FRIENDS' LIBRARY. PROSPECTUS. their faithfulness, the way has been opened for their successors to enjoy unmolested that liberty of conscience, for the exercise of which they endured long and severe persecution. They have transmitted to us, as a precious inheritance, the profession of those Christian doctrines and testimonies, in support of which they nobly contended. A solemn and imperative obligation rests on us to maintain them inviolate. It is both our duty and our interest to be intimately conversant with their writings; to imitate their piety and devotedness, and to strive to be imbued with that fervour and heavenly mindedness which so conspicuously marked their example. AMONG the means of promoting the cause of religion and disseminating a correct knowledge of the principles which distinguish the religious Society of Friends, the general circulation of the approved Writings of those members whose lives were devoted to the cause of Christ, and distinguished by conformity to his sacred precepts, is calculated to be peculiarly useful. Those eminent men who were instrumental, in the Divine Hand, in gathering us to be a distinct people, were remarkable for the depth of their religious experience, and for the clearness of their perceptions of the truths of Christianity. Their sin- The press is teeming in the present day with gleness of heart, their separation from the light and trivial publications, as well as with policy and friendships of the world, their inti-those, which, though ostensibly of a religious mate and practical acquaintance with the Holy character, contain sentiments repugnant to our Scriptures, and their attention to the unfold-views of Scripture truth. The perusal of the ings of the Spirit of Truth, eminently qualified them to distinguish the purity and spirituality of the gospel dispensation, from the errors with which human wisdom had obscured it. They did not profess to have made any new discoveries in religion, nor had they a new gospel to preach. Their work was to promulgate, in their original simplicity, the doctrines set forth by our blessed Lord and his apostles; and hence they always declared their willingness, that both their principles and practices should be tried by the Holy Scriptures, and that whatsoever was repugnant to their testimony, should be rejected as false. They were "bold in asserting the truth; patient in suffering for it, and unwearied in their labours for its advancement," unmoved alike by the frowns or favours of the world. Through VOL. I.-No. 1. former has a decided tendency to dissipate the mind, to unfit it for serious meditation, and to destroy the relish for works of a more solid and practical kind; while the latter are calculated to weaken the attachment to our Christian testimonies, and to instil opinions adverse to their support. To counteract these evils; to imbue the minds of the youth with the knowledge and the love of our principles, and of their honourable predecessors, the study of the selected writings of Friends could not fail to be a valuable auxiliary. Many of their journals are replete with interest and instruction, and can scarcely be read but with profit and pleasure. It is true, that owing to the peculiar style of the times in which they were written, some of them are prolix and redundant; and the frequent disputes with its oppo 1 of them periodically, and in a connected series. Influenced by the desire to promote this important object, and in compliance with the solicitations of their friends, the subscribers have been induced to undertake the labour of editing and publishing the proposed periodical, under the title of "Friends' Library," provided a sufficient subscription shall be obtained to defray the expenses. Their aim will be, to give the work as much interest and value, as a careful research into the literature of the Society will furnish; to embrace the standard doctrinal treatises; the journals of Friends; the history of the Society, and biographical notices of some distinguished individuals who have left no print nents, in which the Society was engaged, oc-ings for Sufferings; and within the past year, casion many of them to be of a controversial increased anxiety has been expressed that it character. Some of them too, were tempora- might be carried into effect, by the publication ry, adapted only to the circumstances which they were designed to meet, and of course have lost much of their interest. By a judicious selection and abridgment, the bulk, and consequently the expense of their works, would be much lessened, their excellent contents presented to the reader in a more attractive form, and their intrinsic value enhanced. These writings have become extremely scarce and costly. Many of them are not to be bought at all, and from various causes there is no probability they will be reprinted in single volumes; while those of modern date are becoming more difficult of access. While the stock of Friends' books is thus decreasing, the number of our members, who ought to be conversant with them, is augmenting; and unlessed memoirs; with such other original or sesome more effectual mode of supplying the wants of the Society is adopted, the access to