Page images
PDF
EPUB

injury or inflict one upon a fellow creature. Ye have heard, says he, "that it hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth; but I say unto you that ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." “I say unto you, love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven." If then we would be children of God, and joint heirs with Christ, we must love our enemies instead of hating them,-do good to them, instead of injuring them; and not seek to avenge ourselves for wrongs which may be inflicted upon us.

66

It is also worthy of our serious consideration, that in our Lord's instructions on the subject of prayer, we are taught that the measure of the forgiveness which we receive from our heavenly Father, will be that which we exercise toward our fellow men. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." "And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any, that your Father also, which is in heaven, may forgive you your trespasses." "But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you." Thus it is evident, that the Spirit of the gospel is that of universal love and forgiveness; and wherever these plain and unalterable commands of Christ are duly regarded, strife, malevolence and discord, must come to an end; "violence will no more be heard in the land, wasting or destruction within its borders;" but the prediction will be fulfilled, "they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not

lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." When we contemplate these blessed effects of the religion of the Prince of peace, and contrast them with the fierce and cruel passions which rage upon the battle-field; the injuries inflicted by man upon his fellow; how many immortal spirits are hurried unprepared, into an awful eternity,-guilty perhaps of a brother's blood; the cry of the mourning widow and of the bereaved orphan; how mournful is the prospect, and how deeply is it to be deplored, that any of the professors of the Christian name should countenance a system, so directly opposed to the precepts of Christ, and so offensive in the sight of heaven.

Although our portion of the land has been long exempted, through divine favour, from the desolating scourge of war, and the members of our religious Society have not been called to suffer as in former years, in support of our testimony on this subject,-yet we greatly desire, that in this day of ease, we may not become indifferent to its importance, or in any degree relax in its faithful maintenance. We feel a fear, lest some among us, for want of due consideration, may be induced to pay those pecuniary demands, which are exacted by the laws, in lieu of military service, or connive at, or encourage the payment of them by others, a practice highly discreditable to any making profession of the truth, and against which we feel bound to bear our testimony. However remote the connexion may seem, between the payment of such a fine and the cruel operations of active warfare, they are parts of the same iniquitous system. The exaction of such fines, is also an infringement of our liberty of conscience; inasmuch as it requires us to pay for

the exercise of a religious scruple, the free enjoyment of which is a natural and inalienable right. We are therefore engaged again to press upon all, the upright and faithful support of our testimony in this respect; and where a distraint or imprisonment is the consequence, to bear it in a meek and becoming spirit, so as to evince that we are actuated by religious motives. Meetings are enjoined to be careful annually to collect and forward such accounts, agreeably to ancient usage.

SLAVERY.

WE wish, renewedly, to call the attention of Friends, to the righteous testimony which our religious Society has long borne against holding our fellow men in bondage. When we remember that the victims of this system of wickedness and cruelty, are our brethren; children of the same universal parent; for whose souls Christ died as well as for ours, and that they are designed to be fellow-heirs with us of immortality and eternal life, the sufferings, the degradation and the wrongs they endure, cannot but awaken our sympathies, and incite the inquiry what the Lord is calling for at our hands, in their behalf. The sin of slavery, with its multitude of attendant evils, hangs as a dark cloud over our land, and portends the approaching infliction of divine judgments. We continue to feel an unabated concern for the spread of the testimony against slavery in the earth; believing that as the spirit of the gospel is suffered to prevail among the professors of the sacred name of Christ, it will bring with it peace on earth and good will to men, without

distinction of nation or colour;-" will loose the bands of wickedness, undo the heavy burdens, break every yoke, and let the oppressed go free."

Our forefathers engaged in this concern, under the constraining influence of religious duty and a sense of justice; and as they endeavoured to prosecute the work with a steady reference to the guidance of "the wisdom which cometh down from above; which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits; without partiality and without hypocrisy," it pleased the Lord eminently to bless the labours of the Society. Knowing that times and seasons are not at our command, but are in the hand of Him who can turn the hearts of men, as a man turneth a water-course in his field, they endeavoured, in their public labours for the promotion of this worthy cause, to feel the way open; to watch the pointing of the Divine finger, and to move in his fear and counsel. Thus they were preserved from rash and imprudent action; from intemperate zeal, and from being swayed by animal excitements, which often impel those who yield to their influence, into measures, which, instead of promoting, retard or frustrate, the objects which they professedly have in view.

When a fierce and angry spirit is indulged, even in opposing what is glaringly wrong, it raises a correspondent feeling in those against whose conduct it is directed; and closes the mind against the force of those arguments, which, if presented in the meek and gentle spirit of the gospel, would probably produce conviction.

We would caution all our members, to beware of

[ocr errors]

a spirit of this description, on the subject of slavery; and to take care that in the anxiety to be doing something,-political motives, party feelings, unsound principles, and other influences equally at variance with a right exercise of mind, be not mixed up with it; to the great injury of the cause, and of the individuals. who suffer themselves to be drawn into such coalitions.

While, therefore, we would encourage all our members to dwell under a lively feeling of the wrongs of our fellow men, and of the enormity of the system by which they are enslaved and oppressed,—we believe their safety and preservation as individuals, and the progress of this righteous testimony, so far as respects our religious Society, very much depend upon their keeping within its bosom in their efforts to promote it; and carefully attending to the unfoldings of duty in their own breasts, by which they would be kept from joining in associations, or engaging in measures, which, however plausible they may appear, would endanger their growth in best things, and their stability and usefulness as members of the body.

TRADE AND LIVING.

We believe the call of the Lord is renewedly extended to us as a people, at the present time, to come back to the example set us by our primitive worthies, in regard to moderation in trade and business, and simplicity and humility in the style and furniture of our houses, in our manner of living, and in dress, address and demeanour; that so we may again faithfully uphold our testimony in these respects, in support of which they underwent much reproach and suffering.

« PreviousContinue »