A Portraiture of Quakerism, Volume II (of 3) by Thomas Clarkson

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[Footnote 121: Romans 16.1.]

[Footnote 122: [Greek: Diokogos.]]

[Footnote 123: 1 Thess. 3. 2.]

[Footnote 124: 1 Cor. 3. 5.]

[Footnote 125: In Universa Terra celebris facta est; nec eam soli
Romani, &c,]

St. Paul also greets Priscilla and Aquila. He greets them under the
title of fellow-helpers or fellow-labourers in Jesus Christ. But this is
the same title which he bestows upon Timothy, to denote his usefulness
in the church. Add to which, that Priscilla and Aquila were the persons
of whom St. Luke [126]says, "that they assisted Apollos in expounding to
him the way of God more perfectly."

[Footnote 126: Acts 18. 24. 26.]

In the same epistle he recognizes also other women, as having been
useful to him in Gospel-labours. Thus--"Salute Tryphena, and Tryphosa,
who labour in the Lord." "Salute the beloved Persis, who laboured much
in the Lord."

From these, and from other observations, which might be made upon this
subject, the Quakers are of opinion that the ministry of the women was
as acceptable, in the time of the Apostles, as the ministry of the men.
And as there is no prohibition against the preaching of women in the New
Testament, they see no reason why they should not be equally admissible
and equally useful as ministers at the present day.

SECT. II.

_Way in which Quakers are admitted into the ministry--When acknowledged,
they preach, like other pastors, to their different congregations or
meetings--They visit occasionally the different families in their own
counties or quarterly meetings--Manner of these family-visits--Sometimes
travel as ministers through particular counties or the kingdom at
large--Sometimes into foreign parts--Women share in these
labours--Expense of voyages on such occasions defrayed out of the
national stock._

The way in which Quakers, whether men or women, who conceive themselves
to be called to the office of the ministry, are admitted into it, so as
to be acknowledged by the society to be ministers of the Quaker-church,
is simply as follows.

Any member has a right to rise up in the meetings for worship, and to
speak publicly. If any one therefore should rise up and preach, who has
never done so before, he is heard. The congregation are all witnesses of
his doctrine. The elders, however, who may be present, and to whose
province it more immediately belongs to judge of the fitness of
ministers, observe the tenour of his discourse. They watch over it for
its authority; that is, they judge by its spiritual influence on the
mind, whether it be such as corresponds with that which may be presumed
to come from the spirit of God. If the new preacher delivers any thing
that appears exceptionable, and continues to do so, it is the duty of
the elders to speak to him in private, and to desire him to discontinue
his services to the church. But if nothing exceptionable occurs, nothing
is said to him, and he is allowed to deliver himself publicly at future
meetings. In process of time, if, after repeated attempts in the office
of the ministry, the new preacher should have given satisfactory proof
of his gifts, he is reported to the monthly meeting to which he belongs.
And this meeting, if satisfied with his ministry, acknowledges him as a
minister, and then recommends him to the meeting of ministers and
elders belonging to the same. No other act than this is requisite. He
receives no verbal or written appointment or power for the execution of
the sacerdotal office. It may be observed also, that he neither gains
any authority, nor loses any privilege, by thus becoming a minister of
the Gospel. Except, while in the immediate exercise of his calling, he
is only a common member. He receives no elevation by the assumption of
any nominal title, to distinguish him from the rest. Nor is he elevated
by the prospect of any increase to his wordly goods in consequence of
his new office; for no minister in this society receives any pecuniary
emolument for his spiritual labours.

