Robert Barclay of Tottenham

“ When we consider the large number of work-people employed by Members of our Society, we can hardly suppose that we have not a mission to them if to no others or that the same simple principles of the New Testament may not be equally beneficial to them as to our own children. ”

“ The assumption made here, and elsewhere, is this : that every person who has true faith shown by works, ought to be, and must be, part of a visible Church Society ; and in order to secure this end, all the infants born, within certain limits, of Christian parents, ought to be made to belong to some outward Church. The Church of Rome, the Church of England, and the Presbyterian Church thought so, and endeavoured, unavailingly, to enforce the idea by the sword. Now is it absolutely necessary to every
Birthright Membership. ”

“ Parents would see that real religious advantages would be offered to their children, because the motives for doing so would be allowed full scope. Ministers would soon see real and visible fruit of their labours in the conversion of sinners, and in the blessing which attends the decided profession of allegiance to Christ, our dear Lord and Master, by those who are turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. ”

“ With the help of the person who, by the dedication of his spare time, had, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, called this Society into being, they are as perfectly able in their measures to administer the affairs of their Church as any of our own Meetings, and have certainly done so as much for the glory of God. ”

“ There is no Christian love without living faith. It is " faith working by love " which makes a Christian. Faith without love is like a flower which does not come to perfection. The Society of Friends would, in our opinion, have been spared many sorrowful episodes in its history, and peculiar difficulties, especially in dealing with young people such, for instance, as it has experienced at Manchester had it from its origin on principle uni- formly asked the question which Philip asked the Ethiopian, of all applicants for membership. ”

“ It is merely this, that our terms of Christian Communion shall be made neither broader nor narrower than that of the Church of the Apostles.
They believe that the decline of our Society in numbers has been mainly due to the introduction of an Hereditary Membership, and to the measures which necessarily followed this insidious and fatal error. ”

“ There is now, in a different form, an equally violent spiritual struggle, and human nature and the Religion of Christ requires that it shall have an outward and visible form. It is against this visible form of PROFESSED ALLEGIANCE to Him in which Christ has moulded His Church that this struggle is raging in the world, and in the bosom of Societies which profess themselves to be Churches. ”

“ Instead of being a company of faithful men and women, united in religious fellowship, and possessing a strong bond of union in heartfelt allegiance to their common Lord, the Society of Friends increasingly assumed the character of a corporation, existing for ends partly religious, partly social, and partly civil ”

“ For Jesus Christ, as He regardeth not any distinct particular family or nation in the gathering of his children, but only such as are joined to and leavened with his own pure and righteous seed ; so neither regards He a bare outward succession, where his pure, immaculate, and righteous life is wanting, for that were all one. He took not the nations into the new covenant, that He might suffer them to fall into the old errors of the Jews, or to approve them in their errors, but that He might gather unto Himself a pure people out of the earth. ”

“ Independent cluirches act in the same way ; but it is understood that they are not quite as rigid as Baptist churches in their requirements."
" The Methodists, I believe, require of any person joining their classes a single profession of a desire to save their souls. If they attend regularly, and satisfy their leader of their sincerity, they are soon admitted to the communion. But the spirit of the class system is such that any careless or wicked person is soon eliminated from the class, and his standing in the Society comes to an end." ”

“ It is not sufficient to have " old men for counsel and young men for war." It is only " in the Lord " that either young or old can have "counsel or might." It is mainly by the recognition of Divine instruments, and by a spirit of hearty co-operation with them, and by liberal and self-denying support of such persons by Visible Churches, that the greatest triumphs of the Gospel have been obtained.
The Christian religion can never assert its force under conditions such as these in winning the masses of the population. ”

“ Our views respecting the spirituality of the Gospel dispensation, and our rejection of the Priestly element that the ministry of the Gospel is not the exclusive duty of a clerical or professional class : the propriety of its exercise by women the advantages of silent as well as vocal prayer and praise are surely sufficiently important if carried out by men . jealous only for the honour of Christ, to make good our claim to existence as an independent Christian Church. ”

“ The spirit of opposition gives way before the meekness which in- structs, and in such service a shower of Heavenly gifts and graces descends upon weak, fallible men, yielding themselves to be the organs of the Holy Spirit for the conversion of the world. The surpassing glories of the Person of Christ, the mystery of the Cross, the reality of the New Creation, are exhibited by the servants of Christ and of the Church, as men whose office is to persuade, not to enforce or command. ”

“ The maxim, that ' what is easily obtained is lightly esteemed,' declares a true principle ; and from ' Membership ' being so indiscriminately granted to all the children of Friends, it is often regarded by them when rising into manhood or womanhood, in a false light; instead of being esteemed a privilege as Membership with a Christian Church should ever be it has been felt to be a burden, imposing restraints not demanded by their own con- sciences. Family ties, or other causes, often prevent such young people from separating the connection between them- selves and the Society ”

“ He is, we will suppose, the son of some wealthy Friend, and well educated, but has never made any profession of belonging to the Society. He is known by them as a gay young man, caring nothing for religion, although he attends our Meetings. He falls into a snare and his moral character is at stake. His family are valued Members of our Body. His father rebukes him and for- gives him, and his moral nature eventually re-asserts its superiority. The matter, for the sake of the young
Birthright Membership. ”

