The total amount assured on Policies in Class IX., existing at the date of this Report, is £1,173,327, 14s. 6d. exclusive of Bonuses. The total number of Policies which have been granted, from the opening of the Institution, in the 11th Month, 1832, to 6th Month, 1851, both inclusive, is as follows: II. VI. IX. ... Endowments, payable at 14, 21, or 25, the Premiums returnable as in Class II., VIII. Deferred Sums, the Premiums returnable as in Class II., Deferred Annuities, with a condition annexed, making the Premiums returnable with- 124 314 3 ... 72 298 ... 100 2263 24 3393 JOHN SNOWDEN, Chairman. Trustees-Newman Cash, Samuel Priestman, John Priestman, David Harris Smith. Lancaster, James Brunton. Manchester, W. F. Hoyland, - Robert Neath, Charles Hayward, Brombill. Northampton, Edward Latchmore. Plymouth, Henry Prideaux. AGENTS IN IRELAND. Belfast, John Pim, jun. CHIEFLY DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. No. IX. GLASGOW, 9TH MONTH, 1ST, 1851. PROPOSED LEXICON OF AUTHORS. It has ever been the object of society generally to develope the character, capacity, and compositions of authors, by which to know what they were, and what they wrote; hence the numerous biographical lexicons extant. In proposing the compilation of a work devoted to the authors among the Society of Friends, the compiler has an object differing in some degree from the common motive. From the nature of its church government, the Society of Friends has, either in an individual or collective capacity, issued, with some exceptions, testimonies to the deceased preachers of its communion. Still, to those who have been equally worthy of memorial, but who not being ministers were ineligible, some tribute was needful. No other means seemed so capable of rendering this service as a Biographical Collection of Authors, &c.; especially seeing that so many worthies wielded the pen in declaring principles, defending practices, denouncing priesteraft, disowning false brethren, despising popular prejudice, defining power, developing purity, denying party. Below, is an attempt at a work of this description. CROOK, JOHN-born 1617; died 1699. This eminent Friend was born in the north of Englandwhere, he does not inform us. He was trained up by his parents in the principles of religion, those generally adopted, till his tenth or eleventh year. About this time he was sent to London, and attended several schools, till about the year 1634. Whilst here he lodged in families who seem to have believed it meritorious to scoff at all strictness in religion; even his tutors regarded it as something for ridicule. Still he was preserved in seriousness and sought in privacy to lament his own follies; frequently reproving his school companions for their wickedness. He attended no sermons, being little acquainted with those who were in the habit of such exercises," till he had finished his schooling. He was apprenticed about his seventeenth year, in a parish, whose minister was a Puritan. The sermons and lectures of this preacher were attended by serious young people, during their leisure time; by which means, he was introduced into the company of those whose spirits were congenial with his own. He declares he could not charge himself with profaneness; but his mind was fraught with youthful vanities-he was addicted to idle talk and vain company. From these he felt he must be delivered, and live wholly unto God. He doubled his energy during the day, and de VOL. IX. prived himself of sleep at night, that he might gain his master's permission to attend the lectures of men eminent for religion. He continued thus for two or three years; and feeling it necessary now to join in communion with some religious society, and meeting with some sincere persons among the Independents, he joined that body. They continued these meetings for some years, till they dwindled into formality and dissensions. As Laudian profanity and misrule strengthened episonly to undermine, but ultimately to overthrow the copal tyranny and innovation, and strongly tended not government of the first Charles, John Crook, with others, felt their degenerating influence, and saw the effects of their contaminating agency. 66 At what time he left London, what profession he followed, and at what period he married, remain unmind, desirous of true gospel liberty, yet unable to told. He continued, however, in an uncertain state of obtain it, till William Dewsbury came into the district where he was. He seems to have been convinced, but not converted, to Quakerism, till he heard the ministry of George Fox. He confesses that Dewsbury's preaching seemed as life from the dead: What, was God so near me, in a place I was not aware of!" he exclaims, with evident emotion. This occurred towards the close of 1654, whilst he held the commission of a Justice of the Peace, from which he was displaced shortly after. How long he retained the office is uncertain. His name is not mentioned in the "List of Justices of Peace in England and Wales,' published by T. Walkley, for Michaelmas term, 1650; hence it is supposed, that he had not been in commission long; especially as he was but thirty-seven when he joined Friends. Several who became Friends are named in the above "List:" Gervase Benson, Giles Barnardiston, Isaac Penington (his father, Alderman P., being justice for Surrey), Thomas Moore, Henry Pollixfen, Nathaniel Crips, and James Blackley. The name of Judge Fell is of frequent occurrence. 66 Whilst immured in Northampton jail, in 1656, his mouth was opened in the ministry. He received not his ministry from colleges; he learnt "divinity through deep outward sufferings, as well as inward exercises.' "God," he emphatically declares, "hath made prisons to be as the schools for true prophets, and nurseries for true divines." At his house, in 1657, the general Yearly Meeting was held. Friends from most parts of the nation were present. It lasted three days. This seems to have been the most remarkable meeting in the Society's early history; it was convened only five years from their rise as a distinct religious body; the subjects for discussion were not numerous; the weight of the service appe rested on George Fox. In 1660, John Crock, w several others, was taken up in Huntingde ave visiting and holding a meeting with their imprisoned friends. They were tried, and J. C. and two more were detained as ringleaders, whilst the rest were discharged. He was imprisoned, in 1661, in Buckinghamshire, for meeting together with Friends. 