in the prophet's figure. Oh ! what a blessing it would 
 be to the rational family, if this class of men and women would 
 all become such Christians — they would be as Saviours on 
 Mount Sion. But they must be born again — they must be- 
 come new creatures ; or at best, they will only be like the dry 
 cow, keep all their substance within themselves, till they be- 
 come fat and indolent, quietly lying down and chewing the cud, 
 perfectly indifferent to the sufferings around them. Such dull, 
 inert kind of creatures appear to be entirely innocent and harm- 
 less 'j but should some poor hungry being apply to them for re- 
 lief, by attempting to milk them, they would soon find them- 
 selves in contact with a restive, refractory animal, whose heels or 
 horns might seriously injure them. Men and women of this de- 
 scription, notwithstanding they may be valuable members of 
 civil society, are too often as stumbling blocks in the way of hum-, 
 ble enquirers after truth, because they are too often put for- 
 ward in religious society as leaders of the people, in conse- 
 quence of their wealth and steady habits, instead of Christian 
 experience, and consequently are like Ephraim, a cake not turn- 
 ed. Hence the appearance of their bearish natures, when the 
 township assessor calls on them to value their property and as- 
 certain the amount of money at interest. Here too often, I 
 fear, like Ananias and Sapphira, they make false statements, and 
 lose all the little life of religion they have. When these hid- 
 den works of darkness come to be found out, they are a disgrace 
 to their country and the religious society to which they belong. 
 Wo unto such rich men, for they have received their consola- 
 tion — the Saviour says that it is easier for a camel to go 
 through the eye of a needle than for such rich men to enter into 
 the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 Having shown to what a state of perfection such men and 
 women may come by submitting to Christ's baptism, and 
 having that cursed selfishness washed away, I will propose a 
 
 27* 
 
318 
 
 remedy for the diseased state of religious society. Let sucli of 
 our precious youth as have been called with a high and holy 
 calling, to follow the blessed Saviour of the world, continue to 
 press forward to perfection ; carrying out practically the three 
 great cardinal principles of Christianity laid down in that me- 
 morable sermon on the Mount, embracing a conclusive testimo- 
 ny against war, law and usury; they will then mount upwards, 
 as on the wingsofcherubims, above all fighting and destroying of 
 the lives of men, above all litigation and contention, above all 
 money-mongeringand covetousness ; and as God's children they 
 will become gentle, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even 
 as God for Christ's sake forgives them. Such young men and 
 women, when joined in holy wedlock, would fulfil with pro- 
 priety all the social and relative duties of life, and, like the 
 little robins in the spring time of the year, they would be very 
 industrious in collecting the particles or materials necessary to 
 make their nest, or little home, for the comfort and accommo- 
 dation of their families ; and the law of the spirit of life in 
 Christ Jesus would as certainly fix bounds to their desires 
 and exertions, as the law of nature fixes bounds to the work 
 and service of the robin ', and such children of God would no 
 more be permitted to lay up treasure on earth, for their chil- 
 dren that may come after them, to purchase a home or nest, 
 than the robins would pervert the order of nature by building 
 a nest after harvest, for their young ones the ensuing spring j' be- 
 cause such a provision would deprive their young ones of one of 
 the greatest sources of happiness, the collecting the little par- 
 ticles that compose their nest. For it is evident from the 
 sweet and beautiful manner of their singing when they are 
 thus employed, that they enjoy life more than at any subse- 
 quent period of their stay. So, dear young men and women, 
 mated together in the divine harmony, humbly and industriously 
 exerting themselves to procure a little farm or comfortable 
 home, and honestly and honorably paying for it with the labor 
 of their own hands, would enjoy more rational happiness than 
 in any other earthly situation. And oh that I could persuade 
 such Christians, after they had paid for their humble home, 
 and found themselves in possession of a few hundred dollars that 
 they had no immediate use for, that they would apply to their 
 Saviour with a spiritual prayer, like — Oh, thou that com- 
 mandest me to do good, and lend, let the light of thy coun- 
 
319 
 
 tenance go before me to where tliy suffering child is, that 
 Thou intendest me to be the humble instrument of relief. Such, 
 I have no doubt, would be Divinely instructed, and led to some 
 poor discouraged disciple that was almost ready to sink into 
 the quicksands of despair ; pressed down by the tremendous 
 paw of grizzly bear-like creditor, who, not having received his 
 interest, is sternly demanding the principal, or a judgment 
 bond. Such a poor distressed brother as this, (and there are 
 too many such,) after having spent a sleepless night in this 
 street called Strait, where all the relief he could find was in 
 prayer, should find at his door in the morning the good Ana- 
 nias, addressing him in language like this — " Dear Brother, the 
 Lord Jesus, to whom thou hast prayed, has sent me to give 
 thee this money without usury : should it be a providential 
 relief, let thanksgiving and praise ascend to the Giver of every 
 good and perfect gift, and only let me be viewed as a Christian 
 brother, that has done what was my duty to do." What lan- 
 guage can describe the feelings, the gratitude and thankful- 
 ness, that such a soul would realize ? What sincere love and 
 friendship he must feel for such a brother ! Would it not 
 lead to a friendship in Christ, that would knit their souls to- 
 gether with stronger ties than Jonathan and David ? Yea, 
 the sweet and grateful savour of such a good work might cause 
 the children's children to glorify their Father that is in heaven. 
 Let such of our precious youth be persuaded, especially those 
 of a phlegmatic constitution, whose parents have left them in 
 easy circumstances, to set such a practical example of ever- 
 lasting righteousness, and thus lay up for themselves treasure 
 in heaven. 
 
 I will now close this part of my discourse with reference 
 to the apostle Matthew, who appears to have been of a phleg- 
 matic constitution, and was found by our Saviour at the receipt 
 of custom— a steady, sober, business-like man — and though he 
 might have been looked down upon by the priest and the Pha- 
 risee, as a publican and sinner, that was very deficient in com- 
 ing up to their traditional notions of the ten commandments, he 
 was certainly an example in the eleventh commandment, which 
 says, let every man mind his own business ; or, as Paul has it 
 — " Study to be ■ quiet, and do your own business. '^ There 
 never was a time when such men were more needed in our 
 country, to balance the light, idle, gad-about, shackling spirit 
 
320 
 
 of the age. Yes, I repeat it again, that such men as Matthew 
 was, even before his conversion, are the very sinews of the 
 state, and although they make but little profession to religion, 
 what religion they have is in their hearts, not in their heads. 
 Hence their prayers are more like the publican than the Pha- 
 risee, short and to the point. And moreover, it appears that 
 Matthew's steady attention to his business made him well off 
 as to the things of this world, for he was the only one of the 
 twelve that was rich ; but having become a disciple of Jesus, 
 he was noble and generous with what he possessed, and made 
 a great feast for his Divine Master, inviting many publicans 
 and sinners. Mark, he had now become a follower of Jesus 
 Christ, and was therefore then more willing to ppend and be 
 spent ; to make ample provision for the comfort and enjoy- 
 ment of his friends. Now had he been like some of our phleg- 
 matic professors of religion, that want the custom of making 
 large feasts, or public weddings, changed to less expensive and 
 more private concerns, he might have reasoned as plausibly as 
 Judas, /^ for what purpose is this waste ? this expense might 
 have been saved and given to the poor;'' and, like Judas, not 
 have cared for the poor, but to save money, to shave notes, or 
 lay usury upon some poor brother. But dear Matthew was 
 changed from this narrow contractcdness,having denied self, and, 
 though a great cross, had left all the riches and honors of this 
 world, to follow Christ, which led to the liberal, benevolent 
 spirit embraced in the language of the prophet ; " And the 
 cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down 
 together." Had Matthew been like too many of our strong 
 political men of the world, that are distinctly called with a high 
 and holy calling, and righteousness, temperance and judgment 
 to come so strongly impressed upon their minds, that, like 
 Felix, they tremble under conviction, yet they continue to put 
 it off to suit their own convenience; — I say, had Matthew been 
 like these, and refused to follow his Saviour, what would have 
 become of him ? even if he had continued to hold his lucrative 
 office, and increased in wealth and popularity so as to obtain a 
 seat in the Jewish sanhedrim or the Koman senate, where 
 would he have now stood ? Would not his very name have 
 been lost in the vortex of revolutions, instead of standing as it 
 certainly now does, gloriously enrolled upon the records of 
 eternity, while his gospel of heavenly truths adorns the first 
 
321 
 
 pages of the New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ ; presenting his precepts and example as the most pow- 
 erful and corroborating stream of everlasting light and love ? 
 
 I come now to the fourth and last class of mankind, in 
 whose material system, or animal body, the element of fire pre- 
 dominates, and hence are called Choleric. Now these, like the 
 phlegmatic, being stronger in intellect, the Lord's prophet 
 makes use of the most powerful and courageous animal as an 
 emblem of their unredeemed and wicked state— '^ And the lion 
 shall eat straw like the ox." Now the lion is not only the 
 most powerful and courageous, but the most destructive among 
 inferior animals ; consequently the fear or dread of him is so 
 universal through all animated nature, that he is styled the 
 king of beasts. The besetting sin of men and women of this 
 constitutional make is pride and arrogance ; proneness to an- 
 ger ; impatient of contradiction, fierce, cruel. They are best 
 described in the language of the patriarch Jacob : " Oh my 
 soul, come not into their secrets — unto their assemblies, mine 
 honor, be not thou united : for in their anger they slew a man, 
 and in their self-will they digged down a wall : cursed be their 
 anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath for it was cruel. I 
 will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." ^ 
 
 This beautiful prophetic declaraion was not only verified in the 
 scattering of the Jews as captives in all nations, but the same 
 cause is producing the same efi'ects, from the domestic circle 
 through ail the social compacts, in all nations, kindreds, tongues, 
 and people : for wherever such men and women are found, 
 even in private families, they will be head, or contend, quarrel 
 or fight for it. Hence the direful altercations that too often 
 take place between husbands and wives, parents and children, 
 brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors ; and hence too the 
 litigations that occupy our courts of justice, and the bloody and 
 destructive wars, where the lives and property of men are des- 
 troyed by the insatiable ambition of such men as Alexander 
 and Bonaparte. But it is under the profession of religion, that 
 a greater cause than the cause of empires and kingdoms is sor- 
 rowfully injured ; for men and women of this class, when they 
 profess to be religious, and have never denied self, or witnessed 
 the lion to eat straw like the ox, become leaders of the people, 
 (for leaders they will be,) that the cause of truth suffers; 
 
322 
 
 which is abundantly proved by the page of history, from the 
 orthodox priests and their satellites in the Jewish church, at 
 the advent of the Messiah, down to the present day. For 
 such choleric professors of religion are predisposed to be or- 
 thodox. And here I wish distinctly to be understood as not 
 casting any reflections upon my Friends that differ from me in 
 opinion. What I mean by orthodoxy is that malignant, per- 
 secuting spirit, that has shed more blood, and been guilty of 
 blacker crimes, than any other spirit in Christendom. A spirit 
 that I have detected in my own breast, that would lead me, 
 through jealousy and envy, to hate a Christian brother or sister, 
 for differing from me in mere matter of opinion, and which I 
 am ashamed almost to think of. 
 
