deep prostration of soul before him; waiting to feel the sense of his heavenly power, of his spiritual presence, under which their hearts might be united in worshipping him in spirit and in truth. We believe that through his continued goodness, such would at times be our experience, that we should say with the Psalmist," When shall I come and appear before God?” Parents, as they thus laboured for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life, would be qualified to exhort and to entreat their beloved offspring, in counsel suited to their respective ages and circumstances, to come to the mountain of the Lord, who himself would teach them of his ways, and strengthen them to walk in his paths to walk in the light of the Lord.

We also call upon our dear friends seriously and individually to examine, whether they are brought out of the spirit and vain conversation of this world. It is a sacred truth, "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." We earnestly caution all against an eager pursuit of riches, "which, while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." In how many ways is the naturally corrupt heart of man led away from purity and holiness, by the love of the world, which lieth in wickedness! Our testimony to plainness of attire, behaviour, and speech, had not its origin in human wisdom. It has been, we believe, a testimony laid upon us of the Lord to bear against the world, and the spirit of the world. As we have often seen that indulging in these things fosters the natural pride of the human heart, so we have found that denying ourselves therein has a tendency to promote the subjection of our wills, and to strengthen us in our Christian course. Hence we feel it to be our duty earnestly to recommend parents, and all who have the care of the young, in love to train them up in all these practices, which we consider to be in accordance with

the purity and simplicity of the Gospel; and also, both by example and by precept, to lead them to a conformity in all things to the Divine law. Guard them, dear friends, from every thing which would alienate the mind from the true fear of God. Endeavour to implant in them a deep sense of his purity and majesty. Holy and reverend is his name. As far as you may be enabled, bring them to think and to speak of the things of religion with gratitude and love; but with that holy caution and deep sense of the sacredness of the subject, which a just apprehension of the relative place in which man stands towards his Almighty Parent, should at all times produce.

We highly appreciate those visitations of Divine grace, which are often granted in very early life: we bear this public testimony to the reality of such favours. It is our warm desire that parents, and all who have the care of young children, may watch for opportunities to speak to them, in the fear of the Lord, of the convictions of the Holy Spirit for sin, of the drawings of our heavenly Father unto holiness. We feel the value, the blessedness of a tender conscience, susceptible of heavenly impressions. Do all that is in your power, beloved friends, to preserve this; watch against every hurtful thing that would lead from it. Instil correct views of the nature, the duty, and the privilege of prayer. Con

tinue to instruct them in the sacred truths of the Christian religion, as set forth in holy Scripture. Relax not in waiting upon the Most High, and asking in faith, from time to time, for renewed supplies of heavenly wisdom to command your children, and your household after you, like the patriarch of old, that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment.

Our humiliations, as a religious society, have of late years been varied and peculiar. It is, we believe, the gracious design of our Father in heaven, that the trials which have thus come upon us should work together for our

good. May this blessed effect be produced; may we each seriously examine ourselves whether we have a well-grounded hope in Christ, as the Saviour of sinners; and may we be brought to an entire reliance on Him, whom God hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, where He, our glorified Redeemer, now appeareth in the presence of God for us.

One of the effects of conflict and trial, when rightly received, is true humility. Precious indeed is a humble, submissive, teachable state; a willingness to esteem others better than ourselves, in honour preferring one another. Press after it, dear friends: pray that you may be given to feel the force of the words of the psalmist, "The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me." True lowliness of mind is greatly promoted by retirement. Withdraw and sit alone to wait upon the Lord, to feel after his good presence; and he will from time to time comfort your souls, and thus give you to feel that you have not come before him in vain. On these occasions you may often be made to see your shortcomings, your transgressions, and your sin, and to fear and tremble for yourselves-blessed experience! But whilst engaged to work out our own salvation, how consoling is the thought that it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure!

As we are given up to the workings of this almighty power, to mind the things of the Spirit, to walk by faith and not by sight, we are best prepared to know our individual line of duty in any attempts publicly to serve our fellow

men.

We are taught, on the highest authority, to love our neighbour as ourselves. True religion induces this love : but we exercise it in a way most acceptable to the Lord, when it is our first concern that we may do nothing but that which is according to his will. this be our course, we may then humbly and confidingly ask for his blessing on

If

our labours. As the eye is single unto Him, he will, in such a way and manner as he seeth right, conduct us safely and quietly in the way of our duty, and give us to feel that we may trust to the leadings of his providence. The elder, whilst careful to exercise no harsh judgment, will, in Christian care and love, watch over the ardent minds of the young in their efforts to do good; all will dread flattery as poison, and turn from self-complacency as the work of the enemy of their souls. They will uphold justice and mercy because of their intrinsic excellence. Humility and retiredness will mark their character; and through the abounding goodness of the Most High, they will be brought, in deep abasement, to feel and to say, "We are unprofitable ser

In reviewing the time of our being together on the present occasion, we have to acknowledge that, from day to day, we have felt the overshadowing of Divine love, uniting our hearts in the fear of God. We separate in the love of Christ; and in that love it is our fervent desire that we may be each rooted and grounded in him, that he may dwell in our hearts by faith, so that we may every one have good hope that in the solemn day of account he may, in his infinite compassion, present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.

