subjects claiming attention called forth much lively exercise, and although on some points there were diversity of sentiments, yet harmony and brotherly love were felt to prevail. The Report of the Committee to provide for the better accommodation of the Yearly Meeting, and the minute embracing the prevailing exercises will be found in the present number.

REPORT.

The Committee to provide for the better accommodation of the Yearly Meeting, report,

That having very fully stated particulars in their report to the Yearly Meeting last year, but little remains to be added thereto, excepting that

the buildings are ready for use.

The dwelling reported as standing on the Eastern portion of the Cherry Street front, has been removed by mutual consent. By this transaction the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia has been subjected to the necessity of providing another house for the use of the taker, and the Yearly Meeting realizes the whole value of the Cherry Street front.

care

The cost of the building and improvements heretofore estimated at 36,000 dollars, has exceeded that sum by about 4,376 dollars.

The entire sum of $33,000 subscribed for the use of the Yearly Meeting, has been received by

the Treasurer of our Committee.

Sixth Day, afternoon.

The following minute, xpressive of some of the exercises of this meeting, was read and approved.

During the exercises of this meeting, we were made sensibly to feel that while acceptable worship may be performed at all times and in all places; when we walk by the way, when our hands are engaged in the lawful vocations of life, or when the head rests upon the pillow-yet we are social beings, and there is a peculiar propriety in assembling together for public worship, in order to manifest our allegiance to the King of Kings, to seek for reconciliation and communion with Him, and unite with those whose hearts beat in unison with ours, in offering up silent aspirations for his continued mercies.

The Head of the Church has given us the gracious promise, that He will be found in the Lidst of those who assemble in his name, and many among us can thankfully acknowledge that in our religious meetings, where often there is no outward ministry, the Shepherd and Bishop of souls has made his presence known among us by the breaking of bread. Let those who feel this Christian obligation to attend all our meetings, not be found weary in well-doing, and when thus assembled labor for a qualification to offer acceptable worship, and by their example as well as precept invite others to join with them in

this public acknowledgment. Individuals as well as Monthly Meetimgs would then be favored to extend encouragement to those who are negligent in this respect. A concern was felt that none should suffer the love of money to prevent them from allowing and encouraging those under their care to assemble with their friends in midweek meetings, remembering the faith of the widow who made first a cake for the prophet, and realized the promise that the barrel of meal should not waste, neither should the cruise of oil fail, and she and her son were preserved alive.

The proper training of youth was felt to be of vital importance. While the storing of the mind with useful knowledge and the development of the intellect are proper subjects of parental care, may we ever remember that the growth of those holy principles which spring from the root of Divine life in the soul, is the main object that should engage our attention, for on this depends our happiness here and our preparation for the joys of eternity. To preserve the youthful mind from the contaminating influence of evil company and pernicious publications, requires affectionate care and consistent love, the selection of suitable publications, and a example. The salutary restraints of parental concern on the part of parents to make their home attractive, would tend to remove the inducements to wander in search of hurtful pleasures. The frequent reading of the sacred scriptures in the family circle, accompanied by a suitable pause for meditation, and silent worship, has ever been attended with a blessing. It has been the experience of many, that passages recorded by holy men of old, which have been read in youth and not then appreciated, became in after years the source of comfort and edification when revived in the memory and opened to the understanding by the operations of the Holy Spirit.

The desolating effects of intemperance claimed the serious consideration of the meeting, and Friends were encouraged to bear a faithful testimony against the use of spirituous liquors, and individually to watch the many avenues through which this enemy enters.

The condition of Friends unfavorably situated for the education of their children in schools under the care of the society, claimed our sympathy, and all were encouraged to an increased carefulness, to avoid placing them where music and vain accomplishments have been introduced, and also against the insidious attempts which are making by some professors of religion, to improve public morals by the encouragement of theatrical exhibitions.

The provisions of our Discipline in relation to dealing with offenders, are intended for the preservation and restoration of the members of our society, and encouragement was extended to all, to watch over one another for good. Thus the

design of religious association would be answered, to gather and not to scatter the flock.