 When such choleric men and women get to be leaders in the 
 church, and are not daily concerned to deny self and take up 
 the cross, they are some of the greatest stumbling blocks in 
 the way of keen-sighted, intelligent inquirers. The self-will 
 of such choleric people is the most beautifully described in the 
 book of Job. In its primeval state, it is said to eat grass like 
 the ox, and its increasing strength, while negatively innocent, 
 is called behemoth; or, as the poetical language has it — ^' Seest 
 thou not behemoth, that I have created with thee ? lo ! he eat- 
 eth the grass as an ox.^^ It is then described as gradually 
 leaving the Divine harmony, in the figure of leviathan, and 
 growing into a monster, that causes the sea to boil as a pot ; 
 and as a proof that it is the man of sin, or son of perdition, it 
 expressly says, " he is king over all the children of pride," 
 which cannot with propriety be applied to any animal creatui^e. 
 Thus it appears plain to me, that this self-will, or strong law 
 of animal spirit in men and women of superior talents, when 
 brought back to its original state, by submitting to the condi- 
 tions contained in the text, is clearly embraced in the figure of 
 the ox — strong and powerful, but perfectly docile and submis- 
 sive. Such have ever been the most distinguished instruments 
 in the cause of Christ. Oh, my dear friends, that you could 
 be persuaded to obey your Saviour's command — " Take my 
 yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly of 
 mind, and ye shall find rest for your souls :" and of all the 
 souls of the children of men, such as inhabit an animal body 
 where the element of fire is predominant, are the furthest at 
 times from this rest; for unless their spirits are daily qualified 
 
823 
 
 wltli the waters of life, they are ever liable to he set on fire of 
 hell. Then their tongue becomes a fire, a world of iniquity 
 among the members, that setteth on fire the course of nature, 
 an unruly evil full of deadly poison. The misery and suf- 
 fering that springs from this source are incalculable, and the 
 safety of such entirely depends upon denying self, and taking 
 up the daily cross ; they will then be concerned to watch and 
 pray, and practise his blessed example of silence in the time of 
 temptation. Then they may be angry and sin not ; for Jesus 
 himself was thus angry, when he saw the hypocritical state of 
 the priest and his satellites, that were watching over him with 
 an evil eye, in a place of worship on the sabbath day ; and 
 when he in mercy and goodness relieved a poor suffering crip- 
 ple, they accused him as a sabbath-breaker, and tried to take 
 his life, no wonder he looked round upon them with anger ; 
 for he was grieved for the hardness of their hearts. Thus it 
 appears that when anger centres in grief, it is so far from being 
 sinful, that it may be a virtuous and useful passion. When 
 anger produces a lust for revenge, it is a temptation to evil ; 
 but it is no sin to be tempted except we give way to the temp- 
 tation j and this lust for revenge conceives and brings forth 
 hatred, which is sinful, when personally directed towards a 
 brother or a sister, especially when finished by the death of 
 the Lamb of God in the soul : for " he- that hateth his brother 
 is a murderer, and no murderer hath eternal life.'' But to 
 feel hatred as an evil in the temptation only, is essentially ne- 
 cessary in order to overcome it. Hence we may imderstand a 
 paradoxical saying of the Divine Saviour : " He that cometh 
 after me, and hateth not his father and mother, his wife and 
 children, his brethren and sisters, and even his own life, he 
 cannot be my disciple.'' Hate is the opposite of love, and the 
 apostle John says that " God is love ;" and by a parity of 
 reasoning we may conclude that the devil is hatred ; now this 
 evil must be made manifest by the light, and the sin of hatred 
 must appear to us exceeding sinful before we feel the need 
 of a Saviour to save our souls from it, and enable us to over- 
 come it ; for it is impossible for us to be the disciples of Christ 
 without overcoming sin, our soul's enemy; and it is equally 
 impossible to overcome what does not exist : for if there be no- 
 thing to war with, there is no warfare ; and if there be no 
 warfare there is no victory. But Paul says, in reference to this 
 
324 
 
 very subject : " Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory, 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ/' And that the true disciple- 
 ship stands in the overcoming of evil through him that loved 
 us, and gave himself for us, must be clear to all that believe 
 this testimony; ''To him that overcometh will I give to sit 
 with me on my throne ; as I overcame, and have sat down with 
 my Father on his throne/' The first temptation to evil, pre- 
 sented to a rational probationary creature, is when a child is 
 restrained in the indulgence of its self-will by the power of its 
 parent or guardian ; its little countenance will often be distort- 
 ed with anger and hatred, and it will even strike its parent. 
 But when the father or mother has witnessed an overcoming 
 of this temptation themselves, they will exercise no other cor- 
 poreal power but to hold the child still, while their souls will 
 be engaged in fervent prayer to their Saviour for help, and 
 while the tears of tenderness are rolling down their cheeks, the 
 child will be baptized into the same precious spirit, and will 
 then tenderly take the parent round the neck, and ask to be 
 forgiven. Here is a victory over evil, and here is the true 
 discipleship. A man, by the passion of anger, may feel hatred 
 towards some action of his wife, and if he suffers himself to be 
 drawn away and enticed by a lust for revenge, until this lust 
 conceiveth and bringeth forth the sin of unkind treatment, he 
 is on his way to eternal ruin ; but if, on the first discovery of 
 the feeling of hatred, he prays to his Saviour for help, and ex- 
 periences all anger and hatred taken away, and that love that 
 everv good man ought to feel for his wife restored, he has 
 gained a blessed victory, and consequently is a true disciple of 
 Christ. The same is experienced in our intercourse with our 
 brethren and sisters of the great family of mankind ; for too 
 often either real or imaginary injuries make us angry, and we 
 feel hatred towards them, which, if indulged, becomes the fruit- 
 ful source of much evil; but as no disciple of Christ can let the 
 sun go down upon his wrath, or in other words, can close his 
 eyes in sleep with hatred in his heart against a brother or a 
 sister, so he must forgive, as he prays to be forgiven ; in this 
 exercise, he witnesses an overcoming of all hatred, and becomes 
 more and more established in the discipleship — feeling love 
 supreme to God his Creator, and love to all men and women 
 his fellow-creatures. 
 
 In the same probationary conflict, every Christian soldier 
 
325 
 
 will feel sin to be exceeding sinful, and will hate his own 
 evil life, that brings forth sin. Oh that yon, my dear friends, 
 with my own soul, may so follow the Captain of our salvation, 
 as to know the Seed or Word of Grod, to bruise the head of that 
 serpent that is the author of all hatred against fathers and 
 mothers, husbands and wives, brethren and sisters ; and so 
 overcome as to be permitted to eat of the tree of life, that 
 stands in the paradise of God. Be encouraged, my dear friends, 
 that are of a fiery, passionate, vindictive temper, remembermg 
 that where this abounds, grace doth much more abound ; and 
 even where lust for revenge hath conceived and brought forth 
 sin, and this sin reigned unto death, this grace of G-od, that 
 brings salvation, may reign in righteousness unto eternal life, 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord. Some of the highest stars in 
 the firmament of God's power have been of this class. The 
 most valuable father in the church of Christ I ever knew, was 
 a man of a choleric complexion, and in his first nature like a 
 Hon; but when I knew him, he was as patient, submissive and 
 powerful as an ox. He was truly to me a precious father, 
 taking me by the hand in my youth, and leading by precept 
 and example; and when my poor soul was under discourage- 
 ment, or tossed on the tempestuous billows of confusion and 
 darkness, he has taken me as it were in his arms, and, with all 
 the tenderness of a natural father to an only son, he comforted 
 and encouraged my poor drooping spirit. I never can forget 
 his last, indeed I may say his dying, testimony, which was m 
 substance like this : '' I have heard some Friends prophesying 
 thee would fall ; but I said in my heart, God forbid ! and look- 
 ing for thee with the eye of my mind, I thought I saw thee 
 sitting at thy Saviour's feet, washing them with thy tears; 
 and I said in my heart— Dear child, if he continues thus, he 
 can never fall. I have compared thee, sometimes, to Peter 
 when he promised his Master what great things he would do, 
 but so weak and unstable as to perform but little. Thou art 
 not yet acquainted with thy own weakness ; and yet, with all 
 thy weakness and imperfections, I hope thou art a sincere be- 
 liever, and so humbled at times as to feel the need of sitting 
 at thy Saviour's feet to hear the gracious word. Ah! dear 
 child, continue daily to repair to that secret hiding place, where 
 thy enemy can never prevail. There may yet be a change m 
 thy circumstances ; thou art now poor as to the things of thi^ 
 
326 
 
 world, but having undertaken to be a farmer, thou mayst suc- 
 ceed in that business, and if thou should become a great farm- 
 er, thou mayest take a life in talking and boasting about thy 
 great crop ; and like the hog under the acorn-tree, eating the 
 nuts but never looking up to where they came from, be anxious 
 to sell thy produce for a great price, and get rich ; and if in 
 addition to this thou shouldst get to be a popular preacher, 
 keeping company with the rich, and pleased with the praises 
 of the weak and womanish, — I say, if I should live to see such 
 a change in thy circumstances, I should be afraid thou wouldst 
 surely fall/^ 
 
 Ah ! dear, precious elder, thou wast worthy of double honor, 
 and I would rather ten thousand times thou couldst have left 
 me a portion of the mantle that clothed thy spirit, than the 
 legacy of thy earthly estate. But I have still greater encour- 
 agement for high-spirited, ambitious, fiery men and women, 
 and shall endeavor to demonstrate to a certainty, that if they 
 will submit to the terms contained in the text, denying self 
 and taking up the daily cross, that the lion will eat straw like 
 the ox, and they may become the most distinguished and useful 
 disciples of Jesus Christ. For I have no doubt that the apostle 
 Paul was of this choleric constitution ; and in the unregenerate 
 state, while the carnivorous, voracious, cruel lion ruled in him, 
 was one of the most malignant, bitter persecutors that ever 
 lived • for he was so exceedingly mad against the children of 
 God, that he persecuted them even unto strange cities ; but 
 when it pleased God to reveal his Son in Paul, he gave up to 
 the heavenly vision, and witnessed a wonderful change from 
 the greatest sinner to the greatest saint; and this change or 
 miracle was as much greater than turning a lion into an ox, as 
 an immortal never-dying soul created in the image of God is 
 greater than an animal body. 
 
 Now it is worthy of the most serious consideration, that this 
 wonderful miracle wrought upon the soul of Paul, by which 
 he was changed from a proud, imperious theologian to a hum- 
 ble, industrious follower of Jesus Christ, was effected by the 
 inward and spiritual appearance of the Son and Sent of God, 
 the only thing that ever made a true Christian, or ever will ; 
 which Paul himself clearly shows by this memorable testi- 
 mony ; " When it pleased God, who separated me from my 
 mother's womb, and called me by his grace to reveal his Son 
 
327 
 
 in me, that I might preach him amongst the heathen, (or gen- 
 tiles) immediately I consulted not with flesh and blood, but 
 gave up to the heavenly vision,'^ Hence it appears clear, that 
 giving up to be led and guided by a Christ loithin, the hope of 
 glory, not only made Paul a Christian, but furnished him with 
 the only essential qualification for an apostle to the gentile 
 world, which he further declares in this beautiful language : — 
 ^' Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the 
 grace of God, given unto me by the effectual working of his 
 power : to me, who am less than the least of all saiots, was 
 this grace given, that I might preach among the gentiles the 
 unsearchable riches of Christ: making all men know the 
 mystery that has been hidden from ages and generations, but 
 now is made manifest to his saints ; to whom Grod would make 
 known what is the mystery of this glory among the gentiles, 
 which is Christ in you, the hope of glory ^ whom we preach, 
 whereunto I also labour, striviDg according to his working, 
 which worketh in me mightily." 
 
 I would wish here to give a view which I think is correct, 
 and that is corroborated by matter of fact — that such profes- 
 sors of Christianity as place all their dependence on the out- 
 ward appearance of Christ, and what that body that was made 
 of a woman and made under the law, suffered for them without 
 the gates of Jerusalem ; I say these can come no further than 
 the perfection of the law — no further than Peter came when 
 he could fight, lie and swear. Indeed it is doubtful whether 
 they come further than Paul came when he persecuted the 
 church of Christ. Hence we may understand that sorrowful 
 and affecting paradox, that Christendom is composed principally 
 of warriors, liars, swearers, and oppressing, avaricious money- 
 mongers. Now, as there must be a cause for this effect, I 
 will try to show the cause, as I think it has appeared to me. 
 