Signed, in and on behalf of the
Meeting, by

GEORGE STACEY,

Clerk to the Meeting this year.

REMARKS.

PAINFUL as it is to find public documents, of wide circulation, and no inconsiderable influence, defective in point of Christian doctrine, it is yet more painful to have reason to fear that such deficiency is not a mere accidental circumstance, but grounded in the views and sentiments of the body issuing them. The true remedy, however, is to make

* An account of pecuniary sufferings, &c., omitted.

the tree good, that the fruit might be good also.

If the individuals composing the body embrace, cordially and sincerely, those all-important truths which God has made known, then the tone and character of the documents issued by that body will necessarily be in accordance with the Gospel; and its proceedings, with regard to the ministry which it accepts or rejects, as well as in a great variety of other particulars of practice, will be in harmony with the sacred truths of the inspired volume. On the other hand, if, under the pressure of temporary circumstances, a body adopt and issue evangelical documents, whilst the sentiments of a large majority of its members are of a different kind, there will be an inconsistency between profession and action which will be felt keenly indeed in the experience of those who have trusted to the evangelical professions, and ventured to act upon them.

Such, we fear, has been the lot of many of those who imagined that the Epistle of 1835 expressed the fixed and consistent sentiments of the body, when it declared that it was the "belief of the Society of Friends, that the holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament were given by inspiration of God; that, therefore, the declarations con. tained in them rest on the authority of God himself, and there can be no appeal from them to any other authority what. soever that they are able to make us wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus, being the appointed means of making known to us the blessed truths of Christianity; that they are the only Divinely authorised record of the doctrines which we are bound as Christians to believe, and of the moral principles which are to regulate their actions; that no doctrine which is not contained in them can be required of any one to be believed as an article of faith; that whatsoever any man says or does which is contrary to the Scriptures, though under profession of the immediate guidance of the Spirit, must be reckoned and accounted as mere delusion."

If such an individual, for instance, might be inclined to say, when convinced of the propriety of baptism,

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Can any man forbid water?' he would find that there was an appeal to another authority, and that such a departure from the "uniform principles of our Society" could not be so sheltered but that the Society would say and do directly contrary to the Scriptures in this case.

The Epistle of the present year is, we apprehend, a much more faithful representation of the tone of sentiment current amongst Friends. If compared with those of some late years, without the qualification hinted at above, it would indicate a retrograde movement on the part of the Society; but, viewing it rather as we have above suggested, we will proceed to point out two or three particulars in which, we apprehend, it is but too true an index of the real state of the Society.

Holy Scripture is no longer distinctly pointed out as the appointed means of making known to us the blessed truths of Christianity. Instead of this, Friends are exhorted to diligence in attending meetings, prostration of soul, waiting to feel the sense of the Lord's heavenly power, &c.; and then we are told that "parents, as they THUS laboured for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life, would be qualified to exhort and to entreat their beloved offspring in counsel suited to their respective ages and circumstances, to come to the mountain of the Lord, who himself would teach them of his ways, and strengthen them to walk in his paths— to walk in the light of the Lord.”

If we understand what these passages respectively mean, the latter just substitutes silent waiting, and a supposed immediate revelation of the Divine will, for the scriptural instruction pointed out by the former.

Human authority is distinctly put between the authority of the word and the subjects of the Epistle : "Our testimony, &c., had not its origin in human wisdom: it has been, we believe, a testimony laid upon us of the Lord,

&c. Hence we feel it to be our duty earnestly to recommend parents, &c., in love, to train them up in all those practices which we consider to be in accordance with the purity and simplicity of the Gospel, and also [thus marking it a distinct thing] by example and by precept, to lead them to a conformity in all things to the Divine law."

The condition of man, in his natural estate, appears to be indistinctly apprehended children are to be " guarded" from "every thing which would alienate the mind from the true fear of God." Have children, then, generally speaking, the true fear of God to be alienated from? Experience, no less than the word of God, will surely show us that they need to be taught this true fear; and that this is so much against their nature that Divine grace alone can implant it in them.

In harmony with this, the doctrine of repentance and faith is but slightly touched. "Every one of our dear brethren and sisters" [which ought to mean every member of the Society] is addressed in terms which imply the exclusive privileges of believers.

