A sect which took its rise in England about the
middle of the seventeenth century, and rapidly found its way into other
countries in Europe, and into the English settlements in North America. The
members of this society, we believe, called themselves at first Seekers, from
their seeking the truth; but after the society was formed, they assumed the
appellation of Friends. The name of Quakers was given to them by their enemies,
and though an epithet of reproach, seems to be stamped upon them indelibly.
George Fox is supposed to be their first founder,; but, after the restoration,
Penn and Barclay gave to their principles a more regular form.
The doctrines of the society have been variously
represented; and some have thought and taken pains to prove them favourable to
Socinianism. But, according to Penn, they believe in the Holy Three, or the
trinity of the Father, Word, and Spirit, agreeable to the Scripture. In reply
to the charge that they deny Christ to be God, Penn says, "that it is a
most untrue and uncharitable censure--that they truly and expressly own him to
be so according to the Scripture." To the objection that they deny the
human nature of Christ, he answers, "We never taught, said, or held so
gross a thing, but believe him to be truly and properly man like us, sin only
excepted." The doctrines of the fall and of the redemption by Christ are,
according to him, believed firmly by them; and he declares "that they own
Jesus Christ as their sacrifice, atonement, and propitiation."
But we shall here state a further account of
their principles and discipline, as extracted from a summary transmitted to me
from one of their most respectable members.
They tell us, that, about the beginning of the
seventeenth century, a number of men, dissatisfied with all the modes of
religious worship then known in the world, withdrew from the communion of every
visible church to seek the Lord in retirement. Among these was their honourable
elder, George Fox, who, being quickened by the immediate touches of divine
love, could not satisfy his apprehensions of duty to God without directing the
people where to find the like consolation and instruction. In the course of his
travels, he met with many seeking persons in circumstances similiar to his own,
and these readily received his testimony. They then give us a short account of
their sufferings and different settlements; they also vindicate Charles II.
from the character of a persecutor; acknowledging that, though they suffered
much during his reign, he gave as little countenance as he could to the
severities of the legislature. They even tell us that he exerted his influence
to rescue their friends from the unprovoked and cruel persecutions they met
with in New England; and they speak with becoming gratitude of the different
acts passed in their favour during the reigns of William and Mary, and George
I. They then proceed to give us the following accounts of their doctrine.
"We agree with other professors of the
Christian name, in the belief of one eternal God, the Creator and Preserver of
the universe; and in Jesus Christ his Son, the Messiah and mediator of the new
covenant, Heb. xii. 24.
"When we speak of the gracious display of
the love of God to mankind, in the miraculous conception, birth, life,
miracles, death, resurrection, and ascension of our Saviour, we prefer the use
of such terms as we find in Scripture; and contented with that knowledge which
divine wisdom hath seen meet to reveal, we attempt not to explain those
mysteries which remain under the veil; nevertheless we acknowledge and assert
the divinity of Christ, who is the wisdom and power of God unto salvation, 1
Cor. i. 24.
"To Christ alone we give the title of the
Word of God, John i. 1. and not to the Scriptures, although we highly esteem
these sacred writings, in subordination to the Spirit (2 Pet. i. 21.) from
which they were given forth; and we hold with the apostle Paul, that they are
able to make wise unto salvation, through faith, which is in Christ Jesus, 2
Tim. iii. 15.
"We reverence those most excellent precepts
which are recorded in Scripture to have been delivered by our great Lord; and
we firmly believe that they are practicable, and binding on every Christian and
that in the life to come every man will be rewarded according to his works,
Matt. xvi. 27. And further; it is our belief, that in order to enable mankind
to put in practice these sacred precepts, many of which are contradictory to
the unregenerate will of man, John, i. 9. every man coming into the world is
endued with a measure of the light, grace, or good Spirit of Christ; by which,
as it is attended to, he is enabled to distinguish good from evil, and to
correct the disorderly passions and corrupt propensities of his nature, which
mere reason is altogether insufficient to overcome. For all that belongs to man
is fallible, and within the reach of temptation; but this divine grace, which
comes by him who hath overcome the world, John, xvi. 33. is, to those who
humbly and sincerely seek it, an all-sufficient and present help in time of
need. By this the snares of the enemy are detected, his allurements avoided,
and deliverance is experienced through faith in its effectual operation;
whereby the soul is translated out of the kingdom of darkness, and from under
the power of Satan, unto the marvellous light and kingdom of the Son of God.