 There are three portions of the divine power given to the 
 souls of the children of men, according to their state and situa- 
 tion, in order for their salvation. These are embraced in that 
 beautiful figure of speech made use of by the Divine Saviour; 
 ''The name of the Father, the name of the Son, and the name 
 of the Holy G-host ;" (mark, the name and the powe^^ are here 
 synonymous.) That portion called the name of the Father, 
 was with the children of men when death reigned, from Adam 
 to MoseS; and was as a light shining in a dark place, to such 
 
328 
 
 as had not sinned, according to the similitude of Adam^s trans- 
 gression, giving them some indistinct view of a great first 
 cause, which they characterised by the terms of Ja, Jehovah, 
 and God, which was systematised and enlarged by the introduc- 
 tion of the law and the prophets ; by which God, at sundry 
 times and after divers manners, spake unto the fathers, until 
 He was pleased to manifest himself in the name of the Son. 
 This Son, as Paul testified, was made of a woman, made under 
 the law, to redeem them that were under the law. In this 
 manifestation of the Divine power in the name of the Son, 
 God not only gave to mankind a perfect pattern of everlasting 
 righteousness, but the highest order of external evidence, by a 
 display of his glorious attributes — his power in the most stu- 
 pendous miracles — his wisdom, in a system of ethics embracing 
 the purest republicanism, inseparable from the purest morality, 
 the world of mankind ever saw— and, as the crown and diadem, 
 the darling attribute of mercy that is over all his works, and 
 by which God was moved to pardon guilty man, by finishing 
 the transgression and making an end of sin, bringing in ever- 
 lasting righteousness, and anointing the most holy, agreeably 
 to the sublime view of the prophet Daniel. But the manifes- 
 tation of the last and greatest portion of God^s power, mercy 
 and goodness, in the name of the Holy Ghost, never took place 
 till the day of Pentecost. Then Christ, the Saviour of the 
 soul, made his second appearance, according to his promise, 
 without sin unto salvation ; thus Peter received him, and be- 
 came a true Christian, and never fought, lied or swore any 
 more ; thus Paul received Christ when he appeared to him be- 
 tween Jerusalem and Damascus, and giving up to the heavenly 
 vision, he for ever ceased from being a persecutor : and thus 
 were these eminent ministers qualified to preach the everlasting 
 gospel in its blessed purity and simplicity, with the Ploly 
 Ghost sent down from heaven; and hence they could say, in 
 the powerful language of example. Follow us as we follow 
 Christ. 
 
 It appears then clear to me, that all that profess to be 
 preachers of the gospel of Christ, and are in favor of war, have 
 never been baptized in the name of the Holy Ghost; or in 
 other words, have never had Christ revealed in them ; and 
 therefore their dependence is in what Christ done without 
 them, and as they can only teach as far as they have been 
 
S^9 
 
 taught,-— and that is the outward manifestation which the Sa» 
 viour declared was to be removedj or go away, that the Com- 
 forter, or Holy Grhostj might come— it appears that our Saviour 
 prophesied of those kind of preachers^ (for they are many) 
 when he said, "Many shall come in my name, saying, I am 
 Christy and shall deceive many/^ (mark, this personal pronoua 
 /, that was to go away,) Now does it not appear clear that 
 these many preachers, that are telling the people that this I^ or 
 outward manifestation, is the Christ that is to save their souls 
 and make them true Christians, are deceived themselves, and 
 oonsequentiy are deceiving the people? That the people are 
 generally deceived is evident from the spirit manifested through- 
 out Christendom ; for instead of being Christ-like, by denying 
 self and taking up the daily cross, manifesting an innocencCj 
 liberality and patience, like the lamb, the kid, the cow and the 
 ox, their fruits demonstrate to a certainty that self is the ruling 
 principle, and that they are in their unregenerate state, and 
 therefore like wolves, leopards, bears and lions-— devouriogj 
 tearing, oppressing and killing one another. Is not this a truth 
 that cannot be denied ? and if so, is there not a cause for this 
 sorrowful effect 1 And can there be any other cause than that 
 the fighting, lying, swearing, wordly-minded professors of the 
 religion of Jesus, that compose the great variety of names in 
 Christendom, have either never been baptized in the name of 
 the Holy Ghost, or had Christ revealed in them, or they are 
 disobedient to the heavenly vision and do not follow Christ ; 
 and consequently are no Christians, but are at best only under 
 the law covenant, that never could make the comers thereunto 
 perfect? Hence the propriety of their dependence for redemp- 
 tion on the propitiatory sacrifice of that that was made of a wo- 
 man, made under the law, to redeem them that are under the law. 
 But all that are come under the covenant of grace, are made 
 true Christians, by having Christ revealed in them as Paul had, 
 or baptized in the name of the Holy G-host as Peter was on the 
 day of Pentecost, These have no need of going back more 
 than eighteen hundred years to what Christ done without them, 
 outside the gates of Jerusalem, for their hope of glory is now a 
 Christ within ; and by looking for his blessed appearance in 
 their own souls, they will too often find him crucified in the 
 streets of spiritual Sodom and Egypt, where the truly awakened 
 sinner, like Peter, weeps bitterly in seeing a suffering Saviour. 
 
330 
 
 Such enlightened souls have no need to support speculation and 
 superstition, by paying their money to see West's celebrated 
 picture of a Christ rejected, for they can see with their spiritual 
 eye the reality within themselves, whenever they have refused 
 to comply with the conditions contained in the text, and have 
 followed cursed self instead of a Christ within, the hope of glo- 
 ry; — such, in substance, practically say, like the Jews that 
 were blessed with his outward appearance, *' Crucify him, cru- 
 cify him, and release unto us Barabbas f and as certainly ag 
 Barabbas was a seditious murderer, this cursed self, as the prime 
 agent of the devil, was a liar and a murderer from the begin- 
 ning, and abode not in the truth. But all such as are obedient 
 to the heavenly vision, denying self, taking up the daily cross, 
 will partake of the everlasting advantages of the spiritual suf- 
 ferings of Jesus Christ, knowing him in the present time to be 
 a propitiation for their sins, These know, like Paul, a being 
 crucified with Christ, and buried with him, in his spiritual bap- 
 tism ; so that, like as Christ was raised from the dead by the 
 glory of the Father, so they also walk in the newness of life. — 
 These, and these only, have an experimental knowledge of that 
 great, peculiar and standing doctrine of Christianity, delivered 
 by the Saviour himself : '* Verily, verily, I say unto thee, ex- 
 cept a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God; 
 that that is born of flesh is flesh, and that that is born of spirit 
 is spirit. Marvel not that I say unto thee, ye must be born 
 again; the wind blowcth where it listeth, thou hearest the sound 
 thereof, but thou knowest not whence it cometh, nor whither it 
 goeth ; so are all they that are born of the Spirit/' 
 
 Finally, my friends, farewell ! May the melancholy be en- 
 couraged and the sanguine quieted ; may the phlegmatic be 
 tendered and the choleric humbled ; may self be denied and 
 the cross of Christ worn as a daily garment ; may his peacea- 
 ble kingdom for ever be established in the rational, immortal 
 soul ; then will be fulfilled the prophetic declaration of the 
 infinitely wise Jehovah, through his evangelical prophet — 
 '' The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard 
 shall lie down with the kid; the calf, and the young lion, and 
 the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them; the 
 cow and the bear shall feed, their young shall lie down to- 
 gether, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The sucking 
 
831 
 
 child shall play upon the hole of an asp, and the weaned child 
 shall put its hand on the cockatrice's den. Nothing shall 
 hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall 
 be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the 
 sea/' 
 
WORD OF EXHORTATION 
 
 YOUNG FEIENDS: 
 
 PRESENTED TO THEM 
 
 WITHOUT MONEY AND WITHOUT PRICE. 
 
 BY A POOR ILLITERATE MINISTER. 
 
The following word of Exortation was written in connexion 
 ■with a Narrative of the Writer's Life, with no expectation at the 
 time of its being published in any other way. But the present 
 unsettled state of the Society of Friends seemed to lay him under 
 an obligation to make a feeble, and perhaps last effort to restore 
 that peace and unity for which Friends were once so remarkable,^ 
 by offering his mite at this time. The excuse offered for the short- 
 ness and deficiencies, observable to the reader, in the arguments 
 on several subjects, therefore, is, that they were treated more fully 
 and at large in the above mentioned Narrative. 
 
A WORD OF EXHORTATION 
 
 Beloved young Friends, — 
 
 I feel a religious concern thus to address you, to try to 
 encourage you to fulfil a duty that I think will be required of 
 you by the Great Head of the church, to endeavor to build up 
 the waste places that your fathers may have thrown down, and 
 gather the scattered and dispersed sheep, from the east and 
 from the west, from the north and from the south, to Jesus 
 Christ, the everlasting shepherd and bishop of souls, that the 
 people who once called themselves the people of God, may 
 once more be gathered into one. I had hoped at the time of the 
 separation among Friends, I should live to see the Society come 
 together again : but the wall that has been built by the Ortho- 
 dox disownments, and the discipline that has been changed by 
 the unsettling spirits among Friends, together with the feeble- 
 ness of my hold on life, has dissipated that hope, and thrown 
 it upon the rising generation. There is, however, now a valu- 
 able body of religious Friends on both sides, that might easily 
 unite, if they were not connected with the two sad extremes ; 
 but these appear now to be going fast to their respective 
 places, — the extreme orthodox to the church of anti-Christ, 
 and the extreme ultra reformers to something like Unitarian 
 scepticism; and a way is now opening for you, dear young 
 Christian friends, to come together in the unity of the spirit 
 and the bond of peace. Embrace then every right opportunity 
 to promote this desirable end, by every act of Christian kind- 
 ness and affection; this will prepare you to labor successfully 
 in the church of Christ, bringing back our excellent discipline 
 to the Christian standard, — throwing down that ridiculous wall 
 of proscription, and for ever silencing all altercations and dis- 
 putes about mere outward forms and inexplicable doctrines, 
 those disgraceful bones of contention, that have been marked 
 with darkness and confusion from the controversy in the 
 Corinthian church, down to the unhappy controversy among 
 Friends. 
 
 I wish distinctly to be understood, that, notwithstanding I 
 29 
 
388 
 
 regret exceedingly the tremendous concussion that has shaken 
 Friends to pieces, I am not prepared to condemn the part I 
 have taken : far from it ; fully believing that after Orthodox 
 Friends had determined to adopt that anti-Christian policy of 
 disowning, that had scattered and distracted Friends in Ireland 
 and New England, the peaceable plan adopted by the great 
 body of Friends, composing the Yearly Meeting of Philadel- 
 phia, assembled at Green street, 1827, was the very thing that 
 saved, for the time being, the Yearly Meeting from total ruin. 
 And it is now for you, dear young Friends, and Orthodox 
 Friends, to carry out this plan as originally proposed, in the 
 peaceable spirit of Jesus, with decency, forbearance and love 
 to each other, and the Yearly Meeting of Philadelphia will 
 continue to be saved, with an everlasting salvation ; and all 
 honor, praise, thanksgiving and renown^ will be ascribed to 
 the Saviour of the world. 
 
 But in order effectually to attain to this desirable end, you 
 must first become Christians, by a belief and faith in Jesus 
 Christ, that works by love and purifies the soul. This belief 
 and faith is the precious gift of God, and must be sought for; 
 and let me tell you, dear young Friends, for your encourage- 
 ment, what I most assuredly believe, that if you seek you will 
 find, and if you ask you will receive. I know what I say by 
 blessed experience; I speak the truth in Christ; I lie not. I 
 sought on the bended knee of my soul, for this belief and faith 
 in my blessed Saviour, and I know that it has been granted, 
 with an increase of love for Mm and all my fellow-creatures ', 
 and I verily believe that if I can be favored to continue my 
 daily exercise of prayer, thanksgiving and praise, my heavenly 
 Shepherd will keep me in humble obedience to a peaceable 
 and happy conclusion in his everlasting kingdom. This belief 
 and faith in Jesus Christ does not stand in airy speculation, 
 nor a mere acknowledgment of what Christ done without us 
 1800 years ago, though it reverences that stupendous event ; 
 but it stands in an unshaken, experimental belief of what 
 Christ is doing within us, as an omnipresent Saviour, saving 
 us from sin by casting out the evil spirits, and curing the dis- 
 eases of our souls. Oh ! the magnitude and importance of 
 this distinguishing doctrine of the Society of Friends, which 
 is nothing more nor less than the doctrine of the primitive 
 saints, and the substance of the heavenly message to the gen- 
 
339 
 
 tile world, " Christ within, the hope of glory J* Seek, then to 
 know this Christ, as Paul did when he was revealed in him in 
 such a glorious manner that Paul was determined to know no- 
 thing but Jesus Christ and him crucified : do not lose this 
 ever blessed knowledge, by vain metaphysical speculations 
 about manner or form, that can never make you wiser or bet- 
 ter ; for if ever you succeed in raising the Society of Friends 
 from the dust of the earth, to put on its .beautiful primitive 
 garments, it will be distinguished for practical righteousness, 
 loving and helping one another, and for that plain way of liv- 
 ing and plain way of preaching, that the father of the illustri- 
 ous William Penn saw, if kept to, would put an end to priest- 
 craft for ever. Return then, dear young friends, immediately 
 to the path of humble industry — a path gloriously honored by 
 the manifestation of Grod in the flesh — a path that will un- 
 doubtedly lead to rational happiness in this world, and ever- 
 lasting happiness in the world to come. 
 
