VOL. VII.

EDITED BY ENOCH LEWIS.

PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY SAMUEL RHOADS,

No. 50 North Fourth Street,
PHILADELPHIA.

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EXTRACTS FROM THE INTRODUCTION TO THE AMERICAN EDITION OF PIETY PROMOTED.

A distinguishing trait in the character of the primitive Friends was the earnestness with which they enforced, both by example and precept, the indispensable obligation of a life of holiness in the fear of God. Many of them had been educated after the strictest manner, among the different religious societies then existing in Great Britain, and were esteemed for their piety before they joined in profession with Friends. When they left the societies with which they had been in communion, although they objected to the notion of three distinct and separate Persons in the Deity, to the use of the word Trinity as unscriptural, and some other of the school terms; yet it was not from any dissatisfaction or disunity with the scripture doctrine of the Holy Three that bear record in heaven, the eternal divinity of the Lord Jesus, his propitiatory sacrifice on the Cross, as the one universal offering for the sins of the whole world, or any of his offices for man's salvation. They declared their full faith in all these, and that they were seeking to attain to a more full and practical experience of the heart-changing efficacy of vital religion, free from those outward rites and impositions of men, on which they believed themselves, as well as others, to have been improperly relying, instead of pressing after the living virtue and power of the gospel, to redeem the soul from the pollution of sin, and to enable it to walk in newness of life.

While they felt the necessity of having a sound and firm belief in all the doctrines of the Christian religion, as set forth in the Holy Scriptures, they were also convinced that, unless this belief was carried out in the daily walk and conversation, and accompanied by those fruits of the Spirit which are the evidence of true faith, as well as

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the ornament of the Christian, it would be of little avail. Recognising in its fullest extent the declaration, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God," and the test laid down by the Saviour of men, "By their fruits shall ye know them," as well as his solemn Words, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven;" they were concerned to warn all against the delusive notion that men might live in sin, and in the indulgence of their carnal wills and appetites, and yet be saved by a professed dependence on what the Lord Jesus Christ has graciously done in his flesh for the redemption of mankind.

They were plain, practical, self-denying men and women, deeply and earnestly engaged to live and walk in the obedience of faith to all the requirements of the Divine law; and their minds being enlightened from on high to see the true nature and effects of the religion of the gospel, they apprehended that many of its professors were resting their hopes of salvation in a mere assent of the understanding to the truths recorded in the Scriptures, without bringing forth those good works which were before ordained that we should walk in them." The inward life of righteousness in the daily fear of God being the great object of their earnest concern and engagement, both for themselves and others, they called on their hearers to come home into their own hearts, and examine, in the light which Christ gives, whether they were clean and pure, or defiled and unholy.

With no less earnestness they pressed upon all the necessity of a close attention and obedience to the teachings of the Spirit of Truth in the heart, as the great enlightener and sanctifier of man, his guide in things pertaining to salvation, by which every one might come to see his own state, as seen by the Searcher of hearts, and be shown the way to come out of the thraldom of sin, into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

They invited men to come to and believe in Christ Jesus the Lord, not only as testified of in the Bible as the Redeemer, Propitiation, Mediator, and Intercessor with the Father for lost, fallen man; but also as he reveals himself in the heart by his Spirit, showing man his undone condition

because the Spirit is truth; for there are Three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost, and these Three are one; and there are Three which bear record on earth, &c., which we own, 1 John v. 6, 7. And now let none be offended, because we do not call them by those unscriptural names of Trinity, and Three Persons, which are not Scripture words; and so do falsely say, that we deny the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, which Three are one that bear record in Heaven, &c., which Three we own with all our hearts, as the Apostle John did; as all true Christians ever did, and now do; and if you say we are not Christians, because we do not call the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the Trinity, distinct and separate persons, then you may as well conclude that John was no Christian, who did not give the Father, Word, and Holy Ghost, these names.

