ny religious society, but to God alone. It
must be obvious again, they say, because no man can be a judge over the
conscience of another. He can know nothing of the sincerity or hypocrisy
of his heart. He can be neither an infallible judge, nor an infallible
correcter of his religious errors. "The conscience of man, says Barclay,
is the seat and throne of God in him, of which he alone is the proper
and infallible judge, who, by his power and spirit, can rectify its
mistakes." It must be obvious again, they say, from the consideration
that, if it were even possible for one man to discern the conscience of
another, it is impossible for him to bend or controul it. But conscience
is placed both out of his sight and of his reach. It is neither visible
nor tangible. It is inaccessible by stripes or torments. Thus, while the
body is in bondage, on account of the religion of the soul, the soul
itself is free, and, while it suffers under torture, it enjoys the
divinity, and feels felicity in his presence. But if all these things
are so, it cannot be within the province either of individual
magistrates or of governments, consisting of fallible men, to fetter the
consciences of those who may live under them. And any attempt to this
end is considered by the Quakers as a direct usurpation of the
prerogative of God.

This tenet the Quakers adopt again on a contemplation of the conduct and
doctrines of Jesus Christ and of his apostles. They find nothing in
these, which can give the least handle to any man to use force in the
religious concerns of another. During the life of Jesus Christ upon
earth, it is no where recorded of him, that he censured any man for his
religion. It is true that he reproved the Scribes and Pharisees, but
this was on account of their hypocrisy, because they pretended to be
what they were not. But he no where condemned the devout Jew, who was
sincere in his faith. But if he be found no where to have censured
another for a difference in religious opinions, much less was it ever
said of him, that he forced him to the adoption of his own. In the
memorable instance, where James and John were willing to have called
fire from Heaven, to burn those who refused to receive him, he rebuked
them by an assurance, that "they knew not what spirit they were of."
And, with respect to his doctrines, nothing can be more full to the
point than his saying, that "his kingdom was not of this world," by
which he meant that his domini