 And you, dear young friends, that are rich, submit cheer- 
 fully to the unchangeable terms of salvation, as proposed by 
 the Divine Saviour to a rich young man formerly, '^ Sell that 
 thou hast, give to the poor, and come take up thy cross and 
 follow me, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.^^ Don't 
 turn away as he did, sorrowful, lest in your case the addition- 
 al testimony of the Saviour should be applicable, ^' How 
 hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven." " It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of 
 a needle, than a rich man to enter into the kingdom." Think 
 then of the uncertainty of all earthly riches, and their dread- 
 ful opposition to entering into the kingdom of heaven. Think 
 then, I beseech you, of the awfulness of what is now at stake; 
 if you are obedient to Christ's commandments, your happiness 
 is secured in time and in eternity — if you are disobedient to 
 the heavenly vision, you lose all that is worth living for, 
 while you may only gain what may constitute the fuel for 
 everlasting fire. I will now seriously propose to such of you 
 as are in possession of a superabundance of the riches of this 
 world, a superfluity that undoubtedly has injured the Society 
 of Friends more than all other superfluities, because in fact it 
 is, directly or indirectly, the mother of all, as certainly as 
 " the love of money is the root of all evil :" I say I will pro- 
 pose, first, to the farmer that has 160 acres of land, to take 
 
340 
 
 60 acres, with the buildings, for a home for himself and family 
 — then sell 50 acres, and appropriate so much of the money 
 as will put humble, comfortable buildings, &c., on the remain- 
 ing 50 acres, making a snug farm ; put the rest of the money 
 out to some poor Friend without interest — then tell another 
 young Friend that is a farmer, and about to settle, but has not 
 the means to purchase a farm, " Dear friend, take my farm 
 and pay the taxes, and thee shall have it five years without 
 any other rent ; that may assist thee to buy a little farm for 
 thyself." Now it appears clear to me that 50, nay 25 acres 
 of good land, with suitable improvements, are enough for any 
 humble follower of Jesus Christ ; for if he is clothed with 
 Christian humility, he will not be easy with any superfluity. 
 Hence, his wants being few, his industry will more than sup- 
 ply them, and at the end of every year he will have money to 
 put out, which, if he is such a Christian as I wish him to be, 
 he will do without usury ; as the Lord commanded his faith- 
 ful servants and prophets from Moses to Ezekiel, more than a 
 thousand years, and then gloriously asserted the same great 
 commandment through Jesus Christ our Lord. Think then, 
 dear young friends, of the blessedness and happiness insepara- 
 ble from such a course of life, and the certainty of the condi- 
 tions contained in the text, '^And thou shalt have treasure in 
 heaven ;" an inexhaustible treasure, whose heavenly fruition 
 will continue throughout the endless ages of eternity. But 
 oh ! reflect with a seriousness proportionable to the awfulaess 
 of the consideration, that if you will, in direct opposition to 
 the high and holy command, continue to hold on to the riches 
 of this world, remember that the declaration of the apostle 
 remains an unchangeable truth, that '^they that will be thus rich, 
 fall into a temptation and a snare, and into many hurtful and 
 foolish lusts, that drown men in perdition and destruction.'^ 
 The above proposition will apply equally to the merchant, the 
 tradesman, and the several occupations of life, because every 
 Christian undoubtedly ought to be influenced by that wisdom 
 embraced in the prayer of Agur, the son of Jaketh, '^ Two 
 things have I required of thee ; deny me them not before I 
 die ; remove far from me vanity and lies ; give me neither 
 poverty nor riches ; feed me with the food convenient for me, 
 lest I be full and deny thee, and say. Who is the Lord ? Or 
 lest I be poor and steal, and take the name of my God in 
 
341 
 
 vain." These rational and heavenly views, so consistent with 
 the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, liappy would it 
 have been for the Society of Friends, had they more consci- 
 entiously adhered to them, at the rising of worldly prosperity 
 amongst them after the passing of the Toleration Act, at the 
 close of the seventeenth century ; and continued to bring up 
 their children in the path of humble industry, with no other 
 dependence than the blessing of their Heavenly Father on 
 their own exertions. This would have taxed their own re- 
 sources, and called all the energies of body and mind into ac- 
 tion, and hence there would have been a succession of stand- 
 ard bearers, more resembling the blessed pattern shown them 
 in the holy mount. One would have really thought that the 
 single circumstance of William Penn's children (anticipating 
 the great estate and popularity of their father) leaving the 
 Society and becoming prodigals and politicians, would have been 
 sufficient to have opened the eyes of Friends, to see the direful 
 effect that expected estates and popularity has upon the child- 
 ren of Friends; while the evil genius of usury, inseparably 
 connected with such estates, influencing Quaker merchants of 
 London, by the name of Ford, to sue William Penn at law, 
 causing him to be arrested, taken from a meeting by the 
 sheriff, and sent to prison for a debt composed in part of com- 
 pound usury and trumpery, that abominable abomination to 
 Christian justice and equity, — I say, one would have really 
 thought all this would have been sufficient to open their eyes 
 to behold the evil that was coming upon Friends by usury, the 
 great high priest of the mammon of unrighteousness. Happy 
 would it have been for the Society of Friends, had they recog- 
 nised a testimony against usury with their other noble Chris- 
 tian testimonies, when they embraced the religion of Jesus 
 suffering on the cross, as beautifully described by a late emi- 
 nent English writer, in a language like this, ^^ The glory of 
 Christianity is its benevolent morality— its exquisite adaptation 
 to the human heart — the facility with which it accommodates 
 itself to the lowest human intellect — the consolation that it 
 bears to the house of mourning, and the light with which it 
 brightens the great mystery of the grave. To such a religion 
 it can be no additional strength or beauty to make it a part or 
 parcel of the common law. It would not be left for the first 
 time to depend upon the strength of its own evidence, or the 
 
 29* 
 
342 
 
 beauty of its own attractions. Its sublime theology confound- 
 ed the Grecian schools in a fair conflict of reason with reason. 
 The bravest and wisest of the Caesars found their arms and 
 their policy unavailing, when opposed to the weapons that 
 were not carnal, and the kingdom that was not of this world. 
 They, then, that would force temporal policy upon such a re- 
 ligion, treat her as the Romans did her Divine Author; they 
 bow the knee, and spit upon her, — they cry hail, and smite 
 her on the cheek, — they put a sceptre into her hand, but it is 
 a fragile reed, — they crown her, but it is with thorns,— they 
 cover with purple the wounds their own hands have inflicted, 
 and inscribe magnificent titles over the cross on which they 
 have fixed her to suffer in ignominy and pain." 
 
 Thus suff"ering about the middle of the seventeenth century 
 in England, Friends embraced this high and holy religion ; 
 happy would it be for the Society of Friends if they could 
 continue in its bosom ! But if they do, it appears to me they 
 must return to the heavenly precepts of its Divine Author, 
 and recognise that great Christian testimony against usury, 
 that was seen so clearly by the Waldenses, the brightest stars 
 in the night of apostacy, a people that took their rise in France 
 about the twelfth century, and continued, if I am not mistaken, 
 undivided witnesses for Jesus Christ for near three hundred 
 years, notwithstanding the violent opposition of the secular 
 power, and bitter persecution of the priests. The instrument 
 made use of to gather this people, was an illiterate merchant 
 iilqiLyons^ who hired an ecclesiastic to translate the New Tes- 
 tament into his mother tongue, by which he saw that heaven- 
 ly commandment of Christ to the rich man, — '^ Sell that thou 
 hast, give to the poor, take up thy daily cross and follow me, 
 and thou shalt have treasure in heaven." He considered this 
 commandment to embrace the unchangeable terms of salva- 
 tion, and did not turn away sorrowful, reasoning with flesh 
 and blood, but gave up immediately to the heavenly vision, 
 sold his great possessions, giving to the poor, reduced himself 
 to the necessity of laboring with his own hands for a living 
 like the primitive saints. He was soon joined .by the true 
 lovers and followers of the Lord Jesus ; adopting the sermon 
 on the Mount for their creed, they carried it out practically, 
 by bearing the most faithful testimony against hireling min- 
 istry; and consequently against superfluous school learning. 
 
343 
 
 idleness and pride ; and tlie strictness of their discipline 
 against usury, and consequently against accumulating worldly 
 estates, was such, that it enjoined even their ministers to be 
 poor and illiterate, and earn their living by the labor of their 
 own hands. They bore likewise a faithful and consistent tes- 
 timony against war, and going to law, or taking an oath of 
 any kind. These were the people that shook the very found- 
 ation of the church of Anti-christ in Europe, without making 
 any resistance whatever. But alas ! the evil genius of usury, 
 or the love of money, joined with pride and power, produced 
 a division amongst them, subdivisions soon took place, and 
 they are now, if I am not mistaken, only to be found in frac- 
 tional parts, spread over Europe and America, under the de- 
 nominations of Menonists, Moravians, Anabaptists, &c. 
 
 The Society of Friends have not existed as an organized body 
 two hundred years, yet the same evil geniuses, namely, usury, 
 pride and power, have already caused a division, if not a subdi- 
 vision ; and if you, dear young Friends, do not arise, and shake 
 yourselves loose from the fetters of Anti-christ, and put on the 
 beautiful garments of primitive Christianity, I seriously fear, 
 that before the close of the two thousand years, granted in mercy 
 to the gentile world, the Society of Friends will only be found 
 scattered in insignificant fractions, called Quakers, Friends, 
 Orthodox Friends, Abolitionists, &c. Think then, seriously, 
 of the importance of saving the Society, and removing obnox- 
 ious epithets, by the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, 
 following after practical righteousness, in the blessed exair ; 
 of the Saviour of the world. 
 
 I have not lived to be sixty -four years of age, without obser- 
 vation on men and things as I have passed through the world, 
 and my little experience I now affectionately offer for your se- 
 rious consideration. I have observed a bad effect of expected 
 property or estates from wealthy parents, on their children, and 
 lived to see the ruin, as it were, of a number of the most in- 
 teresting and promising families, in the little circle in which I 
 have moved. Children too often anticipate the full amount of 
 what their parents may possess, and in the indulgence of their 
 cogitations, the enemy of their souls too often gains such an 
 ascendency, as to tempt them to wish their parents or relatives 
 dead, that they might get possession of their property ; hence 
 that hardness of heart and difficulty of understanding, attend- 
 
344 
 
 ing che settlement of large estates, that too often ends in con- 
 tention and litigation, destroying all that affection and good 
 feeling that ought ever to exist between brethren and sisters : 
 hence, too, the sorrowful feelings that have too often clothed 
 my mind when attending the funeral of the rich, when I have 
 seen and felt what is so beautifully described by Blair, the heirs 
 impatient to examine the will, looking upon each other with 
 jealous eyes, already beginning to dispute about the division of 
 property. How then can a Christian parent spend the best of 
 his days in accumulating food for that worm that never dies, 
 and fuel for that fire that is never quenched ? 
 
