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 ■ ) R'^ F 1^ A N C I S LIE B E 1< 
 I i^K. roi uC'^istory and Law in Columbia College, . 
 
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 V THK CUT Ol- 
 
 MICHAEL REESE, 
 
 Of Sa/i Francisco. 
 1S73. 
 
 
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QUAKERISM, 
 
 VERSUS 
 
 C A li V I N I S M, 
 
 BEING A REPLY TO 
 
 "QUAKERISM NOT CHRISTIANITY," 
 
 OR REASONS FOR RENOUNCING THE DOCTRINE 
 
 OF FRIENDS, 
 
 BY SAMUEL HANSON COX, D. 1). 
 
 Pastor of the Laight-street Presbyterian Church, and for twenty years 
 a member of the Society of Friends. 
 
 BY DAVID MEREDITH REESE, M. D. 
 
 Of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 N E W Y O R K : 
 
 PRINTED BY WM. A. MERCEIN, 240 PEARL STRFF. 
 1834. 
 
-BX 773/ 
 
 " Kntered according to Act of Congress, in tiio year lf^4, by David 
 Meredith Rocse, in tlie Clerk's Office of the District Court of the 
 Southern District of New York." 
 
OF 
 
 .1 O IIJV REESE, 
 
 MY PATERNAL GKAIVDFATllER, WHO LIVED AND DIED 
 l-\ THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS, 
 
 AN EXPERIMENTAL AND PRACTICAL 
 
 CHRISTIAN; 
 
 THESE PAGES ARE 
 
 INSCRIBED, 
 
 BY HIS GRANDSON, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
TO 
 
 REA^ SAMUEL HANSON COX, D. D. 
 
 Pastor of the Laight-street Presbyterian Church, and for twenty years 
 a member of the Society of Friends. 
 
 Reverend Sir, 
 
 The following pages were commenced 
 with the intention of publication in some 
 one of the religious Quarterly Reviews of 
 the country, and they would in that case 
 have appeared anonymously, and without 
 any formal inscription to yourself. The un- 
 expected length to which it has seemed 
 necessary to extend the notice of your 
 voluminous work, owing to the multiplicity 
 of topics on which it was found expedient to 
 remark, has determined me to change my 
 original purpose. This circumstance has led 
 me to retain the character and form of a 
 review, which will be apparent to the reader, 
 and this explanation of the reason of that 
 course, will probably be satisfactory. 
 
VI 
 
 As it may be a subject of curiosity to 
 know what has led so humble an individual 
 as myself, to forsake the secure walks of 
 private and professional life, and enter the 
 arena of religious polemics ; especially in 
 controversy with one so justly distinguished 
 as a scholar and a divine ; and in vindication 
 of a religious society of which I am not a 
 member ; I take occasion to gratify it, as 
 such curiosity is both natural and laudable. 
 And to no one does it afford me more 
 pleasure to make this explanation, of the 
 motives and circumstances by which I have 
 been influenced, than to yourself. Reverend 
 Sir ; since I believe you are prepared from 
 kindred association, to appreciate and un- 
 derstand them, and especially as I have here- 
 tofore sincerely respected you for your 
 learning and piety, and have always admired 
 your character and talents, as an able minis- 
 ter of the gospel, and an eloquent advocate 
 of the benevolent enterprises of our age and 
 country. 
 
 It has been my lot in the order of Divine 
 Providence to have descended by nativity 
 from early Friends, who fled from the perse- 
 cutions of the old world, for conscience sake, 
 
vu 
 
 and found an asylum in Pennsylvania early 
 in the last century. My paternal and mater- 
 nal grand-parents, being in principle and 
 practice members of the Society of Friends, 
 until their peaceful departure for a better 
 world ; and many of my " kinsmen after the 
 flesh" being still of the same persuasion, I 
 have always been intimately associated in 
 the feelings of my heart with the Quakers, 
 and have learned to esteem them very 
 " highly in love for their works' sake." In- 
 deed, among the earliest recollections of my 
 infant years, the presence and care of my 
 grand-parents, who lived and died in my 
 father's house, are endeared to me by the 
 tenderest ties. Their devotional piety, their 
 reverence for the Holy Scriptures, and espe- 
 cially the genuine Christianity of my paternal 
 grandfather, so conspicuous in his life and 
 in his death ; produced impressions and con- 
 victions in my youthful mind of the reality 
 of religion, which will never be effaced. And 
 although my parents had united with another 
 church, and my father had become a minis- 
 ter of that church before I was born, yet 
 neither he nor my mother ever doubted the 
 genuine Christianity of their parents, and 
 
Vlll 
 
 from the evidences of their hfe and death, 
 there can be no reasonable doubt, that they 
 had embraced the truth as it is in Jesus, 
 and now rest from their labors where iheir 
 works do follow them. 
 
 This brief narrative may prepare you to 
 estimate my feelings, when I saw the title of 
 your book, announced as having been issued 
 from the press, and especially as coming from 
 a source which I had learned to respect so 
 highly. I supposed, indeed, that it was only 
 an argument in favor of the evangelical views 
 of the ministry, sacraments, <Sz;c., held by the 
 author in common with my own and other 
 denominations, which are distinctly at va- 
 riance with the views of Friends ; but still I 
 could not feel reconciled to the title of the 
 book, which affirmed that Quakerism was not 
 Christianity. Had it made the same annun- 
 ciation of Methodism, or Presbyterianism, or 
 any other system esteemed as evangelical, I 
 could not have been more surprised or 
 afflicted, for I had always thought that among 
 the most devout and piou^ Christians I had 
 ever known, there were a large proportion, 
 firm believers in the system of Quakerism ; 
 
and I had witnessed the death-beds of num- 
 bers of them, at whose feet I would rejoice 
 to be found in the day of the Lord Jesus. 
 And although I had myself conscientiously, 
 and from full persuasion of duty, united to 
 another denomination, yet it was not because 
 I ever doubted that Quakerism was doctrin- 
 ally consistent with Christianity; but because 
 I believed I could serve God and save my 
 soul, more in accordance with my views of 
 Christianity, on some minor points of doc- 
 trine and practice. But I did not take this 
 step, until I had made myself acquainted 
 with the system * of Quakerism, by reading 
 their books, attending their meetings, and 
 habitual converse with numbers of my rela- 
 tives and friends of that persuasion, whose 
 genuine Christianity I never doubted. 
 
 No sooner, however, did I see this work 
 announced, than I eagerly procured a copy, 
 and read it throughout with emotions of a 
 most painful description. For I very soon 
 perceived that the tenets and usages v/hich 
 distinguish Friends from every other people, 
 were not, as I had expected, the principal 
 subjects of the censures of the volume ; but 
 
that their virtues and excellencies, though 
 admitted to be such, were either deteriorated 
 by the imputation of bad motives, or pro- 
 nounced but " a specious substitute" for the 
 religion of the Bible. And what afflicted 
 me still more was the fact, that what you call 
 the " Grand Error" of the system, I had 
 always esteemed, and do still regard, as but 
 another name for one of the grand and dis- 
 tinguishing features of our holy religion, and 
 an integral part of Bible Christianity. This 
 led me to re-peruse the standard works of 
 Quakerism, to see whether the doctrine of 
 " inward light," as held and taught by them, 
 could be either " mystical or heretical." And 
 the result of my careful revision of those 
 works, was the full confirmation of my for- 
 mer convictions, that by the declaration that 
 " God hath given to every man a measure of 
 saving and sufficient supernatural light and 
 grace," Friends mean nothing more or less 
 than this : — that by the atonement of our 
 Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, every man is 
 placed in a state of initial salvatio7i, and they 
 therefore believes according to the scriptures, 
 that it is possible for every man to be saved, 
 who " fears God and works righteousness," 
 
XI 
 
 according to the measure of light with which 
 he is favored. x\nd believing this to be a 
 doctrine clearly revealed in the word of God, 
 and cordially embraced by a large propor- 
 tion of enlightened Protestants, I was sur- 
 prised that it should be assailed by any 
 Christian minister, and still more so, when 
 I saw the perverted view you had taken of 
 it, by which you have been led to proclaim 
 your opposition in terms of opprobrium and 
 bitter reproach. 
 
 As I progressed in the perusal of your 
 book, I saw most clearly that you take occa- 
 sion to exhibit the distinctive features of Cal- 
 vinism on almost every page, and contrasting 
 these with what you are pleased to call the 
 " heresies and forgeries" of Quakerism, you 
 include in your censorious criticism " all 
 other Armiiiians ;^'^ and labor to brand us all, 
 with the mark of " mystics and heretics" who 
 do not hold heartily the peculiarities of that 
 " one system" which you call the identity of 
 Christianity, and of which you are pleased 
 authoritatively to say, " Moreover it is eter- 
 nal TRUTH !" Indeed, had your principal 
 and only object in this publication been to 
 
xu 
 
 controvert the errors of Quakerism distinct- 
 ively, and had you not had subordinate ob- 
 jects beside this ostensible one, any reader 
 will see that your book would have been less 
 than one-third of its present size. Your pro- 
 lixity and verbosity is, therefore, obviously 
 attributable to the fact, that you expected 
 while aiming overtly at the errors of Quaker- 
 ism, to put forth your own peculiar views, 
 and exhibit these as the very personification 
 of Christianity, in contrast with every other 
 system, and especially with that of " all other 
 Arminians." Witness your labored defence 
 of predestination, and your exposition of the 
 doctrines of original sin, imputed righteous- 
 ness, limited atonement, and the influences 
 of the Spirit, as held and taught by the Cal- 
 vinistic divines of the last and present cen- 
 tury. In truth, no man who reads your book 
 throughout, whatever m«y be his own creed, 
 but will be convinced, that sweeping as is 
 your denunciation of Quakers and their sys- 
 tem, you had other and ulterior purposes, 
 which were uppermost in all your thoughts. 
 Hence the comparative brevity of the notice 
 you have taken on many of the points on 
 which the system of Friends is most vulner- 
 
Xlll 
 
 able, in the estimation of your own and other 
 denominations ; and the amplification in 
 which you have indulged on other topics, 
 comparatively of vastly inferior importance, 
 in the ostensible subject to which the stric- 
 tures of the volume are professedly directed. 
 
 I have thus presented the reasons which 
 influenced me to undertake a brief notice of 
 your work, and although your sense of 
 honor may feel disappointed, that so hum- 
 ble an individual should presume to expos- 
 tulate with you, on ground where you think 
 yourself invincible ; yet I am persuaded, that 
 you will be less disappointed even in this, 
 than in finding so formidable a work, in fact 
 and in form, suffered to pass to the " tomb 
 of the Capulets" unhonored by a reply, and 
 almost unread by those for whose " benefit" 
 it was primarily intended. And besides, I feel 
 it to be as much my " special duty" to reply 
 to your book, as it was your special duty to 
 write it ; so that whatever may be the esti- 
 mate put upon the performance, I shall only 
 add, that no presumptuous views of self- 
 sufficiency have mingled in the effort. The 
 question is not, whether you or I be the abler 
 
 2 
 
XIV 
 
 controversialist, else I would most profoundly 
 cower before your superior erudition, and 
 consummate skill. But the question between 
 us is simply, whether, when Calvinism and 
 Quakerism are both weighed in the balances 
 of the sanctuary, and brought to the touch- 
 stone of Christianity^ as developed in the 
 " oracles of God ;" there be in the former 
 nothing but " Eternal Truth," and in the 
 latter nought but " spiritual sorcery^ presuming 
 ignorance a7id deceitful dogmatism,'''' You 
 have distinctly taken the ajirmative of this 
 question, and I assume the negative. In the 
 following pages will be found the discussion 
 so far as I am concerned, and the pub- 
 lic, including those honored and honorable 
 " fathers and brethren" to whom your book 
 is inscribed, may " announce their award" 
 either " tacitly" or otherwise. I think I kriow 
 what Quakerism is by early education, and I 
 know full well, what Calvinism is, by having 
 been in my youth spell-bound in its " peril- 
 ous enchantment," having been long held 
 in its cruel bondage, until the " unmystical 
 verities of the Bible" dissolved the charm ; — 
 but not until for many long months it had 
 " jeoparded my soul." Ajid ever since the 
 
XV 
 
 hour when I was enabled experimentally to 
 sing with the Psalmist, " My soul has es- 
 caped, as a bird from the snare of the fowler, 
 the snare is broken, and my soul has es- 
 caped," I have felt it to be my special duty to 
 do something toward rescuing my fellow sin- 
 ners from so terrible and dangerous an error 
 as I view that system to be ; — and this duty 
 I have often conscientiously endeavored to 
 discharge, and believe I have thus glorified 
 God. With my present motives, supremely 
 important to myself, I have every reason to 
 be satisfied, though with the manner in which 
 I have discharged tliis duty, I confess myself 
 far less content. Indeed, such is the vitu- 
 perative style of your work, that I may have 
 sometimes been as exceptionably severe, as 
 I have shown you to be, for " Happy is he 
 who condemneth not himself in the thing 
 which he alloweth." On the whole, however, 
 I have scrupulously endeavored to avoid giv- 
 ing just cause of oflfence, while I have, at 
 the same time, zealously and fearlessly con- 
 demned error, and maintained truth ; and in 
 the severities of my volume, whatever others 
 may do, you can surely never complain ; for, 
 by contrast with your work in this respect, 
 
XVI 
 
 I am grievously in fault. Nevertheless, I feel 
 that a calm refutation of some of the railing 
 accusations of your volume would be highly 
 criminal in me, professing to be set for the 
 defence of the truth. 
 
 For your person, character, and high vo- 
 cation, I feel nought but respect ; and as I, 
 too, " write impersonally" of your book, I 
 must be regarded as attacking your tenets, 
 not yourself. This distinction so frequently 
 repeated in your book will, I am sure, be 
 recognised by yourself, especially as you in- 
 vite " animadversion from any man on his 
 responsibility to God," a sentiment which I 
 would fain keep ever in view. But while I 
 disclaim any intention to assail you person- 
 ally, even in defence of those of whom you 
 have become the accuser ; yet I regard your 
 book, as legitimately subject to criticism ; 
 and have, therefore, treated its erroneous 
 doctrines and averments, with what I regard 
 merited condemnation, and presented my ob- 
 jections, both to its matter and manner, with 
 the utmost frankness, and of this you cannot 
 justly complain. And I can only say, with 
 you, that " I do not profess to be inspired or 
 
xvu 
 
 infallible ; and, being bound to nothing but 
 truth, if I commit errors, I can confess 
 them." 
 
 What I have written, by way of censure, 
 I am free to avow, has been " more in sor- 
 row, than in anger f"^ and, indeed, the spirit 
 and temper, which you have exhibited 
 throughout the entire volume, have grieved 
 me not less, while reading it, than while 
 offering this expostulation against it. And 
 I cannot but indulge the hope, that you 
 have already regretted the bitter censo- 
 riousness and indiscriminate reprobation of 
 Friends universal, with which your publica- 
 tion is filled. Surely, it must now appear 
 to yourself, on a reperusal of your own work, 
 that you could have found out a '' more ex- 
 cellent way" to '' benefit the Friends," and 
 correct their errors, than by branding them 
 as " cardinal heretics, from the beginning, 
 the whole of them," and then adding, that 
 " the present orthodox intend to remain what 
 their fathers were." 
 
 Suppose, Reverend Sir, that a series of 
 
 volumes, written in the same style as yours, 
 a* 
 
XVlll 
 
 were simultaneously issued from the press, 
 bearing the following titles — " Presbyterian- 
 ism 7iot Christianity," — " Methodism not 
 Chi-istianity," — " Episcopalianism not Chris- 
 tianity :" and each purporting to be written 
 by one who had been disowned or excom- 
 municated from the sect, whose principles 
 he assailed ; and denouncing these several 
 systems and their votaries, in the same strain 
 of ridicule, caricature and reproach, which 
 you have exhibited towards the system of 
 Quakerism, and its followers ? And, sup- 
 pose the author of each of these were a 
 Christian minister, " illustrious in the world, 
 in form and gesture proudly eminent," and 
 he were to declare, that he had rather " turn 
 atheist outright," than ''' fellow sliip any man," 
 who held the system he denounced, or the 
 heresies he imputed to it ? What a picture 
 of Christianity would it exhibit to the ene- 
 mies of God and all righteousness ? How 
 soon would the " world be converted" by 
 such ministers, or the mouths of gainsaying 
 infidels be stopped, by such publications ? — 
 An answer to these questions may furnish a 
 clue to the effect, which your book will pro- 
 bably produce, wherever it is read. 
 
XIX 
 
 How much easier might you have awarded 
 to the system of Quakerism, the influence it 
 has undeniably exerted upon the nations and 
 upon the world, in promoting " peace on 
 earth and good will to men ;" instead of in- 
 sisting that the " legitimate fruits of the sys- 
 tem" are " evil, only evil, and that continu- 
 ally ?" Would it not have been both magna- 
 nimous and just, in condemning those parts 
 of the system deemed erroneous, to have 
 conceded, that by the Christian testimony 
 uniformly borne by Friends against the ma- 
 nufacture, traffic, and use of ardent spirits ; 
 the criminality and evils of slavery ; the 
 fashionable dress and sinful amusements of 
 the world, dz;c., they had laid the foundation 
 on which public opinion in the other churches 
 of Christ, had been since elevated and puri- 
 fied ? Surely, your early education among 
 Friends precludes the possibility of suppos- 
 ing you to be ignorant on these and other 
 kindred topics, on which they have been, 
 from the beginning, unquestionably scriptu- 
 ral and right. And, indeed, some of their 
 excellencies of character, as peaceable citi- 
 zens, and worthy examples in the domestic 
 relations, are distinctly admitted in your 
 
XX 
 
 book, though not without direct qualifica- 
 tion and deterioration, as you allege that 
 these excellencies, only make the system 
 worse, — a " more good looking forgery," and 
 even call it a " most holy looking device" of 
 the great " sire of heresy," the devil. 
 
 Truly, I confess my astonishment that the 
 Christian benevolence, which has charac- 
 terized the Friends in every country, found 
 no place in your volume ; to whatever motives 
 your prejudices might have ascribed, their 
 deeds of heavenly charity. Where, in this 
 or the old world, have such institutions as 
 hospitals, bettering houses, houses of refuge, 
 asylums for the insane, and other unfortu- 
 nates of our species, orphan asylums, charity 
 schools, dispensaries, lying-in infirmaries, 
 &c., been so diligently fostered and liberally 
 sustained as by members of the Society of 
 Friends ? And in founding, as well as sus- 
 taining these and other heaven-born chari- 
 ties, how plainly has their disinterestedness 
 exhibited that they were influenced by the 
 principles of their system — by that love which 
 Christianity alone inspires. And with such 
 facts, known to you as they must have been, 
 
XXI 
 
 I confess my amazement, that you did not 
 pause, before you fulminated the anathemas 
 of your fury against " the whole of them" 
 indiscriminately, as worthy of the odious 
 and cruel mark of " heretics." If Chris- 
 tianity, in the estimation of the Judge of all 
 the earth, " consists more in doing than say- 
 w^," then we afhrm that, in the great day of 
 retribution, the good works of Quakerism 
 " shall not lose their reward," however un- 
 dervalued and depreciated here. I ask, then, 
 in view of the facts, that some of the proud- 
 est monuments of the Christian benevolence 
 of the age, are the perpetual memorials of 
 the zeal and liberality of those, who made no 
 loftier pretensions than being "mere tho- 
 rough and consistent Quakers," how could 
 you say, " If there happens to be a state 
 eternal, such may well wish they had never 
 been born !" I doubt not, that you felt all 
 the indignation you here express, when you 
 wrote your book ; — and that you " verily 
 thought that you ought to do," and say as 
 you have there said ; and, indeed, thought 
 you were " doing God service ;" — but that 
 you can now calmly review your work with 
 complacency, or suppress a wish that you 
 
XXII 
 
 had never written it, I should be most unwil- 
 hng to credit. I pray, that the " inshining of 
 the Divine Light" which you so persever- 
 ingly ridicule, may discover to yourself the 
 persecuting spirit of Saul, that, like him, you 
 may " obtain forgiveness," and no longer 
 " breathe out threatenings and slauorhter" on 
 those who have " received the Holy Ghost 
 as well as we." " For, if a man say, I love 
 God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar." — 
 1 John iv. 20. 
 
 Finally, in submitting to your candid con- 
 sideration the accompanying reply to your 
 late publication, I would especially direct 
 your attention to the extracts from Barclay, 
 Penn, and other early Friends, and also the 
 distinct and palpable contradiction given to 
 your charges by the testimony of Friends, 
 called " orthodox" in America. And these 
 latter citations specially claim your regard, 
 since you have so frequently aimed at the 
 orthodox parti/ distinctively, your heaviest 
 allegations ; as though you regarded " Hicks- 
 ism," like predestination, as " sinned against, 
 not sinning," and labored to strengthen, not 
 weaken their supreme self-complacency ; — 
 
XXlll 
 
 while, at the same time, you affirm of them, not 
 only that they are infidels^ but that their " very 
 professions of infidelity are honorable." Why 
 you thus labor to ingratiate yourself into the 
 favor of the " Hicksites," or, at least, award 
 them superior comparative claims with the 
 other party, does not clearly appear ; though 
 the fact is so manifest in various parts of the 
 volume. I have said but little with reference 
 to the merits of the schism among Friends, 
 and only noticed the two parties, passingly, 
 as necessary in my review, though I confess 
 I have been accustomed to feel a kindred 
 affiliation with the " orthodox," as they are 
 called ; and have mainly espoused their cause 
 as defensible ; because I know they regard 
 Christianity as paramount, and would them- 
 selves renounce their system, if they did not 
 believe that, in the fundamental doctrines of 
 the scriptures, it was strictly orthodox. And 
 their boldly withstanding the other party in 
 their recent division, affords obvious and 
 conclusive evidence, that they value their 
 true pretensions to Christianity so highly, 
 that they are prepared to " suffer the loss of 
 all things," rather than hold fellowship with 
 those who renounce its fundamental doc- 
 
XXIV 
 
 trines, and yet claim the distirxtive title of 
 Friends. This is ample reason for my ar- 
 gument in favor of their claims to be recog- 
 nised by the other churches of Christ, in the 
 same relations as the pious of any other 
 Christian denomination. And I insist upon 
 these claims on the ground that the points of 
 difference between them and other Christian 
 churches, are unimportant, — nay, insignifi- 
 cant, when compared with those differences 
 among the Calvinistic churches, which now 
 exist between themselves and others. And 
 as I could not consent, without uttering a 
 remonstrance, to hear Presbyterians de- 
 nouncing each other as " damnable here- 
 tics," and threatening their brethren with 
 " hell fire," because of their differences 
 about original sin, depravity, regeneration, 
 &c., neither can I assent to the utter repro- 
 bation of the Quakers, because they differ 
 from us all, on points so essentially inferior 
 in importance, the scriptures themselves 
 being judges. 
 
 On the chief accusations you have pre- 
 sented against Quakerism, you will perceive 
 we are palpably at issue ; — ^you affirm, and I 
 
XXV 
 
 deny, and the arguments are now before the 
 Christian public, who will estimate them as 
 they deserve. If the whole of your most 
 heinous allegations against the system and 
 its votaries, are not distinctly and amply dis- 
 proved, I confess my book to be a failure. 
 With the minor charges of erroneous opin- 
 ions and usages, on points peculiar and 
 " Quakerian," which involve no essential or 
 fundamental doctrine of Christianity, I have 
 said but little ; and, indeed, I agree mainly 
 with you in believing them indefensible, else 
 I might be a Friend, and probably should be. 
 I came to this service, not as an apologist 
 for error, but to maintain and defend the 
 truth distinctively, and Quakerism, only so 
 far as it is true. I think, " I know the sys- 
 tem," and if so, of which there are better 
 judges than either of us, I pronounce it to 
 have distinctive marks of a Christian church ; 
 and affirm, that the pious, who embrace it, 
 may and do give credible evidence, that they 
 are the " children of the light," according to 
 the scriptures, for these are 3IY "paramount 
 authority'^'' in religion, as I have proved them 
 to be, of genuine Quakerism, and especially 
 of the orthodox in America. These are mv 
 
XXVI 
 
 convictions ; and hence I say, to a pious 
 Quaker, as to a pious Calvinist, "If thy 
 heart be right with God, give me thy hand." 
 This, I take to be the " legitimate fruit" of 
 Christianity. " We know that we have passed 
 from death unto life, because we love the 
 brethren." — 1 John, iii. 14. 
 
 Such are the views with which I formally 
 inscribe this publication to you, Reverend 
 Sir, and solicit your candid perusal, and de- 
 liberate judgment on the whole performance. 
 And if my review shall be read in the spirit 
 in which it is written, I am not without hope 
 that it may do good, perhaps to Friends, if 
 not to Calvinists ; for I would fain be useful 
 to either or both. My predominating hope 
 of serving the cause of truth, I must confess, 
 is founded on the expectation that you will 
 " publicly retract" the mistakes of which I 
 may have convicted you, according to the 
 pledge you have given to that effect. I claim 
 no merit for the evidence these pages furnish 
 against the railing accusations of your vo- 
 lume, for I have only selected the testimo- 
 nies of the Quaker authorities, and placed 
 them in contrast with your reckless asser- 
 
xxvu 
 
 tions. And as your confession of error in 
 these respects, will be but magnanimously to 
 yield to " the majesty of truth," I shall not 
 claim to be the victor. Only let equal and 
 exact justice be done to Quakers, and " all 
 other Arminians," and I am content with the 
 result of the controversy. This they had a 
 right to expect from you in the present vo- 
 lume ; but as you have withheld it, I have a 
 right to demand it. This I have done in 
 these pages, and should you still withhold it, 
 let the Christian public form their own esti- 
 mate, and I shall be content. 
 
 With the expression of my Christian re- 
 gards for yourself, and my fervent prayers 
 that you may be led to feel and exhibit a bet- 
 ter spirit in future toward Friends and their 
 system, and at the same time renounce what 
 is erroneous in your own, I submit the fol- 
 lowing strictures on your book and its vo- 
 luminous contents. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
TO THE READER. 
 
 This work having been written amid the 
 mukipKed avocations of a laborious profes- 
 sion, subject to continual interruptions, often 
 in the middle of paragraphs, and even sen- 
 tences ; and the author having had no lei- 
 sure since for satisfactory revision, the 
 reader must excuse inaccuracies, in style or 
 composition, which may have escaped cor- 
 rection. For the facts it records, the argu- 
 ments it contains, and the sentiments it 
 inculcates, he asks no indulgence. 
 
QUAKERISM vs. CALVINISM. 
 
 Upon the first public announcement of this volu- 
 minous work, we were struck with the singular 
 abruptness, we may say, censoriousness, of its title. 
 It seemed like an announcement of victory by a 
 flourish of drums and trumpets before the action had 
 commenced, or the controversy begun. And upon a 
 more deliberate review, it strikes us that it would 
 have been altogether more modest if the book had 
 been entitled, " An attempt to pi'ove that Quakerism 
 is not Christianity." But instead of this we find, on 
 the face of the book, the whole question decided by 
 a single coup de main, " Quakerism not Christianity T 
 as though the author regarded this aphorism defini- 
 tively settled, and forever, on the appearance of 
 the huge volume, bearing this ex-catliedra title — as 
 though he had commenced his work with loftier 
 views of his literary and theological prowess and 
 acumen, than did the prince of heathen poets with 
 his inspiration, and varied his well known apos- 
 trophe, thus — 
 
 " PhcEbe ! abjuro te, adeptua ingreditur tua templa sacQ-dos." 
 
 It would seem, indeed, and it is just to record that, 
 after writing 277 octavo pages, it did occur to tlie 
 3* 
 
30 
 
 author that the title of his book required an 
 " apology ;" and he makes it in the following 
 form : — 
 
 " My chief proposition is — that 
 
 ' Quakerism is not Christianity.' 
 
 My meaning is — not that Quakerism is, in all its 
 parts, separately taken, hostile to Christianity ; nor 
 that it is in none identical with Christianity ; nor that 
 in all its parts it must be repudiated by Christians : 
 but only that its distinctive characteristics, major and 
 minort constitute a system which, as such, is not 
 Christianity — is radically wrong ; and consequently 
 that it ought to be universally abjured/' 
 
 Thus he admits that Quakerism, in some of " its 
 parts," is not hostile to Christianity, but is " identicaV^ 
 with Christianity ; and that these " parts" must not 
 be repudiated by Christians, are not radically wrong, 
 and ought not to be universally abjured. And yet — 
 " 'tis true a pity, and pity 'tis, 'tis true," that on the 
 165th page he had completely "nullified" this apo- 
 logy, and celebrated his own inconsistency by the 
 following significant paragraph, and sacerdotal ad- 
 juration : — 
 
 " If any one accuse me here of actually hating 
 Quakerism, I beg he will never attempt to prove his 
 position, as it is wholly unnecessary. My confession 
 shall forestal him : I certainly do hate it ; — by all the 
 
31 
 
 hope of heaven that I cherish consciously in Christ 
 Jesus, at this moment, I ahhor it ; by all the sense 
 I have of what Christianity is, and what the scrip- 
 tures mean, and what men infinitely need, in order 
 to salvation, I renounce and execrate it ; and make it 
 a part of my piety to detest it, as a composition of 
 spiritual sorcery, presuming ignorance, and deceitful 
 dogmatism ; offensive to heaven, and deleterious to the 
 noblest hopes of men, in * the life that now is, and 
 also that which is to come.' " — Thus it will be per- 
 ceived, that by this awful asseveration, the author 
 " hates, abhors, execrates, and detests, as a part of his 
 piety, a system which he confesses in some of its 
 " parts" is " identical with Christianity." And though 
 it has parts thus " identical with Christianity," — yet, 
 in analyzing it, he proclaims it to be a " composi- 
 tion" of " sorcery, presumption, and deceit," these 
 being, of course, the only constituent parts of the 
 " composition" of Quakerism, thus subjected to ana- 
 lysis ; unless, indeed, those parts of the system, con- 
 fessedly " identical with Christianity," have been 
 volatilized by the heat of his crucible, or remain in 
 the caput mortuum, precipitated by the haste and vio- 
 hnce of ihe fiery process. This, however, is only a 
 single instance of the inconvenience, resulting from 
 giving so formidable a title to a book, befor^e it is 
 written; seeing that it imposes upon the author, the 
 arduous task, of conforming his book to its name ; 
 instead of adapting a name to the book, after its con- 
 tents have been determinately settled. " Let not him 
 glory that putteth on the armor, as he that layeth it 
 off," is alike the dictate of wisdom, as of inspiration. 
 
32 
 
 But our objection to the name of the book is radi- 
 cal and sentimental, apart from the arrogance it 
 indicates — a characteristic, which is singularly and 
 lamentably apparent on almost every page. For 
 the autlior places Quakerism and Christianity in 
 direct opposition, and thus uncandidly insinuates, 
 that Friends regard their system as not merely iden- 
 tical with Christianity, but " the identity itself," 
 and erect the edifice of Quakerism, as distinct from 
 and in lieu of Christianity. Hence, having built this 
 " man of straw," he boldly assails him with Quixotic 
 bravery, and then, when he has overcome the giant 
 and prostrated his windmill, he adds, with oracular 
 gravity, " My practical inference is, that Quakerism 
 ought to be universally abjured, and the scriptures 
 universally received as the superlative substitute." 
 H«re then we have the disingenuous affirmation, 
 that Quakerism is regarded by its votaries, as a suh- 
 stitute for Christianity and the scriptures. We say, 
 it is disingenuous and uncandid, thus to treat any 
 system, whether we love or hate it, and especially 
 for a theologian, professing the investigation and de- 
 fence of the truth, and disclaiming all weapons but 
 such as belong to " the ethereal armor of the Al- 
 mighty." Where, from the writings of Fox, Penn, or 
 Barclay, the triple antagonists whom he selects as 
 the champions of Quakerism, does the author learn 
 thatFriends hold their system to be in lieu of, or as 
 a substitute for Christianity ? We affirm that no such 
 sentiment can be legitimately drawn from the writ- 
 ings of either ; nor however Friends may have re- 
 garded their system as identical with Christianity, 
 
there has never been one of their accredited writers 
 who has pretended that Quakerism, as a system, is 
 ** THE IDENTITY ITSELF;" or that there ever was, 
 or can be, a substitute for the sacred system of 
 Christianity. 
 
 So far from it, it is this veiy pretension to exchi- 
 siveness in existing sects, against which their " in- 
 ward light" protests. This is the precise objection 
 they have to Calvinism, that it purports to be " the 
 identity itself ^^ — a substitute for Christianity ; while 
 they believe it to be a human system, distinct from 
 and at variance with Christianity, and one for which 
 the world is indebted to Papal St. Augustine, and is 
 a legitimate fruit of the " mother of abominations," 
 having been nurtured in her bosom, until it inherited 
 her infallibility ; and now vainly presumes to " lord 
 it over God's heritage," as though by authority of 
 " Peter's chair at Rome, in which he never sat," in 
 the lanci^uaore of our author ; or fulminated its ana- 
 themas direct from our " Lord God, the Pope." 
 
 For ourselves, we confess we have never regarded 
 Quakerism to be Christianity — the identity itself; nor 
 do we believe that sanity could accept the truth of 
 this proposition in reference to any other ism, Calvin- 
 ism or Presbyterianism not excepted. The sacred 
 system of Christianity is a divine unit, supremely 
 above every thing else, and infinitely beyond every 
 other " identity" in the universe of God. And he, 
 vfho would propose a human substitute for this di- 
 
34 
 
 vine institution, is guilty of treason against Jehovah — 
 is a rebel against the system and its Omnipotent 
 Author ; and deserves, as he will receive, if he repent 
 not, the eternal anathema of the Judge of all the earth, 
 To write a book, therefore, to show that Quakerism 
 is not Christianity in the exclusive sense contemplated 
 by the author, is an argumentum ad absurdum, and a 
 refutation of such pretension, if made by this or any 
 other " i5m," would be unworthy of idiotic talents. 
 
