438 ANNUAL EPISTLES EPISTLE CXXXVII-1814. Dear Friends, Our hearts have been afresh warmed with the love of the Gospel of Christ Jesus our Lord, and we feel encouraged therein to testify our unabated solicitude, for the preservation and prosperity of the members of our religious Society. We desire that the goodness and mercy of Him, from whom we derive every blessing, may excite you to fear, to love, and to serve him with fervency of soul, and to pray that under the influence of the Spirit of the Son of his love, you may in all things, be enabled to glorify his holy name. Deeply impressed with gratitude to Almighty God, that the sword is again stayed in this quarter of the globe, and that the spirit of contention which has so long prevailed, has been succeeded by marks of christian forbearance and charity, we desire to express our thankfulness for the prospect of peace. The judgments of the Lord have indeed been in the earth; and many have learned righteousness. May the number of these increase; may the peaceable spirit of the Gospel, the surest pledge of permanent tranquillity, spread and prevail! We of this island have cause to be doubly thankful we have been preserved from witnessing the effusion of blood, and the ravages of war, which have spread over the greatest part of Europe; and we are now permitted, in common with nations, to rejoice thus far in their cessation. In what way, therefore, beloved Friends, shall we evince our sense of these unmerited favours? It is well known that we regard it as a christian testimony, to refrain from uniting in those public demonstrations of joy, which often prevail on such occasions. We are convinced that frequently they lead to practices, inconsistent with that meek and quiet spirit which should clothe the disciple of Jesus, and are an inlet to excesses which estrange the mind from God. J is not in this way that we should manifest our grateful feelings; but by endeavouring, through the influence of redeeming love and power, to live more and more in the spirit of the Gospel, and thus to become examples of genuine christian conduct. Public worship is a duty which we owe to our great Creator. And even in contemplating the recent events to which we have already alluded, we feel engaged to invite you to consider them as an additional incentive to diligence in this respect. Great indeed are the benefits of a regular attendance of our religious meetings; and of waiting upon God in spirit and in truth, when thus assembled, FROM FRIENDS IN LONDON. The mind being then abstracted from temporal concerns, and fixed on the true object of worship, aspirations for help will arise; the union of a travail of spirit will be felt, and we shall be more and more sensible of the benefit of so employing a due portion of our time. If we become thus sensible, we shall be earnest that all the branches of our families may partake with us; and we shall not rest satisfied that either they or ourselves should, once only in the week, allot a few hours to this duty. Let us then, dear Friends, entreat you who may have been deficient, to lay these things to heart, and deeply to consider whether your practice is calculated to advance you in the christian course, or render you good examples to those around you. If the mind be duly turned to the Lord, in meetings for worship, the benefits which result will not be confined to the hours that may be thus occupied. We shall, even in the concerns of this life, be preserved in a degree of the same calm and watchful state of mind, and in frequent retirement be led to examine our own hearts. Thus furnished with strength from above, we may with increasing, yet humble confidence, pursue our good resolutions, and proceed with calmness and safety in the way cast Our desires for the up for the redeemed of the Lord to walk in. possessions of this world shall be limited within the bounds of christian moderation we will prefer durable riches and right eousness. The sufferings of our Friends in this nation and Ireland amount to upwards of sixteen thousand two hundred pounds; of this sum about eleven hundred pounds arose from military demands; and the remainder, from the support of our testimony against tithes. and other ecclesiastical claims. Ten of our young men have been imprisoned for a short time on account of the local militia. The epistolary intercourse with our friends in Ireland, and in America, has been maintained in this as in former years, and has been the means of awakening an interest in the welfare of our distant brethren. Whilst we lament that America should yet remain under the afflicting scourge from which Europe is in a great measure freed; we anticipate, with hope, the event which shall extend to that country also the blessings of peace. We desire tenderly to remind those who have joined us upon the ground of convincement of the truth of our religious principles, that a spiritual confession calls for evident fruits of holiness. May these, therefore, regard their connexion with us, rather as an opening to fresh duties, than as the period of cessation and rest. We have been made sensible, during this Yearly Meeting, of the continued goodness of Him who has eminently blessed our Society. Under a grateful sense of his mercies, we renewedly invite you to a full surrender to his gracious disposal, and in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, we again salute you, and cordially bid you farewell. Signed in and on behalf of the Yearly Meeting, by JOHN WILKINSON, Clerk of the Meeting this year. EPISTLE CXXXVIII-1815. Dear Friends, In offering you the salutation of our love, we believe it right to acknowledge our thankfulness to the Author of all good,that we have been permitted to meet together. We have had again to rejoice in a sense of the goodness of Him who, by his presence, owned us in times past; and, though sensible of the loss of the labour and counsel of some, who have recently been removed from the probations of time, we have felt the consoling assurance that the Di vine Power is both ancient and new. It is from this holy source that every enjoyment, both spiritual and temporal, flows; it is to the Lord Almighty that we are indebted for the blessing of existence, for the means of redemption, and for that lively hope of immortality which comes by Jesus Christ. To his service, then, dear Friends, in obedience to the manifestation of his power, let us offer our talents; to the glory of his great and excellent name, let us devote our strength and the residue of our days. The state of our religious Society, as transmitted from the several bodies which constitute this Yearly Meeting, has been again brought under our view. Accounts of the sufferings of our members, chiefly for tithes and other ecclesiastical demands, and for claims of a military nature, to the amount of fifteen thousand seven hundred and twenty seven pounds, have been reported; and we are informed that ten of our young men have been imprisoned since last year, for refusing to serve in the local militia. We are encouraged in believing, that our ancient christian testimony to the inward teaching of the Spirit of Christ, and to a free Gospel ministry, not only continues to be precious to many, but is gaining ground amongst us. The sufferings to which we are exposed, are, through the lenity of our government, far less severe than were those of our predecessors. To some, however, we believe FROM FRIENDS IN LONDON. 