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Untitled Article
lion , it seems to afford a strong presumptive proof that it is Interwoven in our nature . But if we inherit corruption , we are assured that grace is given to us to counteract its operations % tnat the evil begins to work no sooner than its antidote is at hand . And perhaps this is ua <> st conducive to bur happiness , and best calculated to prepare us for a happy itninortality , the original and continued design of otir present state of esasteace . ** —* And may we not suppose tbat our all-wise Creator , who sees through futtrity , aud knoweth all things , foresaw that the rail of man , with the antidote already proposed , even c the Lamb slain from the foundation of the WcfffcL * would best answer his oraeious
designs respecting us , in preparing us for glory ; honour , and immortality t >' Does not this remind us of Pope ' s celebrated paradox , that all men of sense are of the same opinion , if they had but the wit to find it out ? We set off froin the rail of man , and from that to the atonement , and at the end of our journey we find ourselves just where we were—we call our human
frailty « c inherited corruption , ' * and ouf good feelings , good motives , good dispositions , ( what they most undoubtedl y are , ) ** Divine grace , ' * arid by this may all rnefi know that we hav £ made the grand tour ! It is only in speculation that the really considerate and conscientious can differ much . Let the heavens turn round the earth , or the earth rottnd the sun , he rises and sets alike "; and every astronomer must conform his •* scheme of the heavens" to the observation of the ploughman , who " goes to his labour until the evening . " False or true , he must bring his system to bear oh those
points in which all men agree—and so mast the builder of theological systems—so most he wind , and turn , and labour , to produce that resqlt which the common sense of mankind demands at his hands . The great liberality of * feeling towards those who differ from her on controversial points , is one striking feature in Mrs . Woods' Journal , and the fearlessness with which she cherishes it , together with its being voluntarily chosen for publication by her surviving friends , lead one to hope that it is characteristic of the more educated class of Quakers at the present day . " I feel , "
says Mfs . Wood , •* as if I could unite myself in the bonds of love and union with afi those who seriously desire and endeavour to please God . " In another place we are told that the Christian is not to say to the Mahometan , " I atn- holier than thou } " and that under every form of worship real vital religion may < c reign in the heart / ' StiJI she would plead for " keeping
our communications , a& much as can conveniently be , within our own Society / ' because sht finds that those who associate ixtach with of her sects are apt to be more conformd to the practices of the world , and to Jose " those pefculi&ritfcfc of cfaefes * and feehavioutf which are considered , by some among ws , as a safeguard against ternfrtation /'
The ptrrsuit of * human knowledge , " which is commonly considered ( or used to be commonly considered ^ by the Quakers as " less than nothing and vanity , " is defended by Mrs . Woods , though not without fear lest it should occupy ail unreasonable portion of our time , and call off our thoughts fro ift what is more immediately our business on earth *
<( But when I consider" ( she says ) " the various beauties of creation , and the mauy bkesings we eajoy whilst Iw 3 re , it rather gives room to believe that we may be permitted to gather som ^ flowers in our way , and amuse onrsejv ^ e with their beauty and fragrancy , so long as we keep the end of out journey inview , and consider that as what ougHt to be the pnneipal objeot of our attention . In this light 1 Eave considered every walk into tte fields of natural knowledge , a « d I believe that the discoveries made therein have been some . times beneficial t # our present state , as vtrteti as ke ^ t the youthful mind fro m tenwrtationtf which would have had a more ptetfnicfous influence . "
Untitled Article
Extracts from the Journal of Margaret fPoode . 543
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1829, page 543, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2575/page/23/
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