 I have observed another bad effect upon the children of such 
 as are in the pursuit of wordly riches, by their exposure to bad 
 company, and consequently bad influence. Such as have large 
 farms, or large business, must necessarily employ a number of 
 hands, amongst whom are too often the most immoral and pro- 
 fligate; and children seeming naturally fond of the company of 
 such, it is in the hitchen, in the absence of the parents, that 
 children too often receive the first rudiments of an education 
 that is the ruin of their morals. It is too often in the kitchen 
 of the large farmer or tradesman, that the poor bound girl is 
 exposed to the wiles of the seducer, that too often leads to de- 
 gradation, if not the ruin of her character for ever. I have 
 seen myself, in my childhood, the most shameful and licentious 
 conduct under the roof of the respectable farmer, in the absence 
 of the heads of the family. On this subject I could say much, 
 if it were not for brevity's sake, for my heart is full of sympa- 
 thy and feeling for the sadly neglected and exposed children ; 
 especially poor little bound children, and more especially among 
 Friends. What answer will such parents and guardians make 
 in the day of final judgment, should the following query be 
 put to them, ^' What hast thou done with those lambs that 
 were placed under thy care in the wilderness of the world V — 
 How affecting must be the only true answer that too many 
 wretched souls will have to give, — '^ I was so taken up with 
 what I thought a proper provision, and laying up treasure on 
 earth, that I neglected my proper care, and they have strayed 
 away." Will not the righteous Judge say> — ^' Did I not tell 
 thee plainly, to seek first the kingdom of Grod and his righteous- 
 ness, and all things needful should be added ? And did I not 
 pcssitively command thee not to lay up treasure on earth ? — 
 
345 
 
 But thou bast broken my commandments, when thou knewest 
 the condition of my friendship. For I said plainly, Ye are my 
 friends if ye do whatsoever I command you ; therefore having 
 broken my commandmentj as an enemy, thou must depart from 
 me as a worker of iniquity/' 
 
 Keflect seriously, my young friends, now in the morning of 
 your day, of the vast importance of the salvation of the never- 
 dying souls of your precious children ; and do not furnish the 
 enemy with the means of tempting them to their ruin, by lay- 
 ing up for them treasure on earth, where the moth of selfish- 
 ness and pride corrupts — where the rust of usury eats like a 
 canker, and gamblers break the laws of common honesty, and 
 steal. But lay up for them treasure in heaven, by leading them 
 in their infancy to the heavenly Shepherd, the Saviour of the 
 world, and asking him in fervent prayer, to bless them with 
 the earliest visitation of his heavenly love. Should you gain 
 this great point, and be the instruments of kindling the devo- 
 tional fire on the altar of their youthful hearts, you will lay up 
 for them treasure in heaven, and will find but little difficulty 
 in bringing them up in the way they should go, in the nurture 
 and admonition of the Lord — in plainness of speech, behaviour 
 and apparel — in frequently reading the holy Scriptures,, and re- 
 straining them from reading pernicious books, and the corrupt 
 conversation of the world. The Lord knows that I can declare 
 here, without boasting, that I know what I say by blessed ex- 
 perience, for I verily believe it was the dying exercise of my 
 precious Christian mother, to present me in my infancy to Christ, 
 who declared he had all power in heaven and in earth, and to 
 beg of him to bless me with an early visitation of his love ; and 
 that prayer was not only fervent but effectual, and I was led in 
 early life to love and adore him, to pray to him in all my trials 
 and troubles ; and in blessing, he has blest me with preserva- 
 tion ; in multiplying, he has multiplied his favors towards me, 
 and if I can only be humble and obedient, I have a hope he will 
 crown me in the end with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 
 
 Had I continued under the care of pious Friends, I think 
 now that I should never have lost my first love ; for I loved 
 their plainness of speech, behaviour and apparel, because they 
 were nearer the example of the great Christian pattern : and 
 when I arrived at the age of twenty-one, being renewedly visited 
 with heavenly love, notwithstanding I lived among the Presby- 
 
346 
 
 terians, and attended their meetings, I turned towards Friends, 
 and not only conscientiously adopted their plain language, but 
 took off my regimental coat with pleasure, and put on a plain 
 drab ; and this being so contrary to my constitutional nature, I 
 can attribute it to nothing else than the love of Christ, gracious- 
 ly instilled into me in my very infancy — hence arises my great 
 concern that you, my dear young friends, may bring your chil- 
 dren early to Jesus Christ, the everlasting Shepherd and Bishop 
 of souls. 
 
 From the above observations and experience, I have now ar- 
 rived at this conclusion, that if the children of Friends were 
 rightly impressed with the love of Christ in early life, they 
 would never leave the Society : for children are imitative crea- 
 tures, and are naturally led to imitate those they really love 
 and adore ; therefore, seeing in the blessed pattern the beauti- 
 ful propriety of plain language, they would conscientiously keep 
 to it — seeing in him that meekness and lowliness of mind, 
 clothed with a seamless garment, they would never follow the 
 foolish shows of a vain world — seeing, as they must see, with 
 indubitable clearness, that the priests were the greatest enemies 
 to the blessed Saviour in his outward appearance, and equally 
 hostile to his inward, they would have no confidence in the 
 deluded votaries of Anti-christ ; hence they would recognize 
 Friends* great Christian testimony against a mercenary hireling 
 ministry. Seeing in the blessed Jesus, the great principles of 
 non-resistance, exemplified in his heavenly testimony against 
 war, our young men could never become, or never continue, 
 carnal warriors ; for they would understand what he meant, 
 when he said, " My kingdom is not of this world : if my king- 
 dom was of this world then would my servants fight. But 
 now is my kingdom not from hence." His kingdom being a 
 blessed state, arrived at by the redeemed soul, where there is 
 no qualification for either war or politics, our young friends 
 could neither elect others, nor receive any office of honor or 
 profit themselves in the governments of this world, that are set 
 up by the sword, and defended by the sword ; but would feel 
 conscientiously bound, in justice, to leave these offices to such 
 as are better qualified to fill them, as some indemnification for 
 the risk of their lives, their property, and what they consider 
 their sacred honor, in the field of battle. 
 
 The Saviour's testimony against going to law being so clear 
 
347 
 
 and conclusive, they never could prosecute any man on any oc- 
 casion whatever, or appeal to the outward law for redress in any 
 grievance ; and if sued themselves, could make no resistance ; 
 therefore they would never be seen attending elections or courts 
 of law, except when summoned there as jurymen or witnesses. 
 And this great commandment of the Head of the Christian 
 church, being so deeply inscribed on the tablet of their heart, — 
 '' From him that would borrow turn not thou away, but do good 
 and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward shall be 
 great, and ye shall be the children of Grod," they could take 
 no usury for superfluous money, but would rejoice in helping 
 their poor fellow men and women. Neither could they hold 
 a poor fellow creature in bondage, because all acts of injustice 
 and cruelty are condemned in this remarkable saying, ^'As ye 
 would that men should do unto you, do ye also unto them." 
 Nor could they ever become drunkards, because the law of the 
 spirit of life in Christ Jesus being in them, it would for ever 
 keep them free from that law of sin and death. 
 
 In a word, all those great Christian testimonies, recognized 
 by the Society of Friends, and held up as a light to the world, 
 having emanated from the great Christian Law-giver, they would 
 be conscientiously embraced by the children of Friends, that 
 had received a proper religious education, and in whom the love 
 of Christ had been instilled in early life. Hence the vast im- 
 portance of a religious education, and the awful responsibility 
 that rests upon you, dear young friends, as delegated shepherds 
 and shepherdesses, under the great Shepherd and Bishop of 
 souls. Permit me, then, to beg of you for Grod's Sake — for 
 your own souls and the souls of your children's sake — and for 
 the sake of the cause of righteousness, as professed by Friends — 
 unite again in the fellowship of the everlasting gospel of Jesus 
 Christ, that you may be instruments in the Divine Hand, to 
 save the Society of Friends from that vortex of anti- Christianity 
 that appears to be ingulfing all the reformers from the church 
 of Rome. 
 
 I will now call your attention to the great importance of keep- 
 ing up our religious meetings. Dear G-eorge Fox, in the last 
 letter he wrote and left sealed, which was read in the Yearly 
 Meeting, 1691, a short time after his death, begins with these 
 remarkable expressions : " Keep all your meetings in the name 
 of the Lord Jesus." This name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 
318 
 
 which was so precious to the primitive saints, our early Friends 
 considered the crown and diadem of all their meetings, for in 
 them they experienced what the Lord's prophet saw in hea- 
 venly vision, that this precious name was Wonderful, was a 
 Counsellor, was an everlasting Father and the Prince of peace ; 
 and they saw in heavenly prospective^ that of the increase of 
 his government there should be no end. Hence the peculiar 
 devotedness of their spirits while sitting in their silent meet- 
 ings, that frequently the tenderness and contrition were such, 
 that the floor would be wet with their tears when not a word 
 was spoken. It is this devotedness and fervency of spirit thafc 
 constitutes the very life of our religious meetings, and without 
 it, a Quaker meeting, held in silence, is a dull, insipid concern, 
 having neither form nor substance. Therefore it is no wonder 
 that the greater part of our meetings for worship, both in Eng- 
 land and America, are on the decline. 
 
 Superfluity of wealth, and superfluity of scholastic education 
 or worldly wisdom, have produced the love of worldly-minded- 
 ness in Friends, and the declaration of the apostle John, that 
 ^' Whoso loveth the world the love of the Father is not in them,'' 
 remains an unchangeable truth ; the love of the Father being 
 inseparable from the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Such 
 Friends as have not this precious life, are as dead weights in 
 our religious meetings ; and when such seekers as are saying in 
 their hearts, " Lord, who shall show us any good,'' come 
 to our meetings, and see no evidence in the countenances of 
 Friends that they have been with Jesus, but, on the contrary, 
 see a sleepy, yawning, listless appearance, and feel no solemni- 
 ty of devotion, they will go away discouraged ; and therefore 
 our meetings must continue to dwindle, unless you dear young 
 friends, gird up the loins of your minds, be devoutly sober, watch- 
 ing and praying, least you enter into a similar tempation. — 
 " The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Oh, this 
 weakness of the flesh! don't indulge it, don't give way to it to 
 the neglect of religious meetings, or it will be a let to still 
 greater weakness ; for if it is our duty to meet together twice a 
 week to worship our Heavenly Father, it is paramount to 
 every other duty that relates to the things of this world, and 
 faithful Friends will be blessed. I know what I say by expe- 
 rience, for from the time I entered into covenant to attend 
 meetings for worship in the middle of the week, I have no re- 
 
349 
 
 collection of neglecting one, when I was able to go, for forty 
 years. I speak not boastingly, the Lord knows — and now those 
 meetings are more precious to me than ever, though I often at- 
 tend them under such bodily infirmity, that I seem trembling, as 
 it were, on the brink of the eternal world. Be ye therefore en- 
 couraged. 
 
 Our Saviour has promised, and will fulfil his promise, that 
 '^ Where two or three are gathered together in his name, there 
 will he be in the midst of them ;'' hence the great importance 
 of taking heed to the dying exhortation of dear G-eorg-e Fox, 
 ^^ Keep all your meetings in the name of the Lord Jesus." — 
 Oh the blessedness of true heavenly devotion ! it is a foretaste 
 experienced by all Grod's children here on earth, of that fruition 
 of bliss, which the ransomed and redeemed soul enjoys through- 
 out the endless ages of eternity, and is certainly known by its 
 own fruits, which are love unfeigned to G-od supreme, and uni- 
 versal love to all mankind. It is holy, humble, harmless ; 
 entirely separate from all justice, cruelty and pride, can love 
 enemies, bless them that curse, and pray for them that act de- 
 spitefally and persecute. Under the influence of this blessed 
 spirit, my soul feels a sweet union and communion with all 
 G-od's children in their devotional exercise, whether it is per- 
 formed in a Protestant meeting house, a Roman cathedral, a 
 Jewish synagogue, an Hindoo temple, an Indian wigwam, or by 
 the wild Arab of the great desert with his face turned towards 
 Mecca. The counterfeit of this UNDOUBTED EEALITY 
 is a curse to the human family, and the mother of all religious 
 superstition, hypocrisy and persecution, and has permitted the 
 unregenerated Quaker to be high in profession and low in prac- 
 tice ; the Puritan Presbyterians to rise from their prayers and 
 their sacraments, to massacre in cold blood the Indian men, 
 women and children, original inhabitants of the eastern shores 
 of America ; the Catholic Crusaders to storm the cities of Pa- 
 lestine, and after indiscriminately murdering the inhabitants, 
 not even sparing the unoffending mother with her helpless in- 
 fant, they rushed, under the influence of this counterfeit devo- 
 tion, to the holy sepulchre, and prostrating themselves with 
 tears in their eyes, kissed the very grounl on which it stood. 
 The same cursed ungodliness of zeal, led the Jewish priesthood, 
 with their satellites, to cause to be put to the ignominious death 
 of the cress, the dear Son of G-od, who came to be their Saviour. 
 
