a ransom for his soul, therefore the Almighty must be the only deliverer of his people."

Sermon V. Germantown. "All must go away. We must no longer look to the letter, let it come from what source it may, it is no difference. He directed them to wait for the spirit. 'I will pray the Father, and he will send you another comforter;' another than the letter, and different from any that you ever heard verbally from me, or from men; for it is all but letter; all that can come to you through your external senses. But the will of God manifested within us never can come through the external senses, it must come through the spiritual senses: and then it will quicken the soul, open the blind eye and deaf ear of the soul, so that it can see and hear the things of God clearly. The time has come, I believe, when it is necessary to give up all our old foundations, and suffer them, my friends, to pass under judgment, that judgment may pass upon all, and that this truth may be revealed. It is expedient that I go away: for if I go not away the Comforter will not come, but if I go away I will pray the Father, and he will send you another Comforter? Another, in what respect? A spiritual one disencumbered with any thing corporal; entirely spiritual and nothing else. Why? Because the soul of man is purely spiritual, and nothing can have communion with the Father but that which is spiritual, an immortal soul. Every thing then derived from the letter, must come through the external senses, and can only answer for the outward creature: but when the spiritual senses are quickened by the coming in of the spirit of God, and the shining of his light upon the soul, it opens a renewed intercourse with his creature man, as he did with our first parents in the beginning in Eden's garden." Pages 112, 113.

Same sermon, page 119. "We have a gracious God to do with, who is able to give all that is necessary. If the Scriptures were absolutely necessary, he had power to communicate them to all the nations of the earth. For he has his way as a path in the clouds; he knows how to deal out to all his rational children. But they were not necessary, and perhaps not suited to any other people than they to whom they were written. Is it to be supposed that he has neglected any nation? Can we suppose that he has forgotten the rest of the nations of the earth? No, he has dispensed a suitable law, to answer every purpose, as completely as the law to the Israelites answered for them; for otherwise he is a partial God.

Sermon VI. Abington. "The New Testament so called, which is usually bound up in the book called the Bible, comprehends no covenant; there is nothing in it that appertains to a covenant. It consists chiefly and principally in a biographical account of the birth, the miracles, and the excellent life of Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, and of the epistles and writings of his apostles.. But the covenant made with Israel, as comprehended in what is called the Old Testament, was a real covenant, and was bound in a very solemn manner, and had its witnesses." Page 124.

Sermon VII. page 163. "Nothing can write God's law upon our hearts but the finger of God. There it it is, then, that we must gather, as the only place of safety; there the work is to be

done. It is there, we find our enemy, if we have any, and there we must find our friend. But people are too generally looking outward to find God; and in this outward looking, they are told about a devil; some monstrous creature, some self-existing creature, that is terrible in power. Now all this seeking to know God, and this devil or the serpent without, is the work of darkness, superstition, and tradition. It hath no foundation; it is all breath and wind, without the power. We need not look without for enemies or friends, for we shall not find them without. Our enemies are those of our own household, our own propensities and unruly desires, are our greatest, and I may almost say, our alone enemies."

Sermon XI. Trenton, 293. "There is nothing can give us faith but God. Faith is the gift of God. But this faith in creeds and the traditions of our fathers, what is it? It is worse than nothing. We had better have no faith at all. It is no better than the faith of devils. Thou believest that there is one God; thou dost well: the devils also, believe and tremble." Who are the devils ?-Apostate men and women, who go contrary to God. They are all devils. Every thing that is in opposition to the will of God is a devil. In short, they are nothing but what opposes the law of light and the spirit of truth in the heart; nothing but what is in opposition to the law of God; and that devil is in us all; as sure as the kingdom of God is in us, so sure the devil is in us. Were you ever tempted by any devil but one in your own souls? No: you never were.-There it is that we come to know God, and no where else. It is the only place where he is manifested."

Such are the absurd, inconsistent, and antichristian sentiments of Elias Hicks; and to support these, the compilers of the pamphlet have adduced their quotations from the writings of primitive Friends. It being fully proved, and well known, that not only Elias Hicks, but many of his adherents, do openly and publickly deny the miraculous conception, divinity, and atonement of Christ, and the authenticity, and divine authority of Holy Scripture; and the compilers having made their extracts purposely to prove that our early Friends were coincident in their faith; we consider, that the publication of the pamphlet, is, undeniably, a renewal of the often refuted charge against the Society, of denying the doctrines of the christian reli

gion.