The doctrine of the indwelling of the Spirit, strictly limited in holy Scripture to believers in Jesus, is so treated, that whilst, on the one hand, the scriptural doctrine appears to be upheld by the phrase “realised in the experience of those who come in living faith unto Christ;" on the other hand, mention is made of" unrestricted acceptance of the testimony," which would seem to favour the view of an universal indwelling, a favourite idea with Friends.

After speaking of Christ himself as the head of life, the early Friends are described as meeting together to "partake of this spiritual nourishment which cometh immediately from him." There is surely a confusion of ideas here between Jesus Christ, in whose body, broken for the sins of the world, the believer does by faith feed; and the Holy Spirit, given to the believer, to be in him " a well of water springing up unto everlasting life." How grievously this confusion has led to the spi

ritualizing away the sacrifice of Christ lamentable experience has shown.

We do not now enter on the reasons which led the writers of this Epistle to the conclusion that therefore it would be a dereliction of duty to countenance any change in the mode of holding meetings; only observing that, if carried out, they might equally prove the practicability of dispensing with the diligent perusal of the sacred volume at home.

On a review of the whole, it appears to us that this document affords no additional proof that the Society has learnt to "dread flattery as poison, and turn from self-complacency as the work of the enemy of their souls." On the contrary, we look upon it as calculated to foster that spirit of antinomian security which, we fear, overspreads a large portion of this body, so that without repentance, without true faith, without obedience to the written word, or even in total rejection of some of the commandments of our Lord, many are walking towards the confines of another world in reliance on supposed religious privileges, and on the observance of the testimonies of their forefathers; but, alas! still in the darkness of the natural heart, and not at all likely to discover their mistake, till, like Bunyan's" Ignorance," when arrived at the gate of heaven, they discover, too late, that " passpost" is wanting.

a

Proceedings of the Society of Friends in reference to the baptism of W.D. Crewdson, Esq.

In an account of the proceedings of the Yearly Meeting, we mentioned the candid and open avowal made by this much-esteemed member of the Society of the change which has taken place in his sentiments on the subject of baptism. We also recorded his subsequent baptism on the 2nd of June. We now bring before our readers the course taken by the Society in this case. It should be premised, that Mr. Crewdson has not only for many years

filled different responsible stations in this Society, but has also long acted as a recognised minister amongst the Friends.

We have mentioned the appointment in the Yearly Meeting of a committee to visit Westmoreland Quarterly Meeting. It appears that they attended the Monthly Meeting of Kendal, in the compass of which this gentleman resides, and, by throwing the preponderating weight of their numbers into the scale, succeeded in passing the following minute or resolution, though against the protest of the majority of the members of that Meeting :

:

"Minute 18th of Kendal Monthly Meeting, held on the 18th and 19th of the seventh month, 1838.

"Our dear friend, Wm. Dillworth Crewdson, having, in condescension to the suggestion of the Yearly Meetings committee, informed us in our last sitting, that a change had taken place in his views on the subject of baptism, which was of many years standing, and that he had felt conscientiously bound to receive the rite of water baptism, in consequence of such change of view; this meeting has given a long and very deliberate consideration to the case; and though much diversity of sentiment has been expressed, feels itself called upon, but with great reluctance, and in unfeigned tenderness towards our dear friend, to withdraw the acknowledgment formerly made by him, as an accepted minister in our Society, believing that the continuance of his offerings in the ministry would not be likely to tend to the satisfaction and unity of the body.

We have not room for any lengthened comments on this minute, or we might point out the inconsistency with the professed views of the Society of silencing an acknowledged minister by any other authority than that of the flock to whom he ministers, or in opposition to their judgment, as in this case. This is a very minor consideration, when compared with the reflections which arise on the position which the Society assumes. The Friends profess to hold as a sacred principle, that a Christian can only be qualified to preach the Gospel by the Holy Spirit, and that man cannot make ministers, and, consequently, cannot destroy the qualification of those who are moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon them that office. Yet, in this instance, the Society steps in, and without denying Mr. C.'s qualifications (which it had previously recognised) to minister in the Society, silences that ministry, which it professes to have arisen from the immediate impulse of the Spirit, because Mr. C.'s views have changed on the subject of baptism- plainly telling the Almighty that though he sent the Gospel by a baptised person to the Gentiles at the first, yet he shall do so no longer, as far as they have power to prevent him!

This certainly can only be defended on the ground which Friends must ultimately acknowledge they rest upon, that of a new revelation to G. Fox and the early Friends; but we trust the reflection will occur to every Christian in the Society of Friends, that it cannot be a consistent position for the disciple to belong to an association which must, by its own rules, exclude the Lord and his apostles!