its approved writings must soon be limited to comparatively few. When we consider the rapid increase, and the wide spread of our members in new settlements, where books, and the means to procure them, are alike difficult to obtain, that many of the youth are growing up to maturity with scarcely any opportunity of reading Friends' books; the obligation which rests on those more favourably situated, to make an effort for relieving them from these disadvantages, assumes a serious aspect. Impressed with these considerations, Friends in various parts of the United States, have repeatedly expressed the desire, that a new edition of the writings of the Society, judiciously abridged, should be issued. The subject has engaged the attention of several of the Meet lected matter as may comport with the design. In the prosecution of this plan they anticipate assistance from some of their friends, and design to submit the whole to the inspection of a committee of the Meeting for Sufferings. Nearly all the Yearly Meetings having approved the proposed plan, and recommended it to Friends, it is respectfully suggested, that Monthly and Preparative Meetings take measures to promote subscriptions among their members. Friends who may feel an interest in the undertaking, will confer a favour by forwarding to the editors the names of subscribers, stating the Post-Offices to which their copies shall be sent. WILLIAM EVANS. Philadelphia, Second mo. 8, 1836. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. mental religion in the heart. ness, is the same in its nature with the most luminous blaze. It makes manifest those things which the Divine controversy is against, and leads back to the state of gospel simplici In tracing the history of the Christian Church | depended, instead of pressing after experifrom its earliest establishment, through the periods of its decline, until it reached that long This, of necessity, was a progressive work. and dark night of apostacy, which for ages The brightness of meridian day bursts not at preceded the reformation, we find, that in pro- once upon the world. There is a gradual inportion as the life and substance of religion crease of light, from its earliest dawn until it decayed, a multitude of ceremonies were in- reaches its fullest splendour; yet the feeblest troduced in its place, little, if at all, less oner-ray which first darts through the thick darkous than the typical institutions of the Mosaic law. This has ever been the result, when the ingenuity of man has attempted to improve or adorn the simplicity of spiritual religion. There is a natural activity in the human ty and purity, from which the visible Church mind, which prompts it to be busy, and can with difficulty submit to that self-renunciation which the gospel enjoins. It is much easier for a professor of religion to be engaged in the performance of rites and ceremonies, than to yield his heart an entire sacrifice to God. Objects presented to the mind through the medium of the natural senses, produce a powerful impression, and are more easily apprehended, than those truths which are addressed to the intellectual faculties only, and are designed to subdue and control the wayward passions of the human heart. It is not surprising, therefore, that instead of that worship of the Almighty Father, which is in Spirit and in Truth, and which requires the subjection of the will and activity of man, and the prostration of the whole soul in reverent humility before God, a routine of ceremonies and forms should have been substituted, calculated to strike the eye and the ear with admiration. As the period of degeneracy was marked by the great amount and increase of these ceremonies, so, when it pleased the Most High to raise up individuals, and enlighten them to see the existing corruptions, and how far the professed Christian Church had departed from original purity, and to prepare them for instruments in working a reformation; one of their first duties was, to draw men off from those rites by which their minds had been unduly occupied, and on which they had too much has lapsed. And although the light may not be sufficiently clear to discover all the corruptions, nor the state of the world such as to bear their removal, yet those holy men, who act up faithfully to the degree of knowledge with which they are favoured, are worthy of double honour, as instruments for correcting the growing evils of their day, and preparing the way for further advancement in the refor mation. It is interesting to observe, that the different religious societies which have arisen since the reformation, all aimed at the attainment of greater degrees of spirituality and a more fervent piety, than was generally to be found among the sect from which they sprung. The idea, that forms were too much substituted for power, and a decent compliance with the externals of religion, for its heart-changing work, seems to have given rise to them all. Each successive advance lopped off some of the ceremonial excrescences, with a view of making the system more conformable to the Apostolic pattern. In the early part of the seventeenth century, considerable progress was made in this work, tending