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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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It is hardly possible to look at a very stfaj Quaker , man or woman , ( but especially a woman , ) without mentally inquiring , " Is this , or has this ever been , * a being of like passions with ourselves' ? " and , " How has this moral mummy been formed ? " The combination of practical good sense with fanatical opinions is another mystery about the Quakers % and , at a silent meeting , what would one g ive to know , who is waiting for the Spirit , and who communing with their own spirit — who has faith in natural , and who in supernatural emotion ! The Journal of Margaret Woods will do more towards satisfying our curiosity on these points , than anything which has yet appeared , or could have been hoped for . It is the private diary of an intelligent Quaker , bequeathed by her to her daughter and
grand-daughters , as the result of her experience , and evidently written , as much as it is possible for any thing to be , in singleness of heart . Here we have the conflicts and the doubts which the tongue was forbidden to express , and the anxiety which was never suffered to hang on . the countenance * Thoughts , feelings , doctrines , struggles of reason , and flights of fancy—here they are brought to the light , and we have only to determine what belongs to the Quaker , and what to the individual Margaret Woods . The individual ,
it is to be observed , is a woman of decided talent and ardent feeling—just such a specimen as ought to be selected for the purpose ; and her style , which is formed upon the old English writers , is racy and pure . She was not " called to the ministry , " which is fortunate , as we are the more sure that her meditations are her own , and for her own use . Let her now speak for herself on the subject of a silent meeting :
< Hearing" some persons mention that their preference of silent meetings was increasing , I was led to consider the happiness of having bread in our own houses and water in our own cisterns ; when we need not the help of man , but can worship , in awful silence , the Father of spirits , in spirit and truth . For my own part , I feel at present far from tbis desirable attainment ; clouds and darkness seem to overshadow me . In this state of mind outward
help is frequently beneficial ; and if the spring lies deep , and we have no strength to dig , the joint labour of others assists us in coming to that refreshment which we know not how to obtain . Nevertheless , I am well convinced that a dependance on outward help will avail us nothing . If we are nourished by the bread of life , it must be by sinking deep into our own hearts , and experiencing the living , powerful word to Be near us , which will guide
us into all truth . We are too apt to let a careless negligence take hold of our minds when assembled together for the purpose of worship , instead of keeping them diligently fixed on the Supreme Author of our being , and endeavouring to wait in the silence of all flesh to hear that inspeaking word which , would not only show us our states and conditions , and inform us what we ought to do , but in his own good time prepare a sacrifice acceptable to himself , and cause us to rejoice in the oversnadowings of his love . "—P . 21 .
It has become a question of late , whether the Quakers are Trinitarians , a question which is not easy to resolve , a » they admit no common creed , catechism , or articles of faith ; it is probable , however , that the little
sum-* Extracts from the Journal of the late Margaret Woods , from the Year 1771 to 1821 . London , 1829 . 8 vo . pp . 494 .
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EXTRACTS FROM THE JOURNAL OF MARGARET WpODS . *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1829, page 541, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2575/page/21/
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