FROM FRIENDS IN LONDON. and cemented in the unity of the Spirit, through faith and obedience unto him, their holy head, guide, and leader into all truth, we most tenderly and affectionately salute you. It behoveth us, in the depth of humility and reverence, to consider and remind one another of the merciful dealings of the Lord our God, who, in the aboundings of his grace, hath called us out of this present evil world, to bear among the children of men a public profession of our faith in, and subjection to, the light and spirit of his Son, our Saviour, inwardly revealed. An holy and honourable calling! Let us, we beseech you, brethren, walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called: "As obe"dient children, not fashioning ourselves according to the for"mer lusts in our ignorance; but, as he that hath called us is holy, "so let us be holy in all manner of conversation."* The various affairs and concerns of the churches, which have been laid before this our assembly, have been considered and concluded in a spirit of brotherly love and christian condescension: in the exercise whereof, through the prevailing power and efficacy of pure love, every thing centres in an agreeable calmness and serenity. By accounts brought from the several Quarterly Meetings in England; and by epistles from Wales, North-Britain, Ireland, Holland, Rhode-Island, for New-England, Pennsylvania, and New-Jersey, New-York, Virginia, Maryland, North-Carolina, and Tortola, we understand, that there is, in many places, an openness to hear the testimony of truth, and that many are convinced of our principles, so as to join with us in the public proOur earnest desire and necessary caution is fession of the same. that we may conduct ourselves with the utmost care and circumspection, that no offence or occasion of stumbling be given to religious enquirers, but that our "light may so shine before men, "that they may see our good works, and glorify our Father which " is in heaven."+ The amount of Friends' sufferings brought in this year from England and Wales, being principally for tithes, and those called church-rates, is three thousand and thirty pounds, and upwards; and those from Ireland, one thousand five hundred and ninetyone pounds, and upwards. The two Friends formerly mentioned, who have been long imprisoned on excommunications, still remain sufferers under the oppression of the ecclesiastical courts; from the unnecessary severity of which, many faithful subjects of the Protestant government continue to hope for deliverance. There are also two other Friends in prison, where they have been near four years, by Exchequer process for tithes; against which + MAT. v. 16. 1 PET. i. 14, 15.* 234 Antichristian yoke of bondage we earnestly advise you to stand fast in that liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free, and to maintain your testimony, in this respect, with that fortitude and meekness which ever accompany and support faithful and conscientious sufferers in such a righteous and christian cause. Dear Friends, It is matter of exceeding grief and concern to many of the faithful among us, to observe how far that exemplary plainness of habit, speech, and deportment, which distinguished our forefathers, and for which they patiently underwent the reproach and contradiction of sinners, are now departed from by too many under our name, and who frequent our religious assemblies. A declension from the simplicity of truth herein hath been, and we fear is, attended with pernicious consequences, in opening the way of some, the more easily and unobserved, to attend the places of public resort for the exercise of sports, plays, and from which age, other hurtful and destructive diversions of the truth taught our faithful elders, and still teaches us, wholly to refrain. And indeed the christian gravity of their lives and actions always carried with it a severe reproof and manifest opposition to the wantonness and levity of such dangerous and sinful pastimes. Wherefore we beseech you, be not deceived nor led aside by false notions of imaginary pleasures, "to partake of the unfruitful "works of darkness: but watch and be sober; and, as becometh "children of the light and of the day, abstain from all appearance "of evil."* It is with a degree of comfort and satisfaction that we observe in divers places a commendable zeal and fervency in some, to cleanse the church from pollutions; to restore the discipline thereof where decayed or disused; to assist and bring back the scattered and dispersed of the flock; and to recover those who have gone astray, and declined from the testimony of truth and footsteps of the faithful; of which declension too many instances We cannot but earnestly desire, that the truappear among us. ly concerned in a work of so great importance, may meet with a reception answerable to the charity of their endeavours therein. Wherefore we intreat Friends, in their several and respective Monthly Meetings, to assist and encourage such of their members as they apprehend to be rightly concerned in, and gifted and qualified for, so useful and eminent a service. And, dear Friends; although the labours of such as are called forth by the spirit of Christ, and instructed thereby rightly to divide the word of truth, are highly serviceable in the church, and * THESS. v. 22. FROM FRIENDS IN LONDON. the feet of those who publish the glad tidings of salvation exceed- 66 And as it behoveth us, as obedient subjects, religiously to observe the close connection of those excellent precepts, "fear God, honour the king;" so let us be mindful not to defraud the king of any of his customs, duties, or excise, nor to deal in goods suspected to be run; nor in anywise to be concerned, for private gain, in any manner of trade prohibited by law. And let us in an especial manner beware, lest any of us, under the present blessings of outward ease and liberty in religion, be found using that liberty for a cloak of licentiousness, and, instead of serving God, serve ourselves, and our own vicious inclinations. It were certainly a most lamentable abuse of the goodness of God, thus to pervert his mercies to the corruption of our man 6 1 TIM. vi. 6. + 1 JOHN ii. 15. 