"Being thus persuaded that man, without the
Spirit of Christ inwardly revealed, can do nothing to the glory of God, or to
effect his own salvation, we think this influence especially necessary to the
performance of the highest act of which the human mind is capable; even the
worship of the Father of lights and of spirits, in spirit and in truth:
therefore we consider as obstructions to pure worship, all forms which divert
the attention of the mind from the secret One, 1 John, ii. 20, 27. Yet,
although true worship is not confined to time and place, we think it incumbent on
Christians, to meet often together, Heb. x. 25. in testimony of their
dependence on the heavenly Father, and for a renewal of their spiritual
strength: nevertheless, in the performance of worship, we dare not depend for
out acceptance with him on a formal repetition of the words and experiences of
others; but we believe it to be our duty to lay aside the activity of the
imagination, and to wait in silence to have a true sight of our condition
bestowed upon us; believing even a single sigh (Rom. vii. 24.) arising from
such a sense of our infirmities, and of the need we have of divine help, to be
more acceptable to God than any performances, however specious, which originate
in the will of man.
"From what has been said respecting worship,
it follows that the ministry we approve must have its origin from the same
source; for that which is needful for man's own direction, and for his
acceptance with God, Jer. xxiii. 30, to 32, must be eminently so to enable him
to be helpful to others. Accordingly we believe that the renewed assistance of
the light and power of Christ is indispensably necessary for all true ministry;
and that this holy influence is not at our command, or to be procured by study,
but is the free gift of God to chosen and devoted servants. Hence arises our
testimony against preaching for hire, in contradiction to Christ's positive
command, 'Freely ye have received, freely give,' Matt. x. 8. and hence our
conscientious refusal to support such ministry by tithes, or other means.
"As we dare not encourage any ministry but
that which we believe to spring from the influence of the Holy Spirit, so
neither dare we attempt to restrain this influence to persons of any condition
in life, or to the male sex alone; but, as male and female are one in Christ,
we allow such of the female sex as we believe to be endued with a right
qualification for the ministry, to exercise their gifts for the general
edification of the church; and this liberty we esteem a peculiar mark of the
Gospel dispensation, as foretold by the prophet Joel, Joel, ii. 28, 29. and
noticed by the apostle Peter, Acts, ii. 16, 17.
"There are two ceremonies in use among most
professors of the Christian name--water-baptism, and what is termed the Lord's
supper. The first of these is generally esteemed the essential means of
initiation into the church of Christ; and the latter of maintaining communion
with him. But as we have been convinced that nothing short of his redeeming
power, invariably revealed, can set the soul free from the thraldom of sin, by
this power alone we believe salvation to be affected. We hold, that, as there
is one Lord and one faith, Eph. iv. 5. so his baptism is one, in nature and
operation; that nothing short of it can make us living members of his mystical
body; and that the baptism with water; administered by his forerunner John,
belonged, as the latter confessed, to an inferior dispensation, John, iii. 30.
"With respect to the other rite, we believe
that communion between Christ and his church is not maintained by that, nor any
other external performance, but only by a real participation of his divine
nature (1 Pet. ii. 4,) through faith; that this is the supper alluded to in the
Revelation, Rev. vii. 20. 'Behold I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear
my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and
he with me;' and that where the substance is attained, it is unneccessary to
attend to the shadow, which doth not confer grace, and concerning which,
opinions so different, and animosities so violent, have arisen.