When ministers are thus approved and acknowledged, they exercise the
sacred office in public assemblies, as they immediately feel themselves
influenced to that work. They may engage also, with the approbation of
their own monthly meeting, in the work of visiting such Quaker families
as reside in the county, or quarterly meeting to which they belong. In
this case they are sometimes accompanied by one of the elders of the
church. These visits have the name of family visits, and are conducted
in the following manner:--

When a Quaker minister, after having commenced his journey, has entered
the house of the first family, the individual members are collected to
receive him. They then sit in silence for a time. As he believes himself
concerned to speak, he delivers that which arises in his mind with
religions freedom. The master, the wife, and the other branches of the
family, are sometimes severally addressed. Does the minister feel that
there is a departure in any of the persons present, from the principles
or practice of the society, he speaks, if he believes it required of
him, to these points. Is there any well disposed person under any inward
discouragement; this person may be addressed in the language of
consolation. All in fact are exhorted and advised as their several
circumstances may seem to require. When the religious visit is over, the
minister, if there be occasion, takes some little refreshment with the
family, and converses with them; but no light or trifling subject is
ever entered upon on these occasions. From one family he passes on to
another, till he has visited all the families in the district, for which
he had felt a concern.

Though Quaker ministers frequently confine their spiritual labours to
the county or quarterly meeting in which they reside, yet some of them
feel an engagement to go beyond these boundaries, and to visit the
society in particular counties, or in the kingdom at large. They who
feel a concern of this kind, must lay it before their own monthly
meetings. These meetings, if they feel it right to countenance it, grant
them certificates for the purpose. These certificates are necessary;
first, because ministers might not he personally known as ministers out
of their own district; and secondly, because Quakers, who were not
ministers, and other persons who might counterfeit the dress of Quakers,
might otherwise impose upon the society, as they travelled along.

Such persons, as thus travel in the work of the ministry, or public
friends as they are called, seldom or never go to an inn at any town or
village, where Quakers live. They go to the houses of the latter. While
at these, they attend the weekly, monthly, and quarterly meetings of the
district, as they happen on their route. They call also extraordinary
meetings of worship. At these houses they are visited by many of the
members of the place and neighbourhood, who call upon and converse with
them. During these times they appear to have their minds bent on the
object of their mission, so that it would be difficult to divert their
attention from the work in hand. When they have staid a sufficient time
at a town or village, they depart. One or more guides are appointed by
the particular meeting, belonging to it, to show them the way to the
next place, where they propose to labour, and to convey them free of
expense, and to conduct them to the house of some member there. From
this house, when their work is finished, they are conveyed and conducted
by new guides to another, and so on, till they return to their
respective homes.

But the religious views of the Quaker ministers are not always confined
even within the boundaries of the kingdom. Many of them believe it to be
their duty to travel into foreign parts. These, as their journey is now
extensive, must lay their concern not only before their own monthly
meeting, but before their own quarterly meeting, and before the meeting
of Ministers and Elders in London also. On receiving their certificates,
they depart. Some of them visit the continent of Europe, but most of
them the churches in America, where they diligently labour in the
vineyard, probably for a year or two, at a distance from their families
and friends. And here it may be observed, that, while Quaker ministers
from England are thus visiting America on a religious errand, ministers
from America, impelled by the same influence, are engaging in
Apostolical missions to England. These foreign visits, on both sides,
are not undertaken by such ministers only as are men. Women engage in
them also. They cross the Atlantic, and labour in the vineyard in the
same manner. It may be mentioned here, that though it be a principle in
the Quaker society, that no minister of the Gospel ought to be paid for
his religious labours, yet the expense of the voyage, on such occasions,
is allowed to be defrayed out of the fund, which is denominated by the
Quakers their national stock.

CHAP. XI.

_Elders--Their appointment--One part of their office to watch over the
doctrines and conduct of ministers--Another part of their office to meet
the ministers of the church, and to confer and exhort for religious
good--None to meddle at these conferences with the government of the
church._

I mentioned in the preceding chapter, as the reader must have observed,
that certain persons, called Elders, watched over those who came forward
in the ministry, with a view of ascertaining if they had received a
proper qualification or call. I shall now state who the elders are, as
well as more particularly the nature of their office.