 But once more, in attempting to reason against 
 Quakerism as a system of religion, or one professedly 
 so, common justice required that their standard au- 
 thorities, and acknowledged doctrines of faith and 
 practice, should be selected as the theme of animad- 
 version, and there are peculiar reasons why this 
 course was to have been expected from the author of 
 the work before us. Instead of which, however, we 
 find him declaring as a reason for seldom giving his au- 
 thority for his allegations against Quakerism, " I shall 
 not encumber these pages with unnecessary proofs 
 or quotations. I know the system, and I have read 
 and studied many of their standard books, particularly 
 Barclay's Apology ^ which I have often read, and have 
 recently and thoroughly reperused." And although 
 quotations " few and far between" from the works of 
 Fox, Penn, and Barclay, are introduced, yet only 
 detached sentences, andjoar/sof sentences are insert- 
 ed, and these with "note and comment," such as the 
 authors, if living, would loudly disclaim. And when 
 he does speak of their yearly epistles and other pub- 
 
35 
 
 lie documents, he is constrained to admit that these • 
 are " generally both more correct and less excep- 
 tionable every way, than their primitive and standard 
 writings ; yet he undervalues these by calling them 
 " only the symbols which they show" and affirms that 
 " they are much better than one in twenty of their 
 members, either knows, thinks, or feels^ And then 
 having " sketched an outline" of what " Quakerism is 
 in its best features," and one which is utterly at 
 variance with these yearly epistles and other public 
 documents, he insists] upon his own exposition of 
 what Quakerism is, because he " knows /" And it 
 seems he also knows, what nineteen twentieths of the 
 Friends do and do not " know, think, and feel," p. 215. 
 
 To show in a clear light what justice is awarded by 
 our author, to the published documents of the Society of 
 Friends, it will be sufficient to extract a few sentences 
 from the brief notice he takes of a late publication, 
 entitled " An Exposition of the Faith of the religious 
 Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers, in the 
 fundamental doctrines of the Christian Religion, prin- 
 cipally selected from their early writings, by Thomas 
 Evans." 
 
 After stating from his knowledge of the author and 
 his family, that he sincerely respects them for " their 
 singular intelligence, and comparative deference 
 for the scriptures, in which they seem to go farther 
 than others, and perhaps as far as they can, with the 
 perilous enchantment" of Quakerism about them, he 
 adds : 
 
36 
 
 " The Exposition contains 232 citations from early 
 Friends, to prove ' that they sincci-eJy believed, and 
 openly avowed the great fundamental truths of the 
 Christian religion.'' It is pubhshcd under the sanc- 
 tion of the Society by their assembled representa- 
 tives." " It appears to me, and it v^^ould be affectation 
 to imply, that I did not think myself a judge in such 
 things, — to be the very best manifesto of the views in 
 seeming approximation to catholic orthodoxy, that I 
 have ever seen, or which I believe it possible to com- 
 pile or select from the writings of their authors." And 
 now after this high commendation of the author, his 
 family, and his book, one could hardly be prepared 
 for the following judgment of this " Exposition," from 
 the same pen. " It proves, however, that in their be- 
 lief, they have been cardinal heretics y?'om the he- 
 ginning, the whole of them ! — and that the present 
 ' orthodox' intend to remain what iheiv fathers were.'' 
 
 By this brief extract from among many, it is 
 apparent that the author of the work before us con- 
 tends against the yearly epistles and other public 
 documents, which he calls " the master pieces of the 
 Society ;" — and even against the testimony of the 
 Society by their assembled representatives ; — and 
 the 232 citations from early Friends contained in this 
 " Exposition" all affirming that they sincerely believe 
 and openly avow the great fundamental truths of the 
 Christian religion; — that "the whole of them are 
 cardinal heretics r and that Quakerism is not what 
 these authorities say it is, but what he ''knows'' it to 
 
37 
 
 be, and adds " it would be affectation to imply that I 
 o not think myself a judge in such things." 
 
 Now we conceive, with all deference, that to treat 
 any society thus is unkind, uncandid, ungenerous, and 
 to use great " plainnoss of speech," unchristian, even 
 if that society be, composed of ^' cardinal heretics.'^ 
 If the system of Calvinism, v.hich the author absolutely 
 regards as Christianity personified, the '- identity 
 itself," were to be thus treated, he would be among the 
 first to repel and contemn so unjust an adversary. 
 Shall I insist because I was " brought up a Calvinist 
 until I was " 20 years old," and such is the faith of 
 " my kinsmen after the flesh ;" that therefore I " know'' 
 what Calvinism is, better than their "standard authors 
 or published documents, issued under the sanction of 
 their assembled representatives ?" And shall I call 
 such official annunciations of the faith and practice 
 of Calvinists, " only the symbols which they show," 
 and authoritatively assert that they are " better than 
 one in twenty of their members either knows, thinks, 
 or feels ?" And in opposition to their often repeated 
 declarations, that they sincerely believe and openly 
 avow the great fundamental truths of the Chi istian 
 religion shall I gain public confidence by asseverating 
 that they are, " from the beginning, the whole of them, 
 cardinal heretics ?" I might be deemed an adept in 
 honest hluntness, by some who measure the success 
 of a polemic, by his vociferous declamation ; but I 
 should forfeit all pretensions among the intelligent 
 and candid, either to honest logic, or logical honesty. 
 4 
 
88 
 
 1 might thus hope for success in making infidels, but it 
 would be impious to expect thereby to make Chris- 
 tians, or converts, either to Calvinism or Quakerism, if 
 either be " the identity" of Christianity. 
 
 We hold it to be unworthy disingenuousness in a 
 religious polemic, in examining and criticizing the or- 
 thodoxy of another, to attribute to him consequences 
 which we deduce from his premises or opinions, when 
 he distinctly disavows those consequences. And when 
 we prove that any doctrine necessarily draws absurd 
 and mischievous consequences after it, we are re- 
 quired both by candor and charity to do those who 
 hold it the justice to believe, that they do not see the 
 necessary connection of such consequences, with their 
 principles. And we are bound to hope that they de- 
 test those consequences when they resolutely disclaim 
 them. But how different is the course of this author, 
 who is not content wath asseverating that " Quakerism 
 is not Christianity" ;" but will infer that Friends know 
 the truth of this asseveration, and love the former he- 
 cause they hate the latter. Hence it is, that he affirms, 
 ** In this country, Friends are at this day, mainly, I 
 fear, a community of infidels, — only they would have 
 us think, that they love Christianity." 
 
 We may affirm, that we could not believe either 
 Quakerism or Calvinism ourselves, without abjuring 
 Christianity ; and we may offer logical reasons, why 
 the reception of either of these systems, as a whole, 
 would on our part be a renunciation of the "truth as 
 
39 
 
 it is in Jesus." But however sincere we may be in 
 the affirmation, and however clear be the process of 
 ratiocination by which these results are deducible to 
 our mind, we have ^no right, either logical or theolo- 
 gical, to denounce the systems in toto as "another 
 gospel :" and to do so, is on our part presumptuous 
 arrogance and folly. Our author may say justly, that 
 he could not be a Friend, with his views of Quakerism, 
 and at the same time be a Christian ; but by whose 
 authority dare he sit in judgment on his fellows, and de- 
 nounce the system as essentially anti-Christian, as he 
 does in the title of his book, and as a forgery and heresy? 
 as he does in unmeasured terms of opprobrium, censor- 
 riousness, and bitterness, throughout its voluminous 
 contents ? It is in vain to say that " we write wiperson- 
 ally of the system" for the author well knows, that if we 
 show that " Calvinism is not Christianity," his preten- 
 sions to the character he holds are vain, and his hope 
 of heaven and personal salvation, built as it obviously 
 is upon that system, is but " sorcery, dogmatism, and 
 deceit." 
 
 And here we take occasion to object to the state- 
 ment on the title page, that the author was " for 20 
 years a member of the Society of Friends," for he 
 afterwards says that it was " m the twentieth year of 
 his age" that he was " divorced from their commu- 
 nion, and edified in utter detestation of their dreamy 
 tenets," and " abjured them for ever ;" and we find 
 it not easy to reconcile these incongruous statements. 
 If it was "i% the twentieth year of his age" that he 
 thus " abjured them forever," it is plain that he was 
 
40 
 
 not a member for 20 years, unless he had a " birth- 
 right" before he icas born ! Besides, he has left those 
 who know nothing of his age, to suppose him to have 
 renonnced the doctrines of Friends, after having been 
 a member on " convincement" for 20 years ; instead 
 of ingenuously stating the fact, that this 20 years in- 
 cludes his infancy and minority only, when it would 
 have been clear to his readers, that for more than half 
 that time he was mcapable of knowings much less 
 " renouncing'' them. And when he speaks of " what 
 a triumph it is, for an educated Friend" to come out 
 from among them, we marvel that he did not frankly 
 avow, that himself, as well as other members of his 
 family were " educated Friends'' only by the courtesy 
 of " Friends" in their school at Westown, near Phila- 
 delphia, though we confess it would have illy comport- 
 ed with the spirit and temper he has exhibited towards 
 " Friends universal," and might have reminded us of 
 a certain fable of ^sop, which need not be named. 
 
 Having thus noticed the title of this work, and 
 briefly presented our objections to its name and bear- 
 ing, the next feature in this remarkable volume is its 
 dedication and introduction. The inscription is to 
 twenty-five reverend clergymen of kindred Calvinistic 
 faith, each of whom has the " semilunar fardels" of 
 D. D. wdth other lofty titles, affixed to his cognomen, 
 as a demonstration of the sincerity of the author's 
 abjuration of Quakerism ; and probably as an act of 
 repentance for one " deed of Quakerism" committed 
 since his baptism and ordination ; and which he had 
 
41 
 
 before publicly recanted. Whether these are all the 
 D. D's in the country whom he recognizes as ''fathers 
 and brethren,'' and whether this title, once despised, 
 but now " burned into him" by kindred association, 
 is essential, in order that any of his ministerial 
 brethren should be addressed by these venerated and 
 affectionate titles, does not appear. It is, however, 
 somewhat remarkable that all these twen^ty-five'D. D's 
 should be selected, while there are so many venerable 
 and respectable clergymen, of the same denomina- 
 tions who have not received this high collegiate dis- 
 tinction, and who are, without recognition among the 
 author's " Fathers and Brethren." 
 
 The reasons for thus inscribing the work to so 
 many reverend patrons, are given tlius : because, " I 
 suppose there is a oneness of theological sentiment 
 among you, in which I may account myself humbly 
 to participate ;" and "It is certain moreover, that your 
 concurrence in reprobating the errors of the Quakers 
 is in the main entire. I consider you therefore as repre- 
 senting the common creed of Christendom or rather of 
 all enlightened Protestants in opposition to the system 
 of Friends. I consider you as constituting for the 
 time a moral court, before whom I may plead the 
 cause of truth ; — and whose award, whether tacitly 
 or formally announced, the Christian public will re- 
 spect, I doubt not, as well advised, principled, and 
 unanimous ; for in such a case, it is not learning, 
 piety, and independence, that wavers or quails to 
 human prejudice." 
 
 4* 
 
4^ 
 
 Whether this moral court have tacitly announced 
 their award, unanimously or otherwise, we have not 
 learned; though it may be difficult for the " Christian 
 public to respect" it, until they shall know what it is ; 
 and for this purpose it will perhaps be necessary to 
 ** announce" it, ''formally'' as wxll as " tacitly ^ It 
 will be a safe course for the author to leave them the 
 alternative, and is a most conciliating proposition 
 truly, for this moral court ; since if they cannot " for- 
 mally" approve, they are invited " tacithf to " an- 
 nounce'"' their award, which the Christian public will 
 " tacitly" receive as " well advised, principled, and 
 unanimous." 
 
 Next follows the ''Introduction Miscellaneous" 
 which is " formally inscribed" to these twenty -five 
 patrons, as is "virtually the entire publication." 
 This introduction contains 259 octavo pages ! is 
 truly " miscellaneous," and constitutes part first of 
 the work, and indeed, occupies more than one 
 third of the entire volume. 
 
 From this long introduction, we have already made 
 a number of brief extracts, and shall now proceed to 
 notice it more generally. In the former part of it, 
 is a narration of the author's early education and 
 religious experience. Here we learn that his parents 
 were Friends, and he pays a just tribute to the 
 genuine Christianity of his excellent Father, not- 
 withstanding his Quakei'ism ! And he also avouches 
 lor the true piety and orthodoxy of his Quaker mo- 
 
43 - 
 
 ther, which he is not willing should go to the credit 
 of Quakerism, but " ascribes it to the fact, that her 
 early education was purely Presbyterian ;" and to 
 her " having been baptized," in infancy, " by the 
 excellent Dr. Sproat, of (Arch street,) Philadelphia." 
 
 It is a remarkable fact, notwithstanding all he 
 has said adverse to female preaching, that the au- 
 thor "attributes his conversion" from Quakerism 
 " to Christianity, very much instrumentally to the 
 wisdom, benevolence, and valor for the truth," of 
 a pious lady ! whose name and virtues he records 
 with much grateful and honorable emotion. He 
 was at the time engaged in the study of the law, 
 in the village of Newark, New Jersey, when he 
 overcame the " charm of Quakerism," and received 
 " the unmystical verities of the Bible." He relates 
 the circumstances attendant upon his conversion 
 with great minuteness, and declares, that at that time, 
 but for the power of the Bible, he had become " a 
 disciple of moonshine and extravagance.^^ " Were 
 it not that he happened to know better, he could 
 see and tell of prodigies, of angelic apparition and 
 miraculous gloi^,^^ and he " might have been ^de- 
 vout madman, inspired, or any thing else ;" but 
 " the balance of his mind" was fortunately " re- 
 stored by reflection." And he adds, that "the wonder 
 is the greater, because he was, by education" in 
 Quakerism, " predisposed to it." 
 
 Shortly after his conversion he visited Elias 
 
44 
 
 Hicks, heard him preach, held an interview with 
 him, which he describes, and subsequently in Phi- 
 ladelphia had conversation with the " chief men" 
 of the society, by all of whom he was confirmed 
 in the views he had adopted of his duty to " come 
 out from among them," and shortly after, in the 
 twentieth year of his age, he united with the Pres- 
 byterian church at Newark, and received the or- 
 dinances for the first time. In a few months, he 
 was formally disowned by the Society of Friends, 
 and in 1817, was ordained to the ministry. 
 
 Immediately after this narrative, the author pro- 
 ceeds to the discharge of his " especial duty," as he 
 regards it, to publish something for the benefit of 
 others. And, in opposing Quakerism, he selects 
 Barclay's Apology as a standard of what the system 
 is, and gives as a reason for the selection, that " for 
 style, scholarship, and approximation to Protestant 
 orthodoxy, Barclay holds a high, perhaps, a solitary 
 pre-eminence." Nevertheless, he " denounces both 
 him and his peers,^' as religious teachers. The 
 greatest " fault, as a reasoner," of which he com- 
 plains in Barclay, is, that he never mentions Bacon 
 in the whole compass of his 600 8vo. pages, and this 
 is a great fault ; for he affirms, that " the logic of 
 Bacon, is the logic of the New Testament," while the 
 '* style of Barclay is anti-Baconian," and he even 
 doubts whether Barclay had ever read the " Novum 
 Organum," though it had been extant then so many 
 years. And after enumerating the results of the 
 
45 
 
 Baconian logic and its principles, he says, that it just 
 as " certainly exalts the Bible, and explodes Quaker- 
 ism." If this latter result is so certain, it is no marvel 
 that the name of Bacon was omitted in Barclay's 
 Apology. 
 
 He here charges Friends with an enmity to logic, 
 and an inimical regard to classical and scientific 
 learning, — a characteristic aversion to investigate, 
 and the like ; in confirmation of which, he appeals to 
 Barclay and Fox. To avoid crimination, for uncha- 
 ritableness, he recriminates this charge upon Quaker- 
 ism, by appealing to their complaints against a hire- 
 ling ministry, their regulations coHcerning the mai- 
 riages of their members, &c. ; the latter of which, he 
 calls " a pestilent limb of anti-Christ, — a crying 
 shame, — a disgrace to the age, and a monstrosity in 
 Christian society." We next find him approaching 
 the schism in the body of Friends in this country, 
 into the orthodox and the Hicksites ; and he seems 
 to rejoice greatly in this schism, for, he says, " it is 
 well, rather than the opposite, now that altar is reared 
 against altar," &:c. He begins with the " orthodox," 
 by " denying to them boldly a recognition of Chris- 
 tian character ;" and adds an appeal to his reverend 
 patrons to unite with him in this denial. " Suppose 
 they are," he says, " by possibility, genuine Chris- 
 tians at heart," yet " God has a terrible controversy 
 with them," for the " damning fault," the " accursed 
 leaven, in all their published symbols" of refusing to 
 maintain the paramount authority of the scriptures, 
 
46 
 
 or call them " the word of God.^' This error, he 
 affirms, " has, first and last, been the means of de- 
 stroying more souls, than the wheels of the great car 
 of oriental idolatry have ever crushed of the bodies 
 of men !" 
 
 So much for the " orthodox Friends ;" and now^ hear 
 what he says of the Hicksites, by way of contrast : 
 " Their very confessions of infidelity are honorable, 
 rather than covert hypocrisy. Any thing but a 
 hooded villain — a concealed and sanctimonious hy- 
 pocrite in the church !" And he says, " the grand 
 rallying sentiment of the party is that of their cham- 
 pion, whose name is now burnt into them as Hicks- 
 ites, — * No man can believe what he does not under- 
 stand;^ " and here follows a long and labored argu- 
 ment in proof of this aphorism, which the author 
 zealously espouses, as though it were Christianity — 
 though he says it is the " grand rallying sentiment" 
 of this department of QuakeHsm, 
 
 In examining the relative pretensions of the two 
 parties to primitive Quakerism, our author gives a 
 two-fold opinion : — 1st. That both parties can equally 
 prove their doctrines from Fox, Barclay, and others ; 
 and 2d. That it is a question not worth settling, and 
 " argueth more real subtilty to despise than consider." 
 And adds, in reference to both, " The infatuation of 
 men, we know, is often judicial and desperate, that 
 they all might be damned, who believed not the truth, 
 but had pleasure in unrighteousness ;" and then cha- 
 
47 
 
 ritably adds, " I hope in God, for better things in 
 store for some of them." He then concludes his re- 
 marks on the schism, by offering twenty reasons why 
 the ecclesiastical visibility of the " orthodox," or 
 of Friends universal, cannot be recognised by the 
 churches of Christ. 
 
 In this portion of this work, we have been both 
 surprised and grieved to find, that the author refuses 
 to award any doctrinal superiority to the " ortho- 
 dox" party, as they are called, in contra-distinction 
 to the " Hicksites," and, indeed, seems rather more 
 highly to esteem the latter. We have been sur- 
 prised, because the point of difference most prominent 
 in this schism, involves the Deity, incarnation and 
 atonement of Christ, the very corner-stone of Chris- 
 tianity, according to the author's own showing ; and 
 we are grieved to find, that he has so determinately 
 resolved that Quakerism, in genus, species, order, 
 and variety, shall not be Christianity, that he cannot 
 believe any good thing to come out of this Nazareth. 
 For ourselves, we hesitate not to express our fears, 
 that many of the severities contained in this book 
 against the doctrinal peculiarities of Quakerism, may 
 apply with justice to some of the party, called 
 '• Hicksites ;" though we shojld be far from calling 
 even these, * a community of infidels.'*^ But w^e are 
 equally prepared to express our conviction, that they 
 are, for the most part, unmerited and unwarranted in 
 their application to those, who, for distinction sake, 
 are called " orthodox," many of whom are demon- 
 
48 
 
 strably, experimental and practical Christians. We 
 arc, therefore, constrained to say, that the want of 
 discrimination, in the censures of this volume against 
 Quakerism, betrays a spirit of generalizing or indis- 
 criminate censoriousness, which we regret for the 
 sake of the author and his book. And we regret it 
 still more, because we believe that candor and truth 
 required at his hands, the concession of the fact, that 
 the two sects of Friends in this country are radically 
 and cardinally opposite, on most of the fundamental 
 doctrines of Christianity ; — and to hold them up, 
 therefore, unitedly, as jointly guilty of the same doc- 
 trinal errors, and jointly to denounce both the ortho- 
 dox and Hicksites, as " cardinal heretics ;" condemn- 
 ing each for the heresies of the other ; is as ungene- 
 rous as it is unjust. 
 
 We now proceed to notice the specific accusations 
 made against Friends and their system, adhering as 
 closely as possible to the order in which they are 
 alleged. The first formal charge brought against the 
 Quakers, is on page 13, that "they do not profess to 
 be a churchy but a society ;" and again, at page 96, 
 " They do not even profess to be a Christian church ; 
 they are only the religious Society of Friends ;" and 
 this is his^r^^ capital reason, why " the ecclesiastical 
 visibility of the orthodox cannot be recognised by the 
 churches of Christ." 
 
 To show that this first charge is altogether without 
 foundation, it is only necessary to refer to the title of 
 
49 
 
 one of the works of the same Robert Barclay, 
 against whom he so loudly inveighs. " The anarchy 
 of pretended churches, refused and refuted in a two- 
 fold apology, for the Church and /^eo/j/e of God, 
 called, in derision, Quakers, shewing that the ancient 
 Apostolic order of the Church of Christ is re-estab- 
 lished among them," &c. Throughout tliis volume 
 Barclay maintains, that theirs is a church of Christ, 
 and labor's to prove the propriety of their church 
 order and government from " the Holy Scriptures." 
 And they, who are familiar with the writings of 
 Friends, know that they uniformly profess to be the 
 " true church," — " the gospel church," — " the New 
 Testament church," &c. See Penn, Pennington, 
 Barclay, and others. It would seem from this first 
 blunder of the author, that, although he " knows what 
 Quakerism is," yet he is not always led by the lighb 
 either " inward" or " outward." 
 
 Passing over many minor charges against Qua- 
 kerism, our author affirms, on page 150, that " the 
 Christ of Quakerism is not the Christ of the scrip- 
 tures ;" and again, " Quakerism sends us feeling in 
 the dark for the inward light,^N\\\Qh is Christ in every 
 man, from the foundation of the worlds 
 
 Now, if the author had looked into Buck's Theolo- 
 gical Dictionary, Philadelphia edition, 1830, he would 
 have seen, on the authority of official documents, 
 published in Lrondon, and subscribed to by the " or- 
 thodox" in America, that " they fully believe in the 
 5 
 
50 
 
 supreme Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in 
 the atonen^ient by his sufferings and death." And 
 that this is no novel doctrine among them, is apparent 
 from Barclay's works, with which our author declares 
 himself so familiar, for, in fol. 621, he says, " the 
 whole manhood of Christ was united to the Logos, 
 (or Word,) and the Logos to it, and in it." And 
 again, on fol. 794, he declares that Christ is " both 
 true God and true man, and that he continues so to 
 be glorified in the heavens." This is the " Christ of 
 Quakerism," which our author affirms is not the 
 " Christ of the scriptures." Is there any thing here 
 like " disparaging and obscuring the real advent, 
 the real crucifixion, the real atonement of the Son of 
 God," or denying that " Jesus Christ has come in 
 human nature," of which the author accuses Quaker- 
 ism, on page 295 ? 
 
 But for a complete refutation of these, and other 
 similar charges against Quakerism, of " cardinal 
 heresy," on this important subject, the character and 
 atonement of Christ, reference may be had to the 
 authority of " Unitarian Penn,'^ in his work, entitled 
 " Primitive Christianity Revived," in which he meets 
 all these charges of our author, as though by pro- 
 phetic anticipation ; — but let Penn speak for himself, 
 and let us see with what justice he applies this odious 
 epithet. Unitarian, to that excellent man. 
 
 " Lest any should say, we are equivocal in our 
 expressions, and allegorize away Christ's appearance 
 
51 
 
 in the flesh, meaning only thereby our own flesh ; 
 and that, as often as we mention him, we mean only 
 a mystery, or a mystical sense of him, be it a« to his 
 Coming, Birth, Miracles, Sufferings, Death, Resur- 
 rection, Ascension, Mediation, and Judgment, I would 
 yet add, to preserve the well disposed from being 
 staggered by such suggestions, and to inform and re- 
 claim such as are under the power and prejudice of 
 them ; — That we do, we bless God, religiously believe 
 and confess, to the glory of God the Father, and the 
 honor of his dear and beloved Son, that Jesus Christ 
 took our nature upon Him, and was like unto us in 
 all things, sin excepted ; that he was born of the 
 Virgin Mary ; suftered under Pontius Pilate ; was 
 crucified, dead, and buried ; rose again the third day, 
 and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand 
 of God, in the power and majesty of His Father, who 
 will one day judge the world, by Him, even ihat 
 blessed man, Christ Jesus, according to their works." 
 And again, " We do believe that Jesus Christ was 
 our holy sacrifice, atonement, and propitiation, and 
 that through the ofiering up of himself once for all, 
 through the Eternal Spirit, he hath for ever perfected 
 those (in all times) that were sanctified, who walk 
 not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." 
 
 But our author next insists, that the Quakers are, 
 ^^ from the beginning, cardinal heretics, the whole 
 of them;" and "especially the orthodox," who are, 
 " at best, Sabellians, or most equivocal mystics, on 
 the grand article of the Trinity." " The God o) 
 
52 
 
 Friends, I experimentally know, is little other than an 
 impersonal influence or principle." " Their God is 
 a seed, light, and so forth." " They deny, in effect, 
 personality to the Godhead." " I allege this as a fact, 
 rather than an argument ; and write it as a witness, 
 rather than a disputer." And here he labors to show, 
 that the confessions of Barclay, Penn, and others, are 
 evasive and equivocal, and affirms, that " They deny 
 the distinction of persons in the Godhead." That he 
 should make this charge against the whole of the 
 " Friends," and especially against the " orthodox," is 
 passing strange. To show the recklessness of the 
 author, however, in his censoriousness, we make but 
 a single quotation from one of their standard authors. 
 " Pennington's Epistle to all Serious Professors of the 
 Christian Religion," — page 4. " There are two or 
 three things in my heart to open to you : — The first, 
 is concerning the Godhead, which w^e own, as the 
 scriptures express it, and as we have the sensible ex- 
 perimental knowledge of it. In which ' there are 
 three that bear record in heaven, — the Father, the 
 Word, and the Holy Spirit : and these three are 
 one.' This, I believe from my heart, and have infal- 
 lible demonstrations of; for I know three, and feel 
 three in spirit, even an Eternal Father, Son, and 
 Holy Spirit, which are but one Eternal God." And 
 again, " Now consider seriously, if a man from his 
 heart believe thus concerning the Eternal Power and 
 Godhead ; that the Father, is God — the Word, God — 
 the Holy Spirit, God, and that these three are one 
 Eternal 6rO{/, waiting so to know God, and to be subject 
 
53 
 
 to him accordingly ; is not this man in a right frame 
 of heart towards the Lord in this respect ? Indeed, 
 Friends, we do know God, sensibly and experi- 
 mentally, to be a Father, Word, and Spirit, and we 
 worship the JF'ather in the Son by his own SpiHt,'' 
 &c., &c. This quotation might be greatly extended 
 from the same author, and confirmed by others, an- 
 cient and modern, but this is so unequivocal a decla- 
 ration of the principles of primitive Quakerism, as 
 held by the " orthodox" among the Friends in Ame- 
 rica, that it must be regarded as an ample refutation 
 of all our author has said, in his labored argument on 
 this subject, and proves the falsity of this charge, 
 though very often repeated in various forms in the 
 huge work before us. 
 
 Another accusation against Quakerism, contained 
 in his protracted "Introduction Miscellaneous," of 
 259 pages, is that brought against the " orthodox" on 
 page 71, which he calls their " damning fault" It is 
 this, "Pertinaciously refusing to acknowledge the 
 paramount authority of the Holy ScrijJtures, as the 
 rule of faith and practice, and refusing with equal 
 and melancholy consistency, to follow the example 
 of Jesus Christ, in calling them the word of God^ 
 And here again he makes the affirmation, " that 
 Friends do, all of them, in London, New York, and 
 Philadelphia, and of all ages, since their rise, unite in 
 denying the paramount authority of the scriptures, is 
 infallibly a fact." And so anxious is our author to 
 '"onvict Quakerism of this " accursed leaven," that 
 5* 
 
54 
 
 he perverts what they say of the Bible, being 
 " esteemed as a secondary rule, subordinate to the 
 Holy Spirit, by which it was inspired," and alleges 
 that the system claims a higher inspiration for its 
 own writers, " The only proper criterion of what 
 Quakerism is, is the Quaker Scriptures, the 5a- 
 cred writings of Fox, Barclay, Penn, and others." 
 When were these writings called sacred? and by 
 whom, except our author, were they ever denomi- 
 nated the scriptures in the sense here intended ? And 
 yet he says, "No oath could add to the solemnity 
 which invests the obligation of my veracity. But if 
 it might, I call God for a record upon my soul, that 
 I will not intentionally miss-state any thing." The 
 author's asseverations and appeals to his Maker, for 
 the purity of his motives, are all scarcely sufficient to 
 screen him from the charge he brings againstQua - 
 kerism on page 228, where he says, " God will be no 
 party to a cause that loveth and maketh a lie, as Qua- 
 kerism is !" And again, on page 233, " I do not say 
 that the advocates of Quakerism know that they are 
 lying, but convinced I am in the sight of God, that 
 they might know it." 
 
 That the sentiments of " orthodox Friends" may 
 be fairly presented, and the Society protected from 
 the flagrant injustice, and unrighteous accusation here 
 made, we shall present a few brief extracts from 
 standard authorities. 
 
 1. "To Christ alone we give the title of the word 
 
55 
 
 of God, John i. 1., and not to the scriptures, although 
 we highly esteem these sacred writings, in subordina- 
 tion to the Spirit (2 Pet. i. 21.) from which they 
 were given forth, and we hold with the apostle, Paul, 
 that they " are able to make wise unto salvation, 
 through faith, which is in Christ Jesus, 2 Tim. iii. 15." 
 Buck^s Diet. Art Quakers. 
 
 2. Among the traits of the character of George 
 Fox, by Wm. Penn, we find it stated, as his chief 
 qualification for the ministry, " He had an extraor- 
 dinary gift in opening the Scriptures,'' and in a sum- 
 mary, given of the subject matter of the preaching of 
 Fox, he says, " The mystery of the first and second 
 Adam, of the Fall and Restoration, of the Law and 
 Gospel, of Shadows and Substance, of the Servant's 
 and Son's state, and the fulfilling of the scriptures, in 
 Christ, and, by Christ, the true light, in all that are 
 his, through the obedience of faith ; were much of the 
 substance and drift of his testimonies." 
 
 3. In Wm. Penn's Exhortation to the Ministry, he 
 charges them, " Brethren, as to you is committed the 
 dispensation of the ' oracles of God,' I beseech you, 
 not to think it sufficient to have declared the word of 
 life, in the assemblies, but inquire the state of the 
 several churches you visit," &c. And he warns them 
 to declare the whole counsel of God, by the language 
 of the Revelations, of the plagues threatened against 
 those, who add to, or take away from, the Book of 
 Revelation. 
 
56 
 
 4. In Barclay's work, entitled " Anarchy of the 
 Ranters, and Hierarchy of the Romanists, &c., Re- 
 fused and Refuted," will be found numerous proofs of 
 the veneration he had in common with Friends for 
 the " Holy Scriptures," which he relies upon in the 
 argument in favor of the authority and discipline of 
 the Church of Christ. After stating one of the pro- 
 mises, viz., " Lo, I am with you always, even unto 
 the end of the world," he says, " besides this positive 
 promise of Christ, (which is not, without blasphemy 
 to he called in question, or doubted,) I shall add other 
 reasons." 
 
 5. In Pyke's Epistle to the national meeting of 
 Friends, in Dublin, concerning good order and disci- 
 pline in the church, we find that, after speaking of 
 the Gift of the Holy Spirit, which Christ has given 
 us for our salvation, he says, " He has given us 
 additional means and assistances conducive to that 
 great end ; — thus He has afforded us the Holy 
 Scriptures, for our information, edification, and 
 comfort, through the Spirit" 
 
 6. In Phipps' Reply to S. Newton hes ays, " We are 
 so far from lessening the Holy Scriptures or opposing 
 the true sense of them, that we verily believe and 
 sincerely assert that the Holy Spirit, in what degree 
 of illumination soever it appears, never can contradict 
 them, for difference in degree makes no contrariety. 
 It is the private, or particular interpretation of man 
 without divine illumination, that we we object to as 
 
57 
 
 insufficient to assure the sense of disputed scriptures. 
 Many have the words of the Spirit in scripture, who 
 have not the mind of the Spirit in their hearts." 
 " Neither nature nor education can mve a man the 
 sense of the Holy Ghost, nor of consequence interpret 
 its expressions with certainty. It is, therefore, truly 
 asserted, not only by the Quakers, but also by distin- 
 guished writers of various professions, ancient and 
 modern, that the internal illumination of God's Holy 
 Spirit is absolutely necessary to every man, in order 
 to his right understanding of the Scriptures. Let me 
 advance a few out of many more." We shall only 
 transcribe a very few of these. 
 
 " The scriptures are not to be understood but by 
 the same spirit, by which they were written." Luther. 
 
 " The Spirit of God, from whom the doctrine of the 
 gospel proceeds, is the only true interpreter to open 
 it to us." Calvin^ on 1 Cor. ii. 14. 
 
 " As the scriptures were written by the Spirit of 
 God, so they must be expounded by the same. For 
 without that spirit we have neither ears to hear, nor 
 eyes to see," Bish. Jewel, 
 
 " An inward enlightening and irradiating the mind 
 by the Holy Spirit, is absolutely necessary for the 
 comprehending of the divine mysteries, which are 
 contained in the doctrines of the gospel." /. Edwards. 
 
58 
 
 " We acknowledge the inward illumination of the 
 Spirit of God, to be necessary for the savingunder- 
 standingofsuch things as are revealed in the word." 
 Westminster Confess, 
 
 Mr. Phipps then goes on to show, that the only 
 reason why they object to call the scriptures " the 
 rule of faith and practice" is, lest that should be under- 
 stood to imply that we are not to look for the Holy 
 Spirit to be our Guide and Leader, which the Scrip- 
 tures themselves abundantly testify. Still he affirms, 
 "we allow it is the primary written rule, a Christian 
 rule, a divine rule, but not the only and universal rule* 
 I. The scriptures are not the only director, because 
 the Spirit of God in the heart and conscience of man 
 is also an undeniable one. II. They are not the uni- 
 versal director, because it is not one in twenty of 
 mankind have ever had the opportunity of possessing 
 them, &:c. But we hold the scriptures to be a rule 
 to all that have a right understanding of them." 
 Joseph Phipps's Essay on the Original and Present 
 State of Man, &c. 
 
 But that Friends called " orthodox" may be fully 
 exonerated from this heinous heresy, we quote from 
 the " Testimony" issued from all the yearly meetings 
 in America, from which the author has made some 
 extracts in his book. 
 
