That their community has lost
Some two, whose union does at most,
Strange as it seems (the Nuptials done)
To wedded couples add but one.

Well! 'tis a very harmless custom,
Of Cones, thus form'd, to bite a frustum :
And I may venture to assert,
No mortal living need be hurt
In feelings, stomach or affection,
By simply following this direction.
But for the further curious fancy
Practis'd by silly Kate or Nancy,
Of taking this same slice to bed
And sleeping with 't beneath her head,
In hope to dream of him who'll have her,
'Twere quite as well, to think of graver
And wiser ways, to come to merit
(What all approve, and some inherit)
The comforts of a wedded life,
'Twixt a good man and his good wife:
Whose sober happiness may last,
Till, youthful fancies long gone past,
And cakes and compliments forgot,
Some son and daughter's happy lot
Brings back once more their chearful reign,
And makes them welcome o'er again!

ART. VI.-Conjugal affection.

Witness, thou Lark, for me,

At dawn upspringing free,

Who from mid-heaven now pourest down
Thy note, scarce heard, now, louder grown
Falling, dost cheer the field with melody.
And thou, to music born,

That sitting, sing'st, forlorn,
Or to the listening gloom of night,
Or while day sheds a sober light,

Through clouds that weep fast on the blooming thorn-
Witness, oft, as I stray

At morn or closing day,

Through field or grove, how my pleas'd ear
Still, as you sing, detains me near
Treading with gentle step th' unheeded way!
More than Art's well-strung toy
You speak to me of Joy:

'Tis love that prompts your willing song,
Love to a faithful mate, whom long
The cares of nature on her nest employ :
And, cheer'd by the office kind
She sits, nor feels confined,
Nor would her downy prison change
For all the Spring's delightful range

From glade to glade, free as the buxom wind.-H.

ART. I.-A Chronological Summary of events and circumstances connected with the origin and progress of the doctrine and practices of the Quakers.

A. D. Decease of William Edmundson, Thomas Ellwood, Wil1712-13 liam Mead.

These three Friends have been so often mentioned, as prominent characters in our history (and their actions in some degree made their Epitaphs) that I shall not have occasion here to enter into a long account of them. They are found, let it suffice to observe, among those who endured to the end; and have obtained, as we have good cause to believe, the crown of righteousness' in Eternal life.

1. William Edmundson continued to travel, in the work of the ministry and discipline of the society, till he was above Eighty-four years of age. In 1712, having taken leave of Friends at the National Half year's Meeting at Dublin (as never expecting to see them more) he returned home. On the 4th of the Sixth Month being very weak and full of pain, he kneeled down on the bed side and was enabled in the midst of his extremity to call upon God, to the comfort and satisfaction of Friends present; beseeching the Lord to abate in some measure the bitterness of the pain that lay on him: which in a great degree was answered; for though he got but little sleep that night, yet he lay for the most part pretty easy and quiet. Towards morning, being in a very tender frame of spirit, he was truly thankful to God for his mercy and goodness, and did bless, praise, and magnify his great name; desiring those present to praise the Lord also, on his behalf. On the

fifth, there being some Friends in the room sitting quietly by him, he desired their prayers for him; for he was weak, and not able to undergo much. And after some sleep, besought the Lord not to forget his wonted mercies, but to mitigate his pains, and be near to heal: and a little after, ordered where his grave should be made; and gave necessary advice and charge to his children. He was often thus in prayer, and in exhortation to Friends who came to see him; and after about a month's sickness (sharp and painful at times) having run the race with patience and kept the faith, he departed this life in sweet peace with the Lord, in unity with his brethren and goodwill to all men, the thirty-first of the Sixth Month 1712, and was buried the fourth of the Month following (a) in Friends' ground at Tineel where he had dwelt.

2. Thomas Ellwood though he did not appear as a Minister amongst Friends, became a very respectable and serviceable member, and well qualified elder of this religious society-useful in conducting the salutary discipline established therein: whether we consider him as holding the pen of a ready writer, in the capacity of Clerk of the Monthly or Quarterly Meeting, or with respect to his mental endowments, [as] qualified by precision of judgment, depth of penetration and clearness of comprehension, to speak pertinently to subjects under deliberation; and with discernment to see the point at which they should be issued. Yet, with becoming modesty, he did not tenaciously insist on his sentiments being adopted; but submitted them to consideration, and left them to make their way by the conviction of their propriety.' The Monthly Meeting was held at his house for the greatest part of forty years: the records of which he kept in good order. He was also very serviceable to the Society, and to the cause of truth, by his Controversial writings; whether engaged against adversaries without, or such persons as William Rogers and George Keith, seeking the overthrow of the faith of the members within. He has left us (beside these pieces and his autobiography,) The Foundation of Tithes shaken' and 'The Sacred History of the Old and New Testament-both published in his life-time. (b)

His private character was amiable and respectable: his countenance manly and cheerful-his deportment grave, yet affable; and courteous to the meanest.-To the poor, the sick and the helpless, his house and his heart were open: being careful to provide medicines and other things useful for such a purpose; grudging no expence to do good. He died 'full of joy and peace,' in the seventy-fourth year of his age:

anno 1713.

