their minds on these subjects, could they do it sub rosâ; but they do not like to be considered in the ranks of opposition. They feel a strong attachment to the personel of the Society, for in no part of the world is the character of a Quaker and the name of William Penn held in so high estimation as in the country which bears his name. But veneration for the character of this great man, and gratitude for the immense benefits which his human policy has conferred upon mankind, is a very different thing from the adoption of his religious views, more especially as it is obvious that these underwent no inconsiderable change in the different periods of his life. Different parts of his writings are unquestionably at variance with each other, but throughout erroneous, as I conceive, on some very important points." We can sympathise with those of our Friends, under their peculiar circumstances, whose eyes are beginning to open to the truth as it is in Jesus. The extract just made from our correspondent's letter unfolds in some degree the influential effect of great names in holding the minds of men in the coils of error: they scarce dare venture to doubt, till the spell, from some unexpected cause, is broken, the veil removed, and truth, till then shrouded from their view, opens brightly to their sight. With the Bible in their hand, accompanied with prayer for the help of the Holy Spirit to shed a light on its pages, we trust they may be brought from Quakerism and Hicksism, and whatever other name, to the foundation of the prophets and apostles. WESTMORELAND MONTHLY MEETING. In our last we inserted the minute disannulling the acknowledgment of Wm. Dillworth Crewdson as a minister of the Gospel among Friends, on the ground of his being baptised; but he still retains his membership: so that in this respect the discipline is not impartially exercised, as, in some meet ings, for the same act, individuals have been disowned. On the nomination of overseers, considerable discussion ensued, owing to two of the former members being again proposed, especially after an explicit avowal on their part that they could not depart from the conduct they had hitherto pursued in regard to the cases of baptism, and their declining the office except on that understanding. One Friend strongly objected to their appointment, but it ended in their being continued, with two newly appointed, of opposite views. There was on the part of the Yearly Meeting's Committee an evident evasion of the general subject of baptism, the only cause of all the difficulty before the meeting; for to the pressing request of several Friends for direction to the overseers as to proceeding with those deemed delinquents, no decided answer could be obtained. Thus is the Monthly Meeting placed in a most singular position with sundry cases of exception before it, upon which the Yearly Meeting's Committee, appointed to assist them, would offer no opinion, but they leave the matter in the hands of a body of overseers which they have nominated, equally divided in sentiment as to the mode of proceeding. The discussions were important, and will be interesting, we have no doubt, to our readers; but our space prevents further entering upon them. We purpose returning to the subject more extensively in our next Number. : BAPTISM. A LETTER addressed to the Editors of the Inquirer, from Mr. Alfred Pope, minister of the Independent chapel, Leamington, informs us that on the 29th May last he baptised Mrs. Josiah Cash, and her daughter, Miss Priscilla Cash, formerly connected with the Society of Friends in Coventry. We have also to record the baptism of Mr. Edward Crewdson, (son of our estimable friend, Mr. W. D. Crewdson,) at Tottenham chapel, by the Rev. Mr. Davis, Baptist minister; and at Bristol, by Mr. Craik, minister of Bethesda chapel, two young persons were sometime ago baptised, and have since retired from the Society of Friends, on conscientious grounds. INTELLIGENCE FROM KENDAL. We have also to record the pleasing fact, that the strenuous opposition made by the "Friends" to the ordinances does not seem to be deterring our friends there from prosecuting the path of duty. On the 15th instant Mrs. Crewdson, wife of W. D. Crewdson, Esq., whose baptism we have recorded, followed the example of her husband, in obedience to her Lord's command, in the presence of a large company of relatives and friends, among whom was Isaac Crewdson, of Manchester, who officiated on the occasion; after which most of those assembled partook together of the Lord's Supper. On the 9th instant, Mr. James Braithwaite, of Kendal, received baptism at the hands of Mr. Mills. INTELLIGENCE FROM LEEDS. FIVE members of the family of Mr. Robert Jowitt, of Carlton House, were disunited last month from the Society of Friends here, on the ground of the reception of the ordinances; and Mr. and Mrs. John Jowitt also resigned their membership. POETRY. THE PILGRIM'S SONG. My rest is in heaven, my rest is not here; And fixing my hopes in a region like this; I look for a city which hands have not piled, I pant for a country by sin undefiled. The thorn and the thistle around me may grow; I ask not a portion, I seek not a rest, Let death, then, and danger, my progress oppose; With a scrip on my back, and a staff in my hand, TO CORRESPONDENTS. We must apologise for the delay of some interesting matter, especially a letter of resignation, which has been mislaid; and also the Act rendering affirmation valid in the case of those who have been Quakers, which we hope to notice in our next. 66 ERRATA. We are requested to correct two accidental errors in No. VIII. p. 256, line 30,"very" should stand before "long ;" line 37, made by "should be "made of." Also, No. VI., p. 183, "two thousand" should be " one thousand." W. Tyler, Printer, Bolt-court, Fleet-street. FOR OCTOBER, 1838. What saith the Scripture?