to prepare the way for that more full and complete exemplification of the original simplicity of the Gospel, which was exhibited to the world by George Fox and his coadjutors. It is no arrogant assumption to assert, that to whatever point in the reformation we turn our attention, we find the germ of those principles, which were subsequently developed and carried out by the founders of our Society, actuating the Reformers and leading them to results, approaching nearer to those attained by FRIENDS, in proportion to the faithfulness and measure of light bestowed on the individual. Opinions very similar to those held by our Society, on the subjects of the indwelling and guidance of the Holy Spirit, baptism and other ceremonies, superstitious rites, war, oaths, and a ministry of human appointment and education, were promulgated by individuals at different periods, antecedent to the rise of Friends, though not advanced as distinguishing tenets by any considerable body of professors. and even brought her crown into jeopardy. Elizabeth, moreover, was fond of magnificence in her devotions; and in this respect, the pomp of popery suited well with her inclinations. It is questionable, indeed, whether her preference for the Protestant religion was not as much owing to her affection for her brother, King Edward, and respect for the memory of her father, as to any decided conviction of its nearer approximation to the standard of Scripture Truth. She restored the liturgy and order of wor ship as established by her brother, and strictly enjoined its observance, though many of her Protestant subjects conscientiously objected to some parts of it. The idol of uniformity, and The reformation from Popery under Ed- the long-cherished idea of a catholic Church, ward VI. was but partial. Many of the errors to which the Papists had made such lavish and superstitions of that pompous and cere- sacrifices of human life, had strong attractions monial religion were retained; partly because even for Protestants; and Elizabeth, as well the dawning light was not sufficient to reveal as her successors, persecuted even to death, their true character, and partly in compliance not a few of her pious subjects, in the vain with the popular prejudice in favour of ancient institutions, and of a showy and imposing form of worship. There were, however, men of eminent piety and religious discernment, who perceived the degeneracy from primitive Christianity, which gave birth to those corruptions, and had since fostered their growth and promoted their increase, until they threatened to supplant vital religion. On the death of Edward, the hopes which these had cherished, of further advances toward the original simplicity and purity of Christianity, were extinguished by the accession of Mary, and the barbarous persecution which followed. Many scaled with their blood the testimony of a good conscience, and by faithfulness unto death, not only proved the sincerity of their profession, but prepared the way for those nearer approaches to Divine Truth, which have since been made. If the clearer spiritual light of the present day, unfolds to us some points in which the belief of those holy men was defective, it also places in stronger relief, as a noble example worthy of all imitation, the undaunted firmness and integrity of their characters, their love of Christ, and their devotion to his cause. It cannot be viewed in any other light, than as a Divine interposition in behalf of his suffering people, that this bigoted and relentless queen so soon closed her career, after a brief and inglorious reign. When Elizabeth came to the throne, she found herself surrounded by Papists strongly attached to their religion, and zealous for its support. Her prudence dictated a cautious course in changing the existing order of things. Too great or sudden alterations, might have hazarded the peace of the realin, attempt to coerce the consciences of men, and reduce them to one common standard. The doctrines and form of worship revived by Elizabeth after the death of Mary, left the minds of many much dissatisfied. They desired a more thorough separation from the errors of Popery; a simpler method of church government, and a purer and more spiritual religion and worship. These were called Puritans; a name which, though bestowed on them with no good design, yet agreed well with those things for which they contended. The Protestants who fled to Frankfort, during the persecution under Queen Mary, unanimously concluded to dispense with the litany, surplice and responses of the Church of England: that public service should begin with a general confession of sins, then the people to sing a psalm in metre in a plain tune, after which the minister should pray for the assistance of the Holy Spirit, and proceed to ser mon. These innovations on the established order of the service-book, led to warm disputes, which soon spread into England; and though at times the breach would seem nearly closed, yet the controversy was again and again renewed, and efforts made to procure further reformations from the errors of the Romish Church. Soon after Elizabeth came to the throne, she appointed a commission to review