"We believe concerning God the Father, Son, and Spirit, according to the testimony of the Holy Scriptures, which we receive and embrace as the most authentic and perfect declaration of Christian faith, being indited by the Holy Spirit of God, that never errs: 1st, That there is one God and Father, of whom are all things; 2dly, That there is one Lord Jesus Christ by whom all things were made, John i. and xvii. and Rom. ix., who was glorified with the Father before the world began, who is God over all, blessed for ever, John xiv. That there is one Holy Spirit, the promise of the Father and the Son, and leader and sanctifier, and comforter of his people, 1 John v. And we further believe, as the Holy Scriptures soundly and sufficiently express, that these Three are one, even the Father, the Word, and Spirit."

Robert Barclay in his Apology for the true Christian divinity, has these words, viz.:

"First, then, as by the explanation of the former thesis appears, we renounce all natural power and ability in ourselves, in order to bring us out of our lost and fallen condition, and first nature; and confess, that as of ourselves we are able to do nothing that is good, so neither can we procure remission of sins or justification by any act of our own, so as to merit it, or draw it as a debt from God due unto us, but we acknowledge all to be of and from his love, which is the original and fundamental cause of our acceptance. "Secondly:-God manifested his love towards us in the sending of his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the world; who gave himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweet smelling savor; and having made peace through the blood of his cross, that he might reconcile us unto himself, and by the Eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot unto God, and suffered for our sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us unto God.

"Thirdly then, Forasmuch as all men who have come to man's estate, (the man Jesus only excepted,) have sinned, therefore all have need

of this Saviour, to remove the wrath of God from them, due to their offences in this respect he is truly said to have borne the iniquities of us all, in his body on the tree, and therefore is the only Mediator, having qualified the wrath of God towards us; so that our former sins stand not in our way, being by virtue of his most satisfactory sacrifice, removed and pardoned. Neither do we think that remission of sins is to be expected, sought, or obtained, any other way, or by any works or sacrifices whatsoever, though, as has been said formerly, they may come to partake of this remission, that are ignorant of the history." William Penn, in his Primitive Christianity Revived, has the following, viz.:

"We do believe, that Jesus Christ was our holy sacrifice, atonement and propitiation; that he bore our iniquities, and that by his stripes we were healed of the wounds Adam gave us in his fall; and that God is just in forgiving true penitents upon the credit of that holy offering Christ made of himself to God for us, and that what he did and suffered, satisfied and pleased God, and was for the sake of fallen man; that had displeased God: and through the offering up of himself once for all, through the Eternal Spirit, he hath for ever perfected those, in all times, that were sanctified, who walked not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Rom. viii. 1 Mark that.

"In short, justification consists of two parts, or hath a two-fold consideration, viz., justification from the guilt of sin, and justification from the power and pollution of sin; and in this sense, justification gives a man a full and clear acceptance before God. For want of this latter part it is, that so many souls, religiously inclined, are often under doubts, scruples, and despondencies, notwithstanding all that their teachers tell them of the extent and efficacy of the first part of justification. And it is too general an unhappiness among the professors of Christianity, that they are apt to cloak their own active and passive disobedience, with the active and passive obedience of Christ. The first part of justification we do reverently and humbly acknowledge, it is only for the sake of the death and sufferings of Christ: nothing we can do, though by the operation of the Holy Spirit, being able to cancel old debts, or wipe out old scores: it is the power and efficacy of that propitiatory offering, upon faith and repentance, that justifies us from the sins that are past; and it is the power of Christ's spirit in our hearts, that purifies and makes us acceptable before God. For till the heart of man is purged from sin, God will never accept of it."

The more perfect we are ourselves, the more apt we are to make allowances for the imperfections of others: the pharisees could not endure the publicans, with whom Jesus Christ conversed with so much mildness and lenity.-Fenelon.

TO THE FREE PRODUCE ASSOCIATION OF

FRIENDS.