 " Nor can a right belief in the Holy Spirit and hii 
 nfluences and operations upon the human mind as ti 
 
59 
 
 primary source of divine knowledge in us, and the 
 immediate operative power in the work of sanctifi- 
 cation and complete redemption, detract from the 
 value of the Holy Scriptures. For as we beheve 
 that they certainly proceed from the same Spirit, so 
 we believe that whatever is contrary to their testimony 
 in faith or practice, must be a delusion, and in opposi- 
 tion to the immediate influences of the Holy Spirit." 
 And they quote largely in proof of the oneness of 
 their views on this subject, from Fox's journal, in which 
 he declares his full belief in the " Scriptures of truth," 
 in language as strong and explicit, touching their in- 
 spiration and authority, as can be found in any 
 modern creed, and he adds, "we believe the Holy 
 Scriptures are the words of God^^ " so we call the Holy 
 Scriptures, as Christ, the Apostles, and holy men of 
 God called them, the words of God /" 
 
 We have dwelt thus long on this charge because it 
 has so prominent a place among the alJegations, made 
 by our author against Quakerism, and " especially the 
 orthodox ;" and because of the abundant evidence 
 which every standard work on the subject furnishes. 
 The reader can form his own opinion of the author, 
 and attribute these mistakes, if he can, only to the 
 absence of the inward light. 
 
 On page 137, our author makes the following 
 sweeping declaration, " Friends do none of them be- 
 lieve in the doctrine of the resurrection of the body." 
 " I venture the assertion that a Friend who believes it, 
 is a rarer phenomenon than an eclipse of the moon /** 
 
60 
 
 The authority on which he makes this charge 
 against Quakerism is, that he " heard one of their 
 preachers most scornfully declaim against it," and as 
 in the other cases because he " knows" what Quaker- 
 ism is. To show, however, the folly and extravagance, 
 if no worse, of this oracular author, who says " it were 
 affectation to imply that I did not think my self a judge 
 in such matters," we here again extract fron^ the tes- 
 timony of the orthodox party, lately published. 
 
 " The doctrine of the resurrection both of the 
 just and unjust, — of future judgment ; — of rewards 
 and punishments ; and the realities of heaven and hell ; 
 is inseparably connected with the belief of the attri- 
 butes of God, and the immortality of the soul," &:c. 
 
 In Mr. Penn's Primitive Christianity Revived, he 
 warns the ungodly that they " will finally awake in a 
 dreadful surprise at the sad and irrevocable sentence. 
 Depart from me ye workers of iniquity I know ye not." 
 And again to those who are in Christ he says, " Thou 
 art assured, that thy corruptible shall put on incor- 
 ruption, and thy mortal immortality, and that thou 
 hast a glorious house eternal in the heavens that will 
 never wax old nor pass away." 
 
 And lastly, in Barclay's Apology, p. 573, we find 
 among a catalogue of calumnies against Quakerism, 
 of which the author loudly complains, and in which 
 he fully refutes most of the allegations preferred by 
 the author, he says, " Because we tell them while 
 they are talking and determining about the resurrec- 
 
61 
 
 tion, that they have more need to know the Just One 
 whom they have slain, raised in themselves, and to be 
 sure they are partakers of the/r5^ resurrection; and 
 that if this be, they will be the more capable to judge 
 of the second ; — hence they say, that we deny the re- 
 surrection OF the body," " which slander, the Lord 
 knows, is foully cast upon us." Here ^we see that 
 Barclay calls this precise charge of our author against 
 Quakerism ^ foul slander, and adds, of this and other 
 of his allegations, " it is, as God, the searclier of hearts, 
 knows, a very great slander." And yet he says that 
 " Barclay wholly omits it," and no where, " formally 
 touches the subject," and says this was his "policy." 
 
 Now suppose the system of Calvinism, which the 
 author avows as his own, were charged with this or 
 any other " damnable heresy ;" and he could show, 
 from one or more of the standard authorities of that 
 system, that the charge was thus solemnly declared 
 to be a ^'foul slander^'' and indignantly repelled by 
 an appeal to the " Searcher of Hearts ;" what would 
 he think of a Christian minister, calling himself a 
 " witness," who should reiterate this calumny, and 
 add a whole tirade of abuse of the system, and de- 
 nunciation of its votaries, ever and anon exclaiming " I 
 know what Calvinism is !" And yet such is the predic- 
 ament in which he has placed himself both here and 
 elsewhere, as the reader cannot fail to discover. 
 
 We come now to notice the second part of this 
 volume, entitled " The Grand Error :" and the au- 
 6 
 
62 
 
 thor here declares the *' inward light" to be the 
 ''fundamental error in the scheme of Quakerism'' 
 This, he calls an " ignis faiuus^' by which, he says, 
 " The Friend gets rid of the Bible, as effectually as 
 the Papist, by the infallibility of the Church ; — the 
 Socinian, by his own reason ; — the Deist, by the light 
 of nature; — the Sceptic, hy his science and philoso- 
 phy ; and the man of the world, by his pleasures P' 
 and even expresses " a suspicion," long entertained, 
 and he believes valid, that there is some, perhaps 
 much, of pure materializing in their view of this 
 " inward light." 
 
 " Thus," he says, " the Papist, the Socinian, the 
 Deist, the Philosopher of scepticism ; the mere man 
 of the world ; the Friendy and all other impugners of 
 the paramount authority of scripture, have each a 
 favorite mode of avoiding and disparaging the vo- 
 lume of God. But it is manifest that their common 
 aim is one. Their common cause is one ! their common 
 character! and, with some possible exceptions and 
 probable differences in degree, one shall be their 
 coMiMON DOOM ! ! !" Thus does our author 
 
 "Deal damn a fion round the land, 
 On all he deems his foes." 
 
 We confess ourselves somewhat surprised, that he 
 should speak so authoritatively in his denunciation 
 of the " inward light," when he admits, on page 296, 
 that he " cannot define the nature of what they mean 
 by this inward light,'' although he says, he speaks 
 '* as a witness," and often affirms, that he " knows 
 
63 
 
 what Quakerism is" An extraordinary witness truly, 
 who " knows" what the system is, and yet cannot 
 define the nature of " the grand error," as he calls 
 the doctrine of " inward light." 
 
 Now, after all the vituperation and ridicule with 
 which he assails this unknown heresy, and all the 
 labored argumentation to which he resorts for its 
 refutation, let us look at the standard authority which 
 he quotes and garbles, and see whether there be any 
 such " impossibility of an intelligible definition of its 
 nature," as our author declares there is ; and offers 
 this as an excuse for his failure, in discovering what 
 Friends mean by their " inward light." We shall 
 here make a few brief extracts from " Barclay's Apo- 
 logy," a work, which the author declares he has often 
 read, and recently "thoroughly re-perused." 
 
 We should incline to the opinion that, if our author 
 had candidly " re-perused" these passages and their 
 context, he would not be under the necessity of confess- 
 ing his ignorance as to what Friends mean by the " in- 
 ward light." But Barclay next proceeds to present 
 those scripture proofs, by which he professes to have 
 been originally led to discover this inward monitor, 
 and which he reverently acknowledges as confirming 
 his faith. By attending to a few of those inspired tes- 
 timonies, chosen from the " oracles of God," w^e shall 
 surely arrive at an " intelligible definition of what 
 Friends mean," quite as conclusively as from this 
 *' witness," though he says, he " knows what Qua- 
 kerism is." 
 
64 
 
 1. " God hath communicated and given unto every 
 man a measure of the light of his own Son, — a mea- 
 sure oi grace, or a measure of the Spirit,^^ which the 
 scripture expresses by several names, as sometimes 
 of the seed of the kingdom, Mat. xiii. 18, 19. The 
 liglU that makes all things manifest, Eph. v. 13. The 
 word of God, Rom. x. 17; or manifestation of the 
 Spirit given to profit withal, 1 Cor. xii. 7. A talent, 
 Mat. XXV. 15. A Uttle leaven, Mat. xiii. 33. The 
 gospel preached in eveiy creature, Col. i. 23." — 
 Again, 
 
 " By this seed, grace, and word of God, and light, 
 wherewith we say every one is enlightened ;" " we 
 understand a spiritual, heavenly, and invisible prin- 
 ciple, in which God, as Father, Son and Spirit, 
 dwells ; a measure of which divine and glorious life 
 is in all men as a seed, which of its own nature 
 draws, invites, and inclines to God," &:c. And after 
 meeting and refuting the precise objections, which 
 our author brings against the nature and effects of 
 this " inward light," he proceeds to prove, from plain 
 and clear testimonies of the scripture, that " God 
 hath given to every man a measure of saving, suffi- 
 cient, and supernatural light and grace." 
 
 2. Mat. xii. from verse 18. The parable of the 
 sower, also found in Mark and Luke. " The seed is 
 the word of the kingdom," which the apostle calls the 
 tvord of faith, Rom. x. 8. James i. 21, "the im- 
 
65 
 
 planted, ingrafted word, which is able to save the 
 souir 
 
 3. The parable of the talents, 
 
 4. Heb. iv. 12, 13. For the word of God is quick 
 and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged 
 sword, &c. &ic, 
 
 5. 1 Pet. i. 23. Being born again, not of corrupti- 
 ble seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, 
 which liveth and abidetU for ever. 
 
 6. Luke xvii. 20, 21. Christ saith the kingdom of 
 God was IN the very Pharisees. 
 
 7. John iii. 19. " This is the condemnation, that 
 light is come into the world, and men loved darlmess 
 rather than light, because their deeds were evil," &c. 
 
 After a multitude of other scriptures, all presented 
 in proof that Friends regard the " inward light," as 
 the " grace of God," " the Spirit of God," " the word 
 of God," and none other than the " light of Christ," 
 Barclay adds, '« It will manifestly appear, that we 
 understand not this divine principle to be any part of 
 marCs nature, nor yet to be any relics of any good, 
 which Adam lost by his fall, in that we make it a 
 distinct, separate thing from man's soul, and all the 
 faculties of it ; yet, such is the malice of our adver- 
 saries, that they cease not to calumniate us, as if we 
 6* 
 
preached up a natural light, or the light of man's na- 
 tural conscience^ And again, he affirms, that " this 
 principle leads, above all others, to attribute our whole 
 salvation to the mere power. Spirit, and grace of 
 Godr 
 
 With these quotations from Barclay, which might 
 be multiplied indefinitely from the writings of Friends, 
 we would now inquire, why the author asks, again 
 and again, " What is this inward light ? Is it rea- 
 son or conscience, or knowledge or holiness, or blind 
 impulse, or spontaneous action, or monitorial sug- 
 gestion ?" &:c. " What is the thing, which they mean, 
 if they mean definitely any thing, when they speak 
 of ' the light within.' " And on what authority does 
 he add, " it seems certain that they ignorantly mean 
 nothing but natural conscience,^* when they so dis- 
 tinctly disavow this sentiment, and call it a " calumny 
 instigated by the malice of adversaries?" I ask 
 these questions, that the reader may judge of the un- 
 candid spirit of this author, and leave reason and 
 conscience to answer. A multitude of similar exam- 
 ples might be presented of the same character, and 
 indeed, to follow the author in these sophisms, we 
 must needs transcribe his whole volume. 
 
 But he proposes to try Quakerism, and especially 
 this doctrine of " inward light," by an inspired cri- 
 terion, and selects, for this purpose, the following pas- 
 sage, from 1 John iv. 1,3 : — " Hereby know ye, the 
 Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth, that 
 
67 
 
 Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God. And 
 every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is 
 come in the flesh, is not of God ; and this is that spi- 
 rit of anti-Christ, whereof ye have heard, that it 
 should come, and even now already is it in the 
 world." 
 
 Now, there can be no objection to the criterion, 
 by Quakerism itself; and, indeed, the follow^ing ex- 
 position is equally unexceptionable : — 
 
 " The object of this confession, the proposition, 
 that Jesus Christ has come in the Jleshy means that 
 Jesus, the Messiah, has outwardly come in hu- 
 man NATURE." To the inference which follows we 
 have no objection. 
 
 " I infer that, whatever spirit is not characterized 
 
 by professing and magnifying that grand proposition^ 
 is a limb of anti-Christ.^^ 
 
 But all this plausible exordium, is but a prepa- 
 ration to charge Quakerism with being a " limb 
 of anti-Christ," and to impute to the system either 
 a denial, or " an admission, with reluctance and 
 constraint, as if tortured into the admission, that 
 Jesus, the Messiah, has outwardly come in human 
 nature ;" and after having made this scandalous 
 allegation, he very confidently " appeals to the con- 
 science of the reader, and to his intelligence, whe- 
 titer the spirit of Quakerism be not the spirit of anti 
 Christ?" 
 
68 
 
 We will admit, that if the author has not borne 
 " false witness against his neighbor," his conclusion 
 is undeniable. If he had shown by other than 
 mere reckless assertion, and egotistic dogmatism, 
 that Friends " disparage and obscure the real ad- 
 vent, the real crucifixion, the real atonement of the 
 Son of God," we could not convict his "Baconian 
 logic !" of a non scquitui\ nor shelter Quakerism from 
 his anathemas. But we have had occasion to prove, 
 on page 51, that this whole accusation is " funda- 
 mentally false," and the testimony of " Unitarian 
 Penn," as our author most unjustly calls him, is 
 aimed at this very allegation, which thus early 
 had been fabricated against Quakerism. But as 
 our author appeals mainly to Barclay, and de- 
 clares himself familiar with his works, particularly 
 his " Apology," the following extracts are pre- 
 sented from that work, of which the author says : 
 '* Barclay admits the fact of the personal advent of 
 Christ, HERE AND THERE, and states it passingly 
 in his big volume, but no more ! ! !" Such an out- 
 rage upon this work, upon truth, and upon de- 
 cency, as is this sentence, has no term in any 
 Christian vocabulary sufficient to indicate its enor- 
 mity. If we might borrow from our author his 
 anti-Christian nomenclature, we might exclaim, — 
 " We do not say, that he knows he is lying, but 
 sure we are, in the sight of God, he might know 
 it." I make a few extracts ; I might make hun- 
 dreds equally explicit. 
 
 " We firmly believe it was necessary that Christ 
 
69 
 
 should come, that by his death and sufferings he might 
 offer himself a sacrifice to God for our sins, who his 
 own self hare our sins in his own body on the tree ; so 
 we believe, that the remission of sins which any 
 partake of, is only in and by virtue of that most satis- 
 factory sacrifice, and NO oTUERwisB." Again, "we 
 believe all those things to have been certainly trans- 
 acted which are[recorded in the Holy Scriptures con- 
 cerning the birth, life, miracles, sufferings, resurrection 
 and ascension of Christ ; so we do also believe that 
 it is the duty of every one to believe it, to whom it 
 pleases God to reveal the same, and to bring to them 
 the knowledge of it ; yea, we believe it were damna- 
 ble unbelief not to believe it, when so declared," &c. 
 
 " We renounce all natural power acd ability in our- 
 selves, in order to bring us out of our lost and fallen 
 condition and first nature ; and confess, that as of 
 ourselves we are able to do nothing that is good, so 
 neither can we procure remission of sins or justifica- 
 tion by any act of our own, so as to merit it or draw 
 it as a debt from God due unto us ; but we acknow 
 LED6B all to be of and from his love, which is the 
 original and fundamental cause of our acceptance. 
 God manifested this love towards us in the sending of 
 his beloved Son the Lord Jesus Christ into the world, 
 who gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to 
 God for a sweet smelling savor ; and having made 
 peace through the blood of his cross, that he might 
 reconcile us unto himself, and by the Eternal Spirit 
 offered himself without spot unto God and suffered for 
 
70 
 
 our sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us 
 unto God." 
 
 What mysticism and heresy is there here ? And 
 where the ground for saying that " the grand and very 
 distinguishing confession of Friends, is the hostile 
 opposite of the proposition, Jesus Christ has come in 
 human nature /" And how does the author expect to 
 be behoved, even when he speaks the truth, when he 
 has the temerity to assert, " It is the spirit of 
 Quakerism to confess that Jesus Christ from the 
 beginning of the world, comes inwardly, spiritually, 
 IMP ALP ABLY, in the hearts of all men as a ' little 
 SMALL thing' ! !" and then ask" how is this coming in 
 the flesh according to the sense of scriptural phrase- 
 ology ?" And when the Apology abounds with testi- 
 monies to the outward coming, sufferings and death 
 of Christ, such as those we have named, where is 
 this author's natural conscience, to say nothing of 
 " inward light," when he affirms that " Barclay admits 
 the personal advent here and there, and states it pas- 
 singly, BUT NO MORE !!" Wc again rcpcat tlic declara- 
 tion, that these charges against Quakerism are utterly 
 false, and we think we have given evidence to con- 
 firm their entire destitution of truth, in the extracts 
 already made. And we address our author in his 
 own language, and ask, " are we to blame for 
 their falsity, or for showing it ? Do we make them 
 false by shojving that they are so ? It is a desire for 
 his salvation that leads us to hold to his vision the 
 mirror of truth. If the reflection is ungrateful, the 
 
71 
 
 rays of incidence come from himself and his book.'' 
 " To be sure his book and himself are identical, we 
 could wish that they were more than the moon's dis- 
 tance apart !" 
 
 That Quakerism either denies, mystifies, obscures, 
 disparages, or refuses to confess that " Jesus Christ 
 has come in human nature" we deny, and although 
 the author tells us he '• knows what Quakerism is," yet 
 we have seen, that by the identical authorities to whom 
 he refers, this precise allegation is declared to be a 
 calumny, and it is called by Barclay himself " a very 
 great slander !" And yet upon a repetition of this 
 " slander" the author before us declares " it is my full 
 and deep conviction that the author of the scrip- 
 tures IS NOT the author OF QUAKERISM," and on 
 the ground of this " calumny" alone, he declares that 
 their "inward light" is " blindness, grossness, material- 
 ism, presuming folly, and essential falsehood !" 
 
 So much for this attempt to denounce Quakerism 
 as a " damnable lieresy," a " pestilent limb of anti- 
 Christ, because of their " fundamental error" which is 
 the doctrine of " inward light," " the monstrous and 
 mortal sophism of the Quakers." 
 
 Our author having erred so egregiously at the very 
 threshold of his labored argument on the subject of 
 this "grand error," finds it impossible to extricate 
 himself from similar blundering, at every subsequent 
 step of his progress. For having found it " impossible ** 
 
72 
 
 to acquire " any intelligible definition of its nature," 
 and confessed that he " cannot define the nature of 
 what Friends mean by the inward light," he contents 
 himself with writing " as a witness and not a disputer," 
 and we have already seen that his " witness is not 
 tTnie." Nor does he succeed any better in the argu- 
 ment he attempts, seeing that his premises are false. 
 Having grossly misconceived and misrepresented 
 this prominent doctrine of Quakerism, he reasons as if 
 he perfectly understood it, though he had previously 
 declared an intelligible definition of it " impossible /" 
 
 From the admission of this universal light within, 
 he says, " the argument is rational and sound that the 
 scriptures are superfluous" and this without having 
 found out what that " light" is ! And he then proceeds 
 to involve Quakerism in this absurd sophism of his 
 own invention that the light is paramount, while the 
 scriptures are inferior, and charges the system with 
 making " a specious substitute for the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, which is intrinsically and relatively superior to 
 the oracles of God." This calumny has been amply 
 refuted in the notice already taken of a former part of 
 this work, and we may have occasion to refer to it 
 again. The specimen of verbose reasoning in which 
 the author has indulged on this subject, would be un- 
 exceptionable but for the single defect, that the founda- 
 tion or major proposition is a fiction, which is a fault 
 prodigiously in the way, even of his " Baconian logic." 
 And yet on these false premises he says, " In this 
 country, Friends are at this day, mainly, I fear a com- 
 
73 
 
 munity of infidels, — only they wozildhave us think thsit 
 they love Christianity !" 
 
 To render this denunciation plausible, he argues : 
 that if Friends will say that their rule is the Spirit of 
 God, and this is the inward light of which they speak, 
 that then they must either admit, that " their law is the 
 law giver himself;" or honestly " deny that they are 
 Trinitarians, and consequently deny that the Spirit is 
 God." And after this grave and weighty argument, 
 the author assumes an air of vociferous triumph, and 
 elegantly exclaims " let any man of sense and princi- 
 ple, who prefers not to swing gored, through life, and 
 his offspring with him, on either horn of this bellowing 
 monster ; deny him, and take the word of God as his 
 highest rule in religion, in this world and in that which 
 is to come ! The absurdity of the system, the putrid 
 quality of its very heart is such, — but I leave the 
 reader who can, to think that it is not among im- 
 pious absurdities and destructive errors, the most con- 
 founding and confounded ! 
 
 Monstrum horrendum ! informe, ingens, cui lumen ademptum.— Virg. 
 
 [ " A monster tremendous— mis-shapen— forlorn— 
 Whose fiction of light, is the cliallenge of scorn !" 
 
 The foregoing precious morceau of " Baconian 
 logic," is thus transcribed, that the reader may com- 
 pare it with the " logic of the New Testament,^* with 
 which the author declares it to be identical. 
 
 7 
 
74 
 
 The author, it will be perceived, insists that the 
 doctrine of inward light, as held by Friends, neces- 
 sarily renders " the scriptures superjluous" and he 
 proceeds to ridicule their pretensions to inspiration, 
 in a strain of satire, for which he seems to have an irre- 
 sistible propensity. Here he attributes to them, views 
 and claims to " plenary inspiration," such as no intelli- 
 gent Quaker ever made. Thus in one place he says, 
 " the oracles of the Quakers are the oracles of God — 
 or, those of the apostles are not — or, the inspiration 
 of the Quakers is a miserable delusion." And again, 
 he charges upon Friends the sentiment, which no one 
 among them ever believed, that " their sermons would 
 make another Bible, if they were only collected and 
 bound in one book, beginning with Fox, and proceed- 
 ing onward to living prophets and prophetesses. 1" 
 
 Now we would ask this author, if that charity 
 which "hopethall things" can justify so gros? a per- 
 version of the doctrines of Friends. Let Barclay say 
 what they mean when they claim immediate revela- 
 tion, and it will be seen that " inspired actions" and 
 " inspired irresponsibleness," liowever heretical, con- 
 stitute no part of their system ; and the author might 
 therefore have spared his labored argument, as well 
 as his splenetic sarcasm, on this fiction of his own 
 imagination. 
 
 On the doctrine of immediate revelation^ as an in- 
 tegral part of Quakerism, Barclay founds it solely 
 upon Matt. xi. 27, and lays down the following pro- 
 
75 
 
 positions, as containing all they mean by this doctrine, 
 viz. 
 I' 
 
 I. That there is no knowledge of the Father but 
 by the Son. 
 
 II. That there is no knowledge of the Son but by 
 the Spirit. 
 
 III. That by the Spirit, God hath always revealed 
 himself to his children. 
 
 IV. That these revelations were the formal object 
 of the saints' faith. 
 
 V. That the same continueth to be the object of the 
 saints' faith to this day. 
 
 And after arguing each of these from the Holy 
 Scriptures, he says, " It is one thing to affirm that the 
 true and undoubted revelation of God's Spirit is certain 
 and infaUib!e, and another thing to affirm, that this or 
 that particular person or people is led infallibly by 
 this revelation in what they speak or write, because 
 they affirm themselves to be so led." " Moreover, these 
 divine and inward revelations, which we establish as 
 absolutehf necessary , for the founding of the true faith ; 
 as they do not, neither can they, at any time contradict 
 the Scripture's testimony or sound reason.'^ 
 
 Again, " We look upon the Scriptures as the only 
 
76 
 
 fit outward judge of controversies among Christians ; 
 and that whatsoever doctrine is contrary unto their 
 testimony, may therefore justly he rejected as false. 
 And for our parts we are very willing that all our 
 doctrines and practices, he tried hy them, as the judge 
 and test. We shall also be very willing to admit, 
 tliat whatsoever any do, pretending to the Spirit, which 
 is contrary to the Scriptures, he accounted and reckon- 
 ed, a delusion of the devil!" 
 
 Finally, in repelling as he does, indignantly, the iden- 
 tical charge made by our author, "that if men be now 
 immediately led and ruled by the Spirit, they may add 
 new scriptures, of equal authority with the old," Bar- 
 clay says, " we have shut the door upon all such doc- 
 trine by affirming, that the Scriptures give a/wZ/ and 
 ample testimony to all the principal doctrines of the 
 Christian faith. For we do firmly believe, that there 
 is no other gospel or doctrine to be preached, but 
 that which was delivered by the apostles ; and do 
 freely subscribe to that saying, let him that preacheth 
 any other gospel than that which hath been already 
 preached hy the apostles and according to the Scriptures, 
 he accursed" •' So we distinguish betwixt a revela- 
 tion of a new gospel and new doctrines^ and a new 
 revelation of the good old gospel, and doctrines ; the 
 last we plead for, but the first we utterly deny !" 
 
 I have quoted thus largely from this work, which 
 our author " has often read, and recently thoroughly 
 reperused,'^ that the reader may see with what sem- 
 
77 
 
 blance of truth, after " thoroughly reperusing" such 
 unequivocal testimonies as these, this author should 
 charge the system with being founded upon " the 
 QUAKER SCRIPTURES, the sacred writings of Fox, 
 Barclay, Penn, and others." " Their preachers are 
 just as really inspired as was Paul ; and why go to his 
 antiquated writings, when they have fresh inspirations 
 at hand." And where is his sense of candor and jus- 
 tice, to say nothing of Christianity, when he penned 
 such sentences as the following, among his charges 
 against Quakerism ? 
 
 " It is evident, that the whole massive structure of 
 Quakerism is built upon George Fox, Robert Barclay, 
 Sarah Grubb, and a thousand other prophets and 
 prophetesses, who have been recently commissioned 
 and inspired, exactly as were Moses, Isaiah, Matthew, 
 and Paul, " and all the other writers of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures." And he talks of Quakers believing, that " a cer- 
 tain youth of Scotch nativity, French education, 
 Komish predilections, and very respectable talents, 
 was converted to the sentiments of George Fox, and 
 inspired to write a book, as good as the Bible, if not 
 better, called Barclay's Apology." And in answer 
 to the question, what will become of Friends ? he 
 affirms, " They will all be lost wdio have nothing 
 better than pure Quakerism, to defend them from the 
 fire ! These are my convictions : and I know that 
 they are just as true as the New Testament /" If this 
 last sentence be not claiming " plenary inspiration," 
 and out-heroding Herod in "pretensions to inf^illir 
 
 7* 
 
78 
 
 bility/' then Quakerism, nor " the man of sin" himself, 
 can never be convicted of either. 
 
 We confess, that in point of sophistry, misrepre- 
 sentation, vulgarity, and profanity, we have seldom 
 seen this vi^ork surpassed, in all the " controversial 
 divinity" which has fallen under our notice ; not ex- 
 cepting the low ribaldry of Paine, Owen, and Fanny 
 Wright; and these arc only a few specimens from 
 a multitude which might .be selected, even more 
 exceptionable. We have preferred, however, to 
 select these, and compare them with the previous 
 extracts from Barclay, rather than to argue against 
 their falsehood and absurdity. And we now appeal 
 to the intelligent reader, whatever may be his opi- 
 nion of Quakerism ; whether the spirit which die 
 tated, or the system which requires, such disin- 
 genuousness and sorcery, be entitled to the sacred 
 name of Christianity ? 
 
 But our author next takes up the doctrine of 
 justification, and affirms that, on this subject, " Bar- 
 clay touches a spring, fires a train, and ignites a 
 mine of explosion and ruin, to his total Quakerism !" 
 " It is impossible for a Quaker consistently to learn 
 and love the scripture doctrine of justification." — 
 " Barclay has written between 40 and 50 pages of 
 his Apology, under the head of justification, in 
 which he proves mainly this — that he never under- 
 stood the subject." " Reader, the whole dissertation 
 is a * continent of mud /' " 
 
79 
 
 Such are the charges gravely brought against 
 Quakerism, and especially against Barclay. I shall 
 here make a few brief extracts from this " continent 
 of mud,^' as our author elegantly calls the chapter 
 on justification. 
 
 " The obedience, sufferings, and death of Christ, is 
 that by which the soul obtains remission of sins, and 
 is the procuring cause of that grace, by whose inward 
 working Christ comes to be formed inwardly, and 
 the soul to be made conformable unto liim, and so 
 just and justified." 
 
 And having next attempted to prove that, " by 
 justification, is to be understood really a being made 
 righteous," he affirms, " that it is by this revelation 
 of Jesus Christ, and the new creation in us, that we 
 are justified ;" which he proceeds to argue from the 
 Holy Scriptures, wherein " Christ, in you, the hope 
 of glory," and " Christ, being formed in you," are 
 the expressions employed, to denote this state of grace 
 in the believer. The following additional quotation 
 will, perhaps, be sufficiently explicit to enable the 
 reader to judge whether Barclay " never understood 
 the subject." 
 
 '' The original and fundamental cause of our justi- 
 ficc^tion, is the love of God manifested in the appear- 
 ance of Jesits Christ in the flesh, who, by his life, 
 death, sufferings, and obedience, made a way for our 
 reconciUation, and became a sacrifice for the sins that 
 
80 
 
 are past, and purchased unto us this seed and grace, 
 from which this birth arises, and in which Jesus 
 Christ -is inwardly received, formed, and brought 
 forth in us, in his Qwn pure and holy image of right- 
 eousness, by which our souls live unto God, and are 
 clothed with him, and have put him on, even as the 
 Scripture speaks : Eph. iv. 23, 24, Gal. iii. 27, we stand 
 justified and saved in and by him, and by his spirit 
 and grace, Rom. iii. 24. 1 Cor. vi. 11. Tit. iii. 7. 
 So again, reciprocally, we are hereby made partakers 
 of the fulness of his merits, and his cleansing blood 
 is near, to wash away every sin and infirmity, and 
 to heal all our backslidings, as often as we turn to- 
 wards him by unfeigned repentance, and become 
 renewed by his Spirit. Those then that find him 
 thus raised, and ruling in them, have a true ground of 
 hope to believe, that they are justified by his blood." 
 
 We confess, that there are some peculiarities in 
 the style of expression in these quotations, which 
 may be regarded as " Quaker provincialisms ;" but 
 we ask, where is the " mysticism and heresy," so 
 loudly complained of? Do these extracts resemble 
 any part of a " continent of mud V^ It is plain, we 
 think, that the author has no authority to pronounce 
 Barclay " dreamy, Jesuitical, mystical, or heretical," 
 on this grand doctrine of Christian theology, what- 
 ever peculiarities may characterize his exposition 
 of it, since these may be readily accounted for by 
 the times and circumstances under which he wrote. 
 And, indeed, it is no marvel, if " he had been led 
 
81 
 
 into the other extreme," in avoiding the antimonian 
 heresies, so fatally prevalent, in those times ; and his 
 being led to confound justification and sanctification, 
 was undoubtedly the result of the testimony he was 
 called to bear against those views of justification, 
 which gave authority for the grossest licentiousness, 
 under perverted views of " imputed righteousness." 
 
 But we have another more serious charge against 
 our author, — that of deliberate misrepresentation, 
 and we find it in the following paragraph : — 
 
 "Barclay evidently dislikes the word, justified. 
 * If we must use that word.' Indeed ! how reluctant 
 to use one of the 'words, which the Holy Ghost 
 teacheth !' one of the richest in the vocabulary of 
 Jesus Christ !" 
 
 Here, we say, is deliberate misrepresentation, 
 whether designed or not, we hope not. " If we must 
 use that word," is applied by Barclay to the word 
 formally, and not to the word justified, as any reader 
 may see by turning to the passage on page 208, 
 Barcl. Apol. And that this is his unequivocal mean- 
 ing, may be further seen from page 224, where he 
 says, " the immediate, nearest, or formal cause, (if 
 we must, in condescension to some, use this word,) 
 of a man's justification in the sight of God, is the re- 
 velation of Jesus Christ, in the soul, &c. And again, 
 on page 215, where he says, " It is, hy Christ, formed 
 within, that we are (so to speak) formally justified in 
 
83 
 
 the sight of God." Here we see, as in the former case, 
 his dislike is not to the word justified, but to the word 
 formally, as used in the scholastic divinity of the 
 times, to designate the proximate cause of justifica- 
 tion. We look upon this perversion of Barclay to be 
 quite as Jesuitical as any thing, even pretended by 
 our author, to attach to Quakerism. 
 
 Finally, to exterminate this grand error of the sys- 
 tem, " the inward light," our author next proceeds to 
 examine the proof texts of Barclay ; and the first, is 
 John i. 9. " That was the true light, which lighteth 
 every man that cometh into the world." He objects 
 to the interpretation of Friends : — 
 
 1. That " the text is entirely solitary, and without 
 a parallel, I think, in the whole Bible." He forgot to 
 look at the passage in loco, or he would have been 
 taught, by the margin, that parallel passages are 
 found in Isaiah Ixix. 6, and Acts xiii. 47, aim multis 
 aliis. But even if it were thus without a parallel, it 
 would ill become him, thus to evade the " known and 
 genuine words of the Holy Ghost." It is almost as 
 bad as " turning over the leaf," as he accuses the 
 Quakers of doing, when they find predestination in 
 the Bible, and would have to be done much more 
 frequently. 
 
 2. He objects to this passage, that " it utterly fails 
 them, in respect to internal location, inasmuch as it 
 does pot say, an inward light^ and he thence argues, 
 
83 
 
 that Christ is an external light, and not an internal 
 one ; — such an one probably as, he says, he saw at his 
 conversion, when " the chamber became luminous," 
 and he tells us, he had himself well nigh become a 
 " disciple of moonshine," like George Fox, whom he 
 calls a " lustrous son of moonshine ;" — although there 
 was, it must be conceded, a striking difference in their 
 light, since George had it " inward," and our author 
 " outward !" 
 
 3. He contends, that there is no necessity that we 
 should so interpret the passage, since it may be dif- 
 ferently rendered, either by reading it, "coming into 
 the world, lighteth every man ;" — or which " shines 
 toward every man," &c., or it may signify by an 
 ellipsis, " every one, that ever was truly enlightened, 
 obtained, from " the word, all his light." And then 
 adds, " that one, or possibly all, of these renderings, 
 are the truth, I am confident," and he thinks the 
 passage " might be materially improved," if it was 
 designed to express the meaning of Friends, and 
 even proposes a substitute for these " genuine words 
 of the Holy Ghost." 
 
 But finding argument too impotent, even aided by 
 new translations, to deprive Friends of this proof 
 text, in favor of what they mean by the inward light, 
 he next resorts to ridicule, the weapon for which he 
 has a singular prepossession, as the following choice 
 specimen will show : — 
 
 " But suppose this text proves the reality of a 
 
 uni- 
 
84 
 
 versal inward light, shining constantly, and yet near 
 to suffocation, somewhere above or below the dia- 
 phragm — not to be too nice on questions that tend to 
 researches, topical and physiological, I discern ano- 
 ther diliiculty. I could not descend into their mines, 
 without a better safety lamp than Sir Humphrey 
 Davy could invent, against the detonation of subter- 
 ranean gases. I have no ' faith in the effectual ope- 
 ration' of the nondescript glimmer within." 
 
