the foundation on which they rest,—to try them by the test of Scripture and experience,—and more especially, with all humility and devotion of heart, to seek the counsel of God respecting them,--will not be disputed by persons of good sense, candour, and liberality. Such a course seems to be prescribed, not only by the rule already cited, but by the exhortation of the apostle Peter:-" Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;" II Pet. i, 5: an exhortation perfectly coincident with the injunction of Paul:"Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men;" I Cor. xiv, 20.

This careful and devout examination might, in various instances, lead to the discarding of views and practices which are useless and irrelevant, and which have no favourable influence in promoting the cause of vital and practical religion. On the other hand, should any Christian be led, by such a proving of his peculiar principles, to a "full persuasion" that, being founded on the law of God, they are calculated to edify himself, and to promote the spiritual welfare of the church in general, it becomes him again to obey the dictate of the apostle, and to "hold fast that which is good," I Thes. v, 21.

Having premised these general remarks, I shall proceed, in pursuance of my main object, to apply them to the religious peculiarities of that society of Christians, of which I am myself a member.

There are, I believe, few persons accustomed to a comprehensive view of the whole militant church, and of the course which true religion is taking amongst mankind, who will be disposed to deny that the situation occupied in the body by the Society of Friends is one of considerable importance to the cause of righteousness. My own observation has indeed led

me to form the conclusion that there are some spiritually-minded persons, not immediately connected with Friends, who go still farther, and who even rejoice in the consideration that, among the various classes of the Christian church, there is numbered one fraternity who bear a plain and decisive testimony against warfare in all its forms-against oaths under any pretext —and against all hiring or paying of the ministers of the Gospel a fraternity, whose practice and history afford a sufficient evidence that God may be acceptably and profitably worshipped without the intervention of a single typical ceremony, and without the necessary or constant aid of any human ministry. However such persons may differ from us in the precise view of these very subjects, they appear to be aware that the tendency of our peculiarities is good, and they will allow that Christianity, in its progress through the world, may derive no trifling advantage from the circumstance, that these religious principles are, by some, at least, among the followers of Jesus, plainly and resolutely upheld.

That such an apprehension is well founded-that the consistent and religious part of the Society of Friends are actually occupying an important and useful station in the mystical body of Christ-that their peculiar principles are of an edifying tendency, and are calculated to promote the spiritual welfare, not only of Friends themselves, but of the church in general-is the deliberate conviction of my own mind; and it is probable that the persons for whose use this work is principally intended may very generally unite with me in entertaining that conviction.

If such be the case, I would remind them that no religious views or practices can be salutary in the long run, or truly promote the spiritual progress of the militant church, which are the mere creatures of hu

man reason and imagination, and which do not arise directly or indirectly out of the essential and unalterable principles of the law of God. I may with humility acknowledge my own persuasion, that the religious peculiarities of the Society of Friends do indeed arise out of those principles; and to the proof of this point my future observations respecting them will be chiefly, if not exclusively, directed. In the first place, however, I must call the reader's attention to a few arguments and reflections respecting an important doctrine of religion, which, although by no means peculiar to Friends, is certainly promulgated amongst them with a peculiar degree of earnestness, and which lies at the root of all their particular views and practices— the doctrine of the perceptible influence and guidance of the Spirit of Truth.

CHAPTER III.

ON THE PERCEPTIBLE INFLUENCE AND GUIDANCE OF THE
SPIRIT OF TRUTH.

IT is generally allowed amongst the professors of Christianity, that in us, that is in our "flesh" or natural man, dwelleth no good thing; that we are unable of ourselves to fulfil the law of righteousness, or to serve the Lord with acceptance; and that the fountain of all true moral excellence, in mankind, is the Spirit of God. The serious and enlightened Christian, of every denomination, will readily confess that it is only through the influence of this Holy Spirit that he is enabled rightly to apprehend God, to know himself, and to accept Jesus Christ as his all-sufficient Saviour -that it is only through such an influence that he is converted in the first place, and afterwards sanctified and prepared for his heavenly inheritance.

The differences of sentiment which exist in the church, on this great subject, have respect, not to the question whether the Holy Spirit does or does not operate on the heart of man, (for on this question all true Christians are agreed), but principally, if not entirely, to the mode in which that Spirit operates.

On this point there appears to exist, among the professors of Christianity, and even among serious

Christians, a considerable diversity of opinion. Some persons conceive that the Spirit of God does not influence the heart of man directly, but only through the means of certain appointed instruments; such as the Holy Scriptures, and the Word preached. Many others, who allow the direct and independent influences of the Spirit, and deem them absolutely essential to the formation of the Christian character, refuse to admit that they are perceptible to the mind, but consider them to be hidden in their action, and revealed only in their fruits. Now, with Friends (and I believe with very many persons not so denominated) it is a leading principle in religion-a principle on which they deem it to be, in a particular manner, their duty to insist that the operations of the Holy Spirit in the soul are not only immediate and direct, but perceptible, and that we are all furnished with an inward Guide or Monitor, who makes his voice known to us, and who, if faithfully obeyed and closely followed, will infallibly conduct us into true virtue and happiness, because he leads us into a real conformity with the will of God.

That our sentiments, on this important subject, are well founded-that the principle in question forms a constituent part of the unchangeable truth of God, is satisfactorily evinced, according to our apprehension, by various declarations contained in the Holy Scriptures.

In a former chapter I have called the attention of the reader to the doctrine, that a measure of the Spirit of the Son of God is bestowed upon all mankind; and I have endeavoured to show it to be in reference to his spiritual appearance in the hearts of his creatures, that Christ is styled "the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Now, it is certain that nothing can justly be denominated light,