In presenting their Annual Report to the Association, the Managers would deem it unnecessary to insist upon the considerations heretofore frequently urged in support of the necessity and the importance of faithfully maintaining our testimony against the iniquitous system of slavery, by abstaining from its products, as far as our necessary connection with the commerce of the country will admit, were it not a fact, too glaring to be overlooked, and of too much importance to be disregarded, that many, both in and out of our religious society, who are fully conscious of the evils of slavery, and sincerely desirous of seeing a practicable and efficient remedy applied, still appear indisposed to afford their influence and example in support of the free labor movement. To us it appears too clear to admit of a doubt, or to require illustration, that the whole system of slavery, the foreign and international traffic included, with all their enormities and destruction of life, owes its vitality to the market for the products of servile toil. Hence, the inference appears undeniable, that in just such proportion as we voluntarily increase the demand for those products, we contribute our support of the system, and participate in the guilt; and so far as we contribute to replenish the market with the results of free and compensated labor, to the exclusion of those extracted from the compulsive drudgery of slaves, so far we weaken the system of slavery, and diminish the temptation to sustain it.

Certainly the events of the last few months, the undisguised, as well as more insidious attempts to extend the area and strengthen the influence of the slaveholding interest-the Legislation of the Federal government now trembling in the balance-and the avowed policy of the Executive in relation to the abolition of slavery in Cuba, furnish a very pathetic admonition to the advocates of justice and friends of our race to withdraw their support, as far as practicable, from a system so oppressive in its operations, so grasping and insatiable in its demands, and so deleterious in its results.

We have, however, the satisfaction to believe that the number of those who are willing to manifest their abhorrence of slavery, by abstaining from its products, is rather increasing than diminishing, especially among some other denominations of Christians; but considerable discouragement has arisen from the difficulty of supplying the Free Labor store, kept by George W. Taylor, with the requisite variety of cotton fabrics to meet the demand. Hence has been suggested the expediency of establishing a manufactory of cotton goods, to be employed exclusively upon the products of free labor, and to be connected with the store. Our friend, George W. Taylor, is willing to undertake such an establishment, in case an amount of capital adequate to the indispensable expenditure can be placed at his disposal.

The outlines of a plan for the manufacture of free cotton fabrics, with an estimate of the funds required for its establishment, will be submittedby him to the Association.

It appears highly probable, if not absolutely certain, that unless some method can be devised to keep up a more ample supply of the various articles, of which cotton is the principal ingredient, than has been found practicable under existing arrangements, the attempt to keep up the store of free goods must be abandoned. Such a result must be greatly deplored, and could scarcely fail to prove extremely discouraging to the friends of the cause. The present, indeed, appears to be the time not to abandon, but to renew our exertions to increase the consumption of freegrown cotton.

The information recently thrown before the public, respecting the cultivation of cotton by the German settlers in Western Texas, may be hailed as one of the means for obtaining a supply of the raw material; a means provided to our hands, without trouble or foresight on our part. The production of a thousand bales, untouched by servile hands, within a small district of that fertile. region, certainly gives encouragement to the belief, that with proper exertions a supply might be obtained more than equal to existing demands.

There is no reason why free cotton fabrics may not be supplied to the consumer, on as easy terms as those extracted from the labor of slaves; except what arises from the difficulty and consequent expense of preserving the raw material free from mixture with slave-grown cotton, during its transit from the producer to the consumer; and this difficulty must diminish as the quantity produced in any locality is increased. And a factory, working altogether on free cotton, could unquestionably execute its work as well and as cheaply, as one supplied with the slave-grown material.

The plan proposed for the manufactory is, that the friends of the cause should raise, by subscription, a fund for the purchase of machinery, and one-half of a year's supply of cotton, requiring altogether about fifteen thousand dollars; G. W. Taylor to rent the machinery for a sum that will keep it insured against loss by fire, set aside yearly an adequate sum for needful repairs and depreciation by wear and tear, and pay annually to contributors 6 per cent.

The cotton is also to be kept insured, and to be furnished to him at cost, and all expenses, including 6 per cent. per annum interest for the contributors.

The fund to be applied and guarded by one or two Trustees, to be chosen by the contributors.

As it is very important to have the machinery ordered soon, and make other necessary arrangements for putting the mill in working order, it is hoped that there will be found friends of the cause enough to subscribe the required amount, within a month from this time. The