 To find a Christian minister thus trifling with " the 
 word of God," as do the lowest clan of infidels, is to 
 us at once a source of pity and indignation. In com- 
 menting on the " words of the Holy Ghost," we might 
 have expected that " the glory of the mercy seat 
 would awe him to reserve, so near the ineffable 
 Shekinah that abides there," especially when the 
 text under review is one which declares the charac- 
 ter and offices of Christ Jesus, the Lord. 
 
 Before leaving this text, however, which our author 
 finds it so difficult to dispose of, he contends, that 
 even if it proves the reality of a universal light 
 within, yet still it disproves the doctrine of Friends. 
 
 " For," says he, " John did not point out that 
 UghtJ* " He testifies of Jesus Christ, points to the 
 Lamb of God, and tells the people to behold Him." 
 XV. 36. 
 
 Indeed ! and does our author intend this as an ex- 
 position of this passage, and imply that we are to 
 
85 
 
 BEHOLD " outwardly" the Lamb of God, as did those 
 to whom John spake. Or are we not to behold this 
 " Light of the world" at all, because he no longer 
 appears outwardly in human nature. Such an argu- 
 ment is unworthy alike of the author, and the sacred- 
 ness of his theme; and yet, upon this and similar 
 perversions of the " word of God," does he call the 
 doctrine of inward light a " damnable heresy," and 
 implicate Quakerism in the charge of '' heretical 
 madness." And finally, he avows his own creed in 
 the following explicit language : 
 
 *' Soberly, we allege that there is no supernatural 
 LIGHT in menr 
 
 Is this then the creed of the author, and of 
 those who have " a oneness of tlieological senti- 
 7nenf^wiih him. — Is this his confession? — " Soberly," 
 " there is no supernatural light in men !" — Does he 
 mean that there is no light of any kind in men, or 
 does he intend to say, that their inward light is not 
 " supernatural ?" If the former, he would repro- 
 bate, and " eternally unchurch and undo" himself, 
 and every other cliild of Adam ; — and if the latter, 
 then he claims a natural light in man, which is di- 
 rectly and palpably heretical, according to his own 
 showing. Nay more, if this article of his own 
 " confession" be true, then the Holy Scriptures, 
 which speak of Christ, as the " Light of the world," 
 being " preached in every creature under heaven," 
 and, with reference to believers, " Christ formed in 
 
 8 
 
86 
 
 the heart," and " Christ, in you, the hope of glory ,^' 
 are all " Falsely Translated," unless it can be 
 shown that all this " light in men" is not " super- 
 naturaiy *' If he prefers not to swing, gored, through 
 life, on either horn of this bellowing monster" to 
 quote his own elegant apostrophe, " let him deny 
 him." 
 
 We are not willing that this "creed" of our 
 author should be regarded as identical with Cal- 
 vinism, any more than with Christianity, for we do 
 not believe a more " pestilent limb of anti-Christ," 
 than is such a sentiment, can be found in all the 
 alleged " heretical madness" of Quakerism itself. 
 
 In the epistle, prefixed to the French New Tes- 
 tament, we find that Calvin himself, has not only dis- 
 claimed this heresy of our author, but has fallen pre- 
 cisely into the views of Quakerism. 
 
 " The Lord," says he, " never left himself without 
 a witness, even toward them^ unto ichom he has not 
 sent any knowledge of his word. Forasmuch as all 
 creatures, from the firmament to the centre of the 
 earth, might be witnesses and messengers of his 
 glory unto all men, to draw them to seek him ; and, 
 indeed, there is no need to seek him very far, for 
 EVERY ONE might find him in his own self !" — 
 Though Mr. Fletcher shrewdly remarks, tliat here 
 ** The Scriptures forced Calvin himself into a happy 
 inconsistency with Calvinism ;" yet this is plainly all 
 
87 
 
 for which Barclay ever contended, and is the very 
 ** Grand Error," which our author first brands as a 
 " damnable heresy," and then belabors without 
 mercy. 
 
 Finales we cannot withhold the expression of our 
 conviction, that the sentiment of the author, that 
 " there is no supernatural light in men" is as unscrip- 
 tural and heterodox an error, as is contained in any 
 heretical system under heaven ; not excepting the 
 *' grand error" of Quakerism itself. And we now 
 take occasion to show, that it is directly contradicted 
 by no less a personage than the author himself, in 
 another part of the work before us. 
 
 In speaking of " the person and office work of the 
 Holy Ghost, as vital to all saving knowledge of 
 God," he says, that " this Spirit has done many 
 things without us, as well as in us," and admits, that 
 " all his influences (both outward and inward) are 
 necessary," and, " by His influences, I mean, all 
 that he does in whatever aspect, in accomplishing the 
 salvation of the saved" 
 
 He next proceeds to define those influences as 
 " miraculous and ordinary ;" and by the latter, he 
 means " all those influences by which the mind is 
 enlightened, convinced, converted," (fee, or all those 
 by which " men are brought to consider, seek reli- 
 gion, repent, obey, worship, believe, practise holi- 
 ness, and persevere to life everlasting ,* — including 
 
88 
 
 awakening, conviction, regeneration, sanctification, 
 consolation, universal piety, and ultimate salvation.*' 
 I call these the influences of the Spirit, because they 
 are virtually so denominated in the word of God," &c. 
 
 Now, we ask, are all these natural or superna- 
 tural? If the latter, are diey works of darkness 
 or of light? If of light, is this outward or inward 
 light? To be sure, he calls them ordinary, in con- 
 tradistinction to the miraculous influences of the 
 Spirit ; but will he deny the attribute of light to 
 the office work of the Holy Ghost, when he uses 
 the term, " enlightened''^ among His influences ? Or 
 will he allege, that these are outward in their na- 
 ture and effects, and, therefore, not supernatural? 
 How else will he sustain the article ' of his creed, 
 which affirms that " there is no supernatural light 
 in man?'' " If this picture be a ludicrous one, the 
 fault is not in the painter, but in the original." 
 
 But that the reader may see the true reason of our 
 author's objection to this proof text of Barclay, he 
 may compare the language employed by inspiration, 
 " That was the true light, which liglitcth every man 
 that Cometh into the world," with either of th<> 
 translations, or rather perversions of our author. 
 Here he will perceive, that our author has no ob- 
 jection to the truth, that Christ is the " true light ;'* 
 but ONLY to that portion of the text, which declares, 
 that he " lighteth every man that cometh into the 
 world'' He will not quarrel with the doctrine, 
 
89 
 
 that the Holy Spirit " enlightens the saved,' or the 
 " elect ;" but only with the doctrine of Friends, and 
 of the Bible, which maintains, that " a manifestation 
 of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." 
 Accordingly, on the 357th page, we find him disclos- 
 ing the true reason why he affirms, that " the Qua- 
 ker spirit is another spirit — the Quaker influence, 
 another influence — and the Quaker doctrine, ano- 
 ther doctrine." I transcribe only a part of this long 
 paragraph. 
 
 " The whole economy ©f the influences of the 
 Spirit, depends supremely on the sovereign plea- 
 sure of the only wise God. I mean by this, not 
 to exclude human agency or accountability from 
 their proper place, and mediate injluence in the 
 extent, nor to favor any notion of fatality or des- 
 tiny, independent of the voluntary conduct of men ; — 
 but 1 do mean to deny the existence of absolute 
 chance, and to put the event in common with all 
 OTHER EVENTS in the sovereign arbitration of God. 
 I mean to deny the Arminian view, which en- 
 thrones eternal chance, and exalts the autocrasy of 
 the creature 'above all that is called God, or that 
 is worshipped,' and puts the Creator in a posture 
 of waiting ignorance, or sincere discomfiture, rather 
 than of dominion over all, blessed for ever." 
 
 Here we have a little clearer avowal of the 
 sentiments of our author, for the foregoing sentence 
 distinctively discloses the whole doctrines of ultra- 
 8* 
 
00 
 
 Calvinism, under the terms " sovereign pleasure^ 
 and arbitration of God,'' on which *' depends su- 
 premely" not merely " the event" here under consi- 
 deration, but " ALL OTHER EVENTS. " And at the 
 same time, we see here what the author regards 
 as the ** mortal sin" and " damnable heresy" of 
 Quakerism, which is the ^^ Arminianism" of the 
 system. And unfortunately for the author, he blun- 
 ders equally in defining what is "the Arminian 
 view," as he has done in relation to Quakerism ; — 
 and from this specimen we affirm, that whether 
 or not, he "knows wha-t Quakerism is," it is pal- 
 pably evident, that he is either ignorant of Armi- 
 nianism, or grossly slanders it. 
 
 Let us hear him. " The Arminian view en- 
 thrones eternal chance ! and exalts the autocrasy 
 of the creature! above * all that is called God, or 
 that is worshipped ;' and puts the Creator in a pos- 
 ture of waiting ignorance or sincere discomfiture ! 
 Here we have three distinct charges against Armi- 
 nians, each of which is unequivocally false, and 
 has been indignantly repelled a thousand times, 
 having been as often alleged by other Antimonian 
 Calvinists. 
 
 1. It ^* enthrones etetnal chance r What does he 
 mean by eteimal chance ? The impiety, to say no- 
 thing of the absurdity, of such an indea or expres- 
 sion, is an honor, to which our author has the exclu- 
 sive title. No Arminian ever gave utterance to such 
 
91 
 
 a thought, and if he ever conceived it, he ceased to 
 be an Arminian, and possibly had already become a 
 Calvinist. The author may possibly apply eternal 
 to chance, as his system does to foreknowledge ; 
 although he admits that the latter was later than 
 the decrees, and founded on them, though both 
 
 ETERNAL 
 
 If 
 
 2. He charges, as included in " the Arminian 
 view," the " exaltation of the autocrasy of the crea- 
 ture above all that is called God !" What authority 
 can he produce from any waiter, even professedly 
 Arminian, for the attribute oi autocrasy hQing ascribed 
 to the creature in any aspect, much less as being ex- 
 alted above God ! Such stupid blasphemy may he 
 included, for aught we know, in some of the hydra 
 heads of Calvinism ; for the protean forms and cha- 
 meleon colors of this monster, may give authority 
 for any conceivable absurdity, — and the author may 
 be nicknaming some of these, by the hateful and 
 hated term Arminian ; — but if so, we protest against 
 the profanation, as little short of sacrilege. 
 
 3. He next affirms that, in *' the Arminian view, 
 the Creator is placed in a posture of waiting igno- 
 rance or sincere discomfiture.^^ Here again he bears 
 " false witness against his neighbor," for, to ascribe 
 such a sentiment to Arminians, or to any of those 
 whose creed bears his name, in contradistinction to 
 Calvinists, is but to repeat a calumny which has been 
 a thousand times refuted, and to betray an ignorance 
 
02 
 
 which in this author is highly criminal. We shall 
 only remark, 
 
 1. Arminianism does not " enthrone eternal chance/' 
 though it contends for future contingencies ; by which 
 we understand, those things, which may or may not 
 be done, as the free unnecessitatcd will of man shall 
 choose to do them or not. Such a contingency as 
 was our author's book, about which he hesitated for so 
 many years, until, as he affirms, his attack of the 
 cholera, in 1832, determined him to delay it no 
 longer. 
 
 2. Arminianism does not endow the " creature" 
 with " autocrasy," nor exalt this autocrasy " above all 
 that is called God';" though it maintains, that the pro- 
 duction of the present work was the voluntary act of 
 the author, for which he is as much accountable, here 
 and hereafter, as if he was himself possessed oi auto- 
 crasy, or as if he had performed his task, by his own 
 unassisted power, independent of all influence, celes- 
 tial, terrestrial, or infernal. 
 
 3. Arminianism does not put the Creator in a posture 
 of waiting ignorance or sincere discomfiture ;" 
 although it does not ascribe to God, that unscriptural 
 sovei^eigntij which would put all events, and among 
 others, the production of the author's book, among 
 those acts which God foreknows, because he has de- 
 creed them. Thus making God himself the author 
 of a work, filled as this is, with all manner of inconsis- 
 tency, mistake, and uncharitableness. We cannot, 
 
93 
 
 with the author and his creed, " give the glory to God's 
 sovereignty, for predestinating the reprobate necessa- 
 rily to continue in sin, and be damned ; nor ascribe to 
 Him the shameful glory of seducing Eve in the shape 
 of a lying serpent, lest he should not have the glory 
 of being a sovereign and doing all and in all." 
 Soberly, we allege that Calvinism may be justly 
 charged with representing the " Creator in a posture 
 of waiting ignorance and sincere discomfiture." at 
 which Arminianism shudders ; for says Calvin him- 
 self, " how came God to foreknow man's fall, [nisi 
 quia sic ordinarat] but because he had appointed it I" 
 thus absurdly implying, that God knows what he ab- 
 solutely decrees, and no more ! ! Here, as has been 
 justly remarked, " Calvinism allows loss foreknow- 
 ledge to God, than to a stableboy ; — for without de- 
 creeing any thing about the matter, a postillion knows, 
 that if the horse he curries, gets into his master's gar- 
 den, some of the beds will be trampled ; and that if 
 a thief has an opportunity of taking a guinea without 
 being seen, he will take it." 
 
 It is plain, then, that all the author's sophistical 
 subtlety about' the " enthronement of the divine 
 sovereignty," in his vituperation of " the Arminian 
 view" which he ascribes to Quakerism, is but another 
 evidence of the ignorance and malevolence, which 
 characterize his entire volume. And yet he proceeds 
 to combat " the Arminian view^" of Quakerism, by 
 charging that system with maintaining that " it is ab- 
 solutely, and uUiynateJy, ivholly, and only, with man's 
 will to consent or not, and so to self-arbitrate the 
 
94 
 
 event of salvation ;" and then asks " how Barclay 
 happened to consent?" and argues from its being 
 " a mere hap," the following absurdities, 1. "God 
 himself could not foreknow it," for he can foreknow 
 nothing that is uncertain, or rather nothing that he 
 has not previously decreed. 2. " There is no certain- 
 ty of the continuance of the church on the earth" and 
 3. " God can never raise up another minister, unless 
 chance happens to cause the will to submit, to he wil- 
 ling, to consent to the impotent wishes of God." If all 
 this be not " next door to horrid impiety" we know 
 not where it is to be found. The whole of this argu- 
 ment, if intended as such, is too contemptible for sober 
 replication. We have already shown that his major 
 proposition has no foundation, either in Arminianism 
 or Quakerism ; and if the author really meant it for any 
 thing, but an imposition on the ignorance and credulity 
 of his readers, we cannot withhold the opinion, that 
 such stupidity must be regarded as his misfortune 
 rather than his fault, and he is better entitled to our 
 commisseration than our censures. 
 
 We pass on to the notice taken of 'another of the 
 proof texts of Barclay, Titus ii. 11. " For the grace of 
 God that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men, 
 &c." Of this passage he affirms, that ''the proposition is 
 absolutely and eminently false /" and that the passage 
 is ^^ falsely translated" for which he appeals " to any 
 scholar, tyro though he be, in Uteris grwcis." Without 
 following every part of his criticism, he complains that 
 in the Greek the word hath appeared, (E-n-ecpau*]) occurs 
 
95 
 
 first of all in the sentence, and cannot affect the syn- 
 tax of all men, which is in the dative. This would 
 make the passage read as Mr. Wesley has rendered 
 it, before the author was horn, " The grace which 
 bringeth salvation to all men, hath appeared." But 
 this would not affect the doctrine of Friends, and he 
 therefore proceeds to amend the translation still far- 
 ther, by contending that the w^ord cwT^jpios- rendered 
 bringeth sahation, ought to be translated " salvation- 
 bearing." So that he would have the passage read 
 thus " The grace of God, that is salvation-bearing to 
 all men [wherever it comes,] has appeared." Here 
 we see the design of correcting the translation, is to 
 effect the double object, of depriving Quakers and 
 other Arminians of the Bible-trulh.it contains, and at 
 the same time of conforming it to his own creed. 
 Without arrogating any thing by way of pretension 
 to the " school-taught gift of tongues," we deny the 
 propriety of his " compound epithet or qualifier, 
 salvation-bearing''^ as having any, the least authority 
 in the original, and appeal to "any scholar, tyro though 
 he be, in Uteris groecis." " The grace ot God which 
 saves, r\ xapJb" n tf^T-y^pjos- the grace, emphatically saving 
 to all men, hath appeared," and therefore the sense is 
 preserved in Mr. Wesley's version " bringeth salvation 
 to all men ;" which would be Calvinistically pervert- 
 ed, if rendered as the author would have it, by his 
 " compound epithet or qualifier," salvation-hearing, 
 and his still worse qualifier to all. men, " wherever 
 
 IT APPEARS !" 
 
 The reason why our author so zealously la- 
 
96 . 
 
 bors to explain away " these genuine words of the 
 Holy Ghost," is perfectly apparent in the whole 
 scope of his work, and is the cause of his " special zeal 
 to exterminate Quakerism." It is distinctly avowed 
 on page 369, where he complains that the doctrine of 
 inward lifrht, " finds out a wav for the salvation of 
 Turks, Jews, and heathen of all sorts, without the 
 gospel," while he and his creed predestinate them by 
 " God's free wrath" to " eternal damnation ;" although 
 he says he leaves all " the heathen peaceably and 
 submissively, where they are, in the hands of the 
 Eternal, and says, that if when w^eget to heaven, we 
 do not find the heathens there, we shall find there a 
 ''perfectly satisfactory reason for their absence.'' 
 We suppose the reason will be that, which the author 
 gives on page 435, why the gospel fails of converting 
 the world, after affirming that the gospel is in no sense 
 at fault. " Still, how glorious, and in grace how pre- 
 eminent, is that DISCRIMINATING SOVEREIGNTY ! SUpeV- 
 
 vening just here ! — according to the election op 
 
 GRACE !" 
 
 These specimens may be sufficient to show with, 
 what prodigious facility this author " evades the 
 words of the Holy Ghost ;" — it is almost as ready a 
 method, of" nullifying" the Bible as by " turning over 
 the leaf" We might give many other examples, 
 but must content ourselves with one more, on page 
 133. He is there explaining away Heb. ii. 9. which 
 in our version declares that hated doctrine of " the 
 Arminian view," that " Christ tasted death for every 
 man." And here we have the sapient and learned 
 
97 
 
 information, that the word man is not in the original, 
 but who " inspired" him to fill up the ellipsis, and 
 say, that it means every " one of them?" He might, 
 with as much justice and propriety, render it, " Je- 
 sus Christ tasted death for every" — angel or — devil, 
 for every one of them in my church, my barn, or my 
 house ; and if his prayer were founded on his creed, 
 he might pray, 
 
 Lord bless me and ray wife, 
 My son John and his wife, 
 Us four, 
 And no viore! 
 
 Soberly, we allege, that this flimsy and ridiculous 
 criticism is beneath contempt, and we should not 
 have named it, but for the remarks accompanying 
 this new translation, which, with the note, present 
 us with his creed, this, compared with the Chris- 
 tianity of the Scriptures, is a more " monstrous and 
 mortal sophism," than any of those alleged against , 
 Quakerism. He affirms, in the text, that he believes 
 that " the atonement, made by Jesus Christ on the 
 cross, is, in its own nature, amply sufficient for all 
 mankind, but no such doctrine is taught in the pas- 
 sage before us," But in the note he explains, in the 
 language of John Calvin, what he means, which is, 
 that " Christ suffered sufficiently for all men, but ef- 
 ficiently for the elect alone!" And then avows, in his 
 own language, still more distinctly, his individual 
 creed. " We do not believe, that the atonement was 
 indefinite in the sense of the Remonstrants of Hol- 
 land, or aniy other Arminians. God had a design ia 
 
 9 
 
98 
 
 making it, which no event could frustrate, Chri&t 
 eternally designed the salvation of the elect, and for 
 these, in this sense exclusively, he gaveh is precious 
 life !" 
 
 Indeed ! no wonder that the phrase, " every man," 
 in the text under notice, is so exceptionable. " For 
 the elect alone, in this sense exclusively, he gave his 
 precious life." In w'hat sense ? — The sense of saha- 
 tion, obviously ; and, of course, if he gave his pre- 
 cious life, in any sense, for the rest of mankind, it w^as 
 in the sense of " damnation." Well did Calvin him- 
 self, in a lucid interval, call this " left leg" of his 
 creed, a " horrible decree." And here I am re- 
 minded of an exposition I once heard a Calvinistic 
 minister, of high repute, favor a congregation with, on 
 this same text, in nearly the following words : — 
 
 " It is true, that the text says, Jesus Christ tasted 
 death for every man! [Perhaps he had not the 
 " school -taught gift of tongues," in equal proficiency 
 with the author !] But it does not say, he died for 
 every man, but only" that he tasted death ! That is, 
 he suffered much, very much, in his body and in his 
 soul, before he came to the cross, and particularly in 
 the garden did he taste death, and this he did for every 
 man, for the whole world ; but when he came to the 
 cross, he died for the elect alone!" This is another 
 Calvinistic way of avoiding and perverting the vo- 
 lume of God, and is just as sincere, and at the same 
 time as ignorant or sophistical an interpretation, as 
 that furnished by the learned author himself. 
 
99 
 
 As the author has set us a memorable example in 
 his proposed test of Quakerism, already alluded to, 
 he cannot object, if we try his system, " by an in- 
 spired criterion.'' Paul declares the truth, that " Christ 
 Jesus came into the world to save sinners," and " the 
 chief of them, in language as " indefinite''' as that 
 of any other Arminian. And this " indefinite" pro- 
 position he declares to be " worthy of all accepta- 
 tion ;" or, in otiier words, worthy of the acceptation 
 of all men ! But, if there be in the fulfilment of the 
 discriminating sovereignty of God, any exclusiveness 
 in the designs and results of the atonement, such as 
 the author pleads for, then the truth of this " faithful 
 saying" is not worthy of the acceptation of all ; but 
 is only worthy of the acceptation of that definite num- 
 ber, whom God's discriminating sovereignty included 
 among the elect ; and for whose salvation, Christ " ex- 
 clusiveli/ gave his precious life ." This is a truth too 
 obvious to require any argumentation, or, indeed, to 
 admit of other proof, than its own intrinsic demon- 
 stration. Common sense, which the author so highly 
 values, writes absurdity on the declaration, that any 
 truth can be " worthy" of my *' acceptation," if I 
 can have no possible interest in its provisions ; and, 
 indeed, to accept it, however worthy to some to 
 whom it is a precious saying, would be only to prac- 
 tise upon myself, in the present case, an imposition 
 and deception, eternally ruinous in its results. 
 
 Here we see, that such is the author's " special 
 zeal to exterminate Quakerism," that he has most in- 
 
100 
 
 discreetly attempted his object by aiming at the 
 overthrow of those features of the system especially, 
 which conform to " the Arminian view ;" and hence 
 has exhibited that his " secret will" is to elevate the 
 Dagon of Calvinism, not only above Quakerism, but 
 " above all that is called God, and is worshipped." 
 And we now proceed to show what we have hereto- 
 fore intimated, that the reason why he has predes- 
 tinated, that Quakerism is not Christianity, is mainly, 
 because of the anti-Calvinistic tendencies of the sys- 
 tem. His " chief proposition is, that Quakerism is 
 not Christianity ;" and the argument, according to his 
 Baconian logic, syllogistically runs thus : 
 
 Major. Calvinism is Christianity personified, " the 
 identity itself." 
 
 Minor. Quakerism is the " hostile opposite" of 
 Calvinism. 
 
 Ergo. Quakerism is not Christianity. 
 
 And that this is the secret of his violence and extra- 
 vagance may be clearly seen in his severities against 
 Barclay's Apology, — a book, which is the " perfect 
 horror" of the author, for the special reason, that it is 
 throughout an ample, and unanswered, because un- 
 answerable argument, against the whole Calvinistic 
 heresy. 
 
 But that we may fully sustain the position that the 
 
101 
 
 author absolutely regards Calvinism, in its distinctive 
 features, as Christianity personified, " the identity 
 itself," we refer to his own language for unequivocal 
 testimony. And first, after dedicating his work to 
 five and twenty of his brethren in the ministry, every 
 one of whom is known to be decided Calvinists, he 
 declares that he considers them as " representing the 
 common creed of Christendom, or rather of all en- 
 lightened Protestants T What is this pompous bom- 
 bast, but disfranchising all but Calvinists from any 
 right to be included in " Christendom," or ranked 
 among " enlightened Protestants." 
 
 And again, on page 185, " I turn, honored fathers, 
 and beloved brethren in the gospel of Jesus Christ, 
 most affectionately to you, in whom the whole church 
 glorifies God with reason. Most tenderly do I esteem 
 and love you all, and those hundreds of kindred spirit 
 whom you properly represent. Sincerely do I sup- 
 pose, that you hold heartily, in substance, one sys- 
 tem. The enemies, of God are of the same opinion ; 
 they group you together in their antipathy, their ca- 
 ricature, their defamation," &c. 
 
 And pray, what is that one system, which these fa- 
 thers and brethren hold heartily, and which the author 
 calls, in another place, " a oneness of theological sen- 
 timent." Is it not Calvinism unquestionably ? And 
 does not our author allege this " unity and general 
 identity of sentiment," as being " the identity itself" 
 of Christendom, and " all enlightened Protestants," of 
 9* 
 
102 
 
 whom they arc constituted, '* the proper representa- 
 tives,^^ and organized into a " moral court^^ by whom 
 Quakerism, and every other ism, that does not hold 
 heartily this one system, is to be tried ? And what is 
 this, but exemplifying the old saying of the " enemies 
 of God," who affirm that, with Christians distinctively, 
 the maxim is " my doxy is orthodoxy ; your doxy is 
 heterodoxy'^ Thus, Quakerism is not in this " one- 
 ness of theological sentiment ;" and, therefore, it is a 
 " damnable heresy." And that this, and all other 
 heresy may " die instinctively," the author most ob- 
 sequiously asks this " moral court," in a style of itali- 
 cised sycophancy, which can please only a bigot, en- 
 throned in supreme self-love, " Upon what equal 
 number of men in the United States, if not upon your- 
 selves, rest such signal and noble obligations, in refer- 
 ence to the results desired V 
 
 And in the conclusion of his " Introduction Miscel- 
 laneous," in the 258th page, having dwelt largely on 
 " the system," which he holds heartily in common 
 with these fathers and brethren ; and proclaiming it to 
 be founded " on the vantage ground of evidence," he 
 says, " Christianity is such a system, and just as evi- 
 dent is it, that there is no other ; consequently, Qua- 
 kerism is not that system.'' If these words mean any 
 thing, they obviously mean that which we have im- 
 puted sentimentally to the author. 
 
 But, once more, on page 660, we have a distinct 
 declaration of his meaning, by which he will be con- 
 
103 
 
 victed of the very " uncharitableness," of which he 
 accuses Quakerism ; for, after a labored defence of 
 predestination, a subject which he calls " glorious and 
 fundamental,'' and declares, is " sinned against, — not 
 sinning ;" and having given the ultra Calvinistic view 
 of it, in all its length and breadth, and, though " medi- 
 cinal and painful," calling it a " most salutary doc- 
 trine,'' he enjoins submission to it, upon all ; and adds, 
 " without such imqualijied submission," [to this doc- 
 trine of Calvinian predestination] "we ^le, however 
 disguised, only the enemies of God !" Thus does he 
 " eternally unchurch" every other denomination of 
 Christians, collectively and individually, who sub- 
 scribe /io^ to this distinctive characteristic of Calvin- 
 ism ; — and deal with us all, who deny this " funda- 
 mental" article of his creed, as he does with Qua- 
 kers, on page 156, " I have yet to learn, what is the 
 definition of that infidelity to which Jesus Christ 
 hath pledged himself to award damnation, if they 
 (Friends) are not legitimately, and most awfully in 
 danger of it." And when glorying in this " one sys- 
 tem," instead of the " cross of Christ," he says, " I 
 bless God, not only that I am converted, as I trust, 
 from Quakerism to Christianity ; but that I belong to 
 tliis very denomination of the church of Jesus Christ," 
 " the Presbyterian church." Thus evincing most 
 clearly that he regards his relation to that " church," 
 as paramount to the claims he has to "Christianity." 
 And again, he affirms, " My whole soul adores the 
 God of all grace, about equally for my own conver- 
 sion, from old Adam and George Fox," thus demon- 
 
104 
 
 stratingthat his Presbyteiianism and his Christianity 
 are equally tfie subjects of his glorying ; which can 
 only be explained, or justified, by his having fully 
 embraced the sentiment, that this " one system" is 
 "the identity itself!" 
 
 Accordingly, we find throughout this work, that 
 every one of the distinctive peculiarities of Calvin- 
 ism are prominently taught and enforced, as being 
 " THE TRUTH," in contradistinction to Quakerism 
 ostensibly ; but, really and necessarily, as contra- 
 distinguished from " all other Arminians ;" — an ex- 
 pression, which is more than once repeated, as where 
 it is called " the Arminian heresy," and where a ca- 
 talogue of the " enemies of God," and the "opposers 
 of the truth," is given ; in which Arminius is classed 
 with Sabellus, Socinius, Arius. and Pelagius, as w^ell 
 as George Fox. And although he might have found 
 fault enough with Quakerism, without indiscrimi- 
 nately denouncing any other religionists, — had this 
 been his only purpose ; yet he manifests, on almost 
 every page, that while he feels a " special zeal to ex- 
 terminate the Quaker heresy,^' he designs to include 
 in his censures " all other Arminians ;" and to insist 
 upon the " oneness of theological sentiment," with his 
 " fathers and brethren," as being not merely identical 
 with Christianity, but " the identity itself." 
 
 And may we now ask the author, what is all this 
 but the very sectaHanism which he so loudly depre-^ 
 cates on the 192d page of his work? Has he for- 
 
105 
 
 gotten that this sectarianism, which speaks of " our 
 church, our denomination, our people, our measur.es, 
 our doctrines, our views," 6z:c., and which " mistakes 
 the denomination to which one happens to belong, for 
 the kingdom of heaven/' is declared by himself to be 
 " the elemental mischief of the papacy, the very mys- 
 ie7y of iniquity?" It is true, that in this place he is 
 reading a homily to his " fathers and brethren," on 
 " the usefulness of Christian union," and teaching 
 them, that while they difter so widely in their meta- 
 physical philosophy, in explication of the great things 
 of their common faith, that they ought to " agree 
 to differ." And after an apology for the existing 
 differences among the Calvinistic churches, both ec- 
 clesiastical and theological, in which he says, " there 
 is debateable ground enough to keep acumen awake, 
 but not enough to rouse or authorise any alienation," 
 he proposes terms of capitulation, and urges, that 
 the little difference should not be magnified recipro- 
 cally into the mighty all of the controvertist." And 
 now he adverts to " some evils, that especially claim 
 correction" among the Presbyterian churches, and 
 the first of these is sectarianism. 
 
 For the author's special benefit, as well as to exhi- 
 bit to the reader another of the inconsistencies of this 
 erratic volume, we transcribe a few sentences, from 
 this " olive branch," which he holds out to his " fa- 
 thers and brethren," in a brief, happy, and lucid in- 
 terval ; in which he loses sight of Quakerism. 
 
 " The sin of sectarianism appears to me to be rot- 
 
106 
 
 tcmiess at the heart of the body, and poison in the 
 veiy soul of the church. It is a deadly injury to any 
 denomination of our vaunted fonchiess. It consists in 
 exalting local against universal interests ; private 
 against catholic views ; party against piety ; policy 
 against principle ; and our men, our measures, our 
 doctrines, our viev^^s, our prosperity, against the glo- 
 rious commonwealth of the King of Israel. And what 
 is this, but exalting earth against heaven ? It hardens 
 the heart of a tninister of Christ, "tnd converts him, 
 while it justly lessens his influence, into a cruel in- 
 quisitor. Piety hence is nothing — hut as party feels 
 its influence. It soon loses the liberality that rejoices 
 to pronounce " grace be with all them that love our 
 Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity," &:c. Again, 
 
 " If there is any sin denounced in the oracles of 
 God as the very quintessence of deceitfulness, the very 
 sublimity of treason, the very hypocrisy of usurpa- 
 tion, in short the very personification described as the 
 man of sin, the son of perdition ; we have here the 
 identity of the evil in the temper of sectarianism* If 
 this temper were well analyzed, it would be found 
 to consist of very unlovely and anti-Christian ingre- 
 dients. The elements of its composition would be 
 found probably to be deceit, hypocrisy, ambition, self- 
 ishness apprehension, sucpicion, envy, jealousy, sordid 
 feelings, false zeal, and the wrath of man, which work- 
 eth not the righteousness of God. Its holy pre- 
 tensions constitute one of its worst characteristics : but 
 another of its worst is, — the stealth and the address 
 
107 
 
 with which its influence often invades the truly good /" 
 " jNo man is more deceived by it, than he whose self- 
 complacency beguiling him from a needful vigilance 
 against its approaches, presents him to himself as an 
 exception to the rule ! Hence he neglects himself in 
 that very matter, jn which the care of others can do 
 least for his preservation ; and cares for others in those 
 very relations, in which he ought to honor the Supreme 
 Inspector, and feel as much the solemnity of his own 
 accountable action." 
 
 Truly this is a grateful " oasis in the desert of 
 controversy," and is like a golden mountain in a 
 " continent of mud !" Such a specimen of catholic 
 orthodoxy as this, is a spectacle sublimely heightened 
 by the contrast it furnishes, with the entire volume 
 before us. Had not the author overlooked or forgot- 
 ten the sober truths he had here penned, he would 
 have burned the sheets of his book, and scattered 
 the ashes to the winds. Well may Quakerism ex- 
 claim, " Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee ;" 
 and there is a tribunal infinitely higher, to which we 
 are all hastening where it will infallibly be said " By 
 thy words shalt thou be condemned." We think that 
 it must be apparent, from what we have had occasion 
 to show in the preceding pages that this very " tem- 
 per of sectarianism" constitutes the precise " inspira- 
 tion" under which the author wrote his book. For it 
 will be recollected, that the denunciations against it, 
 are not aimed at Quakerism, but at the evil as it 
 exists in his own denomination : and we think he him- 
 
108 
 
 self has furnished us with a most melancholy example 
 of the pernicious tendencies of this unhappy temper 
 " in hardening the heart of the minister of Christ," in 
 the pages of this voluminous work. 
 
 In farther illustration, however, we invite the 
 reader's attention to the following paragraph, found in 
 the same connection, as a part of his expostulation 
 with his " fathers and brethren" on the evils of secta- 
 rianism. 
 
