Journal of the Life of John Wilbur
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OF THE LIFE OF JOHN WILBUR,- A MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL 1s THY; SOCIETY OF FRIENDS; SELECTIONS FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE, &a. HI hi go& Brth and mepath, bdng pmlotu me&, donbth awr &n with rejoldng, bringing hb Arras nlth hfm." PI. curl: 6. PROVIDENCE: PUBLISHED BY GEORGE H. WHITNEY, 8 WESTXINBTEB STREET, 1859. AT a Meeting for Sufferings, of New England Tearly Meeting of Friends, held at North Providence, 2d of 2d month, 1839- The wading of the Journal of our late beloved 'friend, John Wilbur, with selections from his Correspondence, having occupied this Meeting during several previous sittings, was concluded ~t this time; and believing that the state of thing0 in the Society at large is such a8 to d for it8 publication, and that the cause of Truth will be promoted thereby, the surviving children of John Wilbur are left st liberty to publish the me. Signed on behalf of the Meeting aforesaid, ETHAN FOSTEB, Clerk for this time. CONTENTS. Introduction .......... Preliminary Chapter ....... CHAPTER I. Account of his Engagements in the Ministry from 1819 to 1822 CWPTER 11. His Travels nnd Exercises between 1824 and 1827, including some Allusion to his Early Life and Experience . CHAPTER 111. First Visit to Europe, during the Years 1831, 1882, and 1833 . OHAPTER IV. Journeys and Correspondence, from 1833 to 1841 ... CHAPTER V. Account of his Sufferings, from the Year 1840 to 1844, for his Testimony agsinet Unsound Doctrines .... CONTENTS. CHAPTER YI. Correspondence from 1841 to 1851 inclusive . 336 CHAPTER VII, Visits in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, in 1852 and 1853, and further Correspondence . 469 CHAPTER Ym. Second Visit to Europe, in 1855-4, and Conclusion of the Journal 510 Appendix, containing the Letters of John Wilbur, addressed to George Crosfield, whilst in England in 1832 . 566 INTRODUCTION. TREbiography herewith presented to the reader is one of no common charscter. It is the plain and unassuming, though in eome portions selfdefensive narrative, of one who, ahrbeing for many years put in trust with the gospel, and highly esteemed for the work's eake, found the latter yeare of his pilgrimage and ministry fraught with uncommon exercise and trial, from the unexpected discovery of a spirit at work in the Society to which he belonged, and especially in the land of our forefathem, tending to undermine ita original principles and characte- a spirit which, in its propss, though exposed and opposed by him and by other faithful watchmen in Europe and America, yet, spreading across the Atlantic, had power and influence sufficient to accomplish a schism in the Society-f which schism, this worthy man was an early victim. A former heresy, in which the precious doctrines of the eonship and atonement of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the divine authority of Holy Scripture, were set at naught, had found him at his post, in the meridiah of life, firmly standing by the ancient Chrie- tian faith of the Society. That ecourge, however, had passed over without producing much devastation within New England Yearly Meeting, or in Great Britain. But great war his distress and conflict, several yeare later, in finding that the same spirit which had lately been leading astray into the wilderness of unbelief, was again at work, under a very plausible guise, drawing away multitudes in the opposite direction, into a dependence on man's wisdom and learning, and pro- ducing a dierelish for, and departure from, the pure, deep, epiritual 8 INTBODUCTION. doettinea of those who had been instrumental, two hundred yearn ago, in gathering the Society in a true experience and united acknowledg- ' ment of Christ within, the hope of glory." He saw the inroads of thia second schism, and its tendency to bring in a religion of '' the letter," and of outside show, in place of that of living experimental howledgmne of ease to the fleshly mind, instead of that which is and must be "with burning and fuel of firev--rmd being bold in the Lord to withstand it, he brought down upon himself by his faithfulness the hostility of those whose backsliding was by him constantly testified against. The story of his pereecution by false brethren, and of their ultimate departure, in New England, into a separation from sound Friends, will be recognized in the future history of the Society, as unfolding an almost incredible page of outrage; firat upon the original principle8 of Quakerism, and next upon private rights and the Christian discipline of the church. We may well Bay "almost incredible;" for when we consider all its features, of irregular and tyrannical proceeding to accomplish their determined object, we are led to conclude that surely such a case is without a parallel in Christian history outaide of the dark walls of Ramanism. The spectacle