being a gift of the Spirit and not of nature, and a benefit resulting from the merits of Christ's mediation, of distinguishing, or at least maintaining the distinction, in minds that are not sufficiently imbued with a previous mysticism, between the light of the Quaker and the reason of the Socinian. Even the most intelligent Friends, while they lay down the distinction as an article of their system, find it no easy matter to keep the two clear of each other in their illustrations and reasonings. And if even in the writings of such men this difficulty is apparent, how much greater must it be to ordinary minds, unaccustomed to discriminative thought!-how much more prevalent in such minds the propensity to confound the two together,-universal light with universal reason! Of the Quaker sentiments respecting the Scriptures I shall speak at large by and by :-at present I merely hint at one of their tendencies, as perhaps exemplified in a special case; the idolizing of the light having a similar effect on the mind of the thorough-going Friend, in reducing the paramount authority of Scripture as the direct and only standard of religious truth, with the idolizing of reason on the mind of the thorough-going Socinian.*

What Socinian could desire a loftier eulogy of Reason, than is to be found in the words of one of your earliest writers, one who may be reckoned among the founders of your SocietyWilliam Penn? "Right reason I mean-the Reason of the first

Be not offended with me, when I say (for I say it in kindness and under correction) that this tendency is indebted, amongst Friends, for an augmentation of its strength, to a prevailing deficiency in their system of religious instruction, that all-important branch of early education which consists in the communication of general religious knowledge to the mind. I am anxious to avoid all inculpatory reflexion that may not have foundation in fact. But is it not so, that too little attention has been bestowed amongst you on this department of tuition,-the informing of the youthful mind as to the principles and general contents of the inspired oracles, and as to the evidences of their divine authority? Is there generally, among Friends, such a system of domestic scriptural instruction, or of such instruction in Sabbath schools in cases where it is not enjoyed at home, as is calculated to impart any thing like enlarged and connected views of divine truth? Is the mere praetice of daily reading a portion of Scripture, with a few moments of silence, however solemn, before and after, as a domestic exercise, at all sufficient for such a purpose? Or are silent public meetings,―or meetnine verses of the first chapter of John. For so Tertullian .gives us the word Logos; and the Divine Reason is one in all; that lamp of God which lights our candle, and enlightens our darkness, and is the measure and test of our knowledge."-Quoted by Richard Ball, in his "Holy Scripture the Test of Truth," Note, page 93.

ings where, in that which is said, there is little or no appeal to the sacred records, the direct movements of the Spirit taking precedence of them, by any means fitted to supply the deficiency? It is easy, on such a subject, to speak of the benefits of getting still,— and to say many plausible things as to the necessity in religion, both as a part of its essential exercises and of the means of its growth, of meditation, and quiet musing, and the introversion of the mind's eye upon itself. But you should not forget, that to true and profitable meditation materials of thought are necessary. The mind that has little or no information on the subjects of religious musing will generally muse to little purpose; nay, as it can hardly be an entire vacancy, I fear they are but sciolists in the knowledge of human nature, who, in such circumstances, will commit it to its own thoughts without the apprehension of pernicious rather than of salutary results. Deem me not uncharitable,-tell me not that I judge of others by myself, if I venture to surmise, that, were there such a tribunal as a Quaker confessional, there would come to light before it many a thought of vanity, if not of worse than vanity, that has seemed a part of silent devotion. Nay, is there no such sentiment among you as a jealousy of the human tuition in question, as if it were an interference with the province of the Holy Spirit, derogatory to the supremacy and sufficiency of the

inward light, and a taking of the mind, as it were, out of the hands of God?-And if I am right in suspecting the prevalence amongst you, from such causes, of a defect of information on religious subjects, may not the existence of this defect contribute, in no small degree, to account for the fact of so many, when controversial discussions do arise, being shaken, and falling away? Ignorance, or very partial information, can never be a safe-guard against error, or a preparative for withstanding either its sapping and undermining insinuations, or its more direct argumentative assaults. It is quite the contrary. In such circumstances, knowledge is power; ignorance weakness. The uninformed mind is taken by surprise. With flimsy and confused conceptions of truth itself, and little acquaintance with either the evidence in its support or the objections against it, it is quite unprepared to meet the arguments of heresy, and, when they are presented, in their imposing dogmatism, or their subtle plausibility, is startled into scepticism ere it is well aware. To commit the young to the world in this state of ignorance, is like sending out an uninstructed and inexperienced mariner on a voyage, without giving him any information of the rocks, and sands, and currents, and winds, to be expected by him in his course,-without furnishing him with a chart of the seas he has to traverse, or showing him how to use it; so that he is utterly

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unqualified for avoiding or for encountering the dan gers that lie in his track, and may find himself in the very midst of perils from which escape is impossible, while he is fancying nothing before him but a clear sea, propitious breezes, and a safe haven.

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In saying these things, I am anxious to guard against two misconceptions. The first is, that I say them in ignorance of the counsels, on the subject of parents and education," contained in the Society's "Rules of Discipline with Advices," in which a careful instruction in the contents of Holy Scripture is recommended and urged on parents and guardians, in extracts from the minutes and letters of many successive yearly meetings. This would be a mistake. I have the third edition of the "Rules of Discipline, &c.," lying before me. The counsels therein given on this important subject are excellent. It would evince an unreasonable jealousy, and hypercritical captiousness, to find any very material fault with them. But this is not the present question. The existence of these advices is one thing; their reduction to practice is another. The question is, whether a practical conformity to these advices has been generally prevalent in the Society;-or whether the Quaker youth, taken in the aggregate, do, in point of fact, evince a fair average of Scriptural information. -And here I would guard my reader against a second misconception,-as if I intended to advance a