To every particular meeting four elders, two men and two women, but
sometimes more and sometimes less, according as persons can be found
qualified, are appointed. These are nominated by a committee appointed
by the monthly meeting, in conjunction with a committee appointed by the
quarterly meeting. And as the office annexed to the name of elder is
considered peculiarly important by the Quakers, particular care is
taken, that persons of clear discernment, and such as excel in the
spiritual ear, and such as are blameless in their lives, are appointed
to it. It is recommended that neither wealth nor age be allowed to
operate as inducements in the choice of them. Indeed, so much care is
required to be taken with respect to the filling up this office, that if
persons perfectly suitable are not to be found, the meetings are to be
left without them.

It is one part of the duty of the elders, when appointed, to watch over
the doctrine of young ministers, and also to watch over the doctrine and
conduct of ministers generally, and tenderly to advise with such as
appear to them to be deficient in any of the qualifications which belong
to their high calling.

When we consider that every religious society attaches a more than
common respectability to the person who performs the sacerdotal office,
there will be no difficulty in supposing, whenever a minister may be
thought to err, that many of those who are aware of his error, will want
the courage to point it out to him, and that others will excuse
themselves from doing it, by saying that interference on this occasion
does not belong more immediately to them than to others. This
institution therefore of elders fixes the offices on individuals. It
makes it their duty to watch and advise--It makes them responsible for
the unsound doctrine, or the bad conduct of their ministers. And this
responsibility is considered as likely to give persons that courage in
watching over the ministry, which they might otherwise want. Hence, if a
minister in the Quaker church were to preach unsoundly, or to act
inconsistently with his calling, he would be generally sure of being
privately spoken to by one or another elder.

This office of elders, as far as it is concerned in advising ministers
of the Gospel, had its foundation laid by George Fox. Many persons, who
engaged in the ministry in his time, are described by him as "having run
into imaginations," or as "having gone beyond their measure;" and in
these cases, whenever they should happen, he recommended that one or
two friends, if they saw fit, should advise with them in love and
wisdom. In process of time, however, this evil seems to have increased;
for as the society spread, numbers pressed forward to become Gospel
ministers; many supposed they had a call from the spirit, and rose up,
and preached, and in the heat of their imaginations, delivered
themselves unprofitably. Two or three persons also, in the frenzy of
their enthusiasm, frequently rose up, and spoke at the same time. Now
this was easily to be done in a religious society, where all were
allowed to speak, and where the qualifications of ministers were to be
judged of in part by the truths delivered, or rather, where ordination
was no mark of the ministry, or where an human appointment of it was
unknown. For these reasons, that mode of superintendence which had only
been suggested by George Fox, and left to the discretion of individuals,
was perfected into an establishment, out of imperious necessity, in
after times. Men were appointed to determine between the effects of
divine inspiration and human imagination; to judge between the cool and
the sound; and the enthusiastic and the defective; and to put a bridle
as it were upon those who were not likely to become profitable labourers
in the harvest of the Gospel. And as this office was rendered necessary
on account of the principle that no ordination or human appointment
could make a minister of the Gospel; so the same principle continuing
among the Quakers, the office has been continued to the present day.

It devolves upon the elders again, as a second branch of their duty, to
meet the ministers of the church at stated seasons, generally once in
three months, and to spend some time with them in religious retirement.
It is supposed that opportunities may be afforded here, of encouraging
and strengthening young ministers, of confirming the old, and of giving
religious advice and assistance in various ways: and it must be supposed
at any rate, that religious men cannot meet in religious conference,
without some edification to each other. At these meetings, queries are
proposed relative to the conduct both of ministers and elders, which
they answer in writing to the quarterly meetings of ministers and elders
to which they belong. Of the ministers and elders thus assembled, it may
be observed, that it is their duty to confine themselves wholly to the
exhortation of one another for good. They can make no laws, like the
ancient synods and other convocations of the clergy, nor dictate any
article of faith. Neither can they meddle with the government of the
church. The Quakers allow neither ministers nor elders, by virtue of
their office, to interfere with their discipline. Every proposition of
this sort must be determined upon by the yearly meeting, or by the body
at large.

CHAP. XII.

SECT. I.