"Now, as we thus believe that the grace of
God, which comes by Jesus Christ, is alone sufficient for salvation, we can
neither admit that it is conferred on a few only, whilst others are left
without it, nor thus asserting its universality, can we limit its operation to
a partial cleansing of the soul from sin, even in this life. We entertain
worthier notions both of the power and goodness of our heavenly Father, and
believe that he doth vouchsafe to assist the obedient to experience a total
surrender of the natural will to the guidance of his pure unerring Spirit;
through whose renewed assistance they are enabled to bring forth fruits unto
holiness, and to stand perfect in their present rank, Matt. v. 48. Eph. iv. 13.
Col. iv. 12.
"There are not many of our tenets more
generally known than our testimony against oaths, and against war. With respect
to the former of these, we abide literally by Christ's positive injunction,
delivered in his sermon on the mount, 'Swear not at all,' Matt. v. 34. From the
same sacred collection of the most excellent precepts of moral and religious
duty, from the example of our Lord himself, Matt. v. 39, 44, &c. Matt.
xxvi. 52, 53. Luke, xxii. 51. John, xviii. 11. and from the correspondent
convictions of his Spirit in our hearts, we are confirmed in the belief that
wars and fightings are in their origin and effects utterly repugnant to the
Gospel, which still breathes peace and goodwill to men. We also are clearly of
the judgment, that if the benevolence of the Gospel were generally prevalent in
the minds of men, it would effectually prevent them from oppressing, much more
from enslaving, their brethren (of whatever colour or complexion,) for whom, as
for themselves, Christ died; and would even influence their conduct in their
treatment of the brute creation, which would no longer groan, the victims of
their avarice, or of their false ideas of pleasure.
"Some of our ideas have in former times, as
hath been shown, subjected our friends to much suffering from government,
though to the salutary purposes of government our principles are a security.
They inculcate submission to the laws in al cases wherein conscience is not
violated. But we hold, that, as Christ's kingdom is not of this world, it is
not the business of the civil magistrate to interfere in matters of religion,
but to maintain the external peace and good order of the community. We
therefore think persecution, even in the smallest degree, unwarrantable. We are
careful in requiring our members not to be concerned in illicit trade, nor in
any manner to defraud the revenue.
"It is well known that the society, from its
first appearance, has disused those names of the months and days, which, having
been given in honour of the heroes or false gods of the heathen, originated in
their flattery or superstition; and the custom of speaking to a single person
in the plural number, as having arisen also from motives of adulation.
Compliments, superfluity of apparel and furniture, outward shows of rejoicing
and mourning, and the observation of days and times, we esteem to be
incompatible with the simplicity and sincerity of a Christian life; and public
diversions, gaming, and other vain amusements of the world, we cannot but
condemn. They are a waste of that time which is given us for nobler purposes;
and divert the attention of the mind from the sober duties of life, and from
the reproofs of instruction by which we are guided to an everlasting
inheritance.
"To conclude: although we have exhibited the
several tenets which distinguish our religious society as objects of our
belief, yet we are sensible that a true and living faith is not produced in the
mind of man by his own effort, but is the free gift of God in Christ Jesus, Eph.
ii. 8. nourished and increased by the progressive operation of his Spirit in
our hearts, and our proportionate obedience, John, vii. 17. Therefore, although
for the preservation of the testimonies given us to bear, and for the peace and
good order of the society, we deem it necessary that those who are admitted
into membership with us should be previously convinced of those doctrines which
we esteem essential, yet we require no formal subscription to any articles,
either as a condition of membership, or a qualification for the service of the
church. We prefer the judging of men by their fruits, and depending on the aid
of Him, who, by his prophet, hath promised to be 'a spirit of judgment, to him
that sitteth in judgment,' Isa. xxviii. 6. Without this, there is a danger of
receiving numbers into outward communion, without any addition to that
spiritual sheep-fold, whereof our blessed Lord declared himself to be both the
door and the shepherd, John, 7.11; that is, such as know his voice and follow
him in the paths of obedience.
"In the practice of discipline, we think it
indispensable that the order recommended by Christ himself be invariably
observed, Matt. xviii. 15-17.
