who compared himself to Moses, asserted that he was ordered to communicate his new system to Muggleton, whom he likened to Aaron. William Penn, to expose the doctrines of these, published "The new Witnesses proved old Heretics."

There is a letter extant, which he wrote this year to Dr. Hasbert, a physician at Embden in Germany, whom he had found, on his late tour to the Continent, ready to embrace the religious principles of the Qua kers. This letter was merely to encourage and strengthen him to pursue the path he had thus taken.

CHAP

CHAPTER IX.

A. 1673-travels as a minister-writes "The Christian Quaker"-also "Reason against Railing and Truth against Fiction"-also "The Counterfeit Christian detected"-holds a public controversy with the Baptists at Barbican-his account of it to G. Fox-writes "The Invalidity of John Fallo's Vindication"-also "A Return to J. Faldo's Reply"-also "A just Rebuke to one-and-twenty learned and reverend Divines”—encomium of Dr. Moore on the lotter-writes "Wisdom justified of her Children," and " Urim and Thummim"-and against John Perrot-and "On the general Rule of Faith," and on "The proposed Comprehension"-also six Letters-extract from that to Justice Fleming.

WILLIAM PENN continued to be employed as in the preceding year. As the spring advanced he undertook a journey to the western parts of the kingdom, in which he was joined by George Whitehead. Travelling as ministers of the Gospel, they spread their principles as they went along. Gulielma Maria Penn accompanied her husband on this occasion. When they came to Bristol, it was the time of the great fair. It happened unexpectedly, that they were joined by George Fox, the founder of their religious society. He had just landed from a vessel,

which had brought him from Maryland in America, whither he had gone some months before on a religious errand. All the parties staid at Bristol during the fair, and, uniting their religious labours, they brought over many to their persuasion.

As a writer, there was no end of his em ployment this year. The first who called him forth was Thomas Hicks, a Baptist preacher in London. Alarmed, like those mentioned in the preceding chapter, at the defection of many of his congregation, this person began his attack upon the Quakers by writing a Dialogue between a Christian and a Quaker, which he forged so well, that many considered it not as a fiction, but as a discourse which had actually taken place between the parties described. By making, too, his Quaker say every thing that was weak and silly, he paved the way for such answers from his Christian as ensured the victory on his own side. This publication being such, William Penn could not but notice it; and he brought out accordingly "The Christian Quaker and his divine Testimony vindicated," by way of reply.

This work contained an explicit statement

of

of the religious creed of the Quakers in those points which were then matter of controversy between them and those of Hicks's persuasion. The great subject of it was the Light of Christ within, which he handled thus. He began by explaining what this Light was, calling it among other things The Principle of God in Man, and asserting it to be the same as the Word, Spirit, Life, Light, Seed, Truth, as used in the holy Scriptures.- This Light manifested and reproved sin and led to salvation; to salvation, first, from sin, and, secondly, from the wrath to come.—The -The argument that men were wicked notwithstanding they had this Light within them, was no more an argument against its existence, than that men were wicked was an argument against the existence of the Scriptures, which also they had in their possession. Neither, because all matters were not revealed by it, was this an argument against its sufficiency.this Light had manifested and reproved sin and led to salvation since the coming of Christ, so it had performed the same offices before; namely, from Adam through all the patriarchs and prophetsand as the Jews

had

had a certain measure of this Light, so had the Gentiles also.This was manifest from the tenets of their wise men, who acknowledged one God; who believed that the same God had imprinted the knowledge of himself on the minds of all mankind; that it became men to live piously; that the soul was immortal, and that there was an eternal recompense; tenets which were professed by Orpheus, Hesiod, Thales, Sybilla, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Anaxagoras, Socrates, Timæus, Antisthenes, Plato, Zeno, Chrysippus, Antipater, Bias, Sophocles, Menander, Chilon, Pittacus, and many others.This was the Gentile divinity; and though Jews and Christians had the advantage of the Gentiles in the measure of this Light, yet the latter had sufficient for their own salvation. -Some of them had a Light of the coming of Christ-Christ was this Light according to the Scriptures.- It was no argument against this, that he was not so called either by Jews or Greeks-nor was it an argument against this, that he was typified to come, when he was come before-nor did a belief that Christ was this Light in man invalidate his life, death, or resurrection, or the doctrine that he bore our iniquities,

or