dead works, before they can be brought into a capacity to serve the living God, will be constrained to walk in deep humility before him, and be enabled frequently to pray, Lord, increase my faith, and the things I know not teach thou me. Here all high notions of ourselves and of our attainments will be brought low, and laid down at the feet of Jesus. When the mind is brought into this prepared state, the mystery of redeeming love will be so clearly. understood, that the carnal enquiry, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” will be heard no more; but in reverent abasement we shall be led to admire the goodness of Him, who “ so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” We shall then feel and know, that “ God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself;” and that beautiful description given of him by the apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Philippians, will prove an unfailing source of consolation, when the poor mind may be tossed with tempest and not comforted, and is under the discouraging prospect, that there are many in our day who are endeavouring to invalidate the truths of the Gospel, and who are denying the Divinity of the Son of God. The apostle, speaking of him, says—“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name, which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Earnest indeed is the solicitude of my soul, that we, in an especial manner as a religious society, may remain unmoved in these ancient doctrines of the gospel, and be enabled “to hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering.” I have been much exercised on account of those who are engaged amongst us in the work of the ministry, that they all may have the blessed experience of these things in themselves, avoiding all ambiguous expressions in the ox

ercise of their gifts, “ and holding fast the form of sound words,” that so none may attempt to appear wise above what is written. There have been instances where individuals not abiding in the low valley of humility, have soared above the preserving principle, and lost their gifts; and were these to minister from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, the church would not be edified by their labours; and however such may become vain in their imaginations or high in their conceit of superior attainments; however they may endeavour to explain the way of man’s redemption, and salvation; they will only be like such who beat the air, and perhaps ultimately be found amongst those who are stumbling-blocks in the way of serious enquirers. How forcible are the expressions of the apostle— First, “ no man taketh this honour unto himself but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.” “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.” “If any man minister, let him do it of the ability which God giveth, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” If we speak from the ability which God giveth, we shall never contradict the outward testimony of the Holy Scriptures in any of the fundamental doctrines they contain.—We shall never reduce them to an allegory, so as to explain away any of the benefits intended by the coming and death of Christ Jesus; but we shall be enabled nobly to contend for the “faith which was once delivered unto the saints,” and which is precious to all those who are rightly acquainted with its leavening operation. We shall not then be ashamed to acknowledge, that it is “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and by the renewing of the Holy Ghost.” Then the doctrine of a crucified Saviour will be precious to ourselves, and in the overflowings of that divine love which is the spring of all right gos. pel ministry, the ultimate end of all our labours will be to invite others, to “behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world;” to inculcate, as ability is mercifully vouchsafed, that there is not salvation in any other; that there is “none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved, but by the name of Jesus,” which remains to be as ointment poured forth, and for the savour whereof the virgins love him. Thus would the ministry brighten amongst us; there would then be no divinations of our own, or any cause administered for the

enemies of truth to triumph, and charge us (as is now frequently the case) with holding doctrines inconsistent with the plain truths of the gospel. I would therefore tenderly recommend to all who are engaged in the work of the ministry, to be frequent in the perusal of the Holy Scriptures, not that they may become ministers of the letter, but that they may be enabled to understand with clearness, the many precious and corresponding testimonies in the Old and New Testaments, concerning the coming and office of Christ Jesus our Lord; that so we may strengthen the hands one of another, to maintain the ancient doctrines of our religious society, and be firm in our testimony against the insidious inroads of infidelity, in all its disguised forms. We have been often accused of allegorising away the offering of Christ; that he came only to end the Jewish dispensation, and to become an example of righteousness; when our worthy predecessors maintained, and all who are living in the principle of truth, in the present day, maintain, that our blessed Lord offered himself up on Calvary’s mount, an holy propitiatory sacrifice for our sins and the sins of the whole world, and that we have “redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins;” and this agrees not only with the ancient prophecies concerning him, but with the testimonies of the apostles in the purest age of the Christian church. The prophet Isaiah, in allusion to the offering of Christ, says, “He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgression, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes are we healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment ; and who shall declare his generation ? for he was cut off out of the land of the living : for the transgression of my people was he stricken.” The apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Galatians, expresses himself in this feeling language: “Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins.” The apostle John declares, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,” said Peter. I might multiply examples of this kind to a length that would far exceed the limits I propose. The writings of our ancient Friends are replete with similar testimonies; indeed there is scarcely one to be selected in which it may not be found. And I earnestly recommend my dear brethren and sisters, of every rank, and of every age, to be more conversant with the writings of our worthy predecessors. We have many advantages, and I wish it may be our concern to improve them to our present and everlasting interest ; that so the lamentation may never be taken up concerning any of us—“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” I have felt much concerned as I have passed along, for those who are parents, that they may be brought into a capacity to train up their children in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Great indeed is the responsibility of those in this station. And should any be more concerned for their children's advancement in worldly things, than to see them attain to an establishment in the truth, what a fearful account will these have to render in a day that is approaching. I have thought that the careless manner in which part of the first day of the week is spent by many, frequently in loitering about, and in unnecessary and very unprofitable visiting; the very great neglect of collecting families together, at suitable opportunities, for the purpose of reading the Holy Scriptures, and other useful publications, and for the mutual help and edification of each other, have had a strong tendency to produce increasing lukewarmness to our religious testimonies, and have been an incalculable injury to the rising generation ; many of whom have so lost the mark, that in a great many in'stances which have come under my notice since I have been among you, I had no apprehension that they were -under our name; and from what I have seen and felt in ‘many places, I have no doubt but it has proceeded from the negligence of parents, in that wholesome and timely restraint of their children, that would have redounded to the peace of their own minds, and to the present and everlasting happiness of their tender offspring. Were we, who are parents, enough concerned to instruct our children in the law of the Lord, and do as they were commanded to do under a former dipensation, viz. “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thine heart all the days of thy life ; but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons”—were we thus concerned for the everlasting salvation of our own souls, and the souls of our offspring, I believe many parents would be stirred up to greater diligence, and more would mourn over the deviations from plainness of habit and manners, so obvious in their children. There may be instances of rebellious childron, who will not take counsel, but I have no doubt, from my own experience, that much may be done to “prepare the way of the Lord.” in the youthful mind; and by neglecting the proper opportunity, parents are instrumental to prepare the way of the enemy and the destroyer. What concern can those parents have in these things, or what hope of exercising any proper restraint upon their children in a future day, who deck and adorn them, even in infancy, with apparel wholly inconsistent with our profession of plainness and simplicity ? If we wish to train up our children in the way they should walk, it must be done by early and diligent care, by timely subjecting their will to prudent and Christian restraint in divers respects. I believe there have been few more fruitful sources of the deviation of our youth, than that of parents suffering them to associate with improper company, and to be too frequently from under their notice. The propensity of many who are heads of families, to visiting, and being visited, very often to the neglect and obstruction of their own domestic concerns, and the scattering of their minds from all that is serious, has produced similar habits in their children, and which I have no doubt in many instances have been a fruitsul source of pain to both, at a season when their habits have been so confirmed that it was difficult to find a retreat. By this habit of what is called visiting, much precious time is wasted, frequently many things neglected at home, and an inducement excited to much nicety and sometimes great extravagance in dress, &c. Hereby many unprofitable acquaintances have been formed with persons accidentally met with where they visit, and in some instances ruin to families or to the unguarded youth has ensued. I have no wish to prevent a profitable and friendly intercourse and interchange of sentimerts one with another, but I do believe, that were we living under the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, we should be more willing to submit to its restraints, and our conduct and countenances would more evince that we had