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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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548 Persecution of Elias Hicks by American Quakers *
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God , the advantage of a great flow of words , and [ a ] ready utterance—lie acquired great popularity ; and in a little time his influence , " savs Thomas Eddy , " became so extensive that
he dictated and completely directed all the business of the Yearly Meeting , and every other meeting of discipline he attended . " The next accusation is much more credible . Following closely the example of the four evangelists , of the apostles , and
their great Master , " he began by speaking of Christ as a great prophet , " the greatest of the prophets , " who had suffered martyrdom for his principles , as other prophets had done before his time .
His accuser adds , * ' At this period his principles were discovered by a number of Friends , but there were many that were so closely attached to him , that any person who passed censure on him /* [ for preaching the iC
aforesaid scriptural doctrines , ] was sure to incur the frowns of his supporters . Some valuable Friends now regret that he was not checked at that period , but they are fearful it is now too late . " It is much to be
lamented , says Thomas Eddy , " . that this step was not timely adopted , as it would hare prevented the present unhappy divisions in New York and other places . He went on—printing and speaking of Christ as a mere
man , and lessening the Scriptures on every occasion . " After much irrelevant and not very credible matter , his accuser adds , " At length he ventured more openly to speak against
the divinity of Christ , by stating , that he might have fallen as Adam did . *' It appears that " some worthy Friends of New York / ' and " other Yearly Meetings , and from Europe / ' have stated to Elias Hicks their objections to his sentiments relative to the
divinity of Christy" which , according to them , < c went to the destruction of the Christian religion , and to produce divisions in [ the ] Society . But owing to his inordinate fondness for
reasoning , " says Thomas Eddy , this has not " been of any use . " And that " although many Friends in New York , as well as some on Long Island , are convinced he is unsound in the
Christian faith , yet most of them are secretly afraid of him . " Such is the account given , as illustrative of the present state of the Society of Friends
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in New York and the adjacent Yearly Meetings . "We may tremble , " adds Thomas Eddy on behalf of himself and his confidential friends , " when we find such a man as Elias Hicks
" countenanced in advancing doctrines that go , " in their estimation , " destroy the foundation of our Society , and lay waste its first principles 3 and that he should be permitted to go . to other places , " where he is heard
gladly by the multitude , and his doctrines generally approved and received as sound and scriptural , " produce the same divisions that he has already produced at New York . The injury received through the conduct of this
man , has been very great . Highly respectable persons of other [ reputedly Orthodox ] denominations , charge our Society with being Unitarians : when they are told" by the comparatively few persons in the Society who oppose his ministry , that " this charge is untrue , they reply , they have heard Elias Hicks openly and publicly avow
this doctrine , and as he is an acknowledged minister in the Society of Friends , and as they allow him to go about the country to hold meetings , of course the doctrines delivered by him must be considered as held by
the Society . " In order to shew that " it is not so very extraordinary as might at first appear , that a great proportion of the people so educated and so instructed should submit to be led , and be so entirely influenced by such a man as Elias Hicks " and to account
for so many of the members of his Quarterly Meeting being so blind as not to discover the unsoundness of his principles , " Thomas Eddy does not hesitate to sav . " " the leading cause is hesitate to say the leading cause is
, the want of a proper or suitable education ; the writings of early Friends ( except some journals ) are scarce , and little read , all kinds of school
learning , except reading , writing , and the first rules of arithmetic , are discouraged , as well as general history , and books written by persons who are not members ** To read the Scriptures daily or at fixed hours , is
declared to be " mere formality - " yand he asserts , I hope also mistakenly , that in many families " they are very little read ; " and with equal confidence declares , that " if Friends in Philadelphia /* of whose religious education and instruction he makes no
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1824, page 548, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2528/page/36/
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