till many ages after, that men wou'd have the word You, as tho' they were double, instead of Thou employed in fpeaking to them; and ufurped the flattering titles of lordship, of eminence, and of holiness, which mere worms bestow on other worms, by affuring them that they are with the most profound refpect, and an infamous falfhood, their most obedient, humble fervants. 'Tis to fecure our felves more ftrongly from fuch a fhameless traffick of lies and flattery, that we thee and thou a king with the fame freedom as we do a beggar, and falute no perfon; we owing nothing to mankind but charity, and to the laws refpect and obedience.

OUR apparel is alfo fomewhat different from that of others, and this purely, that it may be a perpetual warning to us not to imitate them. Others wear the badges and marks of their feveral dignities, and we thofe of chriftian humility. We fly from all affemblies of pleafure, from diverfions of every kind, and from places where gaming is practis'd; and indeed our cafe wou'd be very deplorable, fhould we fill with fuch levities, as thofe I have mention'd, the heart which ought to be the habitation of God. We never swear, not even in a court of juftice, being of opinion that the most holy name of God ought not to be prostituted in the miferable contests B 4

be

betwixt man and man. When we are obliged to appear before a magiftrate upon other peoples account, (for law-fuits are unknown among the Friends) we give evidence to the truth by fealing it with our yea or nay; and the judges believe us on our bare affirmation, whilft fo many other Christians forfwear themselves on the holy Gofpels. We never war or fight in any cafe; but it is not that we are afraid, for fo far from fhuddering at the thoughts of death, we, on the contrary, blefs the moment which unites us with the Being of beings; but the reafon of our not ufing the outward fword is, that we are neither wolves, tygers, nor maftiffs, but men and Chriftians. Our God, who has commanded us to love our enemies, and to fuffer without repining, would certainly not permit us to cross the feas, merely because murtherers cloathed in fcarlet, and wearing caps two foot high enlift citizens by a noise made with two little sticks on an afs's fkin extended. And when, after a victory is gain'd, the whole city of London is illuminated; when the fky is in a blaze with fireworks, and a noife is heard in the air of thanksgivings, of bells, of organs, and of the cannon, we groan in filence, and are deeply affected with sadness of spirit and brokennefs of heart, for the fad havock which is the cccafion of thofe public rejoicings.

LET

LETTER II.

ΟΝ ΤΗΕ

QUAKER S

UCH was the fubftance of the converfation I had with this very fingular perfon; but I was greatly furpriz'd to fee him come the Sunday following, and take me with him to the Quakers meeting. There are feveral, of thefe in London, but that which he carried me to ftands near the famous pillar call'd the Monument. The brethren were already affembled at my entering it with my guide. There might be about four hundred men and three hundred women in the meeting. The women hid their faces behind their fans, and the men were cover'd with their broad-brim'd hats; all were feated, and the filence was univerfal. I paft through them, but did not perceive fo much as one lift up his eyes to look at me. This filence lafted a quarter of an hour, when at laft one of them rofe up, took off his Hat, and after making a variety of wry faces, and groaning in a most lamentable manner, he partly from

his nofe, and partly from his mouth, threw
out a strange, confus'd jumble of words,
(borrow'd as he imagin'd from the Gospel)
which neither himself nor any of his hear-
ers understood. When this distorter had
ended his beautiful foliloquy, and that the
ftupid, but greatly edified, congregation
were separated, I afk'd my friend how it
was poffible for the judicious part of their
affembly to fuffer fuch a babbling. We
are oblig'd, fays he, to fuffer it, because
no one knows when a man rifes up to hold
forth, whether he will be mov'd by the
fpirit or by folly. In this doubt and un-
certainty we liften patiently to every one,
we even allow our women to hold forth;
two or three of thefe are often inspired at
one and the fame time, and 'tis then that
a moft charming noife is heard in the Lord's
houfe. You have then no priests, fays I
to him. No, no, friend, replies the Qua-
ker, to our great happinefs. Then open-
ing one of the friends books, as he call'd
it, he read the following words in an em-
phatic tone: God forbid we fhould pre-
fume to ordain any one to receive the Holy
Spirit on the Lord's day, to the prejudice
of the reft of the brethren. Thanks to
the Almighty, we are the only people upon
earth that have no priests. Wouldeft thou
deprive us of fo happy a diftinion? Why
fhou'd we abandon our babe to mercenary
nurfes,

nurses, when we ourselves have milk enough for it? Thefe mercenary creatures wou'd foon domineer in our houfes, and deftroy both the mother and the babe. God has faid, freely you have receiv'd, freely give. Shall we after these words cheapen, as it were, the gofpel; fell the Holy Ghoft, and make of an affembly of Christians a mere fhop of traders? We do not pay a fet of men clothed in black, to affift our poor, to bury our dead, or to preach to the brethren; thefe offices are all of too tender a nature, for us ever to entrust them to others. But how is it poffible for you, fays I, with fome warmth, to know whether your difcourfe is really infpir'd by the Almighty? Whofoever, fays he, fhall implore Chrift to enlighten him, and fhall publifh the Gospel truths, he may feel inwardly, fuch an one may be affur'd that he is infpir'd by the Lord. He then pour'd forth a numberless multitude of Scripture-texts, which prov'd, as he imagin'd, that there is no fuch thing as Christianity without an immediate revelation, and added these remarkable words: When thou move ftone of thy limbs, is it mov'd by thy own power? Certainly not, for this limb is often fenfible to involuntary motions; confequently he, who created thy body, gives motion to this earthly tabernacle. And are the feveral ideas of