_Worship--Consists of prayer and preaching--Neither of these effectual
but by the Spirit--Hence no liturgy or form of words, or studied
sermons, in the Quaker-church--Singular manner of delivering
sermons--Tone of the voice usually censured--This may arise from the
difference between nature and art--Objected, that there is little
variety of subject in these sermons--Variety not so necessary to
Quakers--Other objections--Replies--Observations of Francis Lambert, of
Avignon._

As no person, in the opinion of the Quakers, can be a true minister of
the gospel, unless he feel himself called or appointed by the spirit of
God, so there can be no true or effectual worship, except it come
through the aid of the same spirit.

The public worship of God is usually made to consist of prayer and
preaching.

Prayer is a solemn address of the soul to God. It is a solemn confession
of some weakness, or thanksgiving for some benefit, or petition for some
favour. But the Quakers consider such an address as deprived of its life
and power, except it be spiritually conceived. [127] "For the spirit
helpeth our infirmities. For we know not what we should pray for as we
ought. But the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be uttered."

[Footnote 127: Rom. 8. 26.]

Preaching, on the other hand, is an address of man to men, that their
attention may be turned towards God, and their minds be prepared for the
secret and heavenly touches of his spirit. But this preaching, again,
cannot be effectually performed, except the spirit of God accompany it.
Thus St. Paul, in speaking of himself, says, [128] "And my speech and my
preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in
demonstration of the spirit and with power, that your faith should not
stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." So the Quakers
believe that no words, however excellent, which men may deliver now,
will avail, or will produce that faith which is to stand, except they be
accompanied by that power which shall demonstrate them to be of God.

[Footnote 128: 1 Cor. 2. 4.]

From hence it appears to be the opinion of the Quakers, that the whole
worship of God, whether it consist of prayer or of preaching, must be
spiritual. Jesus Christ has also, they say, left this declaration upon
record,[129]that "God is a spirit, and that they that worship him, must
worship him in spirit and in truth." By worshipping him in truth, they
mean, that men are to worship him only when they feel a right
disposition to do it, and in such a manner as they judge, from their own
internal feelings, to be the manner which the spirit of God then
signifies.

[Footnote 129: John 4.24.]

For these reasons, when the Quakers enter into their meetings, they use
no liturgy or form of prayer. Such a form would be made up of the words
of man's wisdom. Neither do they deliver any sermons that have been
previously conceived or written down. Neither do they begin their
service immediately after they are seated. But when they sit down, they
wait in silence,[130] as the Apostles were commanded to do. They
endeavour to be calm and composed. They take no thought as to what they
shall say. They avoid, on the other hand, all activity of the
imagination, and every thing that arises from the will of man. The
creature is thus brought to be passive, and the spiritual faculty to be
disencumbered, so that it can receive and attend to the spiritual
language of the Creator. [131]If, during this vacation from all mental
activity, no impressions should be given to them, they say nothing. If
impressions should be afforded to them, but no impulse to oral delivery,
they remain equally silent. But if, on the other hand, impressions are
given them, with an impulse to utterance, they deliver to the
congregation as faithfully as they can, the copies of the several
images, which they conceive to be painted upon their minds.

[Footnote 130: Mat. 10.19. Acts 1.4.]

[Footnote 131: They believe it their duty, (to speak in the Quaker
language,) to maintain the watch, by preserving the imagination from
being carried away by thoughts originating in man; and, in such watch,
patiently to await for the arising of that life, which, by subduing the
thoughts of man, produces an inward silence, and therein bestows a true
sight of his condition upon him.]

This utterance, when it manifests itself, is resolvable into prayer or
preaching. If the minister engages in prayer, the whole company rise up,
and the men with the minister take off their hats, that is, [132]uncover
their heads. If he preaches only, they do not rise, but remain upon
their seats as before, with their heads covered. The preacher, however,
uncovers his own head upon this occasion.

[Footnote 132: 1 Cor. Ch. 11.]