3. William Mead. In Friends' Burial-ground, at Barking in Essex, there is a plain head-stone with the following inscription:

(a) Journal of the Life, &c. of William Edmundson, 3rd Edition. Supplement. (b) Gough iv, 105–122.

There is a tradition of this stone, that it was removed by some over-zealous Friends of that Meeting, I suppose in pursuance of advices issued by the Yearly Meeting in 1717 or 1766, (c) and made a part of the pavement going into the Meeting-house, where of course it told a lie-no unusual thing, to be sure, with monuments placed over the dead! But the family insisting upon its being replaced, this was done. (d)

It is pleasant to me at this time of day, I freely confess, to know the spot where the mortal remains of Mead, (the inmortal vindicator of his Country's rights) were laid. Of whose life and ministry, however, we have much less account than of most others of note in that day. He was a Linen-draper in the city; and was probably before his convincement a trained-band-captain: for Richard Read says (in his examination on the trial of Penn and Mead, Besse ii. 418) My Lord, I went to Gracious Street, where I found a great crowd of people, and I heard Mr. Penn preach to them, and I saw Captain Mead speak to Lieut. Cook, but what he said I could not tell.' Mead. What did William Penn say?' Read. There was such a great noise that I could not tell what he said.'-And William Mead says in Court (p. 420.) in his remarks on the term vi et armis, Time was when I had freedom to use a carnal weapon, and then I thought I feared no man: but now I fear the living God; and dare not make use thereof,

nor hurt any man.'

The connexion between Penn and Mead, in this affair, was forced upon both by the circumstances of their caption and trial. His intimacy appears rather to have been with Geo. Fox; and as he married, sometime in his life, Sarah, the daughter of Judge Fell, George, (who married her mother) calls him his son. He mentions him, as being his host at Highgate in 1677; and in 1681 says, when he told

(c) Which see, at p. 43 of last Volume.

(d) There was once ‘extant,' in Friends' Burial-ground at Bunhill-fields, a stone fixed in the wall, with the initials G. F., and a date on it; to denote the spot where our honourable Elder, George Fox' was interred. But on occasion of enlarging the ground this stone was removed, together with the wall, and laid by. In the corner where it lay, however, (no longer denoting any thing real,) it was found to attract too much of the attention of visitors; and as my Father told he himself pronounced it 'Nehushtan,' and ordered it to be knocked to

me,

pieces. Ed.

the judges George had engaged himself never to meddle with his wife's (Margaret Fell's) estate, they could hardly believe any man would do so; and 'wondered' when Mead shewed them the writing under George's hand and seal (which Mead probably then held.) In 1687, Geo. Fox says, 'At this time I went with my son-in-law William Mead, to his country-house called Gooses, in Essex: where I staid about two weeks.'-And the like in 1688.

I have before me a copy of a MS. letter from William Mead to Thomas Lawson, dated in 1691 at Gooses (which he calls his countryhouse, twelve miles from London) the original of which is in the hands of my friend Thomas Thompson: but its contents are unimportant, save as shewing that William Meade (so he signs his name) retained to this time the habits of a quaker; and was solicitous for the proper education in classical learning of his son, and his son's cousin, (who appears to have been his companion at home) Richard Lower. Lastly, in 1704, mention is thus made of him by Richard Claridge, in his notice of a meeting at Roger Palmer's, in Navestock, Essex: 'At this Meeting William Mead and Philip Harman were present and declared, but the principal weight of the service lay upon R. C. Life of Claridge, p. 147. His character was probably rather that of an Elder; and respecting his end, or his wife's, I have no information. It is pretty clear their descendants soon left Friends.

A. D.

The Quakers' Affirmation Act having nearly reached the term 1715. of its duration is, this year, renewed: but without limitation of time. It is also extended to Scotland; and (for five years) 'to the plantations belonging to the Crown of Great Britain."' The Affirmation was continued in the form in which it stood; a form which many Friends regarded as equivalent to an Oath; and therefore scrupled to avail themselves of it. See the case of Thomas Story imprisoned for refusing it, in Volume III. p. 248.

A rebellion takes place in Scotland, in support of the pretensions of the abdicated Stuarts; which being put down, the quakers present to the King a dutiful and loyal address.

This was an Address from the Yearly Meeting (the 26th of the Third Month, May, 1716;) and George Whitehead, now near Eighty years of age, was still the foreman of the deputation. He told the King he could well now say he was George, by the grace of God, king of Great Britain: a sentiment which he desired people might bear in their hearts, as well as stamped on the money in their pockets. The answer was (as usual now) a gracious one. (e)

A. D. The Bangorian Controversy, and prorogation thereupon for an 1717. indefinite period of the Lower House of Convocation of the Clergy. Our historian gives the following account of this controversy and its

results.

66

Benjamin Hoadly bishop of Bangor, a man of liberal sentiments, a clear head, and sound understanding, had published two performances, which had given great offence to his brethren the clergy; especially those who were jealous

(e) Gough iv, 167.