Excerpt from The Past, Present and Future of the Society of Friends In a measure of that love which would gather all from their outward wanderings in search of the living among the dead, to the inward life and saving power of Truth, I would affectionately call our attention to that living way wherein our worthy forefathers were led to blessedness and peace, as well as to some of the causes which have operated in producing our lapsed condition, as a religious people professing, above all others, a quiet waiting, and humble dependence upon the enlivening, enlightening power of divine grace; which, it is testified, hath appeared to all men, as their in* ward, spiritual teacher, monitor, and guide. It was their faithfulness to this essential duty of humble, dependent waiting upon God, that Christ his dear Son might be made unto them wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that made our worthy forefathers that mighty power for good, in turning men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, which characterized them, as they truly were, the friends of truth; for they were united in the one faith, which works by love to the purifying of the heart, unto, and in co-operation with, the great and holy Head of the living church, who wrought m and through them, both to will and to do of his own good pleasure. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.