 30 
 
350 
 
 In a word, it was this dreadful spirit that was iuscparably con- 
 nected with the atrocious cruelties and treachery of a Jenghis 
 Khan and Tamerlane ; that produced that everlasting thirst for 
 revenge in the breast of the murderiDg Indian, and directed the 
 prayers of the Arabian robber for the destruction of the unfortu- 
 nate Christian mariner on his coast. I say it was this wretched 
 inconsistency in Christian professors, and murderous treachery 
 in other selfish mortals, presented to the eagle eye of the great 
 Frederick, Voltaire and Spinoza, that led to that confederacy 
 with other powerful wits of Europe, in a conspiracy against all 
 religion, even aiming their deadly shafts at the person and stu- 
 pendous miracles of the Saviour of the world. 
 
 And oh, that I could stop here ! But what have I seen and 
 heard in my own day ? A respectable member of the Society 
 of Friends reading in his own house the productions of these 
 wits, or their petty retailers, in the form of an Apocrypha to 
 the New Testament ! This pernicious book, with others of a 
 similar character — their spurious bible — designed to turn the 
 holy scriptures into perfect ridicule, together with Paine's Age 
 of Reason, (though only calculated to work upon narrow and 
 debauched understandings) I have reason to fear, are to be 
 found in the houses of too many respectable Friends. Oh ! will 
 it not be an affecting and sorrowful consideration, if the people 
 called Quakers, — whom the Lord Almighty appears to have 
 raised up by his own invincible power, for the purpose of dis- 
 pelling this black cloud, and so signally placed his name amongst 
 them, that they bore a faithful and consistent testimony for 
 more than one hundred and fifty years against those two tre- 
 mendous enemies of the Christian cause, the orthodox persecu- 
 tor and the deistical scoffer, — should now be found practising 
 their spirit, and reading and harboring their pernicious publica- 
 tions ? Alas! for the Society of Friends, unless you, dear chil- 
 dren, unite as the young men of the princes of the provinces, 
 under the ordering of the King of kings, to make war in right- 
 eousness against this dreadful Gog and Magog, that appears to 
 be compassing the very camp of the saints ! I conjure you by 
 all that is sacred and dear, never indulge that bitter persecut- 
 ing spirit, never read any of these abominable books ; never 
 harbor these corrupt doubtings of a fallen world, but pray daily 
 for an increase of that precious faith, that works by love and 
 purifies the heart, and you will become established as pillars in 
 the Lord's house, that go no more out. 
 
351 
 
 I will now endeavor to lay before my young friends the 
 concern I feel for the preservation of a living gospel ministry, 
 which^ since the decline of the Society, has sadly dwindled 
 into party declamation and political lecturing, with a multi- 
 plicity of words without either life or power, scattering and 
 dispersing on the barren mountains of empty profession. 
 Should you succeed in the unity I have hoped for, be especial- 
 ly careful in seeking for Divine wisdom in recommending of 
 ministers, ever keeping in view this all important fact, that 
 when G-od was pleased to send into the world the everlasting 
 minister of the sanctuary, it was in the person of an humble, 
 illiterate carpenter, and before he left the world, he chose for 
 his successors the poor unlearned fishermen of Galilee. This 
 important fact of itself speaks volumes ; which is well authen- 
 ticated by the living experience of the first and greatest of 
 Quaker preachers, a poor shoemaker, with scarcely scholastic 
 learning enough to read and write intelligibly ] and so far 
 from being eloquent, he was rather an unpleasant speaker: yet 
 this was the instrument the great Head of the Church made 
 use of to gather the people called Quakers, sanctify their con- 
 gregations, and assemble their elders. Beware then, dear 
 young friends, of being deceived by those superficial idols of 
 a vain world, — eloquence, talents and. learning, — for you will 
 scarcely be able to find one eloquent and learned preacher 
 among Friends, from James Naylor to the present day, but 
 what have scattered more by their spirit and example, than 
 they have ever gathered by their preaching of the gospel. 
 
 It is to me a matter of astonishment, that a disciple of Jesus 
 Christ should be so anxious for the friendship of the world 
 and the praise of men, as to sacrifice the legacy t)f a Saviour's 
 love in pursuit of that echo of folly and shadow of renown, 
 when the testimony of the Divine Master is so decidedly 
 against it: ^^ These things I command you, that ye love one 
 another. If the world hate you, ye know it hated me before 
 it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love 
 his own : but because ye are not of the world, but I have 
 chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.'' 
 I say it is a matter of astonishment to me, that believers in 
 this doctrine should manifest such a love for the world's idols 
 as to desire an eloquent, learned and talented ministry. Why 
 may it not be truly gaid of such Friends, '^ What do ye more 
 
352 
 
 than others ? Do not the deluded votaries of Anti-christ do 
 the same ?" See the testimony of the beloved Paul, who 
 knew what value to set on scholastic learning and human 
 wisdom ; he certainly was religiously concerned to lay it aside 
 entirety, and to consider it as dross and dung in comparison to 
 the learning and wisdom of Christ. In his first epistle to the 
 Corinthians, the first and second chapters, nothing can be more 
 conclusively clear to my mind, than his testimony against 
 those idols of a fallen world, — learning, talents and eloquence, 
 the levers of the power of priestcraft, — "Ye see your calling, 
 brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not 
 not many mighty, not many noble, are called ; but God hath 
 chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, 
 and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound 
 the things that are mighty/' And it is to me an encouraging 
 consideration, that there is still raised up among Friends, a 
 living gospel ministry, unadorned with the mighty and noble 
 wisdom of the world, and we continue to have the gospel of 
 Jesus Christ, in its blessed simplicity, from the stammering 
 tongue of a weak, tender woman. This is the kind of preach- 
 ing that has ever made the deepest impression upon my mind, 
 and this is the only ministry I want you, dear young friends, 
 to recommend ; ever having a watchful eye to its humility and 
 nothingness of self, for when weak men and women suffer 
 themselves to be puffed up with pride and religious conse- 
 quence^ they are sure to fall into the condemnation of the 
 devil. 
 
 I could wish that Friends could see the propriety of draw- 
 ing some line, or fixing some limits to the missionary travel- 
 ling of their ministers. They have certainly been favored to 
 draw the line with great propriety in their testimonies against 
 war, oaths, slavery, and hireling ministry ; and as these lines 
 were drawn from the precepts or example of Christ, I would 
 propose that Christ's example should fix the limits of such 
 concerns as ministers should feel to travel in the work of the 
 ministry. Having already given my views touching this sub- 
 ject, in the narrative of my life, I would only ask my young 
 friends whether they can believe that the missionary labors of 
 the several sects in Christendom have, upon the whole, sub- 
 stantially benefitted the blessed cause of Jesus Christ ? If 
 they can, they must reasonably give the preference to that so- 
 
853 
 
 ciety that has done the most : hence, the Roman Catholic mis- 
 sionarieS; particularly the order of Jesuits, will have the pre- 
 eminence. But I am rather disposed to think that some, if 
 not all, would unite with me in believing that these mission- 
 aries have done more hurt than good : — and as enemies to civil 
 and religious liberty, nothing but a providential interference 
 has prevented them from destroying them both, ^^ Ye shall 
 know them by their fruits : do men gather grapes of thorns or 
 figs of thistles ?" 
 
 I will now try to bring the subject nearer home, by asking, 
 whether the cause of Christ, as professed by Friends, has 
 been substantially promoted by all the missionary travelling 
 of our ministers, beyond the jurisdiction embraced in his ex- 
 ample, especially for the last fifty years ? If the present state 
 of our religious society is permitted to answer, it will be con- 
 clusive : and you, dear young friends, will be justified in 
 drawing the line and fixing the limits, by the example of the 
 Saviour, who, notwithstanding he could walk on the waters 
 and ride on the wings of the wind, never travelled in the 
 work of the ministry further than one hundred miles in a di- 
 rect line. 
 
 In reading the journals of Friends in the ministry, and ob- 
 serving their spirit and conduct, especially for the last fifty 
 yearS; I have thought that Pride, Luxury and Idleness have 
 been a great injury to them : for there are so many weak, 
 foolish men and women, who will directly or indirectly flatter 
 ministers, there is such good living among wealthy Friends, 
 so much ease and idleness, and so many that have their trou- 
 bles and difficulties at home, in consequence of their not filling 
 with propriety their social and relative duties, I fear that some 
 ministers have been tempted to get up concerns to travel, 
 when they had better have stayed at home. In consulting my 
 own experience, I am bound, in common honesty, to plead 
 guilty at least to the first of these charges. I have certainly 
 too high a conceit of my own preaching, and as I know I have 
 secretly suffered the torments of jealousy and envy, so I have 
 reason to fear the cause of Truth has sufiered through me, for 
 there is too much truth in that old saying, ^^ like, priest like 
 people :" for a minister can only beget his own likeness : this 
 is as certainly true as that a stream cannot rise higher than 
 its fountain. But having already given, perhaps with too 
 
 30^^ 
 
354 
 
 much freedom, my views touching the spirit and conduct of 
 ministers, I shall only say here, that I have observed in the 
 journals and Tvritings of some valuable ministers, a morbid 
 melancholy, that has cast a discouraging gloom over a cause, 
 dignified with immortality and crowned with eternal life, — a 
 cause infinitely greater than the cause of empires and king- 
 doms,— an ever blessed system, designed for the perfection of 
 human nature and the happiness of man in time and in eter- 
 nity. The best cure for this morbid melancholy, (which I 
 have seen too much of among religious people,) is humble in- 
 dustry : what a pity then they would not eat less and work 
 more. I would propose, what I think would be a great im- 
 provement in Christian example, that ministers travelling in 
 Truth's service should be more humble, and instead of going 
 among the rich where they can fare sumptuously, and be wait- 
 ed upon every day, go among the poorer kind of Friends, and 
 such as have large families of little children; and let our travelling 
 women, instead of carrying with them a superabundance of 
 fine clothes, take a suit of working apparel, and turn into the 
 kitchen and help the poor woman of the house, who is often 
 tried and discouraged, especially when company comes, for the 
 want of such help : let them wash and mend, and do all such 
 work consistent with the perfect woman, as described by the 
 inspired poet, in the last chapter of Proverbs. Oh ! how 
 such women would endear themselves to such families, and 
 leave impressions, especially on the minds of children, that 
 would be of everlasting advantage. How infinitely more 
 Christian-like would such an example be, than to sit idly in 
 the parlors of the rich, to be waited upon and to be fed with 
 luxury. Let our travelling men, if they are not shoemakers, 
 learn the trade, like dear Samuel Bonas, or Bownas, did, and 
 when travelling as Christian ministers, be more like the be- 
 loved Paul, and turn in with Aquila and Priscilla, and work 
 at their trade;— if they take two coats, let them take off their 
 fine and put on their coarse ones, with their leather aprons, 
 and hunt up the children's shoes and mend them. If they 
 have leather, a healthy man would make a new pair for some 
 of the family, by making the best of a long winter evening, 
 and rising early in the morning. This would be helping the 
 family where their lot was cast, — then they could preach the 
 gospel with Christian boldness, and say, like the beloved Paul, 
 
355 
 
 " We behaved not ourselyes disorderly among you, neither did 
 we eat any man's bread for nought, but wrought night and 
 day that we might not be chargeable to any/^ (Mark, the 
 disorderly conduct that Paul here alludes to was idleness, a 
 disawnable offence among the primitiye Christians — see 2nd 
 Thessalonians, 3d chapter, from the 6th to the 12th verse.) 
 How much more consistent would this be with the example of 
 the humble carpenter of Nazareth, and the industrious tent- 
 maker of Tarsus, than sitting in idleness in rich Friends' 
 rocking chairs, cracking jokes, telling anecdotes, back-biting 
 brethren and sisters, or musing and nursing fanatical melan- 
 choly. 
 