There is something singular in the manner in which the Quakers deliver
themselves when they preach. In the beginning of their discourses, they
generally utter their words with slowness; indeed, with a slowness,
which sometimes renders their meaning almost unintelligible to persons
unaccustomed to such a mode of delivery; for seconds sometimes elapse
between the sounding of short sentences or single words, so that the
mind cannot always easily carry the first words, and join them to the
intermediate, and connect them with the last. As they proceed, they
communicate their impressions in a brisker manner; till, at length,
getting beyond the quickness of ordinary delivery, they may be said to
utter them rapidly. At this time, some of them appear to be much
affected, and even agitated by their subject. This method of a very
slow and deliberate pronunciation at first, and of an accelerated one
afterwards, appears to me, as far as I have seen or heard, to be
universal: for though undoubtedly some may make less pauses between the
introductory words and sentences than others, yet all begin slower than
they afterwards proceed.

This singular custom may be probably accounted for in the following
manner. The Quakers certainly believe that the spirit of God furnishes
them with impressions on these occasions, but that the description of
these is left to themselves Hence a faithful watch must be kept, that
these may be delivered to their hearers conformably to what is delivered
to them. But if so, it may perhaps be necessary to be more watchful, at
the outset, in order to ascertain the dimensions as it were of these
impressions, and of their several tendencies and bearings, than
afterwards, when such a knowledge of them has been obtained. Or it may
be that ministers, who go wholly unprepared to preach, have but a small
view of the subject at first. Hence they speak slowly. But as their
views are enlarged, their speech becomes quickened, and their feelings
become interested with it. These, for any thing I know, may be
solutions, upon Quaker principles, of this extraordinary practice.

Against the preaching of the Quakers, an objection is usually made by
the world, namely, that their ministers generally deliver their
doctrines with an unpleasant tone. But it may be observed that this,
which is considered to be a defect, is by no means confined to the
Quakers. Persons of other religious denominations, who exert themselves
in the ministry, are liable to the same charge. It may be observed also,
that the difference between the accent of the Quakers, and that of the
speakers of the world, may arise in the difference between art and
nature. The person who prepares his lecture for the lecture-room, or his
sermon for the pulpit, studies the formation of his sentences, which are
to be accompanied by a modulation of the voice. This modulation is
artificial, for it is usually taught. The Quakers, on, the other hand,
neither prepare their discourses, nor vary their voices purposely,
according to the rules of art. The tone which comes out, and which
appears disagreeable to those who are not used to it, is nevertheless
not unnatural. It is rather the mode of speaking which nature imposes,
in any violent exertion of the voice, to save the lungs. Hence persons
who have their wares to cry, and this almost every other minute, in the
streets, are obliged to adopt a tone. Hence persons with disordered
lungs, can sing words with more ease to themselves than they can utter
them, with a similar pitch of the voice. Hence Quaker women, when they
preach, have generally more of this tone than the Quaker men, for the
lungs of the female are generally weaker than those of the other sex.

Against the sermons of the Quakers two objections are usually made; the
first of which is, that they contain but little variety of subject.
Among dissenters, it is said, but more particularly in the
establishment, that you may hear fifty sermons following each other,
where the subject of each is different. Hence a man, ignorant of
letters, may collect all his moral and religious duties from the pulpit
in the course of the year. But this variety, it is contended, is not to
be found in the Quaker church.

That there is less variety in the Quaker sermons than in those of
others, there can be no doubt. But such variety is not so necessary to
Quakers, on account of their peculiar tenets, and the universality of
their education, as to others. For it is believed, as I have explained
before, that the spirit of God, if duly attended to, is a spiritual
guide to man, and that it leads him into all truth; that it redeems him;
and that it qualifies him therefore for happiness in a future state.
Thus an injunction to attend to the teachings of the spirit, supersedes,
in some measure, the necessity of detailing the moral and religious
obligations of individuals. And this necessity is still farther
superseded by the consideration, that, as all the members of the Quaker
society can read, they can collect their Christian duty from the
scriptures, independently of their own ministers; or that they can
collect those duties for themselves, which others, who are illiterate,
are obliged to collect from the church.

The second objection is, that the Quaker discourses have generally less
in them, and are occasionally less connected or more confused than those
of others.

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