“ We can readily see that the Baptism of the newly- born infants of Christian parents did away with the original idea and intention, and the practical action of the early Christian Church which was consequent upon this idea, viz. that a man or woman was first to be convinced by the preaching and teaching of Christianity of its truth. This led to the practice of handing over the converts to " Catechists." This was no distinct office in the early Church, but some persons who, it might be, had distinguished themselves among the Church readers of the New Testament Scriptures ”

“ Woe unto you when all men speak well of you," said our Lord to His disciples ; and when we are drawing comparisons between our own " holiness of life " and that of our fellow-Christians, we cannot be too diffident of the extent of our knowledge, or the accuracy of our judgment. It might be asked, for instance, whether the pecuniary self-denial and priva- tion of the Society, in proportion to its means, for the maintenance and propagation of the Christian religion, are not incomparably smaller than those voluntarily and cheerfully borne by the Free Churches of this country ? ”

“ The great stronghold of Birthright Membership in our Society is the great desire of decidedly Christian parents to obtain Christian privileges for their chil- dren ; and the great desire of parents who cannot so be considered that their children should have, without thought or trouble on their part, the advantage of belonging to a Society who, by their judicious care in the extension of a sound moral and religious edu- cation by means of public schools and by the exercise of Church discipline, have obtained a high position in public estimation. ”

“ If the Society were further to extend full Membership to all persons who, having been instructed (whether by their parents only, or in our public schools, or in Bible-classes superintended as al) ove described) , in the truths of the Christian religion (which would necessarily include all principles whatever which are or ought to be professed by Friends, and which could be found clearly taught in the New Testament) , and professing faith, personally or in writing, in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of
60 Birthright Membership. ”

“ Any such question as this, in his view, is unad- visable : " Art thou at peace with God through Jesus Christ; and is thy judgment satisfied to remain in communion with those among whom thou hast been born V (See page 264.) Any such questions might be fraught with serious consequences to the susceptible minds of the young, and therefore we are to choose the only alternative in his opinion, to continue to accept these persons as Members, and subject them to the operation of the discipline, without the slightest volition on their part on their coming to years of understanding! ”

“ It is true that men may profess what is untrue, and enter the Church as hypocrites or they may become hypocrites after they have entered but those who are not Christians are not devoid either of conscience or of honour, and when a Church keeps true to its Divine objects there is little to attract the worldly-minded.'"'
We do desire to attract the world to hear the preaching of the Gospel. Hence the very great importance of drawing the distinc- tion between Attenders at a place of worship and professed Chris- tians. It was the object of our Blessed Lord to attract as many as possible to hear. ”

“ We receive general instruction on these mat- ters in the New Testament, and although certain great principles are there laid down, still these are subjects on which Christian men and women may reasonably differ in opinion. In every human institution for real work, to ensure harmonious working, a distinct agree- ment on the part of the person proposing to join such a Society, is found to ensure both harmony and vigorous co-operation among the members in carrying out the great ends of any Institution. Hence the absolute necessity of some such agreement as to the outward constitution of a Church. ”

“ If, as stated in the essay, " the data from which a right conclusion is to be deduced " in this matter are the " results of the various regula- tions in force in different branches of the Christian Church," who do not " run counter to the principles laid down by the Lord Jesus for the government of the Church," we may soon learn, and the writer has shown elsewhere, that the Churches who have been the most successful in propagating the Christian religion, have ALL a definite Membership of the character we have been speaking of, and not a Birthright Membership. ”

“ The ancient practice of Ministers giving an account of their proceedings to the Church, on their return from a religious visit with a certificate, is a familiar instance, which proves that Ministers were considered in the early Society of Friends as responsible to the Church. ”

“ These men had not faith to believe that if the right method were followed these young trees would produce at last rich ripe fruit, and that a multitude of people would, as of old, rejoice and find sustenance in the flowers and fruit, and that the blessings of the old tree would thus be indefinitely extended. ”

“ From this anomalous provision operating in con junction with their marriage regulations, the Friends, as they have declined in numbers, have become increasingly bound together by family relationship ; and whilst the spirit of clan- ship has conferred some elements of strength, it has also favoured the growth of that exclusive feeling which is rarely absent from any association of men, in which Membership is principally obtained through hereditary descent. ”

“ It is obvious that any particular Church or Society of persons, such as have been described, have the power of laying down certain principles and rules for their guidance as an outward Society. How can any walk together unless they be agreed ? ”

“ These youthful Christians only obtain a status and position after the qualification of many years of regular attendance at Meetings for Discipline, instead of being early and cordially welcomed, as they were in the early Society, and as they are in some other Churches, as the great means of their support and the perpetuation of their Christian principles. ”

“ Children of Christian parents are placed by Divine providence in a position in which the responsibility of their religious training rests not upon the Church but exclusively upon the parents. Church officers cannot in any case rightly interfere between the parents and children. ”

“ If thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be- saved;" and the burden of proof rests upon those who deny that any other class of persons, but those who were such, were received into outward fellowship. ”

“ It can readily be conceived that, among men who are not united on more than one point (a union, sufficient indeed for the Saints in Light, but quite insufficient for men with human frailties) , the want of this clear understanding, which worldly men, in their greater wisdom, first secure from the members of their societies, is a great loss. ”

“ Ye are the light of the world, a city set on a hill cannot be hid," and we would ask where would be this " light" of the world, and this " city," if there was no outward and visible distinction between the professed disciples of Christ and the world '< Is it not their visible union which makes them " the light of the world," and " a city." ”