the liturgy as established by Edward. The alterations made in it, were rather in favour of the Papists than the Puritans, by many of whom it was viewed as more objectionable than the old Service Book. It was, however, presented to parliament, and adopted as the national form of religion, by "The Act for the Uniformity of Common Prayer and Service in the Church, principles of rational and Christian liberty, for which they had formerly struggled, and exercised on others, the oppression and cruelty, which they had so much condemned in their &c." The same parliament passed an act The act of uniformity was the source of great mischief to the Church. Many conscientions ministers and others could not conform to its requirements, believing them to be opposed to the doctrines and precepts of the Bible. The rigorous enforcement of the act, while it punished the bodies of men, and wasted their estates, did not convince their minds; but rather strengthened their opposition, and alienated their affections from the Church. In the doctrinal views of the two parties, the Conformists and the Puritans, there was little avowed difference. The uneasiness arose chiefly from a conscientious objection to the assumptions of the bishops, the introduction of numerous unscriptural offices and titles in the church-the laxity of her discipline-the prohibition of extemporaneous prayer-the numerous festivals-the use of organs and other instruments of music in time of worship -of the sign of the cross in the ceremony of baptism-kneeling at the ceremony of the supper-bowing at the name of Jesus and on entering or leaving their places of worship to the ring in marriage, as well as parts of the words spoken during the rite; and to the use of the surplice and other vestments by the priests during Divine service. Such were the principal grounds of difference in the commencement of the dispute; and though the Conformists affected to consider them non-essential, yet they insisted on them with a pertinacity, which increased the opposition and widened the breach, until at length it produced an entire separation, from which have sprung the various classes of dissenters. That the Puritans were conscientious in their objections to the established religion, will not be questioned by such as are acquainted with the piety of their lives, and the patience and fortitude with which they endured persecution for their religious opinions. Connected with these, was a steadfast resistance to the assumed power of the crown, as visible head of the Church, to prescribe to, and control, the conscience of the subject, in things not essential. Against this they manfully contended, while the reins of government were in the hands of their opponents. But when the revolution of civil affairs placed them in possession of the power, they too soon forgot the Contending for their religious liberty, naturally had the effect to make them more jealous of their civil rights; and hence, during the subsequent reign, we find them standing forth, as staunch opposers of the encroachments of the crown. That they were instruments in the hand of Providence, for carrying forward the reformation from the errors and superstitions by which Christianity had been overlaid, cannot be doubted; yet as this was a gradual work, accomplished by slow degrees, the corruptions not being all discovered at once, but progressively, according to the faithfulness of those engaged in the work; so others rose up and separated from them, who carried the reformation still further. The first of these was the society of Brownists, who contended that the Church of England was not a true church, because of the Popish corruptions which she retained and enforced, and her persecution for the sake of religion-that the power of church government was in the members-that the ministry was not subject to human selection and ordination, but that any brother who felt engaged, might preach or exhort, and that prayer was not to be limited to prescribed forms. Their mode of discipline was congregational, every society being distinct and independent of the others; holding intercourse and communion, however, as brethren and professors of a common faith. The severe persecutions which they experienced from the government, induced many of this persuasion to fly to the continent, where they met with little better treatment. They appear to have been a zealous and sincere people, living with strictness and regularity, and preaching with much fervour and energy. The spirit of inquiry was now abroad, and increasing in vigour and activity. Instead of receiving opinions on the authority of church canons or dignitaries, there was a growing disposition to bring them to the test of revealed truth. Many which had long been implicitly adopted, and transmitted from one generation to another, were now called in question and warmly debated. As early as 1617, John Selden published his History of Tithes, in which he contends that they are of human, not Divine appointment. It was not to be supposed that those whose worldly interests were affected by such an opinion, would suffer his book to pass without severe animadversion; and as a readier mode of counteracting |