could only have been to his own shame and confusion; yet the doctrine is in many quarters much insisted on, if one may judge from the quantum of remonstrance by elders, and the proportion of ignorant letters that I have received, complaining heavily of my having disparaged it in my ministry.

What a most material difference there must be in the state of mind of those who hold the unscriptural theory we have been considering, from that in which simple believers are found; who, so far from expecting to discover any thing in themselves that can give them the smallest ground for complacency, have all their hopes fixed on another, even on Him who is our surety, and who gave himself for us. Unhappy, indeed, to my certain knowledge, have many found themselves to be, who, having been "turned," as George Fox expressed it, "to seek for the Pearl within themselves," have ever been disappointed, and have written bitter things against themselves, because they could by no means find it. Oh, what would not the sure hope of the GOSPEL have done for these! Instead of tracing a thorny path, as if it were across a barren desert, where there was "neither rain nor fields of offering," how might they

have rejoiced in God their Saviour! Truethere was the evil and corruption of their hearts. But, although the believer is often compelled to exclaim, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" he does not despair, because he knows where to flee-he casts himself down at the foot of the Cross, with all his burthens and with all his woes, and he finds to his relief and grateful joy that the compassionate word of his Saviour is true as ever, "My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness." Then is the humbled believer able to open his heart-his inmost soul-to that blessed One who himself bare our sins in his own body on the tree, and by whose stripes we are healed; and as to a good physician to tell him the whole case, and by faith, put again in vigour by the renewal of the Holy Ghost, is more and more sensible of the efficacy of that precious blood so freely shed for him by the adorable IMMANUEL on the Cross.

CHAPTER VII.

IS THE COMPLAINT OF FRIENDS SHAPING THEIR LANGUAGE UNFOUNDED?

Now, when we consider the immense mass of error that exists in the system of Quakerism, which is to be supported with the appearance of conformity to Scriptural truth, how is it possible for it to be held together without, what I am unable to see is improperly designated by the term "shaping their language," which is used in my Letter of Resignation of Membership: not that I meant, or would now be understood to wish to convey the idea, that, on certain occasions, the truth has been delibe

rately and intentionally violated. But as, by the extracts that have been given, it must be clearly apparent to every person, who is acquainted with gospel truth, that the principles of Friends are essentially at variance with the truth, if there be the endeavour to maintain

these principles, and, at the same time, to make

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them appear consistent with Holy Scripture, there will be an instinctive tendency in the minds of those who undertake such a task, not to consider with a heartfelt desire to be informed "What saith the Scripture?" but to give such a view of the principles that are to be supported, as shall seem best to agree with the Scripture. And this is one principal reason that I have endeavoured to show the fallaciousness of the "fundamental principle," and its main ramifications, that persons who may not be aware of their nature and tendency, may be warned against holding opinions which, if they have not thought much on the subject, will, more than they can be aware of, lead them astray, even in spite of themselves: for really we are not, nor can we be, sufficiently aware of the evil of false principles in connexion with eternal things.

The disownment of the Hicksites seemed to give the promise of an expurgation of the creed of Friends; because no one in his senses, who is not warped by prejudice, can fail to perceive that the Hicksites have all they can possibly desire in the standard writings of Friends; and nothing, it seems to me, can be more unfair than to have disowned them, and yet to retain,

unrepudiated in the standard writings, the identical opinions they hold. It is clear, then, that, with all this monstrous injustice and inconsistency, the shaping of language to preserve any thing like a good face upon such a system of unscriptural error, is imperiously required. Renounce the error, and a straightforward course may be pursued-determine to retain it, and all sorts of sinuosity are required-there is no alternative.

For myself, I will acknowledge that in 1829, when the yearly meeting really appeared to be affected with a sense of deep sorrow on account of the "outbreak" of the Hicksites, and a "document" was issued to protest against their views, and by a number of quotations of Scripture to declare the faith of Friends in the Deity of Christ, I was weak enough to imagine it was a first step that would be followed by others to do away with the unscriptural notion of inward and immediate revelation, independently of any knowledge of the revelation of Scripture which the Hicksites were carrying to its legitimate extent. For I fondly thought that every one who looked at the subject carefully, must see that the Hicksites merely exhibited the main principle (that Friends had all along held) in