"To effect the salutary purposes of
discipline, meetings were appointed at an early period of the society, which,
from the times of their being held, were called quarterly meetings. It was
afterwards found expedient to divide the districts of those meetings, and to
meet more frequently: from whence arose monthly meetings, subordinate to those
held quarterly. At length, in 1669, a yearly meeting was established, to
superintend, assist, and provide rules for the whole, previously to which
general meetings had been occasionally held.
"A monthly meeting is usually composed of
several particular congregations, situated within a convenient distance from
each other. Its business is to provide for the subsistence of the poor, and for
the education of their offspring; to judge of the sincerity and fitness of
persons appearing to be convinced of the religious principles of the society,
and desiring to be admitted into membership; to excite due attention to the
discharge of religious and moral duty; and to deal with disorderly members.
Monthly meetings also grant to such of their members as remove into other
monthly meetings certificates of their membership and conduct; without which
they cannot gain membership in such meetings. Each monthly meetng is required
to appoint certain persons, under the name of overseers, who are to take care
that the rules of our discipline to put in practice; and when any case of
complaint, or disorderly conduct, comes to their knowledge, to see that private
admonition, agreeably to the Gospel rule before-mentioned, be given, previously
to its being laid before the monthly meeting.
"When a case is introduced, it is usual for
a small committee to be appointed to visit the offender, to endeavour to
convince him of his error, and to induce him to forsake and condemn it. If they
succeed, the person is by minute declared to have made satisfaction for the
offence; if not, he is disowned as a member of the society.
"In disputes between individuals, it has
long been the decided judgment of the society, that its members should not sue
each other at law. It therefore enjoins all to end their differences by speedy
and impartial arbitration, agreeably to rules laid down. If any refuse to adopt
this mode, or, having adopted it, to submit to the award, it is the direction
of the yearly meeting that such be disowned.
"To monthly meetings also belongs the
allowing of marriages; for our society hath always scrupled to acknowledge the
exclusive authority of the priests in the solemnization of marriage. Those who
intend to marry appear together, and propose their intention to the monthly
meeting; and if not attended by their parents and guardians, produce a written
certificate of their consent, signed in the presence of witnesses. The meeting
then appoints a committee to inquire whether they be clear of other engagements
respecting marriage; and if at a subsequent meeting, to which the parties also
come and declare the continuance of their intention, no objections be reported,
they have the meeting's consent to solemnize their intended marriage. This is
done in a public meeting for worship, towards the close whereof the parties
stand up, and solemnly take each other for husband and wife. A certificate of
the proceedings is then publicly read, and signed by the parties, and
afterwards by the relations and others as witnesses. Of such marriage the
monthly meeting keeps a record; as also of the births and burials of its
members. A certificate of the date of the name of the infant, and of its
parents, signed by those present at the birth, is the subject of one of these
last-mentioned records; and an order for the interment, countersigned by the
grave-maker, of the other. The naming of children is without ceremony. Burials
are also conducted in a simple manner. The body followed by the relations and
friends, is sometimes, previously to interment, carried to a meeting; and at
the grave a pause is generally made: on both which occasions it frequently
falls out that one or more friends present have somewhat to express for the
edification of those who attend; but no religious rite is considered as an
essential part of burial.
"Several monthly meetings compose a
quarterly meeting. At the quarterly meetings are produced written answers from
the monthly meetings to certain queries respecting the conduct of their
members, and the meeting's care over them. The accounts thus received are
digested into one, which is sent, also in the form of answers to queries, by
representatives to the yearly meeting. Appeals from the judgment of monthly
meetings are brought to the quarterly meetings, whose business also it is to
assist in any difficult case, or where remissness appears in the care of the
monthly meetings over the individuals who compose them.--There are seven yearly
meetings, viz. 1. London, to which come representatives from Ireland;--2. New
England;--3. New York;--4. Pennsylvania and New Jersey;--5. Maryland;--6.
Virginia;--7. The Carolinas and Georgia.