441 that these operate at times as a trial of their faith and love to the truth. We are disposed to remind such, that patience and meekness on their part will tend both to exalt the testimony in the view of others, and to promote their own advancement in the christian course. The Epistle from our Friends in Ireland, and those from the several Meetings on the American continent, have again convinced us that we are brethren, bound together by the endearing ties of christian fellowship, desiring as fellow-disciples to follow the same Lord; and we feel, that there is in the gospel of Christ a union that is not dissolved by distance, nor affected by the jarring contentions of men. We are engaged tenderly to caution Friends against an eager pursuit after the things of this life. We believe that many who begin the world with moderate views, meeting at first with success in trade, go on extending their commercial concerns, until they become involved therein to a degree prohibited by the precepts of Christ, and incompatible with their own safety. Thus situated, some may be tempted to adopt a line of conduct, dishonourable in itself, and injurious to others. On this subject, we think it right to repeat some advice given by the Yearly Meeting in its printed Epistle of 1771:-We" warn all against a most pernicious practice, too much prevailing amongst the trading part of mankind, which hath often issued in the utter ruin of those concerned therepaper in, namely, that of raising and circulating a fictitious kind of credet,with endorsements and acceptances, to give it an appearance of value without an intrinsic reality: a practice highly unbecoming that uprightness which ought to appear in every member of our religious Society, and of which therefore we think it our incumbent duty to declare our disapprobation, (and disunity therewith,) as absolutely inconsistent with that truth we make profession of."— Epistle, 1771. That contentment which characterized the pious christian, is a treasure which we covet for all our members; and we especially desire that those who are setting out in life may so circumscribe their expectations, and limit their domestic establishments, as not to bring upon themselves expenses which could only be supported by an imprudent extension of their trade. Care in this respect will enable them to allot more of their time to the service of their fellow-men, and to the promotion of the Lord's cause. We believe that, were parents to instil into the minds of their children principles of moderation and economy, suited to their future expectations, it would, under the Divine blessing, not only conduce to their preservation, but promote their safety and comfort in life, We are far from wishing to discourage honest industry; and further still from countenancing in any degree a spirit of avarice. We are not insensible, that the situation of many of our members is such as renders necessary to them a diligent attention to the concerns of this life. Christian simplicity and self-denial we would, however, earnestly recommend; these attained, the object which, in this respect, we have at heart for all our dear Friends, will be accomplished. Amongst other deficiencies reported to us at this time, we have been pained in observing, that many appear to be still satisfied with attending meeting for Divine worship but once in the week. We lament in believing that, where indifference to this primary religious duty prevails in any, the spirit of the world hath obtained the ascendency in their minds; for these we have often at former times expressed our concern, and now again entreat them to consider the privations of good to which they subject themselves, and those over whom their example prevails, in omitting this most reasonable service. The habit of constant attendance on these occasions, forms an important branch of the religious education of our youth; we are therefore desirous of impressing on the minds of those who are entrusted, and who themselves may be diligent, to beware how they deprive their children of such opportunities the week-day, even for the sake of their attendance at on school. It has afforded us much satisfaction to believe, that the christian practice of daily reading in families a portion of Holy Scripture, with a subsequent pause for retirement and reflection, is increasing amongst us. We conceive that it is both the duty and the interest of those who believe in the doctrines of the gospel, and who posses the invaluable treasure of the Sacred Records, frequently to recur to them for instruction and consolation. We are desirous that this wholesome domestic regulation may be adopted every where. Heads of families, who have themselves experienced the benefit of religious instruction, will do well to consider whether, in this respect, they have not a duty to discharge to their servants and others of their household. Parents looking sincerely for help to Him of whom these Scriptures testify, may not unfrequently, on such occasions, feel themselves enabled and engaged to open to the minds of their interesting charge, the great truths of christian duty and christian redemption. In considering this subject, our younger Friends have been brought to our remembrance with warm and tender solicitude. We hope that many of you, dear youth, are no strangers to this practice, and to some we trust it has already been blessed. Hesitate not, (we beseech all of this class,) to allot a portion of each day to read and meditate upon the Sacred Volume in private: |