The Committee thereto appointed, produced an essay of an epistle, which on being read was approved, directed to be transcribed, signed by the clerk, and a copy thereof forwarded to each of the Yearly Meetings with which we correspond.

Having been permitted again to assemble for the transaction of the important concerns of a Yearly Meeting, now that we are about to seperate, we have thankfully to acknowledge that the Divine Presence has at times been with us, uniting our hearts together, and enabling us to feel an increase of Brotherly Love. Grateful for the favor, and with desires that this may

continue with us in our several allotments, we conclude, to meet again at the usual time next year, if so permitted.

Extracted from the Minutes.

WILLIAM GRISCOM, Clerk.

MARRIED, On the 6th inst. at the residence of THOMAS W. PEARSALL, according to the order of the religious Society of Friends, EDWIN THORNE, to CHARLOTTE F. PEARSALL, all of the City of New York. - According to the order of the Society of Friends, on the 29th of 4th mo., THOMAS WILSON, of Danville, Montour co., to MARY, daughter of JOHN K. EEVES, of Millville, Columbia co., Pa.

On the 30th of 4th mo., last, according to the order of Friends, WILLIAM W. GRISCOM, to SARAH M. COOPER, both of Woodbury N. J.

On the 30th of 4th mo., 1857, by Friends ceremony, FRANKLIN DAVIS, of Staunton, Virginia, to MARIA E. KENT, daughter of Joseph and Maria J. Kent, of Chester county, Pennsylvania.

DIED, On the 11th inst., of consumption, ALICE D. KIRK, wife of Samuel Kirk, and daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Moore, in the 34th year of her age-a member of West Branch Monthly Meeting, Clearfield Co., Pa.

In a recent number of Hovey's Magazine, the remark is made that "few complete and thoroughly made gardens and grounds are to be found. We see everywhere in the rapid increase of wealth and population in our suburban towns, fine buildings, erected almost by magic, in the highest style of architectural art, and finished without regard to expense. These costly dwellings, as well as those of more humble pretensions, meet our eyes in every direction, and would command our highest admiration, but for one defect, they are wanting in the elegant surroundings which should belong to every suburban residence; the lawn, the ornamental grounds, the fruit garden, or even the little parterre, have been entirely neglected, and they stand bleak and alone, an ostentatious display of wealth without taste, on the one hand, or the appearance of a depleted purse without the means of doing anything more, on the other."

ORTHODOXY AND HETERODOXY.

BY S. M. J.

(Continued from page 139.)

Before I take leave of the "Lay Churchman" and his work, which I have been reviewing, it to the doctrines of Friends. One of these relates seems proper to notice two objections he makes to the alleged insufficiency of the Light of Christ; the other to the supposed necessity of a creed for every Church.

The first of these objections he states as follows, viz: "We therefore reject this sentiment, that the light within every man is to be reckoned his sole guide, because men may err in their conceptions of what it is. Our judgment is imperfect, and if we have no test, by which we can judge whether we are led by a true or a false Such is the constant experience among Friends, light, we may go far astray before we know it. to this day." Page 37.

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In this passage he represents the Light within as the sole guide' recognized by Friends; which does not agree with the paragraph immediately preceding, wherein he says "It was evidently the effort of these fathers in the Church, [Fox and Barclay,] to give prominence to the spirit; and a subordinate place to the scriptures. They did not object to the use of the Bible, but to its abuse,-and whatever may be said of their docstated." trine, justice requires that it should be fairly

The doctrine of the early Friends, was, that the Light of Christ, otherwise called the grace of God, the Spirit of Truth, or the Holy Spirit, is the fountain of divine knowledge in the human soul; that a manifestation of it, sufficient for salvation, is given to every man, and therefore it is the "primary rule of faith and manners."

The scriptures of truth, being a record of revelations made to holy men in former ages, are, as Barclay says, " only a declaration of the fountain, and not the fountain itself, therefore they are not to be esteemed the principal ground of all truth and knowledge, nor yet the adequate primary rule of faith and manners. Nevertheless, as that which giveth a true and faithful testimony of the first foundation, they are and may be esteemed a secondary rule, subordinate to the Spirit, from which they have all their excellency and certainty."