"The yearly meeting has the general
superintendence of the society in the country in which it is established; and,
therefore, as the accounts which it receives discover the state of inferior
meetings, as particular exigencies require, or as the meeting is impressed with
a sense of duty, it gives forth its advice, making such regulations as appear
to be requisite, or excites to the observance of those already made; and
sometimes appoints committees to visit those quarterly meetings which appear to
be in need of immediate advice. Appeals from the judgment of quarterly meetings
are here finally determined; and a brotherly correspondence, by epistles, is
maintained with other yearly meetings.
"In this place it is proper to add, that, as
we believe women may be rightly called to the work of the ministry, we also
think that to them belongs a share in the support of our Christian discipline;
and that some parts of it, wherein their own sex is concerned, devolve on them
with peculiar propriety; accordingly they have monthly, quarterly, and yearly
meetings of their own sex, held at the same time and in the same place with
those of the men; but separately, and without the power of making rules; and it
may be remarked, that, during the persecutions which in the last century
occasioned the imprisonment of so many of the men, the care of the poor often
fell on the women, and was by them satisfactorily administered.
"In order that those who are in the
situation of Ministers may have the tender sympathy and counsel of those of
either sex, who by their experience in the work of religion, are qualified for
that service, the monthly meetings are advised to select such, under the
denomination of elders. These, and ministers approved by their monthly
meetings, have meetings peculiar to themselves, called meetings of ministers
and elders; in which they have an opportunity of exciting each other to a discharge
of their several duties, and of extending advice to those who may appear to be
weak, without any needless exposure. Such meetings are generally held in the
compass of each monthly, quarterly, and yearly meeting. They are conducted by
rules prescribed by the yearly meeting, and have no authority to make any
alteration or addition to them. The members of them unite with their brethren
in the meetings for discipline, and are equally accountable to the latter for
their conduct.
"It is to a meeting of this kind in London,
called the second-day's morning meeting, that the revisal of manuscripts
concerning our principles, previously to publication, is intrusted by the
yearly meeting held in London; and also the granting, in the intervals of the
yearly meeting, of certificates of approbation to such ministers as are
concerned to travel in the work of the ministry in foreign parts, in addition
to those granted by their monthly and quarterly meetings. When a visit of this
kind doth not extend beyond Great Britain, a certificate from the monthly
meeting of which the minister is a member is sufficient; if to Ireland, the
concurrence of the quarterly meeting is also required. Regulations of similar
tendency obtain in other yearly meetings.
"The yearly meeting of London, in the year
1675, appointed a meeting to be held in that city, for the purpose of advising
and assisting in case of suffering for conscience-sake, which hath continued
with great use to the society to this day. It is composed of friends, under the
name of correspondents, chosen by the several quarterly meetings, and who
reside in or near the society. The same meetings also appoint members of their
own in the country as correspondents, who are to join their brethren in London
on emergency. The names of all these correspondents, previously to their being
recorded as such, are submitted to the approbation of the yearly meeting. Those
of the men who are approved ministers are also members of this meeting, which
is called the meeting for sufferings; a name arising from its original purpose,
which is not yet become entirely obsolete.
The yearly meeting has intrusted the meeting for
sufferings with the care of printing and distributing books, and with the
management of its stock; and, considered as a standing committee of the yearly
meeting, it hath a general care of whatever may arise, during the intervals of
that meeting, affecting the society, and requiring immediate attention,
particularly of those circumstances which may occasion an application to
government.
"There is not, in any of the meetings which
have been mentioned, any president, as we believe that divine wisdom alone
ought to preside; nor hath any member a right to claim pre-eminence over the
rest. The office of clerk, with a few exceptions, is undertaken voluntarily by
some member; as is also the keeping of the records. When these are very
voluminous, and require a house for their deposit, (as is the case in London,
where the general records of the society in Great Britain are kept,) a clerk is
hired to have the care of them; but except a few clerks of this kind, and
persons who have the care of meeting-houses, none receive any stipend or
gratuity for their services in our religious society." See a pamphlet
entitled, A Summary of the History, Doctrine, and Discipline of the Quakers;
Sewell's and Ruttu's Hist. of the Quakers; Besse's Sufferings of the Quakers;
Penn's Works; Barclay's Apology for the Quakers; Neale's Hist. of the Puritans;
Claridge's Life and Posthumous Works; Bevan's Defence of the Doctrines of the
Quakers; Adams's View of Religions; Tuke's Principles of Religion as professed
by the Quakers; Gough's History of Quakers; Clarkson's Portraiture of
Quakerism.