 Dear young friends, especially you that are called to the 
 ministry, think seriously of what I now propose, that you may 
 be the instruments in the Lord's hand, to gather the Society 
 back to that rational consistency which secures a foundation 
 that stands sure, — having this seal, the Lord knows who are 
 his. Do not spend your precious time in idleness, nor sell 
 your Christian liberty for money, lest, like Judas, you lose 
 your part in the ministry, and others be chosen in your place. 
 Let such as are poor, be content to be like their Divine Mas- 
 ter, who had not where to lay his head ; but never, never re- 
 ceive any thing like pieces of silver fr'om the rich, as the price 
 of a Saviour. This species of bribeiy, I fear, has made too 
 many Quaker preachers too much like the hireling, and tar- 
 nished the lustre of some of the brightest stars that have 
 appeared in our Society for the last fifty years. 
 
 If I had my time to go over again, I think now most seri- 
 ously, I never would recive a favor from any without making a 
 compensation, unless T was so situated I could not help my- 
 self; and in that case I would feel myself bound, when able, 
 to mete unto others that which had been meted unto me, to 
 the utmost extent of my ability. But there is no occasion for 
 a young minister to get into such a street called Strait, if he 
 will take the favorite advice of George Fox, ^'jVIindthe light;" 
 or the excellent advice of our discipline, and keep within the 
 bounds of his circumstances — if he earns but twenty-five cents 
 per day, live on fifteen or twenty, and never go in debt nor 
 ever borrow money. What a sorrowful and affecting sight, to 
 see a minister of the gospel surrounded by a set of money- 
 mongers, voraciously pressing their several demands, until he, 
 
356 
 
 like Peter, in the awful confusion and impetuosity of passion, 
 cuts oft" their right cars, or meanly equivocating like Peter, 
 falsifying his word, becomes a liar, or in an extreme case, in 
 the resignation of his property to his creditors, he may worse 
 than swear in taking the affirmation; going out from the 
 presence of his Saviour weeping, he may never return like 
 Peter. Although I have never been driven to such an ex- 
 tremity, I am yet free to acknowledge, that when the light of 
 the countenance of Him, who possesses the awful attribute of 
 Justice, has been turned upon me with a language like this, 
 '' He that is unfaithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will 
 commit to his care the true riches ?" I have wept bitterly as 
 I stood trembling on the quicksands of despair. 
 
 Oh ! dear young man, whoever thou art that may read this, 
 keep to the path of safety, which is the path of humble indus- 
 try, where thy wants will be so few that thy industry will 
 more than supply them, putting thee always in possession of 
 the means to practise Christian benevolence, and be taught, as 
 Paul was by the Lord Jesus, that it is more blessed to give 
 than receive. And if thou wouldst wish thy sons to be happy 
 in time and in eternity, — if thou wouldst wish them to be bene- 
 factors of mankind, or shine as stars in the firmament of God's 
 power, bring them up in the path of humble industry,— bring 
 them up with no other expectations than the blessings of hea- 
 ven on their own exertions, with no other means than those 
 which arise from a tax laid upon their own energies of body 
 and mind. These are the men that, in the varied ages of the 
 world, have always made the most sustantial pillars of the 
 church and the strongest sinews of the state. As a proof of 
 the correctness of this important position, I could bring many 
 examples, but I shall only produce two— George Fox, and George 
 Washington. 
 
 Who was George Fox? The son of a poor Leicestershire 
 weaver, brought up a shoemaker and shepherd, in the path of 
 humble industry, and so far from having an academic or colle- 
 giate education, he could scarcely read or write intelligibly ; 
 yet this was the instrument the great Head of the church, the 
 Saviour of the world, made use of to revive primitive Chris- 
 tianity, and institute a code of Christian discipline the most 
 simple, the most evangelical, and the most republican, in 
 Christendom. This man, as a scholar in the school of Christ, 
 
357 
 
 by humble obedience to his teachingSj was made a philosopher^ 
 a naturalist, a divine, and a pillar in the Lord's house, that 
 goes no more out — whose name has not only left a sweet sayor, 
 grateful to surviving generations, but I trust will stand forever 
 gloriously enrolled upon the records of eternity. 
 
 Who was G-eorge Washington ? To make a parody of the 
 language of a late historian, he was the son of a widow, born 
 beneath the paternal roof of a Westmoreland farmer, on the 
 banks of the Potomac. No academy ever welcomed him to its 
 shade — no college ever granted him a diploma. To read and 
 to write and to cipher, was the extent of his school learning, 
 which he so improved in the path of humble industry, that he 
 was found at the age of sixteen on the head waters of the 
 Potomac, exposed to all hardships and dangers of a pioneer 
 surveyor. In a word, a series of offices and appointments, in- 
 volving the greatest responsibility, from his youth up, which 
 he filled with perfect propriety and faithfulness, prepared him 
 to stand at the head of a band of the most illustrious patriots 
 the world ever saw ] a set of men, of whom the great Earl of 
 Chatham declared in the house of Lords, ''That in the master 
 spirits of the world, I know not *he people or the senate, who 
 in such a complication of difficult circumstances, can stand in 
 preference to the delegates of America, assembled in general 
 congress at Philadelphia.^^ Such then was George Washing- 
 ton, that distinguished instrument in the hand of the infinitely 
 wise Jehovah, for establishing the American Republic, a sys- 
 tem of government the most healthy and happy, the most suc- 
 cessful and generous, now under heaven, whose benevolent 
 institutions are becoming more and more the admiration of the 
 world; and while virtue, liberty and independence continue to 
 be esteemed among the children of men, the name of Washing- 
 ton will be pronounced with veneration and respect by millions 
 of intelligent beings. But, remember that I do not present 
 G-eorge Washington as an example that I wish Quakers to 
 follow throughout — far from it; much less would I represent him 
 as a pattern of Christian perfection; I produce him as a con- 
 spicuous matter of fact argument in favor of my important 
 concern, that our American youth, if brought up in the path 
 of humble industry, and thrown more on their own responsi- 
 bility, even if they should not attain to the perfection of the 
 Christian, would be most likely to make the greatest gentile 
 
358 
 
 benefactors, or in otlicr words, the strongest sinews of civil 
 government. 
 
 Having now said sufficient, I hope, to establish the import- 
 ance of bringing up the rising youth of America in the path 
 of Humhle Industri/, I will try to express my views touching 
 our Christian discipline, which I wish you, my dear young 
 friends, seriously to consider. The Lord Jesus Christ, the 
 only acknowledged head of our church, on discovering the 
 seeds of aristocracy, priestcraft and kingcraft among his disci- 
 ples, when disputing which of them should be the greatest, and 
 even asking to be favored with pre-eminent seats in the king- 
 dom, thus instructively reproved them: ^'The kings of the 
 gentiles exercise lordship over them, and they that exercise 
 authority upon them are called benefactors : but it shall not 
 be so with you ; but he that would be great let him be as the 
 younger, and he that would be chief as he that serveth ; for 
 whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat or he that serveth ? 
 I am with you as one that serveth.^' — " And ye are they that 
 have one master, even Christ, and ye are brethren.^^ — Thus 
 laying down the great principles of Christian government, 
 which embraces the purest and most perfect system of repub- 
 licanism the world of mankind ever saw. On this is founded 
 our excellent discipline, as it stood after the re-organization of 
 of the Yearly Meeting of Philadelphia, 1828, when we declar- 
 ed that we had no new doctrine or discipline. The aristocracy 
 and arrogance that had almost imperceptibly been increasing 
 for years in those two great committees of care, that have with 
 very great propriety the management of the religious and civil 
 concerns of Society, during the recesses of the Yearly Meeting, 
 — ^I say, this aristocracy and arrogance had been successfully re- 
 sisted by at least two-thirds of the meeting, and that most im- 
 portant republican rule of discipline was then established, that 
 secures to the executive department of Society its legitimate 
 authority or power, to appoint elders and members of the 
 Meeting for Sufferings periodically. Never ^ never, dear young 
 friends, let this great republican tcay-marh be removed. 
 
 All the changes that have taken place in our discipline since 
 1828, I fear have had a weakening and scattering tendency, 
 especially that sorrowful change of our solemn, dignified man- 
 ner of marriage. And here, while I would wish carefully to 
 avoid impeaching the motives of my friends, I must express 
 
359 
 
 my deep regret at such a sad mistake in bringing down onr 
 Christian discipline to suit the anti-Christian state of our mem- 
 hers, instead of laboring to bring the state of Society to be 
 consistent with Christian discipline. Hence I fear a door is 
 now opened for a proud, aspiring ministry to run a lucrative 
 race of popularity. I forbear to give the plan I think now I 
 could adopt, were I only thirty-five years younger, and possessed 
 of the talents, learning, eloquence and principles of some of our 
 young preachers. Suffice it to say, that such ingenious, insinu- 
 ating ministers, first robbed the church of its perquisites, and 
 finally turned the marriage ceremony into their own pockets ', 
 and like causes may produce like effects, under like circum- 
 stances. 
 
 The lowering the dignified solemnity of G-eorge Fox's mar- 
 riage, and weakening the sacred ties that should ever bind 
 Christian men and women in that relation, has been peculiarly 
 unfortunate as to time; for, independent of the alarming in- 
 crease of applications to our Courts of Justice for divorces, 
 there are men and women, professedly religious, that are revi- 
 ving and practising a promiscuous intercourse that strikes at 
 the very vitals of a moral decency. In the primitive church, 
 this hateful Nicolaitan practice grew out of the community 
 system, that prohibited its members from calling any thing 
 they possessed exclusively their own, and when carried to the 
 extreme, not even excepting their own wives. See Revela- 
 tions, 2nd chapter, 15th verse. I say it has been peculiarly 
 unfortunate to be nibbling and quibbling at our discipline in 
 relation to marriage, at such a time as this, when I fear that 
 too many of our own members are Nicolaitans in theory, if not 
 in practice, considering marriage as a- mere convenient civil 
 contract, that may be entered into in the most selfish and mer- 
 cenary spirit. Oh, how different were the views of Fox, Penn, 
 and Barclay ! 
 
 I am aware of the power of the popular argument that can 
 be brought against the position I have taken, — that the world 
 of mankind are growing wiser and better, — that the people of 
 the nineteenth century are far in advance of the people of the 
 seventeenth, and that our Religious Society ought to keep pace 
 with the march of mind. I admit there has been great im- 
 provement in government, law, agriculture, engineering, ma- 
 chinery, mathematics, &c.; for these are " the things of a man,'' 
 
360 
 
 and therefore can be improved by the powerful '^ spirit of man 
 that is in him/^ But "the things of God knoweth no man 
 but by the spirit of God ;'" therefore man can never improve 
 them. The Christian religion is one of the great things of 
 God, that never has been improved by man, but remains the 
 same inJBnitely perfect system that has for its object the most 
 glorious work of the Almighty, even the redemption of the 
 immortal, never-dying soul. Nor am I prepared to unite with 
 another popular notion that has obtained credence among too 
 many respectable Friends, that the primitive state of the 
 church was only a weak, infi.nt state. This speculative delu- 
 sion appears to me to have had its origin in ignorance, pre- 
 sumption, or spiritual pride; because, by a fair parity of rea- 
 soning, I might, as a professed minister of the gospel, come to 
 this conclusion, that Jesus Christ and his first disciples were 
 mere children, and that at any rate, I am a far greater Chris- 
 tian minister noio, than the apostle Paul was then. Such pre- 
 sumption and pride would prepare me to unite with the senti- 
 ments of some of the most eloquent female orators, "That 
 Jesus Christ is now but a very imperfect gentleman, and there- 
 fore no longer fit for a Christian hero, and that Father Ma- 
 thew in Ireland, has done greater works than ever Jesus done.^^ 
 To me such sentiments appear the most awful presumption and 
 pride ', and my very soul abhors them. I should, I think, find 
 but little difficulty in exposing and refuting such absurdities, 
 were it not that I wish to avoid all doctrinal disquisitions, and 
 only exhort my dear young friends to keep to the doctrine and 
 discipline of Fox, Penn, and Barclay; carefully avoiding the 
 two extremes to which that doctrine and discipline has been 
 exposed — orthodox formality, and sceptical ranterism. These 
 two great enemies to Christianity spring from the same root, 
 notwithstanding in their luxuriant growth they seem to lean in 
 opposite directions; the first appears to have its empire in 
 Catholic, and the second in Protestant Christendom. Ortho- 
 dox formality, in its reign among the Roman Catholics, has 
 written its own character with the blood of the Inquisition ; 
 sceptical ranterism has given a sample of its terrors, when 
 clothed with power, in the reign of Robespierre during the 
 French Revolution. 
 