 " There are personages of other denominations 
 than those to which any of us belong, and on both 
 sides of the Atlantic occasionally found, whose 
 high-church childishness is as proverbial, as their 
 low-Christian manliness is notorious. For them, — 
 the high-church party I mean, it is less incongruous, 
 possibly less criminal, to identify themselves with 
 " the church,'^ to view their own sect as " the kingdom 
 of heaven," and sublimely to abandon their more 
 evangelical and better taught brethren to the ima- 
 ginary resource of " the uncovenanted mercies of 
 God!" And after justly censuring this temper, and 
 enforcing the benevolent spirit inculcated in the gos- 
 pel, and the exhortation of the apostle, " Let nothing 
 be done through strife or vain glory, but in loveliness 
 of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves" 
 he describes in the following sentence the blessed re- 
 sults which would follow this unsectarian spirit, " No 
 one would then become the stern spontaneous censor 
 of his brethren ; — no one would find his spiritual ward- 
 
109 
 
 Tobe empty of those desirable garments, or heavenly- 
 mantles, with one of which a brother^s nakedness could 
 be concealed, and a covering furnished without con- 
 nivance, even for a " multitude of sins, ^^ (fee. 
 
 Thus does our author write when speaking of his 
 own denomination and those of kindred faith, and 
 complains justly, " How easy is the brand oi heretic, 
 or the impeachment of unsound, or the suspicion of 
 innovating, or the whimper of erroneous, admitted or 
 applied? And to whom ? Men, whose piety perhaps, 
 has been long and well demonstrated, &c. «fcc." And 
 again he remonstrates against a too strict, and even 
 illiberal construction o^ doctrinal orthodoxy, and asks 
 "ought we to insist rJike on all in the creed of visible 
 communion, and make every thing a term of recogni- 
 tion which has become to us identified in whole or 
 in part, with the truth of revelation ? as if whatever 
 may be necessary to the perfection of the church, 
 were equally necessary to the visibility of the churchJ 
 as if every thing that a Christian ought to be, is that 
 without which a Christian is not ! as if what belongs 
 to growth and accomplishment, w^ere indispensable in 
 the same degree to existence itself! These monstrous 
 suppositions co^ild not he sustained in argument, and 
 are perhaps very rarely affirmed in practice. But 
 are they as rarely implied ? Are they never couch- 
 ed covertly in our seidiments ; insmsibly in uur con- 
 duct ; devastatingly in our influence /" 
 
 These manly and honorable sentiments, so appro- 
 10 
 
no 
 
 priately applied to existing evils, in the churches ad- 
 dressed by our author, in this pacific expostulation ; 
 commend themselves as being the fruit of heavenly 
 charily, and will find a response in every Christian 
 heart. And yet the ungrateful task now^ imposed 
 upon us is to show, that between these principles so 
 ably and successfully vindicated by our author, and 
 the whole volume in which they are found, there is a 
 glaring contrariety, a melancholy inconsistency, al- 
 most without a parallel. Indeed, it is not possible to 
 conceive, how the author's mind could be so infatu- 
 ated, as to place these " apples of gold and pictures of 
 silvei'," in so uncongenial proximity to the sectarian 
 anathemas of his voluminous work. And it is not less 
 surprising how they could co-exist in the same mind, 
 unless on the Quaker principle, we admit " the inshin- 
 ing of Divine light" having succeeded for a brief inter- 
 val in dissipating the malign miasma, or dark moral 
 atmosphere, under which the rest of the book was 
 written. By way of contrasting the temper of the 
 author towards the system of Quakerism, as well as 
 the persons of Friends, with the noble and liberal 
 sentiments he has presented for the pacification of the 
 conflicting tribes of his own Israel, and at the same 
 time pourtraying the true character of the volume 
 before us, we transcribe a few sentences and choice 
 epithets, promiscuously chosen, and would say to the 
 reader " look on this picture and then on that." Sed 
 tempora mutantur, and nos mutamur cum illis. Be- 
 fore, it was your bull of sectarianism, that was goring 
 xny peaceable oxen ; now it is my bull of sectarianism 
 
Ill 
 
 let loose upon yours ! The following extracts exhibit 
 only a few of the hard names, and wrathful sen- 
 tences of our author. 
 
 " The Quakers, in their belief, have been Cardinal 
 Heretics from the beginnhig, the whole of them ; and 
 the present orthodox intend to remain what their 
 fathers were !" 
 
 " They have distinctive marks, only as heretics and 
 mystics and sectarians ; — none of a Christian church !" 
 
 " Quakerism cannot fall too soon for tlie interests 
 of Christianity and of man. It is nigh unto cursing 
 whose end is to be burned." 
 
 " Ordinarily, I have little confidence in the piety of a 
 Friend, whatever other qualities of general worth I 
 may and freely do accord to him." " Their system 
 is mystical and as such is heathenish and false /" 
 
 " O degrading counterfeit ! O ignorant and vapor- 
 ing cheat ! O dark and dreary meteor of light ! Thy 
 inspiration is the veriest folly in the world ! It is the 
 dishonor of God and the confusion of men. It is 
 piety to detest thy character, resist thy usurpation, and 
 open the prison doors, to them that are bound in the 
 miserable caverns of thy influence 1" 
 
 " A Quaker preacher is an inspired blunderer ! 
 what a monster ' shall we spare him ?" 
 
112 
 
 •* I venture llie assertion, that a Friend who 
 believes in the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, 
 is a rarer phenomenon than an ecUpse of the moon. 
 Rightly to beheve it, is well nigh impossible to ariy 
 man who does not beheve in the paramount authority 
 of Scriptures, and to no man more incorrigibly than to 
 a Friend /" " That man ought to doubt his piety who 
 can look at the heresy of Friends on this article and 
 feel indifierent." " I would as soon turn atheist out- 
 right, or what is the same thing Sadducee, entire, 
 as fellowship any man who dares to violate the only 
 hope of men, by denying the scriptural account of the 
 resurrection of both soul and body. [O^Friends do 
 none of them believe the doctrine." 
 
 '• A Friend is always established and unalterable, 
 and this without examination, without knowledge, anfit 
 (I fear) without prayer !" " His soul is the victim 
 and heaven the forfeiture I and justly, for no man, 
 young or old, has a right to believe without evidence, 
 &c." 
 
 " I have no words in which to express the horror of 
 my soul at the perversions of Quakerism ! It is peni- 
 tence without pardon, religion without peace, holiness 
 without salvation !" 
 
 " They will all be lost who have nothing but pure 
 Quakerism to defend them from the fire. These are 
 my convictions, and I know they are just as true as 
 the New Testament !" 
 
113 
 
 " I really believe thatthe plain attire and speech of 
 Friends, which give them such a saintship of appear- 
 ance, are the veil that covers many an abandoned infi- 
 del ! I know it from actual converse with individu- 
 als, with multitudes, preachers of both sexes, &c." 
 
 " I am reduced to the fair necessity of contradict- 
 ing the New Testament, or discrediting the piety of 
 the Quakers, or defiling my conscience, &c." 
 
 " Their tuneful female preachers are frequently 
 charmers, they sing their inspired fascination, comfort 
 the unregenerate, and instruct nobody !" 
 
 " They hold that sincerity is all, as if there were no 
 way of going to perdition with a lie in the right hand !" 
 " They live in numerous instances, more ignorant of 
 the contents of the Bible than many a six year old- 
 pupil of a well taught infant school, — they dress plain, 
 use the plain language, and very seldom (whatever 
 they s?nother) utter a word of evil audibly, &c. &c. 
 Are friends all regenerated of course, because full 
 members, that have retained their birthright to — delu- 
 sion r 
 
 " No convent was ever ruled more completely by 
 sanctimonious abbot or fastidious prioress, than the 
 whole society, by one or more male or female func- 
 tionaries, in great sincerity /" " the feminine venders 
 are clothed cap-a-pie, in spiritual sincerity, bronzed ini 
 the holy impudence, and willing sacrifices in the cause? 
 of the light r 10* 
 
114 
 
 '* I would denounce Quakerism, in the name of Je- 
 sus Christ, if I stood alone, and if all men forsook me, 
 in the principled detestation of its abominable doc- 
 trines /" 
 
 " God will be no party to a cause that loveth and 
 maketh a lie, as Quakerism is." 
 
 ** They plead conscience ! What right have they I 
 ask, to keep such a conscience ? And what respect 
 deserves it from man ? I answer, just as much as 
 it gets from God !" 
 
 " A more ruinous heresy to the souls of men could 
 scarcely be invented by the great sire of heresy than 
 Quakerism." 
 
 "What delusion equal to the spell of Quakerism I 
 So dies the Bible with the kisses of Friends !" 
 
 ** I confess ,that it nauseates my soul to hear or read 
 of a Friend, praising the Scriptures. To betray 
 Christ was hardly as great a sin as the kiss the trai- 
 tor gave him." 
 
 But we cannot transcribe a hundredth part of such 
 specimens of censorious denunciation, nor is it neces- 
 sary ; for these, with the extracts which haveSbeen no- 
 ticed in treating of the former part of this work, will 
 enable the reader to judge of the character of " that 
 temper of sectarianism," of which we accuse the 
 
ny 
 
 115 
 
 author, and of which he has spoken so admirably- 
 We have endeavored, in making these selections, to 
 do it fairly, in no case omitting any part necessary to 
 the sense, though we have italicized and capitalized 
 words which are specially prominent. And now we 
 will present a few epithets, indiscriminately hurled 
 at Quakerism by our author. They are such as 
 these : — 
 
 " Damnable heresy /" 
 
 '' Holy -looking device /" 
 
 " Infidelity in drab /" 
 
 " Master-policy of hell /" 
 
 " Spiritual hallucination ! 
 
 " Heavenly-looking forgery /" 
 
 " Felony /" 
 
 " Robbery /" 
 
 " Murderous scheme /" 
 
 " Treasonable conspiracy /" 
 
 '' Wretched^ specious-looking counterfeit f^ 
 
 " Sweete?ied poison /" 
 
 " Judas-like sorcery /" 
 
 " Incantatioji /" 
 
 " Mysticism /" 
 
 " Monstrous and mortal sophism /" 
 
 " Hateful treachery /" 
 
 *^ Spiritual ventriloquism /" 
 
 " Moonstruck nonentity /" 
 
116 
 
 " Imposture /" 
 
 " Sleepy and silly forgery /" 
 
 " hifinitely pestiferous /" 
 
 " Satanic delusion /" 
 
 *' Prophets of the devil !" 
 
 " Abominable deception /" 
 
 " Pre-eminently stupid falsehood /" 
 
 " Devotional sin /" 
 
 " Theological nonsense /" 
 
 " Wolves in sheeps^ clothing /" 
 
 " A device of the devil /" 
 
 " A community of infidels /" 
 
 " Essential falsehood /" 
 
 " Pestilent limb of anti-Christ ^'''^ &;c. Az;c. 
 
 But these hard names are too numerous to record, 
 though thousands of similar severities, in the phraseo- 
 logy of this volume, might be presented. 
 
 From these specimens, the reader may form some 
 conception of the spirit and temper with which this 
 book is written; and in some sense, appreciate the kind 
 of task imposed upon us, in reviewing it. We are 
 sure, that no man's soul could be benefitted by read- 
 ing it, and our task has been painful and odious, in- 
 deed ; and if we have occasionally betrayed any ex- 
 ceptionable causticity, it may be attributed to the 
 contact into which we have been placed with a book 
 filled with such uncharitableness, as to furnish provo- 
 
117 
 
 cation on almost every page, and, perhaps, sometimes 
 to infect us with its pestilential miasma. Such may- 
 be tiie case, and if it be discerned by any, let this be 
 our apology. 
 
 But we now pass on to show, tha^the author's bit- 
 terness against Quakerism is not less apparent, nor 
 less exceptionable and unbecoming, than the temper 
 in which he inculcates his own creed ; that " one sys- 
 tem," to which allusion has been made. We have 
 already shown the manner in which he ranks among 
 the " enemies of God,'' all those, " however dis- 
 guised," who do not " heartily submit" to his doc- 
 trine of predestination, and we have also noticed the 
 attempted exposition and defence he makes of it. 
 On page 661, however, he denies that " God makes 
 men, on purpose to damn them," calling it " an aver- 
 ment of guilt and blasphemy," when absolutely 
 uttered, and says, " Election, as a branch of predes- 
 tination, damns nobody ; it only insures the piety and 
 salvation of an innumerable multitude !" " God saves 
 as many as he can, and would, doubtless, save all, if 
 he did not see, that it was preferable for his infinite 
 benevolence, to punish some, and as few as possible, for 
 the good of the universe of being, forevermore ! God 
 
 IS LOVE !" 
 
 Now, he will pardon us for saying, that if this be 
 not " an averment of guilt and blasphemy," we doubt 
 whether such an epithet can be justly applied to the 
 assertion, that " He makes some men on purpose to 
 
118 
 
 damn them,'' for the sentiments arc strictly synony- 
 mous. Indeed, lie admits it ; for, on the same page, 
 he says, " many are lost, or left to their own way, 
 which is at last the same tiiiag !" But, waiving this, 
 "who ever pretended that " election, as a branch of 
 predestination,", damns any body ? But, if this is a 
 branch o{ his doctrine, where is i\\c olhcx '■' branch'' 
 so carefully concealed, and which saves nobody? Is 
 he afraid of the " horribile dccretum" of Calvin? Or 
 has he a " private creed in religion," which he so 
 loudly condemns? He cannot deny, that, while elec- 
 tion is a branch of his " glorious and fundamental 
 doctrine of predestination," reprobation is another 
 branch; and he must admit, that, while the former 
 damns nobody, the latter damns every body, un whom 
 it falls, and saves nobody ! And if, as he says, election 
 only insures the piety and salvation of an innumera- 
 ble multitude ; does not the other branch insure the 
 impiety and dainnation of an innumerable multitude? 
 And if God be the author of both branches of predes- 
 tination, and what Calvinist can doubt it, does not this 
 creed make Him the author both of piety in the elect, 
 and impiety in the reprobate ? And can he avoid the 
 consequence, even with the aid of Baconian logic, 
 that if God made the elect on purpose to save them, 
 he made the reprobate on purpose to damn them. And 
 is this " guilt and blasphemy, when absolutely ut- 
 tered" in any other light, than as it attaches to the 
 whole creed. And as the author admits, that " what 
 Calvin believed and taught may be viewed as the 
 criterion of what Calvinism is," we refer him to his 
 
119 
 
 ** Institutes," for unequivocal proof that he believed 
 and taught that " God makes some men on purpose 
 to damn them," and this " averment of guilt and blas- 
 phemy" is made by John Calvin, in the following 
 sentences : — 
 
 " All men are not created for the same end ; but 
 some are forc-ordained to eternal life, others to eter- 
 nal damnation ; therefore, according as every man 
 was created for the one end or the other, we say, he 
 was predestinated to life or to deaths — Cal. In. b. iii. 
 ch. xxi. sect. 5. 
 
 Again, " God, of His will and pleasure, so ordains, 
 that, amongst men, some should be so horn, as to be 
 devoted from the womb to certain death, who, by their 
 destruction, might glorify His name." — B. iii. ch. xxiii. 
 sect. 6. 
 
 " Many, thinking to excuse God, so own election, 
 as to deny reprobation. But this is too silly and 
 childish ; for election itself, unless opposed to repro- 
 bation, cannot stand." — B. iii. ch. xxii. sect. 1. The 
 evasion of the author then, in his affirmation, that 
 *' election damns nobody !" is, in the judgment of 
 Calvin, but a " silly and childish attempt to excuse 
 God !" 
 
 We confess we are ashamed of the sophistry with 
 which the author here attempts to evade and repel the 
 legitimate and unavoidable results to which his creed 
 
120 
 
 impels him, and wc pity the delusion of any man, 
 who does not perceive its absurdity. 
 
 To shew still further to what straits this attempted 
 exposition and defence of predestination has driven 
 him, we quote from another note the following pre- 
 cious morceau, after alHrming that " Christ suffered 
 sufficiently for all men, but efficiently for the elect 
 alone," he explains it in modern technology by inform- 
 ing us, that " for all atonement is made, to all it is 
 offered, and the Spirit striving through the truth as 
 extensively as the SUFFICIENCY and applicability of 
 the atonement are extensive" He must be indeed a 
 " silly dotard"' who does not perceive the specious 
 sopijism contained in the conjoined words sufficiency 
 and applicability ; by which the extensivcncss of the 
 strivings of the Spirit, are limited to those for whom he 
 suffered e//tc2e?i% ; — and of course, excluding from 
 these strivings, which are essential to salvation, the 
 millions for whom he suffered suffcientJy, but not 
 efficiently^ and therefore, there can be no applicability 
 in their case. Accordingly, we find him affirming, 
 that " God had a design in making the atonement which 
 NO EVENT should frustrate. Christ eternally design- 
 ed the salvation of the i-lect, and for them, in this 
 sense exclusively, he gave his precious life /" And 
 to sweeten this poisoned chalice, he next says, with 
 a gravity which is enough to fill heaven and hell with 
 amazement ; " But this makes 7iot the atonement less 
 full, or alters its nature at all. Wlien the elect are 
 all brought to piety and heaven, the others, whoever 
 
121 
 
 they are, have just as good an opportunity every way 
 to realize the same blessedness, as all the world have 
 on the theory that denies election." Is this Calvinism, 
 Hopldnsianism, Neology, Cox-ism, or what is it called 
 in modern technology ? We ask, is this the Christian- 
 ity, to which the author would have Quakerism trans- 
 muted, or which he has embraced in lieu of that 
 system ? If we believed this to be the doctrine of the 
 Scriptures, we should be in danger of being led to ab- 
 jure Christianity, burn the Bible, and turn atheist 
 outright ; as thousands have done, from the same 
 cause : — for such a system has so many features of 
 the " master policy of hell," that we might be sure 
 that the whole was a fable, and an imposture ; so sure 
 of it, that we might vv'iscly hazard eternity on the issue. 
 But we need not say hazard, for there could be no 
 hazard in the case ; fatalism, cold, dreary, and unmo- 
 dified fatalism, would be the truth infallibly. How 
 strange, that with such a creed the author should com- 
 plain of the Quakers, and promise to forgive them for 
 '^jeoparding his souV^ How could his soul be "^"eo- 
 parded^^ when '• God saves as many as he CAN !" and 
 when " no event could frustrate the design of the 
 atonement ;" and when " election, as a branch of 
 predestindtion, insured his piety and salvation" too ? 
 Well may we adopt the author's elegant language, and 
 cry out, monstrum horrendum ! &c. ; for this " mon- 
 strous and m.ortal sophism" is not equalled by the 
 '' profoundly stupid tongues of the British metro- 
 polis." 
 
 11 
 
122 
 
 Still , however, there is one more doctrine or branch 
 of predestination we suppose, contained in the follow- 
 ing sentence of the author on page 669, on which we 
 would briefly remark. 
 
 " IF the Scriptures had affirmed the salvation of 
 all INFANTS, or any class of them, under a certain age, 
 the consequences had been terrible /" Soberly, this 
 sentence would seem the very climax of impiety ! The 
 only " terrible consequences" which follow, are, the 
 explosion of the author and his creed. IF ! indeed ? 
 then we are to infer that the Scriptures do not af- 
 firm the salvation of all infants, or any class of 
 them ? If not, who dare affirm it ? Then it follows 
 from this statement that the salvation of those who 
 die in infancy, is to say the least, doubtful! and here 
 we have a revival of the old heresy, and a damnable 
 and damning one it is, that there are " children in hell 
 not a span long," and the author adds, that our diffi- 
 culties on this subject are only the " secret things that 
 belong to God !" How any man can have the Bible 
 and read it, and especially a theologian, and at the same 
 time doubt, that the scriptures affirm the salvation of 
 all infants, much less make the averment that they do 
 not, can only be accounted for by the fact, that he has 
 the " pestilential charm" of Calvinism about him ; and 
 with one thus involved in such a heresy, argument, 
 reason, and scripture itself, would be alike nugato- 
 ry. We cannot condescend to reason against such 
 profanity as we regard this sentiment to be, in the 
 light of genuine Christianity. 
 
123 
 
 We here insert the following extract, from Calvin's 
 Institutes, which will show that the author has high 
 authority for this shocking feature of his creed ; of 
 which he says, that " our difficulties on the subject are 
 only the secret things that belong to God." 
 
 " How came it to pass, that the fall of Adam, in- 
 dependent of any remedy, should involve so many 
 nations, with their infant children, in eternal 
 death? ^Mi such was the will of God !! It was a hor- 
 rible decree, I confess ; but no one can deny that God 
 foreknew the future final state of man, before he creat- 
 ed him ; and that he did foreknow it, because it loas ap- 
 pointed by his own decree !!! B. III. chap.xxiii. sect. 6. 
 
 " Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated 
 and saved by Christ, through the Spirit, who worketh 
 when and where and how, He pleaseth." (Confession 
 of faith, chap. x. sect. 3.) Now if there be elect infants, 
 there must also be reprobate infants, "for election 
 without reprobation cannot stand." 
 
 It is no small relief to us to find, however, on 
 page 346, the following sentence. " / wish to commit 
 no individual or denomination, for my views of 
 the catholic doctrine" This allows us the conso- 
 lation to believe that in that part of the " catholic 
 doctrine" upon which we have been animadverting, 
 our author has inculcated sentiments, which his own 
 denomination would disclaim, as well as others 
 of kindred faith, in many matters of doctrine, who 
 
124 
 
 are therefore not to he held responsible, for the 
 errors we have been called to examine. But as these 
 views of the " glorious and fundamental" doctrine of 
 predestination are professedly those of the author, we 
 have deemed it proper briefly to notice ihem here, as 
 they form so important an item in the general scope 
 of his work. We must be allowed to express the 
 hope, that there are but few among his " fathers and 
 brethren" to wdiom the w^ork is inscribed, or among 
 his own denomination, who would be willing to avow 
 the incongruous creed which he has here declared as 
 his ow^n ; and we have reason to know, that many of 
 his personal and denominational friends, have express- 
 ed their deep regret at the doctrinal contents of his 
 book. Indeed, we very much mistake the ingenuous- 
 ness of the author, if he do not feel it to be his duty 
 magnanimously to confess his error, and bring forth 
 fruits meet for repentance, by recalling the publication. 
 And fortunately for himself and the cause, this would 
 be an easy task, and perhaps every way practicable 
 as well as expedient, since it is well understood, that 
 very few copies have yet been sold. 
 
 We regret, however, that we are obliged to record 
 that a periodical of some roputation,lately "announced 
 its award" upon the character of the work before us, 
 in terms which will go far to identify the whole 
 Presbyterian denomination with the doctrinal cha- 
 racteristics of the author. Whether the review is 
 written by one of his *' fathers and brethren" or not, 
 it is well known, that some of them are contributors 
 
125 
 
 and collaborators for the work, and that it is exten- 
 sively patronized by the ministry and membership of 
 the Calvinistic churches generally. 
 
 The notice to which we allude appeared in the 
 " Biblical Repertory of October, 1833," and is of 
 course anonymous. And although the writer of 
 that paper, obviously designs to eulogize both Dr. Cox 
 and his book, and furnish an endorsement ex cathedra 
 of his bull of excommunication, from the pale of the 
 Christian church, against Friends universal ; yet 
 even he cannot refrain from rebuking the unsparing 
 "severity and sarcasm" with which the work abounds, 
 and is constrained to admit that " it contains some 
 sweeping expressions, which, to say the least, would 
 need to be interpreted with considerable qualification, 
 either to be consistent with sober fact, or in keeping 
 with the true spirit of the gospel /" 
 
 But notwithstanding this reviewer thus takes ex- 
 ception to the " prpfuseness in epithets that savor of 
 harshness," to the " excess of irony," and to the " un- 
 justifiable extreme of severity," into which our author's 
 " elastic spirit" has led him, yet he finds an ample 
 apology for him, in the fact of his former ^bondage to 
 the errors of the system he is reprobating ; and indeed 
 he declares that his writings are not to be judged by 
 any of the common standards of taste. And he even 
 excuses his cabalistical sentences, because they are 
 so " superlatively brilliant," and declares that " his 
 literary offences are so striking and magnificent, 
 
 11* 
 
126 
 
 that almost any critic would find it an easy matter to 
 forgive them." In short, the doctrine of this Biblical 
 Repertory and T/ieo/ogical Review seems to be, that 
 our author is such a perfect anomaly, such an intel • 
 lectual prodigy, so " magnificent and superlatively 
 brilliant" in his " splendid eccentricities," that he is to 
 be exempt from conformity to any standard in litera- 
 ture or morals. And being thus a " perfect unique," 
 he is to be regarded as sui generis, and his inconsis- 
 tencies with " sober fact,'' and his contrarieties with 
 the " true spirit of the gospel," are all to be consider- 
 ed only as " splendid eccentricities." Such syco- 
 phancy does but illy befit a theological critic, and 
 gives glaring evidence of a purpose to flatter the 
 author at any expense, even that of depreciating the 
 standard of truth and righteousness, in order to apolo- 
 gize for that which he cannot approve. 
 
 It is true, that this reviewer differs from Dr. Cox, 
 in reference to the recent division among the Quakers 
 in this country, for he admits " the establishment of 
 the orthodox party, to be considered as holding the 
 original doctrines of the sect ;" and also that " the 
 Quaker doctrine of Hnward lighf may be held in 
 consistency with t7^ue piety." Nay, he absolutely 
 contradicts the averment of the author in the title of 
 his book, and elsewhere, by such statements as the 
 following. 
 
 " Quakerism does not, in all cases at least, neutra- 
 lize the genuine influence of the gospel." " We 
 
127 
 
 would recognize the distinction which is claimed by 
 the orthodox party, and we would be the last to deny, 
 that true merit, and even extraordinary merit, has 
 frequently been found, where Quakerism, in some 
 form or other, has been avowed." " And it cannot be 
 questioned, that some cases of decided, and even 
 eminent piety , exist among the Friends ; and it is due 
 to candor also to acknowledge, that, as a sect, they 
 are in many respects distinguished by exemplary mo- 
 rality ^'^ But notwithstanding all these admissions, 
 the reviewer goes on to say, " after all, we are com- 
 pelled to believe with Dr. Cox, that Quakerism in 
 any form is to be regarded as serious error," and " it 
 is at best, an adulterated kind of Christianity." 
 
 We have thus noticed this review from a Calvin- 
 istic periodical ; and, indeed, we have introduced it 
 to our readers, that they may perceive the striking 
 confirmation it furnishes, of the nature of the " he- 
 resy," which both the author and reviewer find in 
 Quakerism ; — we mean, its anti-Cahinistic tendency. 
 
 For, after admitting that '' the doctrines of the 
 trinity, the atonement, and justification, by faith in 
 Jesus Christ," all of which our author denies to Qua- 
 kerism, " are held by the orthodox party in such a 
 sense, as to constitute a broad distinction between 
 them and the followers of Hicks," this reviewer 
 adds : — 
 
 " In respect to those points, which relate imme- 
 
128 
 
 diatcly to the economy of human salvation, the most 
 orthodox Qiiahcrism, so far as we arc able to under- 
 stand it, is thoroughly Arminian ! The Quakerism 
 of the Ilicksites, though it will admit some orthodox 
 phraseology, and wrap itself, to some extent, in the 
 old garb of mysticism, is, in all its substantial cha- 
 racteristics, the INFIDELITY OF DaVID Hu3IE !" 
 
 Here then is the estimate of both departments of 
 Quakerism, as held by " the Biblical Repertory and 
 Theological Review," — a Calvinistic periodical, con- 
 ducted by " an association of gentlemen, in Prince- 
 ton and its vicinity." And it is obvious that, while 
 they admit the distinction to be a " broad" one be- 
 tween " thorough Armi?iianism" and the " infidelity 
 of David Ilume^'' yet the former is, in their opinion, 
 as much a *' cardinal heresy" as the latter. Hence, 
 the reviewer affirms in another place, that " the sys- 
 tem of Quakerism is, in its best form, a species of 
 mystified Arminianism ;" and the inferences he thence 
 draws, afford conclusive evidence that the mysticism 
 is attributed to Arminianism itself, and that he does 
 not mean to be understood, that the system is mysti- 
 fied, or perverted from its legitimate tendency. For, 
 he adds, " Admitting the doctrine of the inward light^ 
 to be something like the orthodox doctrine of a divine 
 influence, yet we believe nearly all Quakers agree in 
 the notion, that their ultimate salvation depends, not 
 on the sovereign grace of God, in implanting a new 
 principle in the soul, but on their own diligent eflbrts 
 in cultivating a principle, which originally belongs to 
 
129 
 
 them." And in another place the review charges 
 Quakerism with viewing good works as " constitut- 
 ing the price of their final salvation, rather than as 
 the fruit of that living faith, which knows nothing of 
 human merit, and looks for eternal life, only through 
 God's sovereign grace." 
 
 Now, it is fair to infer, that the reviewer here 
 means, not to apply these remarks to the " infidelity 
 of David Hume," but to the Arminianism of the " or- 
 thodox." And here we have as ignorant or as wilful 
 a perversion of " the Armiiiian view," as that of which 
 we have already convicted Dr. Cox. And from these 
 quotations it is plain, that the doctrine of the " Divine 
 sovereignty,'* for which the reviewer contends, is 
 that Calvinistic interpretation, upon which we have 
 already animadverted ; and that the reviewer means 
 to denounce Quakerism for the same reason with our 
 author, though with less causticity, which is, " the 
 Arminianism of the system." 
 
 Accordingly, the reviewer regards the doctrine of 
 •' inward light," as " stamping the missionary enter- 
 prize with consummate folly," and, in the same spirit 
 with our author, insists that there is no use in " send- 
 ing the Holy Scriptures through the nations, when 
 the light within, is the natural birthright of every 
 Pagan and Jew, and Mahommedan, as well as Chris- 
 tian, under heaven." This review, therefore, may be 
 regarded as endorsing the general scope of Dr. Cox's 
 assault upon Quakerism and its votaries, as well as 
 " all other Arminians." And we have indulged this 
 
130 
 
 digression for the purpose of sustaining the propriety 
 of the title of this volume, as well as confirming the 
 views we have taken of the general scope and design 
 of the work before us. We shall now, therefore, re- 
 sume our strictures, by passing to the third, or clos- 
 ing part of the volume. 
 
 In the third part of the volume, which treats on 
 the sacraments and the ministry, the author is 
 comparatively brief. This is matter of surprise and 
 regret, since it is plain that the differences which 
 separate the Society of Friends from other evan- 
 gelical denominations, are mainly in these two par- 
 ticulars. And as the system of Quakerism is dis- 
 tinctively and essentially opposite to most other Chris- 
 tian churches, on these peculiar topics, the author 
 might have employed much of his learning and zeal 
 in disproving, or at least controverting these pecu- 
 liarities. Their relative importance to the scheme 
 of Christianity, surely entitled them to a prominent 
 place in a work, professedly written against a system, 
 which, in these respects, is totally at variance with 
 his own and all other denominations ; and he might, 
 therefore, have shown both his wisdom and piety, as 
 well as exhibited more consistency, had he dwelt 
 mainly and largely on these subjects. Instead of 
 which, however, he says, that he " thought at first 
 wholly to omit the subject of the ministry," though 
 he admits, that " Friends are very peculiar in many 
 respects on this subject, and wrong in about as 
 many," and he places both this subject and that of the 
 sacraments, at the close of the volume, as though he 
 
131 
 
 regarded them of minor importance, in comparison 
 with the " Grand and Fundamental Error" of the 
 " inward light^^ upon which he ampHties so ex- 
 tensively. 
 
 With respect to the sacraments of Water Baptism 
 and the Lord's Supper, the author argues their divine 
 origin and authority, as well as the claims which 
 subordinately commend them to the practice of the 
 Christian church. And we think he successfully meets 
 the objections of Barclay ; and the Friends univer- 
 sal, who allege, their Popish and Judaic origin, their 
 outward character, their abrogation under the new 
 dispensation, &c., although he has produced no new 
 arguments. Indeed, in the main, we agree with him 
 fully, in this department of Christian theology, — that 
 Quakerism is greatly erroneous. We do not attempt, 
 nor did we ever design, a defence or justification of 
 error, either in Quakerism or any other system, and 
 we have no hesitation, therefore, in expressing our 
 conviction, that, with respect to the Christian sacra- 
 ments, we regard Quakerism as greatly in error. 
 But we cannot, because of these peculiarities, unite 
 with the author in denouncing the whole system as a 
 " will-of-the-wisp, an ignis fatuus, or a damnable 
 heresy ;" for we " have not so learned Christ ;" nor 
 do we believe, that the author ever learned it in " the 
 school of Christ.'* 
 
 Universal history, as well of the church as of the 
 world, demonstrates that a thousand errors of opinion 
 
132 
 
 are consistent with piety toward God, and benevo- 
 lence toward men ; and one or more errors, and great 
 errors, too, may co-exist in the head and in the heart, 
 without destroying Chiistian character. Indeed, the 
 Holy Scriptures afford ample evidence, in the por- 
 traiture drawn of the characters of holy and inspired 
 men, that, with all their piety and inspiration, they 
 were liable to erroneous judgment, and even erro- 
 neous practice. Witness the indignant act of Moses, 
 in breaking the tables of stone ; the pusillanimity of 
 Aaron, in making the golden calf; the mistake of the 
 prophet, Elijah, in supposing that he w^as left alone, 
 when there were seven thousand men, who had not 
 bowed the knee to Baal ; the contentions of Paul and 
 Barnabas, cum multis aliis, with which the author 
 must be familiar. And, indeed, he expresses the very 
 sentiment, for which we plead — " it is difficult to know 
 with how much error, ignorance, and eccentricity ; — 
 piety may co-exist ;" and also, when speaking of the 
 differences of opinion in his own denomination in the 
 following language. What a pity, that he could not 
 be equally liberal and catholic, toward the Quakers, 
 and " all other Arminians." 
 
 " How great and how many are the matters in 
 which you are agreed : — in which you aim decisively 
 at the same thing ! and profoundly may we question, 
 whether, from the certain imperfection of Christians, 
 in this world, and the variety of your educational and 
 /oca/ influences, and the individuality, which the plastic 
 hand that formed, has stamped upon your minds, and 
 
133 
 
 the acknowledged idiosyncrasy of character, which 
 has always existed in the churches, and diversified her 
 modern, as it did her ancient ministers — men, of con- 
 science and independent thought, and habituated in- 
 vestigation pre-eminently ; we could ever wisely an- 
 ticipate, in the true church of God, a much greater 
 degree of theological coincidence on earth, than ex- 
 ists among you." And, after proposing a truce to the 
 strifes and controversy among brethren, he adds : — 
 
 " Suppose, fathers and brethren, there was among 
 us more of a manifest assiduity o^ kindness, more of 
 magnifying the things of unity, and diminishing the 
 things of dissidence ; — more intercourse, frankness, 
 and love, according to the temper of the blessed Paul ; 
 more of an unwillingness to misunderstand, suspect, 
 inculpate, or avoid one another ,• more of a just ap- 
 preciation of the motives, and the sanctions, and the 
 symbols of a professed sincerity ; and more, in short, of 
 the temper and acting of the gospel of our Lord, the 
 Lord of glory, — our example, as well as our expia- 
 tion and our righteousness ; what would be the re- 
 sult ?" And then, in enumerating the blessed results, 
 he says, " we should see that, in the things of faith, 
 we are all more alike, than perhaps, we suppose ; 
 that it is easy, and sweet andscfe, to forbear icith each 
 other in minor peculiarities ; — that evils could now 
 be a hundred fold better corrected, when love came 
 fresh from the cross, to qualify orthodoxy into recti' 
 tude" &c. 
 