1 PET. ii. 17. ners: let us therefore earnestly watch and pray that we may always be preserved from such ingratitude. And, dear brethren; as many of you as are parents of children, and have experienced the work of truth in yourselves, cannot but have strong and ardent desires for the welfare of your offspring, not only that they may inherit your temporal estates, and outward enjoyments, but above all, that they may come, with you, to be made partakers of the word of life, and the glorious hope of a blessed immortality in order whereunto our advice is, that you be careful to bring them up in the practice of a diligent and constant attendance of religious meetings, instructing them to wait upon God when there, for the guidance and influence of his Holy Spirit, the only Unerring teacher and leader into all truth. We also recommend unto you the practice of retiring to wait upon the Lord in and with your own families; wherein, as your minds are rightly exercised, you may find yourselves qualified to ad-` minister such advice and counsel to them, as may conduce to the building up and establishing them in the most holy faith, which, working by love, purifieth the heart, and cleanseth from all unrighteousness. We also tenderly advise you to bring up your children and families in the frequent reading of the Holy Scriptures; and to use your utmost endeavours to prevent their having and reading such books as tend to profaneness and irreligion, and to alienate their minds from the love of God, and obedi ence to his requirings. Finally, brethren, farewell. "Walk in the spirit, and ye shall "not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. Dwell in love, and the God of "love and peace shall be with you." To whom, for the multitude of his mercies vouchsafed to his church and people, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be all glory, honour, praise, and thanksgiving rendered and ascribed, now, henceforth, and for ever. Amen. Signed in and on behalf of the Yearly Meeting, by Clerk to the Meeting this Year. EPISTLE LXXVII-1754. Dearly Beloved Friends and Brethren, In the love of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and under a renewed sense of the continuance of the presence of the Lord our God, the alone giver of life, and the strength, support, and FROM FRIENDS IN LONDON. 237 stability of his church and people, we tenderly salute you; earnestly exhorting, that in all our religious assemblies appointed for the worship of God, who is a spirit, our approaches before him may be in the depth of humility, and with an awful reverence of soul, having our entire dependence and expectation on him, and on the influences of his Holy Spirit, the comforter, fountain, and well-spring of all spiritual consolation, and the preparer and qualifier of his people to receive the same, by subjecting their spirits to the obedience of Christ; enabling them, through the assistance of divine grace, to purge themselves "from all "filthiness both of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear "of God."* Wherefore, brethren, let every individual of us, who make profession of the blessed truth, above all things beware that " we have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of dark"ness;" knowing assuredly that the Holy Spirit of discipline abhors all manner of wickedness and impurity, and will not "abide when unrighteousness cometh in, nor dwell in the body "that is subject unto sin." Let the spirit of Christ bear rule in your hearts, and your lives and conversations will be regulated thereby, to the praise and glory of his name, who is worthy for ever. Amen. Thus the real and substantial enjoyment of peace increasing in proportion to your progress in obedience, your assemblies for the worship of Almighty God will become your chiefest joy; and your own taste and experience of the consolations therein received, will attract you to those places of spiritual feeding and refreshment, with an earnestness of desire, even superior to that of a natural man, when, being hungry, he resorts to the place of receiving his daily bread. As you attain this excellent disposition of mind, you will rather come before than after the appointed time of assembling, and render the repetition of the wholesome advices, often given on that account, less necessary in time to come. And, dear Friends; it is with much comfort and satisfaction we have to acquaint you, that in the course of considering and determining a variety of weighty affairs laid before this meeting, the whole hath been conducted in that spirit of love, meekness, and condescension, which should ever preside over all the members of the true church of Christ, among whom contention, envy, strife, wrath, and discord, ought not to exist. By the accounts we have received from the several Quarterly Meetings in England, and by epistles from Wales, North-Briton, 2 COR. vii. 1. + EPRES. v. 11. • WISD. i. 4, 5. |