A sect famous towards the close of the seventh
century. They were so called from a kind of absolute rest and inaction, which
they supposed the soul to be in when arrived at that state of perfection which
they called the unitive life; in which state they imagined the soul wholly
employed in contemplating its God, to whose influence it was entirely
submissive, so that he could turn and drive it where and how he would.
Molinos, a Spanish priest, is the reputed author
of Quietism; though the Illuminati, in Spain, had certainly taught something
like it before. Molinos had numerous disciples in Italy, Spain, France, and the
Netherlands. One of the principal patrons and propagators of Quietism in France
was Marie Bouveres de la Motte Guyon, a woman of fashion, and remarkable for
her piety. Her religious sentiments made a great noise in the year 1687, and
were declared unsound by several learned men, especially Bossnet, who opposed
them in the year 1697. Hence arose a controversy between the prelate last
mentioned and Fenelon, archbishop of Cambray, who seemed, disposed to favour
the system of Guyon, and who, in 1697, published a book containing several of
her tenets. Fenelon's book, by means of Bossuet, was condemned in the year
1699, by Innocent XII. and the sentence of condemnation was read by Fenelon
himself at Cambray, who exhorted the people to respect and obey the papal
decree. Notwithstanding this seeming acquiescence, the archbishop persisted to
the end of his days in the sentiments, which, in obedience to the order of the
pope, he retracted and condemned in a public manner.
A sect similar to this appeared at Mount Athos,
in Thessaly, near the end of the fourteenth century, called Hesychasts, meaning
the same the Quietists. They were a branch of the Mystics, or those more
perfect monks, who, by long and intense contemplation, endeavoured to arrive at
a tranquillity of mind free from every degree of tumult and perturbation.
In a moral sense, is opposed to disorderly motion,to turbulency, to contention, to pragmatical curiosity, to all such exorbitant behaviour whereby the right of others is inflinged, their peace disturbed, their just interest or welfare any ways prejudiced. It is a calm, steady, regular way of proceeding within the bounds and measures prescribed by reason, justice, and charity, modesty and sobriety. It is of such importance, that we find it enjoined in the sacred Scripture; and we are commanded to study and peruse it with the greatest diligence and care, 1 Thess. iv. 11. The great Dr. Barrow has two admirable sermons on this subject in the first volume of his Works. He justly observes, 1. That quietness is just and equal.--2. It indicates humility, modesty, and sobriety of mind.--3. It is beneficial to the world, preserving the general order of things.--4. It preserves concord and amity.--5. It begets tranquillity and peace.--6. It is a decent and lovely thing, indicating a good disposition, and producing good effects.--7. It adorneth any profession, bringing credit and respect thereto.--8. It is a safe practice, keeping us from needless encumbrances and hazards: whereas, pragmaticalness, interfering with the business and concerns of others, often raises dissensions, involves in guilt, injures others, shows our vanity and pride, and exposes to continual trouble and danger.
A Sunday so called, because it is the fiftieth day before Easter, reckoned in whole numbers, SHROVE SUNDAY.
A sect that appeared in Phrygia, about 189; thus called from their prophetess Quintilia. In this sect the women were admitted to perform the sacredotal and episcopal functions. They attributed extraordinary gifts to Eve for having first eaten of the tree of knowledge; told great things of Mary, the sister of Moses, as having been a prophetess, &c. The added, that Philip the deacon had four daughters, who were all prophetesses, and were of their sect. In these assemblies it was usual to see the virgins entering in white robes, personating prophetesses. The errors of the Quintilians were at first looked upon as folly and madness; but, as they appeared to gain ground, the council of Laodicea, in 320, condemned it.