 12 
 
134 
 
 How exceedingly like heaven-born charity are 
 these noble sentiments, and with them alone we are 
 prepared to extend to Quakerism, as a system, that 
 which the author " boldly denies ;" and, by " magni- 
 fying the things of unity ^ and diminishing the things 
 of dissidence,''' claim for the pious, among Friends, a 
 recognition of Christian character. And this we do, 
 without either palliating or diminishing their errors, 
 which are acknowledged on the subject of the sacra- 
 ments and the ministry to be palpable and multiform. 
 We would deal with Quakerism as with Calvinism ; 
 and w^hile we adopt Mr. Wesley's Christian exam- 
 ple ; in this respect we would commend to the author 
 that of Mr. Rowland Hill, in his equally Christian 
 concessions to Arminianism, though a well known 
 Calvinist. Nothing can be more opposite than the 
 religious opinions of these gentlemen, and yet both 
 parties agreed to place the doctrines which distin- 
 guish /?zoz^5 Calvinists from pious Arminians, among 
 the opinions which are not essential to genuine, 
 vital, practical Christianity. Mr. Wesley's words 
 are : — 
 
 " You have admirably well-expressed what I mean 
 by an opinion, contradistinguished from an essential 
 doctrine. Whatever is compatible with love to Christ, 
 and a work of grace, 1 term an opinion, and certainly 
 the holding particular election and final perseverance, 
 
 is compatible with these. Mr. H and Mr. N 
 
 hold these, and yet, I believe, they have real Chris- 
 tian experience. But if so, this is only an opinion ; 
 
135 
 
 it is not subversive of the very foundations of Chris- 
 tian experience. It is compatible with love to Christ, 
 and a genuine work of grace ; yea, many hold it, at 
 whose feet I desire to be found in the day of the 
 Lord Jesus. If then, I oppose this with my whole 
 strength," [as our author obviously does Quakerism,] 
 " I am a mere bigot still /" 
 
 Mr. Hill's language is as follows : — 
 
 " As for the serious and converted part of Mr. Wes- 
 ley's congregation, as I by no means think it neces- 
 sary for any to be what are commonly called Calvin- 
 ists, that they may be Christians, I can most so- 
 lemnly declare ; however they may judge of me, that 
 I love and honor them not a little ; as I am satisfied 
 that many who are muddled in their judgments, are 
 sound in their experience." 
 
 These two specimens of Christian moderation are 
 most honorable to the heads and hearts of these two 
 ministers of Jesus Christ. And now we ask the 
 author of the work before us — might not he have ad- 
 mitted somewhere, in his volume, that though the 
 Quakers are, on some topics, " muddled in their judg- 
 ments, yet they may be sound in their experience,'* 
 or might he not hope, against hope, if need be, tha 
 their view of the sacraments, as well as the ministry', 
 may be "compatible with love to Christ, and a woik 
 of grace." These are the convictions, under which 
 we repel his denunciation of Quakerism, and main- 
 
136 
 
 tain that he has violated the very principles of anti- 
 sectarianism, by which he exhorts h s brethren to be 
 governed, in branding the Quakers with the epithet 
 of" cardinal heretics, the whole of them, from the be- 
 ginning." And instead of any concession resembling 
 that of Mr. Wesley and Mr. Hill, we find him say- 
 ing, " The only hope I can have for the salvation of 
 a Friend, — I speak my own conviction as it is, — re- 
 poses in this one qualifier ; — for ought I know, he 
 may be better in his feelings than his philosophy, 
 or the ordinary symbols of his creed." " If there 
 happens to be a state eternal, a thorough and consist- 
 ent mere Quaker may well wish he had never been 
 born." " He may there, too late discover, — if he 
 fails to do it here — that Jesus Christ meant something 
 by hell fire, — where their worm dieth not, and their 
 fire is not quenched !" " Friends may grow better, 
 may repent and believe the gospel, may become 
 Christians, — but their system, Friendism, is another 
 thing," &c. Thus it is plain, that our author allows 
 a chance for the salvation of a Quaker only upon the 
 supposition, that he repent of his opposition to the 
 " one system," and turn Calvinist before he dies. But 
 in the language of Mr. Fletcher, w^e ask, " might not 
 an inquisitor be as charitable ? Might he not hope, 
 that the poor heretic, whom he has condemned to the 
 flames, may yet he saved, if he cordially kiss a cru- 
 cifix, and say Ave Maria ! at the stake ?" Such is 
 clearly the treatment the Quakers, — the whole of 
 them, from the beginning, — receive at this author's 
 hands, though he says, he " writes impersonally 
 
137 
 
 of the system," and ** attacks their tenets, — not 
 themr 
 
 In condemning the temper and spirit of the author, 
 we are not by any means pleading for doctrinal lati- 
 tudinarianism, or that spm'ious charity, which the 
 author imputes to Quakerism, alleging that sincerity 
 is all, and which he attributes to all those who en- 
 dure the " heavenly-looking heresy." But we insist 
 on the distinction between essential and circumstan- 
 tial differences. As has been well said, by an able 
 writer, " The difference there is between the Chris- 
 tians and the Mahommedans is essential ; but the 
 difference between us and those who receive the 
 Scriptures, and believe in the Father, Son, mid Holy 
 Ghost, is, in general, about non-essentials, and, there- 
 fore, such a difference ought not to hinder union, 
 although, in some cases, it may and should prevent a 
 close communion. If we fancy that every diversity 
 of doctrine, discipline, or ceremony, is a sufficient 
 reason to keep our brethren at arm's-length from us, 
 we are not so much the followers of the condescend- 
 ing Jesus, as of the stiff and implacable professors 
 mentioned in the gospel, who made much ado about 
 mint, anise, and cummin ; but shamefully neglected 
 mercy, forbearance, and love." 
 
 On the subject of the Christian ministry, the author 
 evinces some share of intelligence, learning, and ar- 
 gumentation, in which he opposes the views of 
 Friends, both on the subject of the propriety and obli- 
 12* 
 
138 
 
 gation that they who " preach the gospel, should live 
 of the gospel," and their regularly authorized /ewafe 
 ministmj. We are free to confess, that on those sub- 
 jects, with some few exceptions, his views are en- 
 lightened, scriptural, and lucidly expressed, although 
 with too much brevity, comparatively with the rest 
 of the volume. But we doubt the conclusion to which 
 he arrives, — that "iYo Friend either does, or can pos- 
 sess, the requisite qualifications ; and consequently 
 no Friend, as such, is called of God, or has any right 
 to be owned hy man, as a minister of the gospel of 
 Jesus Christ." And we question still more, the 
 Christian propriety of the spirit in which they and 
 their ministry are criticised and ridiculed ; for, in 
 truth, we affirm that, in this and many other parts of 
 the volume, the persons, character, and performances 
 of Quakers, and especially their female preachers, are 
 broadly caricatured. Indeed, the spirit of bitterness 
 of this last subject, treated in the volume, partakes so 
 much of malignity that, in a Christian minister, it is 
 wholly unaccountable, except on the unwelcome sup- 
 position, that he inherits the temper of his brother 
 Calvinists, who came to -America in the settlement of 
 New England, who " whipped the Quakers, men and 
 women, cut off their ears, made against them a law 
 of banishment upon pain of death, and upon that ty- 
 rannical law, hanged four of their preachers, three 
 men and one woman, in the last century, for preach- 
 ing up the Christian perfection of faith and obedience, 
 and so disturbing the peace of the elect, who were at 
 ' ease in Zion,' or rather in Babel." 
 
139 
 
 We are aware that the author ridicules their per- 
 secutions, as for the most part having been merited 
 by their practices as religionists, and so inflicted, for 
 what they dM.4-> rather than for what they taught ; and 
 we confess, that this cruelty on his part, is not very 
 creditable to his knowledge of the facts, as sober his- 
 tory has registered them, nor to his humanity. And 
 the vulgarity of his prose, and especially his poetry, 
 on the subject of women " going naked through the 
 streets for a sign," and their being punished for this 
 " piece of devilism," and charging it upon Quaker 
 inspiration, is " next door to horrid impiety." But 
 that the reader may form his own estimate of the 
 profane vulgarism, in which the author indulges on 
 this subject, we here insert a few lines only of a 
 poem, written by this reverend author, and most 
 strangely united to other lines from Dr. Young's 
 " Universal Passion." 
 
 " Naked in nothing should a woman be, 
 But veil her very wit with modesty ; 
 Or 'for a sign,' if ' naked,^ one must go, 
 Select some sterner victim for the show I 
 I would, were he alive, prefer that Fox 
 Should be ' a sign' to teach the orthodox ! 
 But knoic, such duties of rare piety, 
 My lady Friend! may next solicit thee! 
 Alas ! how few in these degenerate days 
 Would own the mandate in its equal ways 1 
 Still for the best we hope, and should prepare, 
 Some, if the "occasion called, perhaps there are ! 
 In times like ours, few striking 'signs' are found, 
 But soon with Friends! who knows? they may abound !" 
 
 Such is the poetry of the author, who says, he has 
 
140 
 
 ♦• mainly supplied these lines," so that there can be 
 no doubt of their reverend paternity. With his mo- 
 tives, he says, we have nothing to do, but admits 
 they arc of infinite importance to himself. The 
 reader will judge, when he finds the following of- 
 fered as a reason for this poetic inspiration, though 
 he may probably think it almost as bad an inspiration 
 as going " naked for a sign." The following is his 
 second reason for this poetry : — 
 
 " I not only believe that the spectacle of naked 
 females occurred, and that often, in the times of 
 Cromwell, and the second Charles, as well as on se- 
 veral occasions in 'New England, but that they are 
 legitimate fruits of the system.'' " Let the public judge 
 a system that inspires such actions, and may at any 
 time turn droves of naked females into your streets /'' 
 &c. But I forbear ; — the subject and the comments 
 of the author upon it, pollute the pages of one volume 
 in extenso, and that is enough. And thus Quaker- 
 ism is told, that this " piece of devilism" is a " legi- 
 timate fruit of their system ;" and more, we are told, 
 " All Friends have to sanction, and must defend it ! T 
 
 Now suppose that Friends should measure out to 
 the system of the author and to all Calvinists the same 
 measure he has meted to them ? Shall they reply to 
 the author that as Calvinists who fled from transatlan- 
 tic persecution, themselves became the persecutors of 
 the Quakers in New England ; that these things 
 result from their system, and may occur again" and 
 
141 
 
 then ask the public to " judge of a system which may 
 at any time" whip the Quakers, men and women, cut 
 off their ears, and hang both men and women, for con- 
 science sake ! and ask " when did Christianity ever in- 
 spire that piece of devilism V Might they not retort 
 and say, that as Calvin caused Castellio to he banished, 
 because he could not, for conscience sake, believe as 
 he did, that God had ordained men to be damned ; 
 and as Calvin ^ho caused Servetus to be burned for 
 denying the divinity of Christ, if his own report of 
 him is to be credited ; and as Calvin afterward pub- 
 licly maintained and defended that it was lawful to 
 burn heretics, that therefore, these abominations are 
 the " legitimate fruits of the systcm,^^ and all Calvinists 
 " have to sanction and must defend them /" Would he 
 not complain and remonstrate against such cruelty ? 
 And yet might they not appeal to his book, and show 
 that they have only used the lex talionis, and strictly 
 followed his ministerial example ! 
 
 We believe that Friends universal are no more 
 indentified with these and other extravagances to 
 which the author alludes, than the author and his 
 system are accountable for the crimes or follies of 
 Calvin, or any of the male and female fanatics, whom 
 as he would say have abused Calvinism by perverting 
 it to their own destruction and that of others. How 
 many hundreds of murders and suicides have been 
 impelled to their deeds of blood by absolute decrees, 
 and shall we call these the legitimate fruits of the 
 system V We may, and maintain it too, with far 
 
142 
 
 greater consistency than the author thus affirms of 
 Quakerism, in the cases alluded to. Verbum sat. In- 
 deed we cannot withhold the remark, that when he 
 charges upon Quakerism a tendency to produce in- 
 sanity, and even suicide, he " touches a springy fires a 
 train, and ignites a mine of explosion and ruin to his 
 total Calvinism.'^ If he could give names, — a number, 
 — now at command; and of acquaintance, Friends, 
 who under the influence of their mysticism, have gone 
 lunatics and died maniacs, — some, and these their 
 preachers, by self violence V does he not know that 
 similar names of Calmnists, and preachers too, could 
 be given in far greater numbers ; and that the asy- 
 lums for lunatics are filled, through this and other 
 countries, with living examples of the " tendency" 
 of his system, quite as legitimately, as those instances 
 he charges upon that of Friends. Let him read Dr. 
 Rush's Essay on Diseases of the Mind, and he will 
 see there, in the city of Philadelphia, where Quakers 
 abounded, then more than now, whether the " mysti- 
 cism" of Friends, or the " horribile deci'etum" of Cal- 
 vin, furnished the most victims. If the Quakers were 
 wont to return " railing for railing," they are furnish- 
 ed with ample materials not only in the work of Dr. 
 Rush, but in the records of all the asylums and retreats 
 for the insane, at home and abroad, in which erroneous 
 opinions in religion, Calvinistically inspired, are an- 
 nually multiplying victims, more than all other moral 
 causes combined. " We write this as a w^itness, rather 
 than a disputer ; and state it as a fact, rather than an 
 argument." But we do not authorize the imputation 
 
143 
 
 of these calamities to the Calvinists, or pretend that 
 they " all of them maintain and must defend them ;" 
 nor even if it were otherwise, as he broadly insinuates, 
 would Friends or their system be justly stigmatized, 
 for the author will concede, that for abuses such as 
 these instances exemplify, no system can be justly 
 condemned. Hence, we very properly repel the in- 
 sinuation so often made by infidels, that the Christian 
 religion has a tendency to dethrone reason ; and that 
 maniacs are the " legitimate fruits of the system," a 
 calumny which infidelity continues most impiously 
 to repeat. They have, however, as much ground for 
 the imputation every way, as the author has for simi- 
 lar disingenuousness towards Friends, and we cannot 
 but express our regret, that he should be found in such 
 unhallowed company. 
 
 We shall not burden our pages with the fault-find- 
 ing of the author, with the plain language, plain dress 
 and plain address, &c. on which he indulges in a strain 
 of irony, ridicule, and satire, very unbecoming, when 
 it is considered that these Quakerisms are not only 
 harmless, but son^e of them, particularly plain dress^ 
 absolutely scriptural, in opposition to the anti-Chris- 
 tian conformity to the world, which most professors of 
 religion are notoriously guilty of, in contravention of 
 the plain precepts of Jesus Christ. At the same time, 
 we allege that if he designed to benefit the Friends on 
 these topics he has taken a most injudicious and un- 
 christian method of instructing them, especially when 
 he knows, that they regard all these as matters o^ 
 
144 
 
 conscience. It is iu vain for him to ask " what right 
 have they to keep sucli a conscience !" They might 
 with as much justice ask him this question in refe- 
 rence to many of those things, in which his conscience 
 diflers from theirs. Nor will it avail him to say, that 
 they are in error on these topics ; for it would become 
 him in such a case to labor to " restore them in the 
 spirit of meekness," and not by grossly railing at 
 them, and caricaturing their ]irincip]cs and practice- 
 Nay, if those are evidences of imbecility, he exhibits 
 little of the temper of the blessed Paul towards 
 " weak brethren." And these remarks will apply to 
 many parts of the work before us, on which we have 
 either purposely or inadvertently omitted to remark. 
 
 Such is the horror of the author at every thing ap- 
 pertaining to his quondam brethren, that it would 
 seem that the looks, the words, and the manners of a 
 Quaker, are alike objects of his u'nmingled antipathy; 
 and, as though his nervous system had suffered from a 
 bite, which had developed a morbid condition, which 
 might be styled the Qunlier-phohia. Hence, in con- 
 nection with the subject of the sacraments, he cannot 
 refrain, while complaining of tlie Quakers, for disal- 
 lowing those of Christianity from accusing them, ne- 
 vertheless, of holding " three sacra?neiiis" instead of 
 two, viz.: *^ plain dress, plain language, and plain 
 address;^'' and, he adds, " I believe these are abso- 
 lutely anti' Christian." 
 
 On what authority he attributes to Friends the 
 
145 
 
 recognition of these as " sacraments'^ does not appear, 
 except because he " knows ;" — and how he would 
 prove either of these peculiarities, to be absolutely 
 anti- Christian, we know not, unless by saying, " it 
 were affectation to imply that I did not think myself a 
 judge in such matters." He would probably say on 
 this as on another subject, " these are my convictions, 
 and I know that they are just as true as the New Tes- 
 tament !" Accordingly, he proceeds to supply his lack 
 of argument, bv ridiculing their " carefulness about 
 plainness of speech, behavior, and apparel" in terms of 
 satire, and offers a gross caricature of these several 
 particulars, and one which " wise men will only com- 
 passionate." Indeed, he seems to have forgotten that 
 " non-conformity to the world" is one of the plain 
 precepts of Christianity ; and Xh^i plainness o^ speech, 
 behavior, and apparel, is obviously taught in the Holy 
 Scriptures, and especially in the New Testament. 
 In these respects, therefore, at least, the Quakers ac- 
 knowledge the paramount authority of the Word of 
 God ;" while our author pronounces these scriptural 
 usages of Friends, to be "absolutely anti-christian." 
 But this is only another of his " splendid eccentrici- 
 ties," and " magnificient blunders," 
 
 And now, in the conclusion of our review of this 
 extended volume, we take occasion summarily to say, 
 that there are many features of the system of Friends, 
 many opinions held and taught by them, many prin- 
 ciples and practices by them deemed scriptural and 
 orthodox, on which we differ with them altogether. 
 13 
 
146 
 
 But we think we have nevertheless shown, that their 
 system primitively, and that of the "orthodox," so 
 called, is abundantly capable of being defended from 
 the charge of " cardinal heresy," on the great funda- 
 mental truths of Christianity. And though the author 
 very often asserts the contrary, yet we appeal to the 
 candid reader, whether the authorities presented in 
 our brief notice do not amply shield the system and 
 its votaries from his reproaches. If we had not be- 
 lieved most confidently, from our knowledge of 
 Friends and their writings, that the allegations of the 
 author were wholly unfounded, on the main topics he 
 has treated, we had never undertaken the present 
 task. But conscientiously persuaded that the system 
 was palpably misrepresented and unjustly abused ; 
 and remembering among the Friends, very many of 
 our " kinsmen after the flesh," as well as many 
 estimable friends and fellow citizens, of whose per- 
 sonal piety and Christian virtues, we have had the 
 exemplification of the ** fruits of the Spirit," for years 
 that are past ; — and with many near and dearly be- 
 loved relatives, now in heaven, who left this world in 
 the peace of the gospel, and in glorious hope of the 
 resurrection of the dead, through faith in Christ ; all 
 of whom lived and died in the Society of Friends ; — 
 we deemed it a sacred duty to the genuine Chris- 
 tianity of the living, as well as the memory of the 
 pious dead, to attempt a refutation of the multiplied 
 blunders of this huge volume. 
 
 We think we have demonstrated from the earliest 
 
147 
 
 writings of Friends, and the standard authorities of 
 the present orthodox, that whatever erroneous opi- 
 nions may mingle with their creed, the following un- 
 equivocal articles of religion, are firmly believed and 
 taught by them ; and we affirm, that these entitle 
 them legitimately to be included in the pale of Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 " They profess to be a church of Jesus Christ, — 
 they believe in his Divinity as the Son of God, in his 
 incarnation, sufferings, death, resurrection, ascension, 
 and intercession. They believe in the Father, Son, 
 and Holy Ghost, and hold heartily that these three 
 are one Supreme and Eternal Jehovah. They be- 
 lieve in the Divine Authority , and inspiration of the 
 Holy Scriptures, and that these contain all the doc- 
 trines and duties of men, revealed by the Holy Spirit, 
 and infallibly true, as well as universally binding on 
 all to whom, in the providence of God, they are 
 given. They believe in the absolute necessity of re- 
 pentance and faith, in our Lord Jesus Christ, as the 
 conditions of salvation. They hold heartily the doc- 
 trine of justification and sanctification according to 
 the scriptures, as being that regeneration, which is the 
 duty and privilege of all, through Jesus Christ, by the 
 renewing of the Holy Ghost. They believe in the 
 immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, 
 a future judgment, and a state of eternal rewards and 
 punishments, in heaven or hell, according to the scrip- 
 tures." All these they embrace in their confession, 
 have published to the world without disguise, and very 
 
148 
 
 many of them, have labored and suffered in both he- 
 mispheres, for one or all of these fundamental doc- 
 trines of the gospel. In this faith, thousands have 
 lived unto God, and departed in peace ; and in this 
 faith thousands are now^ living witnesses, who openly 
 avow these doctrines, and will make no other reply 
 to the author and his book, than to say, with the 
 blessed Paul, " But this, I confess to thee, that after 
 the way which ye call heresy, so worship I the God 
 of my fathers. Neither can they prove the things 
 whereof they now accuse me." — See the Appendix. 
 
 If we have proved that Friends believe all these 
 doctrines of the gospel, we may ask, whether they 
 can in candor and truth, be denominated " cardinal 
 heretics," how many minor peculiarities may mingle 
 in their system. We know, indeed, that these or 
 many of them are the precise sentiments and doc- 
 trines which the author asserts that they " deny^' 
 " obscurely myslify, and refuse to confess ^ But we 
 have seen the strange j^erversion of his mighty intel- 
 lect, as well as the morbid sophistry of his logic, in 
 his labored attempts to prove his assertions. And we 
 " summon the world," in his own language, to judge 
 whether, from the precise authorities upon which he 
 relies, we have not disproved each of the allegations, 
 in fact and in form, which he has presented against 
 the system and Friends universal, as far as the faith 
 of primitive friends, and modern " orthodox" are 
 concerned. With the party denominated " Hicks- 
 ites" we have nothing to do ; for, although he declares 
 
149 
 
 Hicks-ism to be a legitimate fruit of the system, yet 
 the argument on which this affirmation is made, has 
 been amply overthrown, by disproving his charges 
 against the system as such, and aimed, as they avow- 
 edly are, at the orthodox. In his attempt to conci- 
 liate their favor, without inquiring into his motives, 
 we leave him "alone in his glory." 
 
 The confidence and style of boasting in which the 
 author speaks of his book, in his attempt to disarm 
 criticism, is one that " wise men will only compas- 
 sionate." He seems to anticipate erroneously, that 
 Friends will be in a great panic to oppose him, and 
 defend themselves from his book, and says, he " ex- 
 pects to inake them angry. ''^ And he is not less mis- 
 taken in this, than when he supposes that they will 
 find persons to answer him, and even points out 
 " worldly wise, superficial and interested persons, venal 
 and capricious editors, and perhaps some illustri- 
 ous in the world ' in form and gesture proudly emi- 
 nent^ and even some weak and facile religionists of 
 different denominations," as those who may side with 
 them. So far as Friends are concerned in self-vindi- 
 cation, we have reason to know that few of them have 
 either read, or would consent to reply, to such railing 
 as his volume contains, and, therefore, he will fail in 
 his expectation to " make them angry ;" and it is, 
 perhaps, because they adopt the sentiment of Cotton 
 Mather, that " slander and detraction are sparks^ 
 which, if you do not blow them, will go out of them- 
 selves." But if they did select a champion to break 
 
150 
 
 a lance with this proud knight, it is hardly probable 
 that they would make their election from either 
 of the classes included in the author's prophetic 
 anticipation. 
 
 But lest some one else, should spontaneously ven- 
 ture to criticize and reply to his book, and condemn 
 its harshness and severity, he says, " No man is 
 competent to condemn this performance, who is not 
 a sound and practical Christian; and who, to a cor- 
 rect knowledge of the doctrine of the scriptures, does 
 not unite such an acquaintance with the contrasted 
 errors of Friends, as to be thence qualified impar- 
 tially to estimate and incorruptly to pronounce on 
 their high pretensions." And again, " A man is 
 scarcely competent to condemn this work, whatever 
 his general sense, or fame, or station, unless he pos- 
 sesses probably the following qualifications : — 
 
 "1. He must have a correct and thorough know- 
 ledge of scriptural truth. 
 
 " 2. He must know in full comparison what Quak- 
 erism is. 
 
 *' 3. He must be prepared to judge religiously, and 
 not from any worldly motives, between Christianity 
 and Quakerism, as here displayed.'' 
 
 Thus it will be seen that he indulged great appre- 
 hensions that the publication would be " condemned," 
 
151 
 
 and hence the accurate portraiture he has drawn of 
 the kind of censor he would prefer, and proclaims the 
 incompetency of any but such, to do any thing in op- 
 position to the publication. And, indeed, so " proudly 
 eminent in form and gesture," is this oracular author, 
 that a more humble Christian might well be deterred 
 from daring to meet this " theological Goliah." In- 
 deed, we should have been altogether intimidated by 
 his haughty bearing, had we not found in his book 
 the following sentences, on which we build our hopes 
 of success, viz. : — 
 
 " If I have said any thing that is untrue, let it be 
 demonstrated, and (if need be) I will publicly confess 
 and retract it. Not being inspired or infallible, I may 
 commit errors; and, bound to nothing but truth, I can 
 confess them. And by demonstration, I mean a sound 
 argument from scripture against the doctrinal, or from 
 witnesses against the historical, or from self-contra- 
 diction against the didactic averments." " I will re- 
 pent of what I have written, the matter of it, as soon as 
 I am convinced of its impropriety." 
 
 Now, with all deference to the author's lofty 
 bearing and high-sounding pretensions, " speaking as 
 a witness,'" who " knows both sides, Quakerism and 
 Christianity," and who says, " it would be affecta- 
 tion to imply, that I did not think myself a judge in 
 such things ;" we humbly submit to him and the 
 reader, whether in this review, we have not furnished 
 the precise kind of demonstration he calls for against 
 
152 
 
 the doctrinal, historical, and didactic averments, of 
 the publication before us. We think we have shown 
 that the doctrinal portions of the work arc unscrip- 
 tural, its historical statements uiitrup, and its didactic 
 department self 'Contradictory ; and if so, by his 
 pledge, he is now called upon " publicly to confess 
 and retract" these errors; and if he is " bound to no- 
 thing but truth," he cannot evade his responsibility, 
 however insignificant he may affect to regard the 
 present criticism, or to whatever motives he may 
 ascribe it. 
 
 Having fully expressed our animadversion upon the 
 matter of the work, and attempted a defence of the 
 system of Quakerism, as well as the religious charac- 
 ter of the truly pious among Friends, from the accu- 
 sations of cardinal heresy so prodigally heaped upon 
 them ; we have been also led to canvass the preten- 
 sions of that sophistical and unscriptural " system'^ 
 which the author avows as his own, and to which he 
 awards the attribute of exclusive Christianity, and 
 " Eternal truth !" But as we were prepared in some 
 measure, to expect a frank and fearless avowal of his 
 own system, and also a perverted one of that of the 
 sect which" he has abandoned, we confess that the 
 matter of the work, bad as it is, is still less exception- 
 able than its manner. For the author may be honestly 
 mistaken on all the points of doctrine of which he 
 charges Quakerism, and possibly may conscientiously 
 think that Friends are from the beginning, the whole 
 of them, cardinal heretics ; for we have seen that in 
 
153 
 
 the language of Mr. R. Hill, a man may be " muddled 
 in his judgment, and yet sound in his principles." But 
 we cannot so readily believe, that he could at any 
 time deliberately mistake railing for argument, ridi- 
 cule for religion, or sneering and caricaturing for 
 Christian charity. And we regard his labored 
 defence of the style and severities of his volume, but 
 as a " lame and impotent conclusion," and one which 
 will avail him nothing in the estimate of the judicious 
 and discerning, of any party. How could he imagine 
 for a moment, that the Friends, or any number of them, 
 were such weak men as tamely to acknowledge them- 
 selves heretics, upon his ipse dixit, even sustained as it 
 is, by bitter vituperation, and opprobrious epithets. 
 They may rather deservedly laugh at his harmless 
 arrogance, and impotent rage, and ask, from the ram- 
 parts of common sense, whether he expects to 
 " frighten them by his anathemas, or bully them into 
 orthodoxy !" 
 
 But we commend to our author the sober truth and 
 graphic language of Dr. Watts, " have we never ob- 
 served, what a mighty prevalence the applause of a 
 party, and the advance of self-interest, have over the 
 hearts and tongues of men, and inflame them with 
 rage and clamor ? they rail at the persons of all other 
 parties to ingratiate themselves with their own. 
 When they put to death, or bitter reproach, the minis- 
 ters and members of Christ, they boast like Jehu when 
 he slew the priests of Baal, Come and see my zeal for 
 the Lord, And as he designed hereby to establish 
 
154 
 
 the kingdom in his own hands, so they, to maintain 
 the reputation they have acquired among their own 
 sect. But, ah ! howjittlc do they think of the wounds 
 that Jesus the Lord receives, by every bitter reproach 
 they cast on his followers." 
 
 How far the author is implicated in the temper here 
 alluded to, in his zeal against Quakerism and " all 
 other Arminians," self examination and prayer may 
 enable him to discover. And we would commend to 
 his consideration whether it would not better become 
 his character and profession, if he would unite with 
 us, in abandoning to bigoted Mahomedans, the 
 absurd notion that truth is confined to our own party .- 
 that those who do not speak as we do, are blind ; 
 and that orthodoxy, and salvation, are plants which 
 will scarcely grow any where, but in our own garden. 
 ** O, sir, have we not fighting enough without, to em- 
 ploy all our strength and time ? JMust we also declare 
 war, and promote fightings within ? Must we catch 
 at every opportunity to stab one another, because the 
 livery of truth which we wear, is not turned up in the 
 same manner ? Ought we not to give over trying to 
 disturb, or pull down a part of the Church of Christ, 
 bacause we dislike the color of the stoips with which 
 it is built, or because our fellow builders cannot pro- 
 nounce shibboleth just as we do ? Will not bitter words 
 interchanged among us, declare like so many enven- 
 omed shafts, that though we do not now burn our 
 fellow professors as heretics, yet still war is in our 
 hearts /" 
 
155 
 
 When the Quaker preacher, of whom the author 
 gives so ludicrous a description, affectionately said to 
 him " Samuel, get stilly get still,'' he only repeated the 
 advice of the apostle, " study to be quiet," and yet this 
 scriptural precept is represented, as superlatively 
 ridiculous. Had the author profited by this godly 
 counsel before he published this volume, and con- 
 sented to " get still," he would have done himself 
 honor, and been under great obligations to the system 
 of Quakerism, whether he would have admitted it to 
 be Christianity or not. As however the book has ap- 
 peared, an event, which the author says with " all 
 other events depend supremely on the sovereign ar- 
 bitration of God ;" he must not complain of the present 
 notice of it, which is only another event j explicable by 
 " the enthronement of the Divine sovereignty in his 
 faith." Had he not forgotten this doctrine in its ap- 
 plication to Friends and their system, he would 
 scarcely have denounced them for this " event" but 
 would have exclaimed, as he does in another place, 
 " How glorious and pre-eminent is the doctrine of 
 Divine sovereignty, supervening just here!" 
 
 Finally, in the appearance of the volume under 
 notice, we perceive great cause of regret, not merely 
 because of its erroneous matter, and the exception- 
 able manner in which Friends and their system are 
 treated, but because the deservedly high reputation 
 of the author, as a divine, necessarily furnishes an ex- 
 ample to ministers of his own and other denomina- 
 tions, which, if followed, would arrav the different 
 
156 
 
 sects of Christians in hostility against one another, in- 
 stead of their being marshalled in one common pha- 
 lanx against their common enemies. And we hav^ 
 seen, tiiat in his unsparing censures against Quaker- 
 ism, he has hurled his carnal weapons against " all 
 other Arminians," when he must know, that a very- 
 considerable majority of professing Christendom, in 
 the United States, have adopted the precise " Armi- 
 nian view," which he so rudely and bitterly assails. 
 And now on the supposition, that his course in this 
 volume is capable of vindication, then each of us may 
 make a brother " an offender for a word," and every 
 evangelical denomination in the country, arrogating to 
 itself exclusive pretensions to Christianity, may ful- 
 minate their anathemas against each other, and de- 
 nounce all, but their own creed, as mystics and he- 
 retics, denominate all other ministers "prophets of the 
 devil," and threaten them with "learning in eternity 
 that Jesus Christ meant somethinghj hell fire'!" And 
 if a flame of discord and strife among brethren,* be 
 thus kindled among enlightened Protestants, what 
 shall retard the onward march of Popery, or any 
 other system of religion, whose numbers and influ- 
 ence excite the apprehension of all. We are aware, 
 indeed, that the author aflirms, that " no heresy or 
 forgery, or sorcery, is equal to the spell of Quaker- 
 ism," not excepting " Mormonism, Shakerism, or the 
 recent blasphemies of Matthias ;" but enlightened 
 Protestants will not be convinced of this, by his rav- 
 ing, or railing cither. Oh ! tell it not in Papal Rome, 
 lest the Pope and his Cardinals celebrate a jubilee. 
 
157 
 
 lest the army of Jesuits triumph, — lest hell itself shout 
 for the victory. 
 
 We hesitate not at all to make the averment, that 
 if the contents of the volume before us be capable of 
 justification, or worthy to receive the countenance of 
 the Christian community, then there are real points of 
 difference in the creed and practice, not only of all 
 the evangelical denominations in the country, but 
 especially in the different divisions of his own sect, to 
 light up, not merely a flame of contention between 
 them all, but to rekindle the fires of Smithfield, and 
 drive Christianity into perpetual exile, if not to blot 
 out its very name from the nation and from the 
 world. But our rejoicing is this, that while the Lord 
 God Omnipotent reigneth. He has a people who have 
 another heart in them, in whom He has implanted 
 another spirit, and that there are hundreds of thou- 
 sands of genuine Christians in this land, both in the 
 Calvinistic and Arminian churches, who will not be 
 moved by the furious vituperations of the author, 
 either to persecute the Quakers, for conscience sake, 
 nor to disfranchise the pious among them from the 
 courtesies and the sympathies of the Christian church. 
 The author has suffered a panic in his moral nature 
 by his abjuration of Quakerism, which can never in- 
 fect or communicate itself, except in an atmosphere 
 of its own nature. And we must hope that this 
 " epidemic of ecclesiastics," of which he has suffered 
 so severe a paroxysm, w411 resemble the small pox, 
 14 
 
158 
 
 not in its fatality or its contagiousness, but in one 
 other of its characteristics ; that having once safely 
 recovered an attack, he will never be liable to take it 
 again. If it has been as painful in its symptoms to 
 himself, as its signs have appeared to others, he must 
 deem it infinitely desirable to have in his mental and 
 physical constitution, an assurance of future insus- 
 ceptibility, to its causes and its influence. 
 
