I
might have more confidence to present it to the world, or be more
hopeful of its success. To God alone I owe what I have, and that more
immediately in matters spiritual, and therefore to him alone, and the
service of his truth, I dedicate whatever work he may bring forth in me,
to whom only the praise and honour appertain, whose truth needs not the
patronage of worldly princes; his arm and power being that alone by
which it is propagated, established, and confirmed."

And farther on, he says, "Thou hast tasted of prosperity and adversity;
thou knowest what it is to be banished thy native country, to be
overruled, as well as to rule, and to sit upon the throne; and, being
oppressed, thou hast reason to know how hateful the oppression is both
to God and man. If, after all these warnings and advertisements, thou
dost not turn unto the Lord with all thy heart, but forget him who
remembered thee in distress, and give up thyself to follow lust and
vanity; surely great will be thy condemnation."

And this courage to dare to say what they believe to be right, as it was
an eminent feature in the character of the primitive, so it is
unquestionably a trait in that of the modern Quakers. They use no
flattery even in the presence of the king; and when the nation has
addressed him in favour of new wars, the Quakers have sometimes had the
courage to oppose the national voice on such an occasion, and to go
before the same great personage, and in a respectful and dignified
manner, to deliver a religious petition against the shedding of human
blood.

They have the courage also to dare to do as well as to say what they
consider to be right.

It is recorded of the early Quakers, that, in the times of the hottest
persecution, they stood to their testimony in the places appointed for
their worship. They never assembled in private rooms, or held private
conventicles, employing persons to watch at the doors, to keep out spies
and informers, or to prevent surprise from the magistrates. But they
worshipped always in public, and with their doors open. Nor, when armed
men were sent to dissolve their meetings, did they ever fly, but, on
the summons to break up and depart, they sat motionless, and, regardless
of threats and blows, never left their devotions, but were obliged to be
dragged out, one by one, from their places. And even when their
meeting-houses were totally destroyed by the magistrates, they sometimes
met the next meeting-day, a