ances, as I delivered them unto you. But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesyeth, with her head uncovered, dishonoureth her head; for that is even all one as if she were shaven. For, if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn; but, if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered....For this cause ought the woman to have power (or a covering) on her head because of the angels....... Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? &c.;" I Cor. xi, 2-13. That this passage, as well as the fourteenth chapter of the same epistle, relates to the conduct of the Corinthian Christians in their public assemblies for worship, is allowed by commentators, and is indeed evident from the whole tenour of the advice which is there imparted. The apostle, therefore, recognizes the publick prophesying of females; and, since he gives directions respecting their dress and deportment during the performance of this service, it is plain that he had no intention to forbid the service itself. With respect to the prophesying, to which Paul has here alluded, as exercised by both men and women in the churches of the saints, its nature has already been defined. The reader will remember that the gift was directed to the "edification, exhortation, and comfort," of believers, and to the convincement of unbelievers and unlearned persons, (see I Cor. xiv, 3. 24, 25); and that, in fact, it was nothing else than speaking aloud, either in prayer, or preaching, under the direct and immediate influences of the Holy Ghost.

Such, and such only, were the publick services of women which the apostle recognized and allowed;

and such was the ministry of females predicted by the prophet Joel, and described as so leading a feature in the economy of the Gospel dispensation.

It appears, then, that the allowance of the publick preaching and praying of women, in the Society of Friends, necessarily results from their principles respecting the character of all true ministry-that we dare not, in this respect more than in any other, limit the Holy One of Israel in the exercise of his own prerogatives-that our practice, in reference to the present subject, is justified by the records of Scripture, respecting the effusions of the Spirit of God in times of old-that, even under the legal dispensation, many female servants of the Lord were called to the exercise of prophetical gifts-that, of the Gospel times, the common participation of those gifts by men and women, was a decisive characteristick-and that the injunctions of the apostle Paul, against the publick speaking and teaching of women, can only be understood (himself being witness) of speaking and teaching which were not inspired-which were not prophesying.

Such are the general sentiments entertained in the Society of Friends respecting the ministry of women -a subject which suggests, in conclusion, one or two reflections of a practical nature.

When the apostle Paul said, "I suffer not women to teach," he added, "nor to usurp authority over the man," I Tim. ii, 12. Had the women, in the church of Ephesus, after receiving this injunction, assumed the office of pastors; had they attempted that description of publick teaching which was immediately connected with the government of the church; they would have been guilty of infringing the apostle's precept, and would have usurped an improper authority over their brethren: but, as long as their ministry was the result of the immediate influence of the Holy

Spirit, and consisted in the orderly exercise of the prophetick gift, so long must they have been free from any imputation of that nature. Women who speak, in publick assemblies for worship, under such an influence, assume thereby no personal authority over others. They do not speak in their own name. They are the instruments through which divine instruction is communicated to the people; but they are only the instruments; and the doctrine which they preach derives its true weight and importance, not so much from the persons by whom it is uttered, as from that Being in whom it originates, and by whose Spirit it is prompted. The remark is not only in accordance with the principles which obviously appertain to the present subject, but is confirmed, as many of my readers will be aware, by our own experience; for we well know that there are no women, among us, more generally distinguished for modesty, gentleness, order, and a right submission to their brethren, than those who have been called by their divine Master into the exercise of the Christian ministry.

Lastly, I may venture to direct the attention of my friends to a fact which I deem to be worthy of the consideration of the Society; namely, that, during the earlier periods of the history of Friends, the work of the ministry devolved much more generally and extensively upon the men than upon the women. If, in the present day, a similar result from our religious principles does not take place; if, on the contrary, the ministry of the women is found rather to preponderate, in the Society, over that of the men; such a circumstance can by no means be deemed a favourable sign. Justified, as Friends appear to be, by the doctrine of Scripture, and by the powerful operations of the Spirit of Truth, in equally admitting the ministry of both sexes; it is far indeed from being an indication

of life and soundness in the body at large, when the > stronger sex withdraws from the battles of the Lord, and leaves them to be fought by those whose physical weakness and delicacy have an obvious tendency to render them less fit for the combat. Were we, of that stronger sex, less devoted than we now are to secular objects were we less prone to a worldly spirit, and more diligent in seeking "first the kingdom of God and his righteousness"-there can be little doubt that 1 we should be called forth in greater numbers into the arduous duties of the ministry of the Gospel; nor would the burthen of the word be found to rést, in so large a proportion as it now does, on our mothers, our sisters, and our daughters.

CHAPTER IX.

ON SILENT WORSHIP.

SINCE Friends allow of no audible administrations in connexion with publick worship, except such as arise out of the immediate impressions of the Holy Spirit, it is evident that, when those impressions are withheld or withdrawn, and at all times except during the actual utterance of ministry, their assemblies must continue in a state of silence. When they meet together, for the solemn purpose of worshipping their common Lord and Father, they dare not rush into his sacred presence with offerings of confession, prayer, and praise, prepared beforehand, or extemporaneously invented. They sit down, therefore, in reverent stillness before him; and whenever it happens that no one present possesses a gift in the ministry, or that the individuals who possess such a gift are not called into the exercise of it, the consequence (if the principles of the Society are properly maintained) is necessarily this that the silence, with which the meeting commences, continues uninterrupted until the time arrives for its separation.

During the earlier periods of the Society's history, the number of its ministers was very large; and I cannot but think it probable that, in the present day, were our religious body in a more lively, healthy, and