place. On our journeyings to and fro we would stop and rest at the hospitable abode of our friends Charles and Tacy Stokes, who then lived on their farm. Then and there it was my privilege to listen to the words of counsel and wisdom from the lips of him at whose house we are now assembled.

The impressions then made upon my youthful mind have not been effaced. As time has rolled on, we have been for many, many years brought closely together, being members of the same branch of the religious Society of Friends, and associated in committees of its annual assemblies. Such association teaches men, when convened for the consideration of the subjects presented, that there must be, yea, that there necessarily will be, diversity of sentiment, even where there is an entire honesty of intention; but, while it has not always been our lot to see eye to eye, I can say that the friendship, formed in my youthful days, for this patriarch, has never diminished; but, on the contrary, has waxed stronger as time has rolled on, and year has been added to

year.

As I have looked around, I have discovered that there are, among the living, only one or two persons, besides our dear Friend, who were members of the Select Yearly Meeting of friends in Philadelphia, when I was introduced into that body, nearly forty years ago. Thus is time hastening on in its flight, and ere long the places that have known us and the duties that have been assigned unto us will fall to the lot of others.

When I look back at the course pursued by my dear aged friend-during almost half a century—and remember his fidelity to duty, his firmness and integrity of purpose in the plain exemplification of that which he deemed right and proper to promote the welfare of the religious body that he had been appointed to represent-I have ever found that those proceedings in which he has concurred, the sentiments which he has expressed, have been profitable unto me. I have received benefit from those evidences which have characterized his life.

Now, what I desire for you who are to come after him is that you may derive instruction from his example; that you may-as he has done-allow your hearts to come under the control, the government, of that wisdom which is from above; that it may be your director in all things; for, after all, though we may make use of all the means that the schools afford, in storing the mind with such knowledge as appertains to and fits us for life; yet to have our talents rightly directed, so that they may shine as our Creator, in conferring them upon us, designed they should, it is essential that we allow Him to be the Guide, the Director of our lives. Nothing short of this can qualify any man or woman properly to discharge all the duties that belong to this state of being; and my own experience confirms me in the belief that so far from taking from us any legitimate enjoyment, it is this and this alone that can prepare both heart and mind to enjoy all that is good in this life.

I feel, as does the friend [Eli K. Price] who preceded me, that it is a great privilege to be here to-day, mingling with friends whom I have long known, and whose, names have descended to them from those who were steadfast in their love to God and to their country. How strikingly is this love exemplified in the life of our dear, aged friend; not only in the discharge of his duties, but also in his building on a sure foundation, and conforming his will to the conditions before presented.

If this land of ours that we all love shall continue to be a beacon light to the nations afar off; if its glory is to remain undiminished; if its star is to shine on with unceasing splendor; the men who are to guide it in the States, who are to be found in the legislative halls, its lawgivers and directors, must be governed by that principle, that power, to which I have alluded.

When we look back and trace out the foundations of this Government, when we go back to the beginning and contemplate the wisdom, and the high sense of justice of those men and women who crossed the Atlantic and landed at Burlington-your ancestors and mine-when we look back and see the fabric they reared when they vested the power of the Government in the people; we discover that then and there it was that they gave forth, for that little colony, laws which had on them every impress of liberty, and which were for the good of all mankind. No man was to be incarcerated—no matter how grave the charge against him—

without a trial before a jury of twelve of his neighbors; and the untrammeled right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of his own conscience was secured to every

one.

"Thus they laid," writes one referring to their code, “a foundation for after ages to understand their liberties as men and Christians, that they may not be brought into bondage but by their own consent; for they put the power in the people, that is to say, to meet and choose one man for each proprietary who had subscribed to the concessions. All these were to meet as an assembly, to make and repeal laws, to choose a governor or a commissioner and twelve assistants to execute the laws during their pleasure, so that every man was capable to choose or be chosen."

We have received these legacies from our fathers as the original laws of New Jersey, and the name of William Penn is attached to those declarations and records as taking a prominent part in the settlement of this State, as he did in founding the province of Pennsylvania. Therefore if you desire to see those principles and liberties preserved, you must stand up for the right; and you must remember also, that there is not anything in the religion of your fathers that withholds or relieves you from the discharge of your duties, both civil and political.

Remember this, and be thankful that you spring from men who sacrificed all they held dear, even to their lives and liberties, in order to maintain the rights of man, and

especially the great principle, that men should be permitted to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences.

CHAPTER VIII

RELIGIOUS VISITS.

ACCOUNT OF A RELIGIOUS VISIT TO SOUTHERN QUARTER AND ITS BRANCHES, Performed in ELEVENTH Month, 1842.

Believing it to be in the wisdom of God that his children should keep an account of his dealings with them, from time to time, I have made the following record. Those who are to come after us may find instruction and encouragement in going over the lines of our experience and seeing how tenderly the Most High deals with his children. They may also learn, not only that He has power to bring low, but also to exalt, and that now, as in days past, He will be “mouth and wisdom, tongue and utterance" to his dependent little

ones

I left home on the ninth of Eleventh Month, to attend the Meeting of Ministers and Elders of Abington Quarter. This was the first Select Quarter that I ever attended, and it pleased the Father of all our sure mercies to extend the overshadowing influence of his love over us, whereby we were baptized together into a oneness of feeling. Oh, may