of an aged minister of the gogpel, of long acknowledged worth and integrity, being for yenra pur- sued by the constituted authorities of hie own Society, and ultimately cast out of their communion, on account of his faithful testimony, in accordance with the requirements of' their om discipline, against pal- pable innovations upon their ancient faith, might well excite a doubt of the correctneaa or impartiality of the delineator, were not his etntements borne out by collateral and concurrent testimony beyond the reach of cavil or doubt. The cumulative evidence in this case is overwhelming, and even drawn in part from the publications of the very party con- cerned against him, ae has been shown in the &' Report of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting on the Division in New England;" and the only attempt to avoid the consequences of such developmenta, so far as we yet know, has been by vague denial, and a recourse to side issues and evasions. Sad indeed is the consideration, that such a picture should be pre- sentad within the once peaceful enclosure of the Society of Friends; and great is the stumbling-block thereby laid in the way of the honest inquirer after truth, until by a fair and audid investigation, the fact is INTRODUCTION. 9 clearly appreciated, that these transactions were not the doings of men governed by and walking in accordance with that unerring Spirit which true Friends have always looked to as their safe and wisdom-giving guide; but that they were the doings, partly, of men who had departed from a practical unison with this ancient faith of the Society, and were prepared unscrupulously to adopt any neceeeary measurea to put down all opposition to the favorite modernizer of its faith; and partly, of those who, not abiding in the light, but placing implicit reliance on the leaders of the people, knew not what spirit such were of, and blindly followed their dictation. So that the occurrence of these eorrowful events shows the liability of unwatchful man to wander from this hie sure Guide; and should not he considered aa militating against our great principle of the infallibility of the pure dictates of the Holy Spirit in man, aa the primary rule of faith and practice ; but rather as confirmatory of that great and necessary Christian doctrine, when we see the gross errors into which those are led, who, having once known it, have departed therefrom, and become practically opposers of that great truth. The attentive reader of his Journal may easily perceive, that John Wilbur was elow to realize the fact of eo great and complete a defection as was forced upon his belief in the course of eucceeeive events. The reality came upon him gradually, though unexpectedly, and with awful and grievous weight, while travelling in the ministry in Great Britain ; and his sad forebodings were afterwards amply confirmed, in witnessing the schism which occurred in the Society there a very few years later, and subsequently in feeling and experiencing, in his own trials, such conduct on the part of the prominent memberg as could only be ac- counted for on the ground of their degeneracy in principle from the faith of their forefathere. During his protl-acted triala on account of his faithful testimony against error, the minds of many friends of kindred views and feelings jn various pzvts of the Society, were turned towards him in true sym- pathy ; and many valuable letters, expressive of their close unity with him in hia sufferings, from some of the mat eminently gihd and spiritually minded servanta of the Lord, both in Europe and America, were from time to time received, to the encouragement of his deeply dieted mind. The attention of the reader is particularly invited to that portion of these letters, eelected for the present publication. A large number of similar lettera have been omitted at present for the sake of brevity. It will be perceived that the writers of these lettera mw eye to eye with him in regard to the state of thine in the Society, and regarded themseivee ae fellowaufferera with hifor the testimony of Jesus ; according to the declaration of the apostle, if one member sder, all the [living] members suffer with it" These lettera came to hi as a brook by the way ;" ofb reaching him at times of deep dejection, when the enemy was permitted to come in as a flood, and hie faith was almoet dyto fail ; and were eminently serviceable, through the divine blessing, in keeping hie head above the billows, by which he felt himself in danger at such times of being overwhelmed. Compara- tively few of his own lettm to hie friends have been accessible for the present volume; they being very much scattered, and many of the recipients of his correspondence having been in distant lands, or since removed by death, and tbeir papers fden into the hands of aose who, leavened into the new views, or influenced by otliere who am eo, have been reluctant to give them up for publication.