-ROм. iv. 3. BAPTISM. TO THE EDITORS OF THE INQUIRER. CHRISTIAN FRIENDS, I WRITE for information on a very important and interesting subject,―to escertain the actual state of discipline in the Society of Friends relating to the question of baptism; and to understand what is the law, according to the decision of the Yearly Meeting, relating to the offence of members who have been baptised in water. The three cardinal points of Quakerism, according to my apprehension, are, a belief in the universal saving light, and the rejection of the two ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's-supper. The denial of the universal saving light need not provoke discipline, for it is not necessarily connected with any overt acts of dissidence; but to be baptised in water, and to participate in the outward elements of bread and wine in the Lord's-supper, are clear overt acts of doctrinal high treason against Quakerism; and therefore, I presume, must be noticed by the Society, if it possess and exercise the power of excision. To be baptised in water, and to sit down at the eucharistic table, are a virtual rejection of the creed of Robert Barclay; and as there are persons in whose religious progress I take a deep interest who are already in this predicament, or who soon will be so, it would be gratifying to know the law of the Society touching these points. Has the Yearly Meeting ever come to any clear decision in the case? Has an opportunity ever offered, by appeal to the Yearly Meeting from the lower judicatures; or, has the Yearly Meeting evaded the question ?* * We refer our readers to the "Account of the Yearly Meeting of 1837," sold by Dinnis, Paternoster-row. They will there see that this assembly, in discussing a "proposition" from Westmorland on this very point, most carefully avoided entertaining the question how the subordinate meetings should proceed in these cases. The speakers seemed mostly U I can easily suppose that the Yearly Meeting, the great Parliament of Quakers, would be not a little embarrassed in handling such subjects; for, in these days, it would indeed be a strong measure to pass a law making obedience to the two ordinances of our Lord a cause of expulsion; and yet, if they do less than this, what must become of Quakerism, now that the great current of common sense is undermining those bulwarks of mysticism on which the very existence of the sect depends? I will, however, for the present, suppose that by Quaker law, adhesion to the two ordinances is held to be ground of exclusion, or, as it is technically termed, of "disownment;" for I have already seen, in THE INQUIRER, a record of an expulsion on this ground, pronounced by a provincial judicature; and on this supposition I wish to offer a few remarks. On the present occasion, my observations will be confined to the subject of baptism; reserving, perhaps, for a future opportunity, some further considerations on the Lord's-supper and the doctrine of the universal saving light. On the subject of baptism I think the following propositions cannot be denied : : I. Our Lord Jesus Christ was himself baptised in the waters of the river Jordan." And when he was baptised, he went up straightway out of the water: and lo! the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Here then a question will arise,-Why did our Lord come to John, and why was he baptised in the river Jordan? It was not to fulfil the law: the baptism of John was not an institution of Moses; neither was the ministry of John, according to the law, canonical. He taught and officiated out of the temple, and without priest and sacrifice: his abode was in the wilderness, and he had no visible connexion with the sacerdotal institutions. According to our modern ideas, John the Baptist was a Dissenter—one who had withdrawn himself from the practices of the national church, that he might preach the practical doctrines of the to regard the reception of the ordinances as an act of self-exclusion, and the above Quarterly Meeting was left to exercise its discretion on the subject; but as it failed in meeting the implied, though not expressed wishes of the body, and as those who were baptised had not been treated as delinquents, the Yearly Meeting of 1838 appointed a committee to visit this "weak "member of the body. The acts of this carefully-selected committee, when confirmed, as they doubtless will be, by the Yearly Meeting, become the acts of the body. We have seen, p. 256, that they have silenced a minister of the Gospel solely on the ground of baptism. We await the further steps which their wisdom may take, and intend to bring them before our readers.-Eds. law of God, which the national church had either forgotten or denied. In this sense, indeed, it might be said that he was fulfilling the law by his extra-canonical baptism; but it could only be in the sense in which. our Lord declared that he himself came not to destroy, but to fulfil the law, (Matt. v. 17-19;) and which, to all who were not spiritually enlightened, seemed to be a violation of the law of Moses. The spirituality of John the Baptist's ministry is apparent,First, in that he announced the advent of a new system, the nature of which should be searching, and the effect extensive even to eternal judgment. “Now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire," Luke iii. 9. This, in fact, is the doctrine of the Gospel: see Luke xiii. 6–9; John xv. 6; Rom. ii. 6. Secondly, in the doctrine of repentance which he preached: "Bring forth fruits meet for repentance," (Matt. iii. 8;) or, as it would be better translated, "Bring forth fruits answerable to repentance;" which was but the first blast of the Gospel trumpet; for the evangelist informs us, that when John was cast into prison, our Lord "began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," (Matt. iv. 17;) and afterwards he enforced the doctrine by referring to what John the Baptist had antecedently taught on this head. See Matt. xxi. 28-32. Thirdly, in that he condemned the pernicious doctrine of nationality in religion. In other words, he taught that no man could be saved because he belonged to a national church; that to be born a Jew is not to be born a son of God; and that to be descended from Abraham by the reproductive process of the flesh, is of no benefit in a spiritual view, because the true sons of Abraham are born to God in the spirit o faith, "and not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." "Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham," Matt. iii. 9. This characteristic of John's ministry was eminently evangelical. For the anti-national spirit of the Gospel, see John viii. 33-47; Rom. ii. 17-29; Rom. iv., the whole chapter. For the true sonship, see John iii. 1-21; Gal. iv. 26―31. Fourthly, in that he preached Christ. "I indeed baptise you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire." He declared, that as the usher and herald of the Gospel kingdom,-as the voice crying in the wilderness, " Pre |