this Quarterly Meeting, and in the case of the secession in Ireland; by his dear and honoured friends, Joseph Gurney Bevan, and Richard Phillips, and he might add the revered and honoured name of his fatherly instructor Henry Tuke, who had all stood against such dangerous inroads, like a wall of brass, he could not doubt what their censure would have been, had they been now living; and he hoped we should not give way, where they had so firmly taken their stand.”*

With these "strictures," another Friend professed himself to be "much pleased; he thought these were times in which they were particularly called upon to be on their guard against the devices of Satan; and such sentiments as were in that volume he believed to be a device to deceive them. He had read the book with unfeigned sorrow; for he had not seen a publication for many years that he should more dread admitting to the perusal of the younger branches of his family. He was aware some truths were ably stated, but this ren

*The case alluded to here, the secession and so forth, is, I believe, that of Hannah Barnard, and her peculiar opinions. Hannah and her friends, (amongst whom was the late Thomas Foster,) not only denied the Divinity of our Saviour, but also called in question many of the most remarkable facts that are related in Scripture. But the author of "Truth Vindicated" believes the Holy Scriptures to be Scriptures of Truth; and that this belief can be neither felt nor understood, but in the openings of that Light and Life, in which the holy men who originally wrote them gave them forth. If, therefore, this friend referred to the doctrines which were then broached by Hannah Barnard, Thomas Foster, and others, as doctrines similar to those which appear in "Truth Vindicated," and against which Richard Phillips, &c. " stood like a wall of brass," he must have been either very ignorant of what he was speaking about, or very unjust to have attempted an assimilation of the two cases.

dered more dangerous the tendency of the book, and it behoved all to guard against error on the right hand, and on the left."

Now sorry as I am, to hear that such are the " unfeigned views taken by the two Friends, who are reported to have made the foregoing observations; much as I regret that two individuals who stand so high in the estimation of, and occupy such prominent stations in, the Society, as do these, should have expressed such mistaken opinions in relation to this Work, yet my sense of duty bids me heed not either the men, or the station that they hold, knowing that the poorest, and most illiterate of this world, may yet abound with the riches, and be filled with the wisdom, that is from above; and although in the language of a departed minister of Christ, I could say to them, as he said to a fellow professor of his day; "Dear brethren, ye are very near and dear to me," although I could even salute them with language such as this, yet should I still be compelled to say also, "but the Truth is much nearer

and dearer to me."

I say, then, this volume is not a device of Satan to deceive you, my fellow professing Christians; but rather that is a device of Satan, which thus represents it. Satan's devices, are to lead you from Christ; this volume has been written in Christian love, mingled with Christian rebuke, to lead you to Christ. And if the words of reproof have been severe; if in magnifying and exalting His name and power, the glory with which men have encircled the perishable letter of Scripture, has, by comparison, diminished in your eyes, greatly shall my heart rejoice.

I seek not, neither have I sought throughout a single

page of this book, to " disparage" Holy Scriptures; I have only sought to "disparage" the opinions of men concerning them. I have acknowledged, and I repeat the acknowledgment, that they are "a good," and to their end, a perfect gift." To the end that God ordained them, let them be applied. From the place which He has assigned to them, remove them not higher or lower; it is rashness and presumption in man to attempt it.

Device of Satan! mistaken men! when did Satan seek to dethrone an image, which himself had taught the heart of man to erect? When did Satan seek to destroy an idol, unless it was to erect a more beguiling one upon its ruins? He knows well enough, that where the outward history of Christ is known and believed, it is in vain for him to set up any of the countless gods with which he deceives the nations. But his aim, his unwearied malice, (no matter about the means) has ever been, and still is, to lead men from the unchangeable Truth. He dexterously adapts his plans to time and circumstance; hence in the Christianity-professing part of the world, he leads men's minds from the eternal substance, and, if he can, fixes them upon shadows. He has his pictures, his images, his crosses, his forms, his ceremonies, his ministers, his unconscious, as well as his willing ministers; and even those very writings, which testify to the holy Truth, doth he make subservient to the enlargement of his kingdom. Yes, of old, did he quote the writings of holy men, and liar and murderer, as he was from the beginning," he would still have men believe that " no man cometh unto the Father, but by the Scriptures ;" and that, too, in contradiction to the Scriptures' testimony, which say,

that " no man cometh unto the Father, but by the Son, and he to whom the Son shall reveal him."

Device of Satan! mistaken men! I can but lament over your blindness, and grieve to see you thus the unconscious victims of your own credulity. Thus should I feel, and thus should I express myself, were you the least amongst the brethren, and conscience would upbraid me, did I withhold it from you. And in proportion to the influence, which, as men, you may command, so do I feel the necessity laid upon me, to wrest the staff of authority from the hand of error, that Truth may enter unprejudiced and unmolested, into the heart of every one that is open to receive her.

I do not desire to undervalue the opinions or the counsel of wise and good men, much less would I wish to disturb the unity, or reject the joys and consolations which flow from the reciprocated sympathy of Christian brethren; but I dare not allow even these things to warp my mind from the Truth; and I beseech with an earnestness proportioned to the extreme importance of the subject, that all the readers of this volume will throw off, without reserve or hesitation, the allegiance which their understandings have borne, or still do bear to the mere opinions of men like themselves, (which have been given out of that Light and Power, which can alone stamp them with infallibility,) and turn to that of God which is within them. Heed not the names, look not to man, but turn to the Lord, who is "not far from every one of us."

The evil thing hath entered the camp, and no rest should be taken until it be cast forth. Enter into no compromise, proclaim no truce, hold no parley with those who would seek to retain it. The immediate

teaching of Christ's blessed Spirit has been denied; the universal operation of his holy power and marvellous light" has been repudiated as a delusion of the Devil;" and the records of some holy men's writings, have been held up and proclaimed as the only medium through which "the Father of Spirits" any longer communicates with the soul of man. Alas! alas! that the plague should be in your houses, and you flee not; that the Philistines should be upon your Sampsons, but they waken not; that "the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand" should be at your gates, and ye cry not like Asa, unto the Lord your God," Lord it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many or with them that have no power; help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee." (2 Chron. xiv. 11.) From within then, and from without, false brethren, or open foes, I defy ye all; not in my own name, for ye know it not, not for my own cause, for I have none with you; but I defy ye all, in the name and for the cause of Truth-the Truth as preached by the Prophets of old; the Truth as preached by the Apostles; the Truth as preached by all holy men who spake as they have been moved by the Holy Spirit; the Truth which to the predecessors of the Society of Friends was given them to declare, and which is verily borne testimony to, by some of the present day; yes, "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments.”

The hirelings cannot stand against this principle. To exalt the name and power of Christ, to place his immediate teaching above their perplexing and countless explanations of holy men's writings, they call a dispa