 In the examination of the system of Quakerism, 
 to which this service has led us, we are constrained 
 to say, as the scribes did, of the great apostle, " We 
 find no evil [or grievous heresy] in this system of 
 Friends ; but if an angel or spirit has spoken to them, 
 let us not fight against God." And we would aflfec- 
 tionately and earnestly commend to the author, the 
 advice of Gamaliel, and as he, too, was a doctor, 
 had in reputation among all the people, his ^'fathers 
 and brethren" who may approve of his publication, 
 will find the counsel as profitable, as it is appropri- 
 ate, " Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what 
 ye intend to do touching these men. And now I say 
 unto you, refrain from these men, and let them alone ; 
 for, if this counsel, or this work be of men, it will 
 come to nought. But if it be of God, ye cannot over- 
 throw it, lest haply ye be found even to fight against 
 God." Surely he may now hearken, as did the Jew- 
 ish counsel, having already " beaten them" with 
 many stripes ; — and by branding them as heretics, 
 " forbidden them to speak in the name of Jesus," he 
 
159 
 
 may now " let them go." — Acts v. 35, 41. And let 
 the pious among Friends every where imitate the 
 example of the suffering apostles in that crisis, and 
 " rejoice that they are counted worthy to suffer 
 shame for His name," and let them " daily, in the 
 temple and in every house, cease not to teach 
 
 AND PREACH JeSUS ChRIST." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 The following pages, containing extracts from the 
 standard writings of Friends, which could not conve- 
 niently be introduced into the body of the work, it is 
 thought will be appropriate in the form of a supple- 
 ment to the brief notice we have taken of this 
 voluminous work. For when it is remembered that 
 Dr. Cox's book is an octavo, of six hundred and 
 eighty-six pages, it will be apparent, that the present 
 reply bears but a very small comparison in point of 
 size, and by consequence tliere may be many topics 
 of doctrinal importance, which are either wholly 
 omitted, or but briefly noticed, w^hen greater amplifi- 
 cation would have been desirable. The author, hav- 
 ing but little leisure, has been obliged to study great 
 brevity ; — and, indeed, being now at a distance from 
 his relatives, who are members of the Society of 
 Friends, he has had but limited sources of reference 
 to books, and but little access to the writings of early 
 Friends, except those which belong to his own library. 
 His acquaintance with Friends in the city of New 
 York is circumscribed, and hence he has been depen- 
 dent mainly upon his own resources, and has no 
 14* 
 
162 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 means of knowing what reception his work may meet 
 from those, whose vindication he has attempted. Had 
 he consulted them, he might possibly have had his 
 attention directed to some points which they deem 
 important, and which he has overlooked ; and, per- 
 haps, have obtained more recent doctrinal testimo- 
 nies, than he has found accessible. But finding that 
 the Society, as such, obviously intended to remain 
 silent with reference to the work before us, sufficient 
 time having elapsed for a reply, if one was to be ex- 
 pected from that source ; — and deeming it probable, 
 that if the leading Friends had been consulted that 
 they would be adverse to any notice being taken of 
 the author or his book, such a course was deemed 
 inexpedient. 
 
 Moreover, had my manuscript been submitted to 
 any one Friend, I thought it probable that he would 
 be disappointed, in finding that I had not defended 
 the system and its peculiarities throughout, which I 
 never designed, and, indeed, which I could not do 
 conscientiously ; since, as I have already stated, some 
 of their opinions and usages are, in my opinion, inde- 
 fensible. Indeed, I had no means of distinguishing 
 between members of the orthodox and the Hicksite 
 party, nor yet between the moderate and violent par- 
 tizans, and, of course, knew not into whose hands I 
 might fall. But I considered that a rigid orthodox 
 Quaker might wish me to animadvert at length upon 
 the heresies of the other party ; while a rigid Hicksite 
 would probably complain that I had said too much 
 
APPENDIX, 163 
 
 already. I determined, therefore, to avail myself of 
 my own resources, and perform the task of my re- 
 view, uninfluenced by either. This work, therefore, 
 goes before the Christian public, without the direct or 
 indirect sanction or permission, of any man or set of 
 men ; and no individual or denomination can, there- 
 fore, be justly regarded as responsible for any of its 
 contents or its omissions. This distinct avowal is due 
 to the Friends universal, who are ignorant of its con- 
 tents, and only know of its being forthcoming, by the 
 advertisement which announced it as in the press. 
 
 The reader is probably acquainted with the fact, 
 that the assault made upon the Quakers, by Dr. Cox, 
 is not the first instance in which these charges have 
 been presented ; and, indeed, the precise allegations 
 contained in his book may be found in the pamphlet 
 of Rev. B. Hibbard, entitled " Errors of the Quak- 
 ers ;" and, also, in the work of Rev. Dr. Brownlee, 
 of this city ; although neither of these works contain 
 a moiety of the denunciation and abuse, either of the 
 system or its votaries, which are found in the volume 
 under notice. 
 
 But it should also be more generally known than it 
 is, that the Friends, as a Society, have long since 
 officially denied and disclaimed each and every accu- 
 sation contained in this work of Dr. Cox ; for he 
 brings no new charge, but only reiterates for the 
 thousandth time, the calumnies which have been as 
 often refuted. Andfirst, I would ask the attention of 
 
164 APPENDIX. 
 
 the reader to the following official document, pub- 
 lished as early as the year 1693 ; when the slanders 
 which were circulated against the Friends by one 
 George Keith, an apostate from their Society, who 
 charged tiiem with " cardinal heresy," rendered it 
 necessary for them to make a public declaration of 
 the doctrines which they held. It was published in 
 London, and subsequently in Pennsylvania, where 
 this Keith had also propagated his calumnies, to the 
 great grief of the society in America. And though 
 this " Confession of Faith" is so ancient, yet it has 
 been recognized in the recent controversies and ap- 
 pealed to by the orthodox party, as containing their 
 sentiments, on all the subjects on which it speaks. 
 We regard it as worthy of insertion in this place, and 
 therefore, give it entire, as furnishing in itself an un- 
 equivocal denial of every accusation contained in the 
 volume of Dr. Cox. It is taken from Sewell's His- 
 tory, vol. 11. p. 250. 
 
 The Christian Doctrine, and Society of the people 
 called Quakers, cleared, <^c. 
 
 " Whereas, divers accounts have been lately published 
 in print, of some late division and disputes between some 
 persons under the name of Quakers in Pennsylvania, 
 about several fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith, 
 (as is pretended by one party,) which being particularly 
 mentioned, and thereupon occasion very unduly taken by 
 our adversaries, to reproach both the Christian ministry, 
 
APPENDIX 165 
 
 and whole body of the people commonly called Quakers, 
 and their holy and Christian profession, both in England 
 and elsewhere, though no ways concerned in the said 
 division or matters charged, but rather grieved and 
 troubled at it, and at the indiscreet and reproachful ma- 
 nagement thereof in print, to the amusing and troubling 
 the world therewith, and giviug^occasion to the loose, ig- 
 norant, and profane, to slight and contemn the truth, and 
 the interest of the tender religion of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ : 
 
 " We are, therefore, tenderly concerned for truth's sake 
 in behalf of the said people, (as to the body of them, and 
 for all of them who are sincere to God, and faithful to 
 their Christian principle and profession,) to use our just 
 endeavors to remove the reproach, and all causeless 
 jealousies concerning us, touching those doctrines of 
 Christianity, or any of them pretended, or supposed, to be 
 in question in the said division ; in relation whereunto we 
 do in the fear of God, and in simplicity and plainness of 
 his truth received, solemnly and sincerely declare what 
 our Christian belief and profession has been, and still is, 
 in respect to Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, 
 his suffering, death, resurrection, glory, light, power, 
 great day of judgment, &c. 
 
 " We sincerely profess faith in God by his only begotten 
 Son Jesus Christ, as being our light and life, our ooly 
 
166 APPENDIX. 
 
 way to the Father, and also our only mediator and advo- 
 cate with the Father, (a) 
 
 " That God created all things, he made the worlds, by 
 his Son Jesus Clirist, he being that powerful and living 
 Word of God by whom all things were made; (h) and 
 that the Father, the Word, and Holy Spirit are one, in 
 Divine Being inseparable ; one true, living, and eternal 
 God, blessed for ever, (c) 
 
 " Yet that this Word, or Son of God, in the fulness of 
 time, took flesh, became perfect man, according to the 
 flesh, descended and came of the seed of Abraham and 
 David, (d) but was miraculously conceived by the Holy 
 Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary, (e) And also 
 further, declared powerfully to be the Son of God, ac- 
 cording to the spirit of sanctification, by the resurrection 
 from the dead, (f) 
 
 " That in the Word, (or Son of God,) was life, and the 
 same life was the light of men ; and that he was that 
 true light which enlightens every man coming into the 
 world ; (g) and therefore that men are to believe in the 
 light, that they may become the children of the light; (h) 
 hereby we believe in Christ the Son of God, as he is the 
 
 (a) 1 John ii. 2. John xvi. 6. 1 Tim. ii. 5. (6) Eph. iii. 9. John i. 
 I, a, 3. Hcb. 1. 2. (c) 1 John v. 7. {d) Rom. i. 3, 4. (c) Mat. i. 25- 
 ^/) Rom. i. 3, 4. {g) John i. 4, 9. {h) John xii. 36. laa. ii. 5. 
 
APPENDIX. 167 
 
 light and life within us ; and wherein we must needs 
 have sincere respect and honor to, and believe in Christ, 
 as in his own unapproachable and incomprehensible glory 
 and fulness : (i) as he is the fountain of life and light, 
 and giver thereof unto us ; Christ as in himself, and as 
 in us, being not divided. And that as man, Christ died 
 for our sins, rose again, and was received up into glory in 
 the heavens. (^) He having, in his dying for all, been 
 that one great universal offeriiiij^, and sacrifice for peace, 
 atonement and reconciliation between God and man ; (I) 
 and he is the propitiation not for our sins only, but for the 
 sins of the whole world, (m) We were reconciled by his 
 death, but saved by his life. 
 
 " That Jesus Christ, who sitteth at the right hand of 
 the throne of the majesty in the heavens, yet he is our 
 king, high-priest, and prophet, (w) in his church, a minis- 
 ter of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacLe which the 
 Lord pitched, and not man. (o) He is intercessor and 
 advocate with the Father in heaven, and there appearing 
 in the presence of God for us, (p) being touched with the 
 feeling of our infirmities, sufferings and sorrows. And 
 also by his spirit in our hearts, he maketh intercession 
 according to the will of God, crying, Abba, Father, (q) 
 
 (t) 1 Tits. vi. 16. {k) 1 Pet. iii. 18. 1 Tim. iii. 16. Mat. xix. 28. and 
 XXV. 31. Luke ix. 26. and xxiv. 26. (Z) Rom. v. 10, 11. Heb. ii. 17, IS. 
 Eph. ii. 16, 17. Col. i. 20, 21, 22. (m) I John ii. 2. 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. 
 Heb. ii. 9. (n) Zech. ix. 9. Luke xix. 38. John xii. 15. Heb. iii. 1. 
 Deut. xviii. 15, 18. Acts iii. 22, and vii. 37. (o) Heb. viii. 1, 2. (p)Heb. 
 vii. 25- Heb. ix. 24. (?) Rom. viii, 26, 27, 34. 
 
106 APPENDIX. 
 
 " For any whom God hath gifted, (r) and called sin- 
 cerely to [)rcach fuitli in the same Christ, both as within 
 and without us, cannot be to preach two Christs, but one 
 and the same Lord Jesus Christ, (5) having respect to 
 those degrees of our spiritual knowledge of Christ Jesus 
 in us, C^) and to his own unspeakable fulness and glory, (m) 
 as in himself, in his own entire being, wherein Christ 
 himself and the least measure of his light or life, as in us 
 or in mankind, are not divided nor separable, no more 
 than the sun is from its light. And as he ascended far 
 above all heavens, that he might fill all things, (x) his 
 fulness cannot be comprehended, or contained in any 
 finite creature ; (y) but in some measure known and ex- 
 perienced in us, as we are capable to receive the same, 
 as of his fuhiess we have received grace for grace. Christ 
 our Mediator, received the spirit, not by measure, (z) but 
 in fulness; but to every one of us is given grace, ac- 
 cording to the measure of his gift, (a) 
 
 " That the gospel of the grace of God should be 
 preached in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 (6) being one (c) in power, wisdom, and goodness, and 
 indivisible, or not to be divided, in the great work of man's 
 salvation. 
 
 " We sincerely confess and believe in Jesus Christ, 
 
 (r) Eph. iii. 7. 1 Pet. iv. 10. (.v) 1 Cor. viii. G. (/) John xv. 26. and 
 xvi. 13, 14, 15. (u) John i. 10. (.r) Iph. iv. 10. (y) Col. i. 19. and ii. 9. 
 U) John iii. 34. (a) Kph. iv. 7. (6) Mat. xxviii. 19. (c) John i. 1, 2, 3, 4. 
 
APPENDIX. 169 
 
 both as he is true God and perfect man, (d) and that he is 
 the author of our hving fiiiih in the {jower and goodness 
 of God, as manifested in liisSon Jesus Christ, and by his 
 own blessed spirit, or divine unction, reveakxl in us, (e) 
 whereby we inwardly feel and taste of his goodne- ■. (/) 
 life, and virtue ; so as our souls Hve and prosper 1/ and 
 in him : and the inward sense of this divine power of 
 Christ, and faith in the same, and this inwaid experience, 
 is absoh-Uely necessary to make a true, sincere, and per- 
 fect Christian, in spirit and lile. 
 
 " That divine honor and worship is due to the Son of 
 God; (g) and that he is, in true faith to be prayed unto, 
 and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ called upon, as the 
 primitive Ciiristiar.s did, (A) because of the glorious union 
 or oneness of the Father and the Son; (/) and that we 
 cannot acceptably offer up prayers and praises to God, 
 nor receive a gracifjus answer or blessing from God, but 
 in and through his dear Son, Christ. 
 
 " That Christ's body tliat v>-as crucified was not the god- 
 head, 3^et by the power of God was raised from the dead ; 
 and that the same Christ that was therein crucified, 
 ascended into heaven and glory, (k) is not questioned by 
 
 {a) John i. ].9. Rom. ix. 5. 1 John v. 20. l Tim. ii. 5. U) l John ii. 
 20. 27. (/) 1 Pet. ii. 3. John vi. 33. 35. 51. 57, 53. (?) John v. 23. 
 Heb. i. 6. {h) I Cor. i. 2. Acts vii. 59. (0 John x. 30. 1 John v, 
 (k) Luke zxiv. 26. 
 
 15 
 
170 APPENDIX. 
 
 US. His flesh saw no corruption, (/) it did not corrupt ; 
 but yet doubtless his body was changed into a more glo- 
 rious (m) and heavenly condition than it was in when sitb- 
 ject to divers sufferings on earth ; but how and what man- 
 ner of change it met withal after it was raised from the 
 dead, so as to become such a glorious body, as it is de- 
 clared to be, is too wonderful for mortals to conceive, to 
 apprehend or pry into, and more meet for angels to see : 
 the scripture is silent therein, as to the manner thereof 
 and we are not curious to inquire or dispute it ; nor do we 
 esteem it necessary to make ourselves wise above (n) 
 what is written as to the manner or condition of Christ's 
 glorious body, as in heaven ; no more than to inquire how 
 Christ appeared in divers manners or forms ; (o) or how 
 he came in among his disciples, the doors being shut ; (p) 
 or how he vanished out of their sight after he was risen. 
 However, we have cause to believe his body, as in heaven, 
 is changed into a most glorious condition, far transcend- 
 ing what it was in on earth, otherwise how could our low 
 body be changed, so as to be made like unto his glorious 
 body; (q) for when he w^as on earth, and attended with 
 sufferings, he was said to be like unto us in all things, sins 
 only excepted ; (r) which may not be so said of him as 
 now in a state of glory, as he prayed for ; (5) otherwise 
 where would be the change both in him and us ? 
 
 (t) Psal. xvi. 10. Acts ii. 31. and xiii. 35. 37. (m) Phil. iii. 21. {n) 
 I Cor. iv. 6. (o) John xx. 15. {p) John xx. '29. Luke xxiv. 36, 37, and 
 xxiv. 13. {q) Phil. iii. 21. (r) Heb. ii. 17, and iv. 15. (s) John xxii. 6. 
 
APPENDIX. 171 
 
 ** True and living faith in Christ Jesus the Son of the 
 living God, (t) has respect to his entire being and fulness 
 to him entirely as in himself, and as all power in heaven 
 and earth, is given unto him ; (u) and also an eye and 
 respect to the same Son of God (x) as inwardly making 
 himself known to the soul, in every degree of his light, 
 life, spirit, grace, and truth ; and as he is both the word 
 of faith, and a quickening spirit in us ; (y) whereby he is 
 the immediate cause, author, object, and strength of our 
 living faith in his name and power ; and of the work 
 of our salvation from sin and bondage of corruption : 
 and the Son of God cannot be divided from the least or 
 lowest appearance of his own divine light or life in us or 
 mankind, no more than the sun from its own light : nor 
 is the sufficiency of his light within by us set up in oppo- 
 sition to him the man Christ, or his fulness, considered as 
 in himself, as without us ; nor can any measure or degree 
 of light, received from Christ, as such, be properly called 
 the fulness of Christ, or Christ as in fulness, nor exclude 
 him, so considered, from being our complete Saviour ; for 
 Christ himself to be our light, our life, and Saviour, (2) is 
 so consistent, that without this light we could not know 
 life, nor him to save us from sin or deliver us from dark- 
 ness, condemnation or wrath to come : and where the 
 least degree or measure of this light and life of Christ 
 
 (0 John xvi. 1. {u) Mat. xxviii. 13, aadxi. 27. John xvii. 2. Heb. ii. 8. 
 U) John xiv. 23, and xvii. 21, 22, 23, 24, 26. {y) I Cor. xv. 45. Rom. x 
 7, 8. {z) John i. 4. 9. and iii. 19, 20, and xii. 35, 36, 46, and viii. 12' 
 
172 APPENDIX. 
 
 within is sincerely waited in, followed and obeyed ; there 
 is a blessed nicrcase of li^^bl and grace known and felt ; 
 as the palli of the just it shines more and more, until the 
 perfect day ; (a) and thereby a growing in grace, and in 
 the knowledge of God, and of our Lord and Savior Jesus 
 Christ, hath been, and is truly experienced. And this 
 light, life, or spirit of Christ v.ithin, (for they are one di- 
 vine principle,) is sufficient to lead unto all truth ; having 
 in it the divers ministrations both of judgment and mercy, 
 both of law and gospel, even that gospel which is preached 
 in every intelligent creature under heaven : it does not 
 only, as in its first ministration, manifest sin, and reprove 
 and condemn for sin ; but also excites and leads them 
 that believe in it to true repentance ; and thereupon to 
 receive that mercy, pardon, and redemption in Christ 
 Jesus, which he hath obtained for mankind in those gospel 
 terms of faith in his name, true repentance and conversion 
 to Christ, thereby required. 
 
 "So that the light and life of the Son of God within, 
 truly obeyed and foUov. ed, as being the principle of the 
 second or new covenant, as Christ the light is confessed 
 to be, even as he is tlie seed or word of faith in all men, 
 this docs not leave men or women, who believe in the 
 light, under the first covenant, nor as the sons of the bond- 
 woman, as the literal Jews were, when gone from the 
 
 {a) Prov. iv. 18. Psal. xxxvi. 9. 
 
APPENDIX. 173 
 
 Spirit of God, and his Christ in them ; but it naturally 
 leads them into the new covenant, in the new and living 
 way, and to the adoption of sons, to be children and sons 
 of the freewoman, of Jerusalem from above. 
 
 " It is true, that we ought not to lay aside, nor any way 
 to undervalue, but higlily to esteem, true preaching and 
 the Holy Scriptures ; and the sincere belief and faith of 
 Christ, as he died for our sins, and rose again for our jus- 
 tification ; together with Christ's inward and spiritual ap- 
 pearance, and work of grace in the soul ; livingly to open 
 the mystery of his death, and perfectly to effect our re- 
 conciliation, sanctification, and justification ; and wherever 
 Christ qualifies and calls any to preach and demonstrate 
 the mystery of his coming, death, and resurrection, &;c., 
 even among the Gentiles, Christ ought accordingly to be 
 both preached, believed, and received. 
 
 " Yet supposing there have been, or are such pious and 
 conscientious Gentiles, in whom Christ was and is as the 
 seed or principle of the second or new covenant, the light, 
 the word of faith, as is granted ; and that such live up- 
 rightly and faithfully to that light they have, or to what is 
 made known of God in them, and who therefore in that 
 state cannot perish, but shall be saved, as is also con- 
 fessed ; and supposing these have not the outward advan- 
 tage of preaching, scripture, or thence the knowledge of 
 Christ's outward coming, being outwardly crucified and 
 15* 
 
174 APPENDIX. 
 
 risen from the dead ; can such, thus considered, be justly 
 excluded Christianity, or the covenant of grace, as to the 
 virtue, life, and nature thereof, or truly deemed no Chris- 
 tians, or void of any Christian faith in the life and power 
 of the Son of God within, or be only sons of the first cove- 
 nant, and bond-woman, like the literal outside Jews ; or 
 must all be excluded any true knowledge or faith of 
 Christ within them, unless they have the knowledge of 
 Christ as without them ? No sure ! for that would imply in- 
 sufficiency in Christ and his light, as within them, and to 
 frustrate God's good end and promise of Christ, and his free 
 and universal love and grace to mankind, in sending his 
 Son. We charitably believe the contrary, that they must 
 have some true taith and interest in Christ and his medi- 
 ation, because of God's free love in Christ to all mankind 
 and Christ's dying for all men, (b) and being given for a 
 light of the Gentiles, and for salvation to the ends of the 
 earth ; (c) and because of their living up sincerely and 
 faithfully to his light in them — their being pious, con- 
 scientious, accepted and saved, as is granted. We can- 
 not reasonably tliink a sincere, pious, or godly man, 
 wholly void of Christianity, or what nation soever he be, 
 because none can come to God or godliness but by Christ 
 (c7) by his light and grace in them : yet we grant if there 
 be such pious, sincere men or women, as have not the 
 scripture or knowledge of Christ, as outwardly crucified. 
 
 (6) 2 Cor. V. 14, 15. (c) Isa. xlix. 6. Luke ii. 32. Acts xiii. 47. 
 {(I) John xiv. C. 
 
APPENDIX. 175 
 
 <fec. they are not perfect Christians in all perfection, as 
 in all knowledge and understanding, all points of doctrine 
 outward profession of Christ ; so that they are better than 
 they profess or pretend to be ; they are more Jews inward, 
 and Christians inward, than in outward show or profes- 
 sion. These are Christians sincere and perfect in kind 
 or nature, in life and substance, though not in knowledge 
 and understanding. A man or woman having the life and 
 fruits of true Christianity, the fruits of the Spirit of Christ 
 in them, that can talk little thereof, or of creeds, points, or 
 articles of faith, yea many that cannot read letters, yet 
 may be true Christians in spirit and life ; and some could 
 die for Christ, that could not dispute for him ; and even 
 infants that die in innocency, are not excluded the grace 
 of God, or salvation in and by Christ Jesus, the image 
 and nature of the Son of God, being in some measure in 
 them, and they under God's care and special Providence. 
 See Mat xviii. 2. 10. 
 
 " And though we had the holy scriptures of the Old and 
 New Testament, and a belief of Christ crucified and 
 risen, &c., we never truly knew the mystery thereof, until 
 we were turned to the light of his grace and spirit within 
 us: we knew not what it was to be reconciled by his 
 death, and saved b}-^ his life ; or what it was to know the 
 fellowship of his sufferings, the power of his resurrection, 
 or to be made conformable unto his death, we knew not, 
 until he opened our eyes, and turned our minds from dark- 
 ness unto his own divine life and light within us. 
 
176 APPENDIX. 
 
 " Notwithstanding, we do sincerely and greatly value 
 the Holy Scriptures, preaching and teaching of faithful, 
 divinely inspired, gitled^ and qualified persons, and mi- 
 nisters of Jesus Christ, as being great outward helps, and 
 instrumental in his liand, and by his spirit, for conversion, 
 where God is pleased to afford those outward helps and 
 means ; as that we neither do nor may oppose the suffi- 
 ciency of the light or Spirit of Christ within, to such out- 
 ward helps or means, so as to reject, dis-esteem, or under- 
 value them ; for they all proceed from the same light and 
 spirit, and tend to turn men's minds thereunto, and all 
 centre therein. 
 
 " Nor can the Holy Scriptures or true preaching with- 
 out, be justly set in opposition to the lighter Spirit of God 
 or Christ within ; for his faithful messengers are ministers 
 thereof, being sent to turn people to the same light and 
 spirit in tliem, Acts xxvi. 18. Rom. xiii. 2. 2 Cor. iv. 6. 
 1 Pet. ii. 9. 1 Johnii. 8. 
 
 " It is certain, that great is the mystery of godliness in 
 if^clf, in its own being and excellency : namely, that God 
 should be and 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. 
 
 " And it is a great and precious mystery of godliness 
 and Christianity also, that Christ should be spiritually and 
 
APPENDIX. 177 
 
 effectually in men's hearts, to save and deliver them from 
 sin, satan, and bondar]je of corruption, Christ being thus 
 revealed in true believers, and dwelling in their hearts by 
 faith, Christ within the hope of glory, our light and life, 
 who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sane 
 tification, and redemption, 1 Cor. i. 80. And therefore this 
 mystery of godliness, but as in its own being and glory, 
 and also as in men, (in many hid, and in some revealed,) 
 hath been and must be testified, preached, and believed ; 
 where God is pleased to give commission, and prepare 
 people's hearts for the same, and not in man's will. 
 
 " Concerning the resurrection of the dead, and the 
 great day of judgment yet to come, beyond the grave, or 
 after death, and Christ's coming without us, to judge the 
 quick ai^d the dead, (as divers questions are put in such 
 terms,) what the Holy Scriptures plainly declare and tes- 
 tify in these matters, we have great reason to credit, and 
 not to question, and have been always ready to embrace, 
 with respect to Christ and his apostles own testimony and 
 prophecies. 
 
 " 1. For the doctrine of the resurrection ; if in this 
 life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the 
 most miserable, 1 Cor. xv. 19. We sincerely believe, 
 not only a resurrection in Christ from the fallen sinful 
 state here, but a rising and ascending into glory with him 
 hereafter ; that when he at last appears, we may appear 
 with him in glory. Col. iii. 4. 1 John iii. 2. 
 
1 78 APPENDIX. 
 
 " But that all the wicked who live in rebellion against 
 the light of grace, and die finally im|)enitent, shall come 
 forth to the resurrection of condemnation. 
 
 ** And that the soul or spirit of every man and woman 
 shall be reserved in its own distinct and proper being, (so 
 as there shall be as many souls in the world to come as 
 in this,) and every seed, yea every soul shall have its 
 proper body, as God is pleased to give it, 1 Cor. xv. A 
 natural body is sown, a spiritual body is raised ; that being 
 first which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual. 
 And though it is said, this corruptible shall put on incorrup- 
 tion, and this mortal shall put on immortality ; the change 
 shall be such as flesh and blood cannot inherit the king- 
 dom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 
 1 Cor. XV. We shall be raised out of all corruption and 
 corruptibility, out of all mortality ; and the children of 
 God and of the resurrection, shall be equal to the angels 
 of God inhc-aven. (e) 
 
 " And as the celestial bodies do fiir excel terrestrial, so 
 we expect our spiritual bodies in the resurrection shall 
 far excel what our bodies now are ; and we hope that 
 none can justly blame us for thus expecting better bodies 
 than now they are. Howbeit, we esteem it very unneces- 
 sary to dispute or question how the dead arc raised, or 
 
 (c) Mat. xxii. 30. Mark xii. 25. Luke xx. 3G. 
 
APPENDIX. 179 
 
 with what body they come : but rather submit that to the 
 wisdom and pleasure of the Almighty God. 
 
 2. For the doctrine of eternal judgment : 
 
 " God hath committed all judgment unto his Son Jesus 
 Christ, and he is both judge of quick and dead, and of the 
 states and ends of all mankind, John v. 22. 27. Acts x. 
 42. 2Tim. iv. 1. 1 Pet. iv. 5. 
 
 " That there shall be hereafter a great harvest, which 
 is the end of the world, a great day of judgment, and the 
 judgment of that great day the Holy Scripture is clear, 
 Mat. xiii. 39, 40, 41. ch. x. 15. and xi. 24. Jude 6. 
 " When the Son of Man cometh in his glory, and all the 
 holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne 
 of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations, 
 &;c." Matt. XXV. 31, 32, to the end compared with ch. 
 xxii. 31. Mark viii. 38. Luke ix. 26, and 1 Cor. xv. 52. 
 2 Thes. i. 7, 8, to the end, and 1 Thes. iv. 16. Rev. xx. 
 12, 13, 14, 15. 
 
 " That this blessed heavenly man, this Son of Man, 
 who hath so deeply suffered tind endured so many great 
 indignities and persecutions from his adversaries, both to 
 himself and his members and brethren, should at last, 
 even in the last and great day, signally and manifestly 
 appear in glory and triumph, attended with all his glo- 
 
180 APPENDIX. 
 
 rioiis heavenly host and retinue before all nations, before 
 all his enemies, and thosolluit liuve denied him ; tliis will 
 be to their great terror and amazement, that this most 
 glorious heavenly man, and his brethren, that have been 
 so much contemned and set at naught, should be thus ex- 
 alted over their enemies and persecutors, in glory and 
 triumph, is a righteous tiling with God ; and that they that 
 suffer with him, should appear with him in glory and dig- 
 nity when he thus appears at last. Christ was judge of 
 the world, and the prince thereof, when on earth, John 
 ix. 39. and xii. 31. He is still judge of the world, the 
 wickedness, and prince thereof, by his light, spirit, and 
 gospel in men's hearts and consciences, John xvi. 8. 11. 
 Matt. xii. 20. Isa. xlii. 1. Rom. ii. 16. 1 Pet. iv. 6. 
 And he will be the judge and final determiner thereof in 
 that great day appointed ; God having appointed a day 
 wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by that 
 man whom he hath ordained. Christ foretold it shall be 
 more tolerable for them of the land of Sodom and Gomor- 
 rah in the day of judgment, than for that city or people that 
 would not receive his messengers or ministers, &c., Matt. 
 X. 15. and see chap. xi. 24 and Mark vi. 11. Luke x. 
 12. 14. It is certain that God knows how to deliver the 
 godly out of all their trials and afflictions, and at last to 
 bring them forth, and raise them up into glory with Christ ; 
 so he knowcth also how to reserve the unjust and finally 
 impenitent unto the day of judgment to be punished, 
 2 Ppt, ii 9, He will bring them forth unto the day of 
 
APPENDIX. 181 
 
 destruction, Job. xxi. 30. The Lord can and will reserve 
 such impenitent, presumptuous, and rebellious criminals, 
 as bound under chains of darkness, as were the IhUen an- 
 gels, unto the judgment of the great day, Jude 6. Matt. 
 XXV. 30. It is not for us to determine or dispute the man- 
 ner how they shall be so reserved ; but leave it to God ; 
 he knows how.' 
 
 A Postscript relating to the doctrine of the Resurrection 
 and eternal Judgment. 
 
 " At the last trump of God, and the voice of the arch- 
 angel, the dead shall be raised incorruptible, the dead in 
 Christ shall rise first, 1 Cor. xv. 52. 1 Thes. iv. 16. 
 compared with Matt. xxiv. 31. 
 
 " Many are often alarmed in conscience here by the 
 word and voice of God, who stop their ears and slight 
 those warnings, but the great and final alarm of the last 
 trumpet, they cannot stop their ears against, nor escape, 
 it will unavoidably seize upon, and further awaken them 
 finally to judgment. They that will not be alarmed in 
 their consciences, unto repentance, nor out of their sins 
 here, must certainly be alarmed to judgment hereafter. 
 
 " Whosoever do now wilfully shut their eyes, hate, 
 
 contemn, or shun the light of Christ, or his appearance 
 
 within, shall at last be made to see, and not be able to shun 
 
 or hide themselves from his glorious and dreadful ap- 
 
 16 
 
182 APPENDIX. 
 
 pearance from heaven with his mighty angels, as with 
 lightning and flaming lire, to render vengeance on all 
 them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Thes. iv. 16. Matt. xxiv. 27. 
 Luke xvii. 24. Dan. x. 6. Job xxxvii. 3. 
 
 " And though many now evade and reject the inward 
 convictions and judgment of the liglit, and shut up the 
 records or books thereof in their own consciences, they 
 shall be at last opened, and every one judged of these 
 things recorded therein, according to their works. Rev. 
 XX. 12, 13, 14, 15. 
 
 " Signed in behalf of our Christian profession 
 and people aforesaid, 
 
 George Whitehead, 
 Ambrose Rigge, 
 William Fallowfield, 
 Ja3ies Parke, 
 Charles Marshall, 
 John Bowater, 
 John Vaughtoiv, 
 WiLLiA3i Bingley." 
 
 Sewell next goes on to say, that this publication 
 gave general satisfaction, not only in England and 
 America, but in Holland also, where it was printed 
 in Dutch. Soon after, Francis Bugg, another " en- 
 vious apostate," as he is called by Scwell, " charged 
 the Quakers with some Socinian notions, and being 
 
APPENDIX. 183 
 
 set on by some churchmen, endeavored also to ren- 
 der them odious with the government. It then be- 
 came necessary to pubHsh the following " Confession 
 of Faith," signed by Geo. Whitehead, and thirty 
 other Friends, which utterly confounded their calum- 
 niators, and this confession is also approved of hear- 
 tily by the Friends, called orthodox in America. 
 
 Be it known to all, that we sincerely believe and 
 confess. 
 
 " I. That Jesus of Nazareth, who was born of the 
 Virgin Mary, is the true Messiah, the very Christ, the 
 Son of tlx.' living God, to whom all the prophets gave wit- 
 ness : and that wc do highly value his death, sufferings, 
 works, offices, and merits for the redemption of mankind, 
 together with his laws, doctrine, and ministry. 
 