Now if it be admitted that the Holy Spirit does, in this age, influence the hearts of the faithful, to open the understanding, quicken the conscience, and renovate the soul, it follows, as a necessary consequence, that its authority must be supreme; the stream that flowed from it in a former age, cannot rise above the fountain.

That it does in this age so influence the hearts of good men, may be proved from authorities that stand high in the Episcopal Church. Faber, in his work on the Holy Spirit, says: "I find, to use the empliatic language of scripture, the

Are we to accept these declarations in their literal and obvious meaning? If we do, then it must be conceded by every churchman, that the Holy Spirit dwells in the regenerate soul, to sanctify, illuminate and direct it. Will our author be so illogical as to say that the Holy Spirit is now limited by the Scriptures, and that all who have not access to the sacred volume are destitute of a spiritual guide?

May we not conclude that there is much in consistency in the teachings of the Episcopal Church, and indeed, of nearly all the Churches in Christendom; at one time declaring their belief in the continued operation and guidance of the Holy Spirit, as a teacher always nigh us; and at other times insisting that there is no reliance upon this spiritual guide, unless it speak to us through the scriptures, which are declared to be the primary rule?

But it is objected that men are liable to be mistaken in regard to the teachings of the Spirit, and hence they run into fanaticism. It may be answered that they are at least as liable to be mistaken about the meaning of the Scriptures, when they undertake to expound them, as they generally do, by the unassisted reason of man.

The second objection of the "Lay Churchman" against the doctrines of Friends, he states as follows, viz: "Quakerism declares that creeds lead to dispute and schism; that the only safeguard against confusion is to center to the seed of life within," &c. But their own history, embracing as it does a period of only two centuries, shows at least four distinct divisions—and they are now consummating another."

It may be answered that according to his own showing, those who are now consummating another division, are not without a creed. "The opposers of Hicks," he says, "called themselves Orthodox Friends,' and adopted and published a confession of orthodox faith." He might have added that the same party, just before the separation of 1827, attempted to impose upon the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting a creed or confession of faith, and that a disposition on their part to define and insist upon abstruse points of doctrine was one of the causes of that schism.

But admitting that there have been four or five schisms in the Society of Friends in two centuries, let it be remembered that Protestantism has existed very little more than three centuries, and that there are in this country alone, exclu

The whole history of the Christian Church shows that a creed will not secure uniformity of belief, nor prevent schisms. The celebrated Nicene creed did not heal the divisions in the Church, but gave rise to much controversy and bloodshed. The creeds and confessions of faith adopted by the Protestant reformers did not prevent schisms among them, and the thirty-eight Protestant sects in this country have not, by their creeds, been able to secure unanimity of sentiment. It may be added that the Catholic Church has never been able to produce uniformity of belief among its members, or even among its teachers; notwithstanding its creeds, its traditions, its claim to infallibility, and its coercive machinery-the dungeon, the rack, the faggot, and the sword.

If a creed had been necessary for the Church, it may be presumed that Christ would have left one; but He taught his disciples to rely upon the Holy Spirit as their guide into all truth; He prayed the Father to endow them with this heavenly gift, and not his disciples only, but all that should believe through their word. He pointed to the fruits that should be brought forth as the evidence of discipleship, for it is not the profession, but the possession of religion that saves the soul- not the hearers, but the doers of the law that shall be justified. In accordance with these principles, the truly enlightened mind places very little reliance upon creeds, but looks to the conduct of religious professors as the test of their sincerity, and regards a holy life as the best passport to Heaven.

The account which we publish of the capture of an American slaver, is another proof of the fact to which we have before adverted, that the slave trade, and the horrors of the middle passage, are still in active exercise, and there is reason to believe that thousands of human

beings are still annually torn from their homes in Africa, and subjected to all the cruelties of this iniquitous system.

Within a few weeks, the Marshal of New York has pursued and captured two vessels sailing from that port, with all the appliances for the traffic, and there is reason to believe that merchants in some of our northern cities, are engaged in fitting out these vessels and participating in the proceeds of the enterprize.

It appears that the Anti-Slavery Societies of Jamaica have suggested to the British government, that the gun boats which were built for the war in Russia should be employed in the