Note.-The limits of this work will not admit of extending our quotations from the Sermons to great length. We can embrace but few of the objectionable sentiments with which the whole volume is replete. Those we have quoted, are amply sufficient to show the striking contrast between the christian doctrines of the Quakers, and the notions of Elias Hicks. The books from which we have made our extracts are easily accessible to all, and we respectfully recommend those persons who read them, to compare the sentiments they contain, with those asserted by "primitive Friends," in the extracts given in the following pages.

A VINDICATION

OF THE QUAKERS, &c.

CHAPTER I.

Defence of William Penn, from the charges of denying the Three that bear record in Heaven-the Godhead of Jesus Christ-his Propitiatory Sacrifice, and the Authenticity of Holy Scripture, &c.

In the year 1666, William Penn was convinced of the truth of the principles held by the Society of Friends, and joined himself to their religious communion. Possessing an active and uncommonly vigorous mind, cultivated by a liberal education, and disciplined in the school of Christ, he was eminently qualified for promulgating, and successfully defending, the doctrines of the christian religion. The seventeenth century is known to have been remarkable for the dissensions which existed in England, among the different denominations of religious professors. Publick disputes upon the subject of christian faith, were very common, and it too frequently happened, that they were managed without due regard to that divine charity which is pure, gentle, and easy to be entreated. An extraordinary degree of interest seemed to be awakened in many persons, relative to the important concerns of the soul's salvation, and many were seeking after the knowledge of the truth, with hearts humbly disposed to embrace it, in full faith.

The religious Society of Friends, then in its very infancy, had rapidly increased in numbers; and as its doctrines were but little understood, and often misrepresented; its members were frequently engaged, publickly to defend themselves from the aspersions of their enemies. Hence, they were often involved in disputations, in the management of which, as well as in their controversial writings, they used expressions which may sound harsh to modern ears; great allowance, however, is certainly to be made for the improvement in language, and the refinement in taste and manners since their day.

It was not to be supposed, that a mind like Penn's would long remain an idle spectator of the commotions which prevailed among his

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fellow professors of the christian name. Called of God to the ministry of the gospel, animated by an ardent desire for the good of souls, he soon became a zealous preacher of the religion of Jesus Christ; and very early in life, was engaged publickly to defend the Society, against the calumny of its accusers.

Two of the hearers of one Thomas Vincent, a presbyter in the Spittle Yard, London, having gone over to the Quakers, their former pastor took offence thereat, and charged the Society, with holding "the most erroneous and damnable doctrines." It was not long before Penn heard of this, and in conjunction with his intimate friend, George Whitehead, demanded an opportunity of publickly vindicating their injured christian reputation. A conference accordingly took place, in which several points of faith were discussed, somewhat at length, but nothing finally concluded upon. William Penu finding that they were not likely to be fairly or decently heard, determined upon stating the grounds of the controversy between them and Vincent, in another manner; and with this view, wrote his treatise entitled "The Sandy Foundation Shaken, &c.;" which was published in 1668, within two years after he had joined the Society of Friends, and when he was only in the twenty-fourth year of his age.

No sooner was this work published, than William Penn was accused of being a Socinian, denying the divinity of Christ, &c. and committed close prisoner to the Tower; and it is somewhat surprising, that notwithstanding he has often denied and repelled the charge, yet, to this day, the Sandy Foundation is adduced to prove him a Socinian. The compilers of the pamphlet are not the first who have quoted this book of William Penn's, to sanction their apostacy from the christian doctrines of the Quakers. About the year 1801, Hannah Barnard, a minister of the Society of Friends, being then in England, on a religious errand, adopted notions somewhat similar, though far more rational and consistent, than those now promulgated by Elias Hicks; and was disowned from the Society therefor. A writer under the name of "Verax," undertook the defence of her doctrines, and published a work to show their consistency with those of primitive Friends; asserting that they were all Socinians; and among the authorities which he quoted to confirm this, he placed particular stress upon Penn's Sandy Foundation Shaken. He was ably refuted by John Bevans, and the doctrines of the early Quakers proved to be scriptural, in a work known under the title of "Bevans' defence of the Society of Friends." Notwithstanding this refutation, the compilers now present us with a new edition of a part of the Sandy Foundation Shaken, as authority for Elias Hicks' denial of the divinity and atonement of Jesus Christ.

Such a construction of William Penn's argument, can only proceed from ignorance or wilful perversion; since it is obvious, from his own statement of the dispute, that neither of the above articles of faith, were discussed in the conference with Thomas Vincent, nor treated of by Penn in his book. The title page alone, is sufficient evidence of this assertion-it runs thus, "The Sandy Foundation Shaken; or those so generally believed and applauded doctrines, of