INTRODUCTION. THE society of Friends, who were in derision called Quakers, because they exhorted their persecutors to fear and tremble at the word of God, appeared in the seventeenth century. At that time there were many in England who were not satisfied with the opinions and forms of worship which were held by the different religious societies then existing. It appeared to them that the life and spirit of Christianity were much wanting, and that many formal obligations, which were connected with the various systems of worship, were introduced and drew the mind off from the substance. Hence they may be considered as waiting and looking for some further and more confident ground of faith than they conceived was to be met with among the associated professors of a |