leads to imitate him in all moral virtues, they have substituted an outward, showy, gaudy worship, like the Heathens, which is consistent with all their old sins of pride, indulgence of self, and frauds and cruelties to others. Look at their grand churches and cathedrals which they have built for Christ! do these show any thing like his HUMILITY in life, doctrine and example, which he has left that we might follow his steps." Do these show any thing of his LOVE, who "made himself poor that we might be rich"-who requires mercy and not sacrifice"—and who said "let nothing be lost," no, not a scrap of broken meat, because there is always some poor starving Lazarus who wants it. 66 "And look at the ornamentings and furniture of these grand churches and cathedrals, which they say they have built for Christ; their costly carvings and paintings; their rich altar-pieces and pulpit-cloths, flaming with crimson and gold; their piles of massy plate; and, above all, their tall and towering steeples and spires, reaching to the clouds! Do these things suit the genius of his simple humble worship; or do they match with his precepts of "perfect charity," which are as angels sent to earth, with their eyes bright through tears, eagerly looking around for the poor and miserable, that they may relieve them; and not throwing away their precious means on such blinding, deceiving, and fatal vanities. For "who hath required these things at your hands, saith the Lord God. Behold the heaven of heavens cannot contain me: and will you build me houses of brick and mortar, which perish before the moth? Is not this the sacrifice that I have chosen, even to deal thy bread to the hungry? and that thou bring the poor that are cast out of thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" And then for the worship, both by the priests and the people, which is offered unto Christ in these their grand churches, what precedents have they for it in his gospel? When the multitude was come together to hear the words of eternal life from his lips, did he amuse them with changes of garments, surplices, and gowns, and cassocks? or did he keep the impatient crowds in suspense, wearying and fatiguing them with repetitions of long prayers, which, though excellent in themselves, and apt to be very savoury and profitable to the devout, ought not to be forced upon the multiude? And as to his worshippers, did he, whose chief delight is in the 'humble and contrite ones,' ever look to be served by giddy crowds driving up to his house in proud carriages, alas! too often bought with monies taken from their creditors; or, worse still, taken from the 'poor to whom he had appointed them his own stewards?' or did he expect that persons profaning his house with pomps and vanities of attire so opposite to the charitable spirit of his religion, would set themselves down as his disciples, because they had gone a formal round of outward devotions, while in their tempers and manners they betrayed the most deplorable ignorance of the Saviour whom they had been so pompously worshipping--living in their old scandalous neglects of those moral duties which even heathens honour, to the great disgrace of the religion of Christ, and to the filling the world with infidel philosophers, thus taught to laugh at all revelation !" As William Penn uttered this, which he did like one who strongly felt what he was speaking, his mother, who had been eagerly imbibing every syllable, thus passionately replied:-"Oh William, my son, what a horrible picture have you given of the degeneracy of the church in these wretched days! and the more horrible because it is so true." "Yes, mother," replied he; "and yet, because I cannot conform to such horrible corruptions of Christ's gospel; because I cannot bring my feelings to go to such churches and to partake of all that outward, noisy, showy, unspiritual worship, my name is cast out as evil; my property is confiscated and sold; and I am here, you see, mother, locked up in prison, cut off from the common blessings of air and liberty, when all the time no man dare come forward and say I ever did him harm; and all this under the eyes of the bishops of the church, whose tythings, and revenues, and palaces, and pomps, and pleasures are, in part, maintained out of the substance thus torn from the poor quakers; and their children beggared and ruined by such inhuman robberies. "Well, William," replied Mrs. Penn, embracing him, and her looks shining with heavenly joys, “you have given me more of divine comfort to-day than I ever experienced in one day in all my life. Such bright lights on your duty, and such fortitude to adhere to it, in spite of all discouragements, O what glory has it not shed over your person in my eyes; and what ceaseless gratitude to God that he has given to my dear son the honour to be such a champion and martyr for his glorious truth, which yet shall triumph." "Yes, mother," replied William, catching up that word, "yes, Christ's truth shall yet triumph over Satan's lies and his heavenly love over hellish hate. The fruits of his righteousness shall yet fill the earth, and then all those who have honestly laboured for that great change, shall shine like the firmament, and as the stars for ever and ever."" "Well, William," returned Mrs. Penn, getting up as to go away, "I came here to comfort you, but thank God for ever, you have much more comforted me. Yes, I am going home very different from what I came ; not with eyes flowing with bitter tears, but with a heart overflowing with sweetest joys. But now I must be going. I forgot to tell you that I expected your dear father yesterday. He will, I think, certainly come to-day. He is coming home sick. I long to pour of my joys into his bosom And besides, my dear son, this shameless imprisonment of you may bring about great good. You know what a high spirited man he is; and that, after all his life's dangers and hard fightings for his king and country; after all his large loans of money for the glory of the British nation, you, his child, his only child, should be thus rudely thrown into prison, it cannot but rouse his indignation. At any rate, it must set him to thinking; and he may thence make such discoveries of the scandalous corruptions in the national church, as shall produce an entire change in his respect for it, and even make him honour you for quitting it." Mrs. Penn then took a tender leave of her son, not without promising to come and see him the next day, and, perhaps, to bring his father with her. �་་- CHAPTER XVI. On her return Mrs. Penn found the admiral had just got home and very uneasy about her, as none of the servants could tell him where she was gone. His surprise in hearing from her that she had been to the prison, was changed into the deepest horror on hearing the cause-that she had been there to see William! The effect on his spirits was such as she had predicted, that after all his hard fighting, and liberal spendings for his country, his only son and child, though innocent of crime as a lamb, should thus be thrust into prison like a common felon, and that too by an English bishop, for the slightest insult of whose sacred lawn he would have fought to the knees in blood; oh it was like the stab of a dagger. But he felt not as he once would have done. His health, which for a considerable time past, had been on the decline, had experienced such rapid decay during the last four months' cruise that his impoverished heart could scarely furnish blood enough for his cheeks and eyes to express their resentments. Mrs. Penn did not fail to aid his returning reason and conscience by all the arguments she honestly could. She gave him an account of the interview with their son in prison. She told him that instead of finding William dejected and unhappy, she found him an angel of innocence and serenity; cheerfully pursuing his studies, and in his looks showing a heroic spirit, nobly triumphant over all his enemies. She then related their son's vivid description of the horrible corruptions of the gospel by worldly minded bishops, substituting outward forms for the inward power of godliness; and the still more horrible corruptions of the bishops themselves as too evident in their pride and ambition, living like princes in their palaces, while thousands of widows and orphans were pining for bread; and likewise their shutting up in prisons and robbing of their substance, thousands of the most humble and harmless souls, merely because they chose to worship God in a way of greater simplicity and purity. The admiral showed signs of deep contrition at this, and with tears in his eyes, told his wife that he was afraid he had treated that amiable boy, his son, too harshly. He added that ever since his disputes with William, his own eyes had been, he believed, opening; and that he had for a good while past, been thinking that there was a wide difference between the precepts and example of Christ, and those of the great hierarchs who call themselves his bishops--that he began now to be satisfied that they were, most of them, a pack of worldly-minded, SELF-SEEKING hypocrites and impostors, whom he would never more go to hear preach as long as he lived. "But, my dear," added he, let us waste no more time in talking thus while our son is in prison. I long to see William ; I long for an en |