 The Church of Rome, having added to its power a profound 
 policy, that nothing but British jurisprudence could equal. 
 
861 
 
 can now present a balance in numbers over its rival of at least 
 thirty millions ; with something like a practical argument in 
 favor of the popular theory, that the Christian religion is a 
 progressive science : while the great variety of Protestant pro- 
 fessors are, more or less, shook to pieces by sceptical ranter- 
 ism, so that the Protestant professor in the nineteenth century, 
 who denies the immediate teachings of Christ, through the in- 
 spiration of his Holy Spirit, may hold the Bible in his hand, 
 and not be a whit in advance of his brother with his Bible in 
 the sixteenth century. In fact, from the best information I 
 can get, I am brought to this conclusion, that all the move- 
 ments of Protestant Christendom for the last century, have been 
 an eccentric course, to and fro, without any advance whatever; 
 hence, I am strengthened in the opinion that the church of 
 Anti-christ is gaining ground, and will continue to gain . " till 
 the times of the gentiles shall be fulfilled." — See Luke, 21st 
 chapter, 24th verse. What will be the state of gentile Chris- 
 tendom in the year two thousand, it is not for me to say ; but 
 if the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the pro- 
 phet, stood in the holy place, at the close of the two thousand 
 years given to the LordV people formerly, what may not we 
 Christians expect, when a Saviour shall, for the last time, weep 
 over us in a language like this : "Hadst thou but ^nown, Oh 
 thou ! in this thy day, the things that belong to thy peace ! 
 but now they are hid from thy eyes — thy house is left tiHto 
 thee desolate.'^ Oh ! that that peculiar branch of the Protes- 
 tant church called Quakers, or Friends, could stand in their 
 allotment in the last days of the Christian dispensation, and 
 like the ransomed in Jacob and the redeemed in Israel, at the 
 outward advent of the Messiah, turn many to righteousnsss 
 and shine as stars for ever and ever ! 
 
 I had hurried thus far, I fear, too precipitately to be suffi- 
 ciently explicit, for I was not only very anxious, but fully ex- 
 pected to close the concern after writing the last paragraph, 
 without any further addition ; but having attended our late 
 Yearly Meeting held in Philadelphia, from the 12th of the 5th 
 month to the 16th of the same, inclusive, 1845, I was much 
 encouraged and confirmed in the belief, that if you, dear young 
 friends, will now come up unitedly and practically, to the work 
 of the Lord, keeping to the blessed simplicity as it is in Jesus, 
 the Society of Friends will yet be preserved, notwithstanding 
 
 31 
 
362 
 
 the great daslier-in-pieces has been so busy among us. I 
 thought our Yearly Meeting was one of the largest and best I 
 ever attended -, and while in the city I saw a book written by a 
 John Wilbur, that not only informed me that Orthodox Friends 
 were in a very unsettled state, but confirmed me in a view 
 which I have had for some time, and will offer for your serious 
 consideration. I believe the time has now arrived, when 
 Friends will be renewedly called to follow the example of a 
 suffering Saviour, who told his disciples when the bitter cup 
 that he had to drink of was filling up before him, ^^ hereafter I 
 will not talk much with you, for the Prince of this world 
 cometh and hath nothing in me" — he then suffered in silence. 
 It was right no doubt at one time, for him to talk much with 
 his disciples, and in the most public places deliver those tre- 
 mendous truths, that not only made his enemies tremble, but 
 produced such violent anger that they sought to kill him, 
 while his friends glorified God in beholding his mighty works. 
 But when arraigned before the Jewish Sanhedrim, though 
 possessed of powers of reasoning and eloquence infinitely su- 
 perior to a Cicero or a Demosthenes, he suffered in silence ; as 
 a lamb dumb before his shearers, he opened not his mouth. 
 And when dragged to the Roman tribunal, to be sentenced to 
 suffer the ignominious death of the cross, though he had le- 
 gions of angels at his command, and could have dashed the 
 whole Roman empire, as well as the Jewish nation, to atoms, 
 he suffered like a lamb — " the Lamb of God that taketh away 
 the sin of the world." 
 
 Oh, that you, dear young friends, may seek to be established 
 in this heavenly, lamb-like state, that can suffer in silence in 
 the time of temptation and provocation, witnessing the spiritual 
 appearance of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, as a quick- 
 ening spirit, begetting his own blessed meekness and everlast- 
 ing patience in your souls ! Then the tear of sympathy or 
 sorrow that is thus produced by spiritual prayer, as it stands 
 trembling in your eye, or steals silently down your cheek, will 
 make a better and more lasting impression on the minds of 
 those you come in contact with, than all the powers of eloquence 
 and reason in self-defence. Oh, the preciousness of this silent 
 suffering and indwelling of soul ! It appears to me to be that 
 blessed state, shown to the beloved John by a heavenly vision, 
 in the opening of the seventh seal, when there was silence in 
 
363 
 
 heaven. When the vocal tribute of holy, holy, holy, and the 
 hallelujahs of sanctified spirits in endless felicity, were sus- 
 pended, there was a worship that continued in solemn, awful, 
 inconceivable silence, a rapturous adoration too copious for 
 language to express, that approached the throne of immaculate 
 purity and love. This was the perfe<3tion of that state called 
 the kingdom of heaven, which our Lord so emphatically de- 
 clared was withinj therefore he could say while silently suffer- 
 ing, "Now is my kingdom not from hence.^' This was the 
 state the primitive saints were in, when they loved one another 
 as Christ loved them, when they could pray without ceasing, 
 rejoice ever more, and in everything give thanks. At this 
 blessed state our early -Friends arrived, when the people 
 of England were constrained to declare — " See these Quakers, 
 how they love one another. ^^ These were the master spirits of 
 genuine Quakerism, that more cheerfully entered the loath- 
 some prison than the royal palace, and esteemed the locks and 
 bolts that were turned upon them as jewels for Christ's sake. 
 This state is most beautifully described by ane of them in the 
 following language : " There is a spirit which I feel that de- 
 lights to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but delights to 
 endure all things, in hope to enjoy its own in the end. Its 
 hope is to outlive all wrath and contention, and to weary out 
 all exaltation and cruelty, or whatever is of a nature contrary 
 to itself. It sees to the end of all temptations : as it bears no 
 evil in itself, so it conceives none in thought to any other : if 
 it be betrayed it bears it, for its ground and spring are the 
 mercies and forgiveness of God: its crown is meekness, its 
 life is everlasting, its love unfeigned: it takes its kingdom 
 with entreaty and not with contention, and keeps it by lowli- 
 ness of mind: in Grod alone it can rejoice though none else re- 
 gard it, or can own its life : it is conceived in sorrow and 
 brought' forth without any to pity it, nor doth it murmur at 
 grief and oppression: it never rejoiceth but through sufferings, 
 for with the world's joy it is murdered." 
 
 This is that precious life that is hid with Christ in God, the 
 crown and diadem of the redeemed soul. Oh ! that Friends 
 could have kept under the influence of this blessed spirit ; 
 there never could have been any separation amongst them; 
 there never could have been any contention and law-suits about 
 
364 
 
 opinions and property ; there never could have been such a 
 thing as two congregations of Friends, meeting in separate 
 houses in sight of each other, with the dark scowl of Orthodox 
 prohibition resting upon the brows of ministers and elders, 
 should either presume to take a seat in the other's gallery. 
 But alas ! seeing these things are verily so, let us try to cure 
 the sad disease by love and silence. May you then, my dear 
 young friends, be willing to follow the blessed Saviour in silent 
 suffering, rather than continue the disgraceful altercation that 
 has so sorrowfully divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel. It 
 might have been right for the apostle Paul, at one time, to 
 have disputed in the school of Tyrannus, and it might have 
 been right for George Fox and early Friends to have met the 
 high professing, deluded votaries of anti-Christ of their day, 
 in verbal and written argument : but since the New Testament 
 has been given to the Christian world, and miraculously pre- 
 served from the ravages of tiine, and handed down to us as a 
 blessed corroborating stream of light and life, embracing the 
 highest order of external evidence in the infinitely superior 
 precepts and example of Jesus Christ, I am induced to believe 
 that all the religious controversies among professing Christians 
 to the dawn of the Reformation, and from that time to the ris- 
 ing of the day star among Friends, has done more hurt than 
 good. And since the publication of Barclay's Apology for 
 the true Christian religion as professed by Friends, all religious 
 controversies and books of controversy about religion among 
 Friends, I verily fear, have scattered more than they have ever 
 gathered to the blessed Truth, as it is in Jesus. And I may 
 add, I have scarcely a doubt in my mind at this time, that 
 Friends departed from the peaceable spirit of Jesus, when they 
 descended to a level with their enemies, in litigation and reli- 
 gious controversy, in the late unhappy revolution. How much 
 better it would have been for us to have suffered in silence, and 
 like our divine Master, when the prince of this world, or the 
 prince of the power of the air, that rules in the hearts of the 
 children of disobedience, came, he could have found nothing of 
 his own likeness in us : but alas ! this prince of darkness and 
 confusion found us prepared to talk too much, write too much 
 and preach too much 3 and hence he has continued too much 
 with us. 
 
 It is now for you, dear young friends, to witness this strong 
 
365 
 
 man armed that lias kept the palace so long, to be bound and 
 cast out, and bis goods destroyed ; be willing then, to follow 
 the precepts and example of a suffering Saviour, who, in his 
 spiritual appearance, is the only power that can bind this strong 
 man. Don't talk with this strong man, — don't argue with 
 him, — make no reply to his eloquent lectures or controversial 
 papers, but silently drink of the cup of suffering the Saviour 
 drank of, when his agony was such that the sweat, like drops 
 of blood, fell from his face; for it is an affecting and sorrowful 
 consideration, that Friends should have talked so much, and 
 so vainly, and have entered into such bitter controversy about 
 speculative and inexplicable subjects, that never have, and 
 never can be settled by mortal man. Is it not a pity then, 
 that they should have spent so much of their time and money 
 in writing and publishing controversial papers to criminate 
 and recriminate one another ? Manifesting a hardness of heart 
 and obstinate bitterness, that has not only separated husband 
 and wife, parents and children, brethren and sisters, but has 
 even in death been carried to the house of mourning, and the 
 awful brink of the grave — furnishing a shameful monument to 
 the disgrace of Orthodox Quakerism. Oh ! let not this sword 
 of malignant enthusiasm devour for ever ! Let not this bitter- 
 ness continue to the latter end ! But remove this sad stum- 
 bling block, ye precious rising youth of the Society of Friends, 
 by coming up unitedly and practically to the work of the Lord. 
 *^' Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, 'and clamor, and 
 evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. And be 
 ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, 
 even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.'^ 
 
 Finally, dear Friends, farewell. Be perfect, be of good 
 comfort, be of one mind, — live in peace, — and the God of 
 mercy and peace will be with you. 
 
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