 " II. That this very Christ of God, who is the Lamb of 
 God that takes av/ay the sins of the world, was slain, was 
 dead, and is alive, and lives for ever in his divine, eternal 
 glory, dominion, and power with the Father. 
 
 " III. That the holy Scriptures of the Old and New 
 Testament, are of divine authority, as being given by the 
 inspiration of God. 
 
 " IV. And that magistracy or civil government, is 
 God's ordinance, the good ends thereof being for the 
 punishment of evil-doers, and praise of them that do 
 well." 
 
184 APPENDIX. 
 
 The conclusion of Barclay's Apology, being in itself 
 a refutation of all the doctrinal accusations of the 
 author, is hero inserted, and commended to the atten- 
 tion of the candid reader. 
 
 Conclusion, 
 
 If in God's fear candid reader, thou appliest thyself to 
 ponsider this system of religion here delivered, with its 
 consistency and harmony, as well in itself as with the 
 scriptures of truth, I doubt not but thou wilt say 
 with me and many more, that this is the spiritual day of 
 Christ's appearance, wherein he is again revealing the 
 ancient paths of truth and righteousness. '"Yor thou 
 mayest observe here the Christian religion in all its parts 
 truly established and vindicated, as it is a living, inward, 
 spiritual, pure, and substantial thing, and not a mere form, 
 show, shadow, notion, and opinion, as too many have 
 hitherto held it, whose fruits declare they v/anted that 
 which they bear the name of; and yet many of those are 
 so in love with their empty forms and shadows, that they 
 cease not to calumniate us for commending and calling 
 them to the substance, as if we therefore denied or neglect- 
 ed the true form and outward part of Clu'istinnity, [which 
 indeed is, as God the searcher of hearts knows, a very 
 great slander. Thus because we have desired people 
 earnestly to feci after God near and in themselves, telling 
 them tliat their notions of God, as he is beyond the clouds, 
 will little avail them, if they do not feel him near ; honce 
 
APPENDIX. 185 
 
 ihey have sought maliciously to infer that we deny any 
 God except that v/hich is within us. Because we tell 
 people, that it is the light and law within, and not the 
 letter without, that can truly tell them their condition, and 
 lead them out of all evil ; hence they say, we vilify the 
 scriptures, and set up our own imaginations above them. 
 Because we tell them, that it is not their talking or believ- 
 ing of Christ's outward life, sufferings, death, and resur- 
 rection, no more than the Jews crying, the temple of the 
 Lord, the temple of the Lord, that will serve their turn, 
 or justify them in the sight of God ; but that they must 
 know Christ in them, whom they have crucified, to be 
 raised, and to justify them and redeem them from their 
 iniquities ; hence they say, we deny the life, death, and 
 sufferings of Christ, justification by his blood, and remis- 
 sion of sins through him. Because we tell them, while 
 they are talking and determining about the resurrection, 
 that they have more need to know the Just One, whom 
 they have slain, raised in themselves, and to be sure they 
 are partakers of the first resurrection ; and that if this be 
 they will be the more capable to judge of the second ; 
 hence they say, that we deny the resurrection of the body. 
 Because when we hear them talk foolishly of heaven and 
 hell, and the last judgment, we exhort them to come out 
 of that hellish condition they are in, and come down to the 
 judgment of Christ in their own hearts, and believe in the 
 light, and follow it, that so they may come to sit in the 
 heavenly places that are in Christ Jesus : hence they ma- 
 16* 
 
186 APPENDIX. 
 
 liciously say, that we deny any heaven or hell but that 
 which is within us, and that we deny any general judg- 
 ment ; wliich slanders the Lord knows arc foully cast 
 upon us, whom God hatli raised for this end, and gathered 
 us, that by us he might confound the wisdom of the wise, 
 and bring to nought the understanding of the prudent ; 
 and might, in and by his own Spirit and power in a des- 
 pised people (that no flesh might glory in his presence) 
 pull down that dead, dark, corrupt image, and mere sha- 
 dow.ac^d shell of Christianity, wherewith Antichrist hath 
 deceived the nations : for which end he hath called us to 
 be the first-fruits of those that serve him, and worship him 
 no more in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of 
 the Spirit. And though we be few in number, in respect 
 of others, and weak as to outward strength, which we also 
 altogether reject, and foolish if compared with the wise 
 ones of this world ; yet as God hath prospered us, not- 
 withstanding much opposition, so will he yet do, that nei- 
 ther the art, wisdom, nor violence of men or devils shall 
 be able to quench that little spark that hath appeared ; but 
 it shall grow to the consuming of whatsoever shall stand 
 up to oppose it. The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it! 
 yea, he that hath arisen in a small remnant shall arise 
 and go on by the same arm of power in his spiritual ma- 
 nifestation, until he hath conquered all his enemies, until 
 all the kingdoms of the earth become the kingdom of 
 Christ Jesus. 
 
APPENDIX. 187 
 
 " Unto Him that hath begun this work, not among 
 the rich or great ones, but among the poor and 
 small, and hath revealed it not to the wise and 
 learned, but unto the poor, unto babes and suck- 
 lings ; even to him, the Only-wise and Omni- 
 potent GOD, be honorj glory, thanksgiving, and 
 renown, from henceforth and for ever. Amen, 
 Hallelu-JAH." 
 
 And finally, as that great and good man, Wm. 
 Penn, seems especially to have incurred this author's 
 displeasure, calling him " Unitarian," and other re- 
 proachful names, the following brief notice of this 
 exemplary Christian, patriot, and philosopher, may 
 not be inappropriate. It is recorded of him, that in 
 the government of his family, he was scrupulously 
 exact, making his religion a prominent feature in his 
 household economy, " his whole family being assem- 
 bled three times a day for worship, when some por- 
 tion of the Holy Scriptures was read." While he 
 was the acting governor of Pennsylvania, it is related 
 of him that, 
 
 " He was at a place Called Merion, where he passed 
 one night : ahoy, about twelve years old, son of the per- 
 son at whose house he lodged, being a lad of curiosity, 
 and not often seeing such a guest as William Penn, pri- 
 vately crept to the chamber door up a flight of steps on 
 
188 APPENDIX. 
 
 the outside of the building. On peeping through the 
 latchet-hole, he was struck with awe, in beholding this 
 great man uprjn his knees by the bed-side, and in hearing 
 what he said ; for he could distinctly hear him in prayer 
 and thanksgiving, that he was then provided for in the 
 wilderness. This circumstance made an impression 
 upon the lad's mind, which was not effaced in old age." 
 
 Such may be regarded as a specimen of his pri- 
 vate life, and, as has been well said of his public 
 character, he 
 
 "Had the success of a conqueror, in establishing and 
 defending his colony among savage tribes, without ever 
 drawing the sword ; the goodness of the most benevolent 
 rulers, in treating his subjects as his own children ; and 
 the tenderness of a universal father, who opened his arms 
 to all mankind, without distinction of sect or party. In his 
 republic, it was not the religious creed, but personal merit, 
 that entitled every member of society to the protection 
 and emoluments of the state." 
 
 But the following maxims of this deservedly great 
 man, are extracted from a little work, entitled "Fruits 
 of Solitude, in Reflections and jMaxims, relating to 
 the Conduct of Human Life ; and Fruits of a Father's 
 Love : being Advice to his Children, relating to their 
 civil and religious conduct." — By William Penn, 
 
APPENDIX. 189 
 
 Religion. 
 
 " Religion is the fear of God, and its demonstration 
 good works ; and faith is the root of both : ' For without 
 faith we cannot please God ;' nor can we fear what we do 
 not believe. 
 
 "The devils also believe and know abundance ; but in 
 this is the difference, their faith works not by love, nor 
 their knowledge by obedience ; and therefore they are 
 never the better for them. And if ours be such, we shall 
 be of their church, not of Christ's ; for as the head is, so 
 must the body be. 
 
 " He was holy, humble, harmless, meek, merciful, &c., 
 when among us ; to teach us what we should be when he 
 was gone ; and yet he is among us still, and in us too, a 
 living and perpetual preacher of the same grace, by his 
 spirit in our consciences. 
 
 " A minister of the gospel ought to be one of Christ's 
 making, if he would pass for one of Christ's ministers. 
 
 " And if he be one of his making, he knows and does, 
 as well as believes. 
 
 *' That minister, whose life is not the model of his doc 
 trine, is a babbler rather than a preacher, a quack rather 
 than a physician of value. 
 
1 90 APPENDIX. 
 
 " Of old time, they were made ministers by the Holy 
 Ghost : and the more that is an ingredient now, the fitter 
 they are for that work. 
 
 *• Running streams are not so apt to corrupt as stagnant 
 waters ; nor itinerant, as settled preachers ; but they are 
 not to run before they are sent. 
 
 " As they freely receive from Christ, so they give. 
 
 " They will not make that a trade, which they know 
 ought not, in conscience, to be one. 
 
 " Yet there is no fear of their living, that design not to 
 live by it. 
 
 " The humble and true teacher meets with more than 
 he expects. 
 
 " lie accounts content with godliness great gain, and 
 therefore seeks not to make a gain of godliness. 
 
 " As the ministers of Christ are made by him, and are 
 like him, so ihcy beget people into the same likeness. 
 
 " To be like Christ, then, is to be a Christian. And 
 regeneration is the only way to the kingdom of God, which 
 we pray for. 
 
 " Let us to day, therefore, hear his voice, and not har- 
 
APPENDIX. 191 
 
 den our hearts who speaks to us many ways : in the scrip- 
 tures, in our hearts, by his servants and providences ; and 
 the sum of all his hohness, and charity. 
 
 " St. James gives a short draught of the matter, but 
 very full and teaching : ' Pure religion, and undefiled be- 
 fore God the Father, is this, to visit the fatherless and the 
 widows in their afflictions, and to keep ourselves unspotted 
 from the world ;' which is comprised in these two words, 
 charity and piety. 
 
 " They that truly make these their aim, will find them 
 their attainment ; and, with them, the peace that follows 
 so excellent a condition. 
 
 " Amuse not thyself, therefore, with the numerous opi- 
 nions of the world ; nor value thyself upon verbal ortho. 
 doxy, philosophy, or thy skill in tongues, or knowledge of 
 the fathers ; (too much the. business and vanity of the 
 world) but in this rejoice, ' That thou knowest God, that 
 is the Lord, who exerciseth loving kindness, and judg- 
 ment, and righteousness in the earth.' 
 
 " Public worship is very commendable, if well pe'r- 
 formed. We owe it to God and good example. But we 
 must know, that God is not tied to time or place, who is 
 every where at the same time ; and this we shall know 
 as far as we are capable, if, wherever we are, our desires 
 are to be with him. 
 
1102 APPENDIX. 
 
 " Serving God, people generally confine to the acts of 
 public and private worship ; and those tiie more zealous 
 do often repeat, in hopes of acceptance. 
 
 " But if we consider that God is an infinite spirit, and 
 as such, every where ; and that our Saviour luis taught us, 
 that he will be worshipped in spirit and in truth, we shall 
 see the shortness of such a notion. 
 
 " For serving God concerns the frame of our spirits, in 
 the whole course of our lives ; in every occasion we have, 
 in which we may show our love to his law. 
 
 " For as men in battle are continually in the way of 
 shot, so we in this v/orld, are ever within the reach of 
 temptation ; and herein do v/e serve God, if we avoid 
 what we are forbid, as well as do what he commands. 
 
 " God is belter served in resisting a temptation to evil, 
 than in many formal prayers. 
 
 " This is but twice or thrice a day ; but that every hour 
 and moment of the day. So much more is our continual 
 watch, than our evening and morning devotion. 
 
 " Wouldst thou then serve God ? Do not that alone, 
 which thou wouldst not that another should see thee do. 
 
 " Do not take God's name in vain, nor disobey thy pa 
 
APPENDIX. 190 
 
 rents, nor wrong thy neighbor, nor commit adultery, even 
 in thy heart. 
 
 " Neither be vain, lascivious, proud, drunken, revenge- 
 ful, or angry : nor lie, detract, backbite, overreach, op- 
 press, deceive, or betray ; but watch vigorously against all 
 temptation to these things, as knowing that God is pre- 
 sent, the overseer of all thy ways and most inward 
 thoughts, and the avenger of his own law upon the dis- 
 obedient ; and thou wilt acceptably serve God. 
 
 " Is it not reason, if we expect the acknowledgments 
 of those to whom we are bountiful, that we should reve- 
 rently pay ours to God, our most munificent and constant 
 benefactor ? 
 
 " The world represents a rare and sumptuous palace ; 
 mankind the great family in it ; and God, the mighty 
 Lord and Master of it. 
 
 " We are all sensible what a stately seat it is ; the 
 heavens adorned with so many glorious luminaries ; and 
 the earth v/iih groves, plains, valleys, hills, fountains, 
 ponds, lakes, and rivers ; and variety of fruits and crea- 
 tures for food, pleasure and profit ; in short, how noble a 
 house he keeps, and the plenty, and variety, and excel- 
 lency of his table ; his orders, seasons, and suitableness 
 of every time and thing. But we must be as sensible, or 
 17 
 
194 APPENDIX. 
 
 at least ought to be, what careless and idle servants we 
 are, and how short and disproportionablc our behaviour 
 is to his bounty and goodness ; how long he bears, how 
 often he reprieves, and forgives us ; who, notwithstanding 
 our breach of promises, and repeated neglects, has not 
 yet been provoked to break up house, and send us to shift 
 for ourselves. Should not this great goodness raise a due 
 sense in us of our undutifulness, and a resolution to alter 
 our course, and mend our manners ; that we may be for 
 the future more worthy communicants at our Maker's good 
 and great table ? Especially, since it is not more certain 
 that we deserve his displeasure, than that we shall feel it, 
 if we continue to be unprofitable servants. 
 
 " But though God has replenished this world with 
 abundance of good things for man's life and comfort, yet 
 they are all but imperfect goods. He only is the perfect 
 good to whom they point. But, alas ! men cannot see him 
 for them ; though they should always see him in them. 
 
 " I have often wondered at the unaccountableness of 
 man in this, among other things ; that, though he loves 
 changes so well, he should care so little to hear or think 
 of his last, great, and, if he pleases, his best, change. 
 
 " Being, as to our bodies composed of changeable ele- 
 ments, we, with the world, are made up of, and subsist by 
 revolution ; but our souls being of another and nobler 
 
APPENDIX. 195 
 
 nature, we should seek our rest in a more enduring 
 habitation. 
 
 " Tiie truest end of life is to know the life that never 
 ends. 
 
 " He that makes this his care will find it his crown 
 at last. 
 
 " Life else were a misery, rather than a pleasure ; a 
 judgment, not a blessing. 
 
 " For, to know, regret, and resent, to desire, hope, and 
 fear, more than a beast, and not live beyond him, is to 
 
 make a man less than a beast. 
 
 •f 
 
 " It is the amends of a short and troublesome life, that 
 doing good, and suffering ill, entitle man to one longer 
 and better. 
 
 " This ever raises the good man's hope, and gives him 
 tastes beyond this world. 
 
 " As it is his aim, so none else can hit the mark. 
 
 " Many make it their speculation, but it is the good 
 man's practice. 
 
 " His work keeps pace with his life, and so leaves no- 
 thing to be done when he dies. 
 
196 APPENDIX. 
 
 *' And he that lives to live for ever, never fears dying. 
 
 " Nor can the means be terrible to him that heartily 
 believes the end. 
 
 " For though death be a dark passage, it leads to im- 
 mortality ; and that is recompense enough for suffer- 
 ing of it. 
 
 ** And yet faith lights us, even through the grave ; be- 
 ing the evidence of things not seen. 
 
 " And this is the comfort of the good, that the grave 
 cannot hold them, and that they live as soon as they die. 
 
 " For death is no more than a turning of us over from 
 time to eternity. 
 
 " Nor can there be a revolution without it ) for it sup- 
 poses the dissolution of one form, in order to the succes- 
 sion of another. 
 
 " Death, then, being the way and condition of life, we 
 cannot love to live, if we cannot bear to die. 
 
 " Let us, then, not cozen ourselves with the shells and 
 husks of things ; nor prefer form to power, nor shadows 
 to substance : pictures of bread will not satisfy hunger, 
 nor those of devotion please God. 
 
APPENDIX. 197 
 
 " This world is a form ; our bodies are forms ; and no 
 visible acts of devotion can be without forms. But yet, 
 the less form in religion the better, since God is a spirit : 
 for the more mental our worship, the more adequate to the 
 nature of God ; the more silent, the more suitable to the 
 language of a spirit. 
 
 " Words are for others, not for ourselves : nor for God, 
 who hears not as bodies do, but as spirits should. 
 
 " If we would know this dialect, we must learn of the 
 divine principle in us. As we hear the dictates of that, 
 so God hears us. 
 
 " There we may see him too in all his attributes ; 
 though but in little, yet as much as we can apprehend or 
 bear : for as he is in himself, he is incomprehensible, and 
 * dwelleth in that light no eye can approach.' But in hie 
 mage we may behold his glory : enough to exalt our ap- 
 )rehensions of God, and to instruct us in that worship 
 which pleaseth him. 
 
 " Men may tire themselves in a labyrinth of search, 
 and talk of God ; but if we would know him, indeed, it 
 must be from the impressions we receive of him : and the 
 softer our hearts are, the deeper and livelier those will 
 be upon us. 
 
 ^* If he has made us sensible of his justice, by hisre- 
 17* 
 
198 APPENDIX. 
 
 proof; of his patience, by his forbearance ; of his mercy, 
 by his forgiveness ; of his holiness, by the sanctification 
 of our hearts through his spirit ; we have a grounded 
 knowledge of God. This is experience, that specula- 
 tion ; this enjoyment, that report. In short, this is undo- 
 niable evidence, with the realities of religion, and will 
 stand all winds and weathers. 
 
 " As our faith, so our devotion, should be lively. Cold 
 meat will not serve at those repasts. 
 
 " It is a coal from God*s altar must kindle our fire : and 
 without fire, true fire, no acceptable sacrifice. 
 
 " Open thou my lips, and then," said the royal pro- 
 phet, " my mouth shall praise God." But not till then. 
 
 " The preparation of the heart, as well as the answer 
 of the tongue, is of the Lord : and to have it, our prayers 
 must be powerful, and our worship grateful. 
 
 " Let us choose, therefore, to commune, where there is 
 the warmest sense of religion ; where devotion exceeds 
 formality, and practice most corresponds with profession ; 
 and where there is, at least, as much charily as zeal : for 
 where this society is to be found, there shall we find the 
 church of God. 
 
APPENDIX. 199 
 
 " As good, so ill men, are all of a church : and every 
 body knows who must be head of it. 
 
 '* The humble, meek, merciful, just, pious, and devout 
 soul^, are every where of one religion ; and when death 
 has taken off the mask, they will know one another, 
 though the diverse liveries they wear here make them 
 strangers. 
 
 " Great allowances are made for education and per- 
 sonal weaknesses ; but it is a rule with mc, ' That man 
 is truly religious, that loves the persuasion he is of for 
 the piety, rather than the ceremony, of it.' 
 
 " They that have one end, can hardly disagree when 
 they meet. At least, their concern in the greater, mo- 
 derates their value for, and difference about, the lesser 
 things. 
 
 " It is a sad reflection, that many men hardly have any 
 religion at all, and most men have none of their own : for 
 that which is the religion of their education, and not of 
 their judgment, is the religion of another, and not theirs. 
 
 " To have religion upon authority, and not upon con- 
 viction, is like a finger- watch, to be set forwards or back- 
 wards, as he pleases that has it in keeping. 
 
200 APPENDIX. 
 
 " It is a preposterous thing, that men "can venture their 
 souls, where they will not venture their money : for they 
 will take their religion upon trust, but not trust a synod 
 about the goodness of half a crown. 
 
 " They will follow their own judgment when their 
 money is concerned, whatever they do for their souls. 
 
 " But, to be sure, that religion cannot be right, that a 
 man is the worse for having. 
 
 " No religion, is better than an unnatural one. 
 
 ** Grace perfects; but never sours or spoils, nature. 
 
 " To be unnatural in defence of grace is a contra- 
 diction. 
 
 " Hardly any thing looks worse than to defend religion 
 by ways that shew it has no credit with us. 
 
 "A devout man is one thing, a stickler is quite another. 
 
 "When our minds exceed their just bounds, we must 
 not discredit what wc wouid recommendi 
 
 " To be furious in religion is to bo irreligiously 
 religious. 
 
APPENCiX. 201 
 
 " If he that is without bowels is not a man ; how, then, 
 can he be a Christian ? 
 
 " It were better to be of no church, than to be bitter 
 for any. 
 
 " Bitterness comes very near to enmity, and that is 
 Beelzebub ; because the perfection of wickedness. 
 
 " A good end cannot sanctify evil means ; nor must we 
 ever do evil that good may come of it. 
 
 " Some folks think they ma}'^ scold, rail, hate, rob, and 
 kill too ; so it be but for God's sake. 
 
 " But nothing in us unlike him can please him. 
 
 " It is a great presumption to send our passions upon 
 God's errands, as it is to palliate them with God's name. 
 
 *' Zeal dropt in charity, is good ; without it, good for 
 nothing : for it devours all it comes near. 
 
 " They may first judge themselves, that presume to 
 censure others ; and such will not be apt to over-shoot 
 the mark. 
 
 " We are too ready to retaliate, rather than forgive, or 
 gain by love and information. 
 
202 APPENDIX. 
 
 " And yet we could hurt no man that we believe 
 loves us. 
 
 " Let us, then, try what love will do : for if men do 
 once sec that we love them, we should soon find they 
 would not harm us. 
 
 " Force may subdue, but love gains ; and he that for- 
 gives first, wins the laurel. 
 
 *' If I am even with my enemy, the debt is paid ; but if 
 I forgive it, I oblige him for ever. 
 
 " Love is the hardest lesson in Christianity ; but, for 
 that reason, it should be most our care to learn it. * Dif- 
 ficiliaquae pulchra.' 
 
 " It is a severe rebuke upon us, that God makes us so 
 many allowances, and we make so few to our neighbor : 
 as if charitv liad nothinir to do with reli^jion ; or love with 
 faith, that ought to work by it. 
 
 " 1 find all sorts of people agree, whatsoever were their 
 animosities, when humbled by the approaches of death ; 
 then they forgive, then they pray for, and love one ano- 
 ther : which shews us, that it is not our reason, but our 
 passion, that malccs and holds up the feuds that reign 
 among men in their health and fulness. They, therefore, 
 that live nearest to that state in which they should die, 
 must certainly live the best. 
 
APPENDIX. 203 
 
 " Did we believe a final reckoning and judgment, or 
 did we think enough of what we do believe, we should 
 allow more love in religion than we do : since religion 
 itself is nothing else but love to God and man. 
 
 " ' He that lives in love, lives in God,^ says the beloved 
 disciple : and, to be sure, a man can live no where 
 better. 
 
 " It is most reasonable men should value that benefit 
 which is most durable. Now tongues shall cease, and 
 prophesy fail, and faith shall be consummated in sight, 
 and hope in enjoyment ; but love remains. 
 
 "Love is indeed heaven upon earth; since heaven 
 above would not be heaven without it ; for where there is 
 not love, there is fear; but, 'Perfect love casts out fear.' 
 And yet we naturally fear most to ofiend what we most 
 love. 
 
 " What we love, we will hear ; what we love, we will 
 trust : and what we love, we will serve, aye, and suffer 
 for too. ' If you love me,' says our blessed Redeemer, 
 *keep my commandments.' V/hy? Why then, he will 
 love us : then we shall be his friends ; then he will send 
 us the Comforter"; then, whatever we ask we shall re- 
 ceive ; and then, where he is we shall be also, and that 
 for ever. Beliold, the fruits of love ; the poM'er, virtue, 
 benefit, andbe.iutv of love! 
 
204 APPENDIX. 
 
 " Love is above all ; and when it prevails ki us all, we 
 shall all be lovely, and in love with God, and one with 
 another. Amen." 
 
 Such fire the reflections and maxims of one, who 
 "was a mere thorough and consistent Quaker," and 
 of such this author tells us, " if there happens to be a 
 state eternal, he will wish he had never been born." 
 And these are submitted to the reader, that he may 
 judge of the spirit, which can call such a man, a 
 " minister of the devil," an " inspired monster," " in- 
 fidelily in drab,^^ and kindred appellations. And with 
 such opinions as these extracts contain, what must be 
 the infatuation of this reverend author, who can thus 
 solemnly anathematize the system, and the persons 
 who hold it. 
 
 " I call heaven and earth to w^itness, that Quaker- 
 ism IS NOT Christianity : and while, as a witness, I 
 testify against them ! in the name of my own glo- 
 rious Master, I ask all men to tell what are thew pro- 
 testations worth of respect for the Scriptures?" 
 
 And we cannot better conclude this volume than 
 by the following paragraph from another of the 
 works of this same Wm. Penn, which the reader may 
 compare with the protestations of this reverend au- 
 thor, that the Quakers from the beginning, the whole 
 of them, are cardinal heretics, and that they " all 
 agree, in all ages, in disparaging the volume of God, 
 and denying the paramount authority of the scrip- 
 
APPENDIX. 205 
 
 tu7'es, claiming a higher inspiration for their own 
 writings." This is one of their " worthless /" " pro- 
 testations of respect for the scriptures;" and this au- 
 thor tells us of such sentiments, " It nauseates my soul 
 to hear or read of a Friend praising the scriptures r 
 Such a calumny deserves the execration of the spe- 
 cies ; and, for a Christian minister to make it a " part 
 OF HIS PIETY to detest" those whom he thus vilifies, 
 is an anomaly, which the reader may interpret at his 
 leisure. 
 
 In a letter to his children, entitled " Fruits of a 
 Father's Love," Wm. Penn adopts the following lan- 
 guage, and this work is of high estimation with the 
 " orthodox," against whom, the author before us 
 " especially" aims the allegation of " disparaging the 
 volume of God^ 
 
 '' Having thus expressed myself to you, my dear child- 
 ren, as to the things of God, his truth and kingdom, I 
 refer you to his light, grace, spirit, and truth within you, 
 and to the Holy Scriptures of truth without you, which 
 from my youth I loved to read, and were ever blessed 
 to me; and which I charge you to read daily ; the 
 Old Testament for history chiefly, the Psalms for medi^- 
 tation and devotion, the Prophets for comfort and hope, 
 but especially the New Testament for doctrine, faith and 
 worship : for they were given forth by holy men of God 
 in divers ages, as they were moved of the Holy Spirit^ 
 18 
 
206 APPENDIX. 
 
 and are the declared and revealed mind and will of 
 the Holy God to mankind under divers dispensations, 
 and they are certainly able to make the man of God per- 
 fect, through faith, unto salvation; being such a true and 
 clear testimony to the salvation that is of God, through 
 Christ, the second Adam, the light of the world, the 
 quickening Spirit, who is full of grace and truth, whose 
 light, grace, spirit, and truth, bear witness to them in 
 every sensible soul, as they frequently, plainly, and so- 
 lemnly bear testimony to the light, spirit, grace and truth, 
 both in himself and in and to his people, to their sanctifi- 
 cation, justification, redemption, and consolation, and in 
 all men to theirvisitation, reproof and conviction in their 
 evil ways : I say, having thus expressed myself in gene- 
 ral, I refer you, my dear children, to the light and spirit 
 of Jesus, that is within you, and to the scriptures of 
 truth without you, and such other testimonies to the one 
 same eternal truth, as have been borne in our day ; and 
 shall now descend to particulars, that you may more di- 
 rectly apply what I have said in general, both as to your 
 religious and civil tlirection in your pilgrimage upon 
 earth." 
 
 " I have chosen to speak in the language of the Scrip- 
 ture ; which is that of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth 
 and wisdom, that wanted no art or direction of man to 
 speak by, and express itself fitly to man's understanding." 
 
 Such are the doctrines believed and taught by pri- 
 
APPENDIX. 207 
 
 mitive Friends, in Europe and America, and these 
 extracts are regarded by the present " orthodox" 
 party in this country, as containing the opinions, con- 
 stituting Quakerism distinctively. And it is on ac- 
 count of a real or supposed denial or evasion of 
 these doctrinal peculiarities, that the existing divisions 
 have occurred, origiiiating with the late Elias Hicks. 
 And it is very manifest to all, who have made obser- 
 vations on the subjects of controversy between the 
 two parties, that those, called " orthodox," are so 
 strenuous in their attachment to the Christianity of 
 the scriptures, that they refuse to fellowship those 
 who deny any of its fundamental doctrines ; — and 
 that they are prepared to " suffer the loss of all 
 things," if need be, rather than to own or acknow- 
 ledge the " cardinal heresies," of wliich they believe 
 they have convicted Elias Hicks and his adherents. 
 Surely, nothing short of a deep and full conviction on 
 the part of the former, that the points of difterence 
 involve " the truth of God," an4 the " salvation of 
 the soul," could have influenced them in every part 
 of this country, to engage in this controversy, and 
 submit their " rights of property" to the decision of 
 our legal tribunals ; — while at the same time, in their 
 private relations, thousands of them have suffered 
 from lacerated feehngs, for conscience sake, to an ex- 
 tent, little short of martyrdom. I firmly believe, that 
 the moral courage they have exhibited, the firmness 
 and patience which they have exemplified, and the 
 wrongs they have suffered, are all so many evidences 
 that the Friends, called orthodox, are justly entitled 
 
208 APPENDIX. 
 
 to the character of Christians, distinctively, and 
 ought to elicit in their behalf, the countenance, the 
 sympathy, and the prayers of every lover of Bible 
 Christianity. 
 
 Still, however, I judge not their opponents, nor "ofe- 
 nounce them all^'' either as " apostates, hypocrites, or 
 infidels." I, too, knevv^ Elias Hicks, and have heard 
 him preach sentiments and doctrines, which my " love 
 of Christianity" inspired me to condemn. I believe 
 he was in a great fundamental error on more than 
 one of the essential doctrines of Christianity. And I 
 entertain the same opinion of the great and good 
 Francis Xavier, the apostle to the Indies, who, as a 
 Roman Catholic, held and taught the shocking heresy 
 of transubstantiation. Indeed, I hesitate not to affirm, 
 that I have heard ministers of the gospel, of the Uni- 
 versalist. Unitarian, and Calvinistic churches, includ- 
 ing the reverend author himself in this latter class, 
 inculcating doctrines which I believe to be cardinally 
 and fundamentally erroneous. But, nevertheless, I 
 never found it in my heart, however I might condemn 
 their errors, to denounce them and their votaries, 
 personally and collectively, as " a community of infi- 
 dels ! — only they would have us think that they love 
 Christianity," thus branding them with the character 
 of" hypocrites and impostors," as well as that of in- 
 fidels ; — for I have learned the truth of the maxim so 
 earnestly commended to the author in a former part 
 of this work, that " it is possible for a man to be 
 muddledin his judgment^ and yet sound in his expe- 
 
APPENDIX. 209 
 
 rience." This may have been the case with Elias 
 Hicks ; for, in the language of our author, we would 
 admit, " It is difficult to say, with how much en-or, 
 ignorance, and eccentricity, piety may co-exist." And 
 that very many of his followers, who belong to the 
 Hicksite party, so called, do nevertheless, abhor the 
 heresies of which we think them guilty, may very 
 possibly be the fact. And if the pious among them 
 should be convinced that their ministry held either 
 " mysticism" or " heresies," which are incompatible 
 with Christianity, they, too, would come out from 
 among them. But they will never be convinced of 
 error by the author's railing, — nor can they ever mis- 
 take the spirit under which his book is written, for the 
 spirit of Christianity. For, if they be, as he charges 
 them, and Friends universal, " a community of infi- 
 dels," such publications, under the name of Chris- 
 tianity, will infallibly tend to strengthen their unbe- 
 lief. And I, too, might " call heaven and earth to 
 witness," that Calvinism " is not Christianity ;" but I 
 cannot consent to say, as the author says of the per- 
 sons of the Quakers, " I testify against them, in the 
 name of my glorious Master," and " I would de- 
 nounce them, in the name of Jesus Christ, if I stood 
 alone, and all men forsook mo in the principled de- 
 testation of thoir abominable doctrines !" And it is 
 because I separate the persons of Calvinists from the 
 errors of their system, and cordially believe that very 
 many of them " are muddled in their judgment, while- 
 they are sound in their experience." And, as the 
 hideous features of ultra-Calvinism, have been for 
 18* 
 
210 APPENDIX. 
 
 many years hiding their deformities, as they are ex- 
 posed to view by the outward Hght of Bible Chris- 
 tianity ; so, also, while the errors of the head are thus 
 corrected, I have good hope, that the " inward lighf^ 
 will succeed in correcting the errors of the heart. 
 Such is the foundation of my hope for the author, and 
 those who have a " oneness of theological sentiment 
 with him ;" and the signs of the times are singularly 
 ominous of this result. 
 
 " Quakerism will not go down now% because he 
 writes ;" for such " carnal weapons" as he employs, 
 have been long wielded against error, with no other 
 result than that of recoiling on those who use them. 
 Nay, could the author assume the legislative and ex- 
 ecutive power as easily as he has the judicial, and 
 carry out his anathemas against them with fire and 
 faggot, by an auto-de-fe; or, like his ancestors in New 
 England, should he transport the Quakers, cut off 
 their ears, or hang them, both men and women, for 
 their " awful, good-looking, pestilential heresies," as 
 he calls them ; still he could only hope for success in 
 making hypocrites ; for Christianity disclaims all 
 weapons but those which belong to " the etherial 
 armor of the Almighty." 
 
 It is probable, however, that the author did not 
 expect that " Quakerism would go down, because he 
 writes," yet, nevertheless, he evidently expected that 
 Calvinism, which he calls " the identity itself of 
 Christianity would go up ; not only above Quaker- 
 
APPENDIX. 211 
 
 ism, but above the system of " all other Arminians." 
 In this ulterior object of his huge volume, he will also 
 be disappointed, for that " one system" for which he 
 most " benevolently desires Quakerism to be extermi- 
 nated," because of its " Arminian view," has been 
 characterized from the beginning by the use of these 
 same " carnal weapons," against the " inward light'* 
 of Christianity. He need not surely be told of the 
 fate of literary and theological Goliahs, who, like 
 himself, coming forth to battle with " gigantic stride 
 and panoply of war," have, nevertheless, fallen in the 
 contest, before the shepherd's boys, whose '• inward 
 light" had armed them with the sling and stone of 
 truth! " The battle is not to the strong, nor the race 
 to the swift ;" — " not by might, nor by power, but by 
 my Spirit, saith the Lord." " Seest thou a man wise 
 in his own conceit, there is more hope of a fool thaii 
 of him." 
 
 FINIS. 
 
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