66 himself, into the practice of preaching more passionately, and without at all times the evidence of the Lord's putting forth. Two worthy elders, jealous for the Christian's stedfast and permanent standing, as well as for the preservation of a true Gospel Ministry, after seeking to move in the right time, in touching the ministry of a man of large gifts, and feeling that their Master had clearly deputed them, they ventured with great sweetness and candour to warn him of his position. He received them in love, and accepted them as messengers of his good Lord, to keep him from falling. He remained silent in meetings for three years, at which time he came forth in the ministry as one newly called to speak in an infant's tongue; and he was favoured with preservation in a strict adherence to his Lord's commands-to speak when He spoke, and when He was silent, to be still. His mental and spiritual powers continued undiminished; he wrote and preached to the last. His spiritual eye was not dim, but he beheld in the vista of the future the glorious spread of the Gospel: "Truth must prosper, Truth shall prosper; but a trying time shall first come, and afterwards the glory of the Lord shall more and more appear.' "I am comforted," says Daniel Monro, "in a sense of this faithful Friend, that in his old age he was as strong for the spiritual warfare as ever. 66 'Among other his faithful brethren, he had a reverend esteem of the coming of Christ, and His sufferings in the days of His flesh; and knew well how to distinguish His great work of redemption and salvation, as He died for all men, or was a sacrifice for sin; and also, as He was a sanctifier and redeemer out of sin; the fruit and benefit of the one being not obtained without the other."-Theodore Eccleston. Nothing very remarkable occurred till 1662, at which period that truculent and cruel persecutor, Alderman Sir Richard Brown, ruled the city, trod down the rights of Englishmen, and perverted justice with fiendish malignity. He had been Lord Mayor the previous year. John Crook, Isaac Grey, M.D., and John Bolton, goldsmith, were assembled, this year, at a meeting with Friends, for Divine worship, in John Street, Clerkenwell. They were assaulted by one Miller, and other officers; arrested, and placed in the New Prison; examined at Hick's Hall, before a magistrate; committed to Newgate, and there detained till the next Quarter Sessions. The case was tried before Chief Justice Forster, the Lord Mayor, the Recorder, and a bench of magistrates. Crook was then about forty-five years of age. Alive to his critical position, he shone forth with all the vigorous eloquence and learning of a forensic pleader. Unawed by the tones of judicial anger, he combated them with the weapon by which they sought to smite him. Then once again were heard the masterly appeals to Magna Charta. There was no examination of witnesses; they were not needed; the oath was an easy means to ensnare, without entering into the intricate parts of legal inquiry-tender the oath to an honest dissident, and, if he was a Quaker, his conviction was certain. They tender the oath. He refuses on the plea of conscience-desiring to know what Act empowers them to tender it. By the Third of King James," is the answer. He requests that Act may be read. They refuse, considering themselves capable of knowing when to tender an oath. After much demurring on both sides, he wishes them to read the title and preamble to the Act, and gives this cogent reason, "Titles to Laws are Claves Legum-as keys to open the law: for by their titles, laws are understood and known, as men by their faces.' But this is not granted. Just before the jury gave in their verdict, Crook denounced the statute brought against him, as enacted solely and specially for popish recusants. But neither sound arguments, legal precedents, nor common right, influenced the Court. Crook and Grey were scholars; as such they were acknowledged and technical acumen; his inferences from Coke seem fairly by the bench; yet Crook was gagged for urging a point in law; and, as if their ruin was predetermined, drawn; and he mingles the caustic with the analogous, whilst they were sentenced, according to the Statute of Pre-illustrating the disgraceful reasoning and base argument for ecclesiastical plunder. munire-to forfeit all their real estate for life, and their personal estate for ever, to be outlawed and imprisoned during the King's pleasure. That matters went hard with them, we find from Dr. Grey: "The severity and injustice that we met withal, not only to the loss of all my estate and liberty, but of my practice also, to the damage and detriment of my patients, who, through necessity, are compelled to come to prison to me, but have been sometimes hindered from coming to speak with me. They were liberated by the King's order, after five months' imprisonment, on the 18th of 6th month. 18th mo.] In 1669, he was arrested, with other Friends, at Warboys, Huntingdonshire, for meeting, under Statute 35 Eliz.; but Sir Matthew Hale declared it illegal, and discharged them. There was one very remarkable circumstance in John Crook's career, worthy the attention of all. He was very notable for his lively, zealous ministrations, attended with clear gospel authority, brightly illuminated with the Spirit of Jesus. He was eloquent as Apollos, deep in heavenly mysteries as Paul; but zeal for his Master's cause had introduced him, imperceptibly to He died at Hertford, the 26th of 2d Month (4th Month, N. S.), and was buried at Sewell. [Authorities quoted: Short Hist. of J. C's. Life, Brief Relation, London, 1662, p. 12; Sewell, 1722. p. 100, &c.; Gough, vol. iv. p. 433; Besse, vol. i. pp. 76, 262-3, 369–70; Fox, Journal; British Friend, vol. iv. p. 13.] Tythes no Property to, nor Lawful Maintenance for a powerful Gospel preaching Ministry. London: Thomas Simmons, Bull and Mouth, near Aldersgate. 1659. 4to. 2 sheets. Crook argues every foot of ground with great clearness Unrighteousness no Plea for Truth, nor Ignorance a Cover of it. [An answer to a Plea for Truth, in love to Truth. Simmons. 1659. 4to. 7 sheets. By James Pope.] London: Thomas [He had a hand in a "Declaration from the People called Quakers, to the present distressed nation of England.” London. 1659.] A Declaration of the People of God in scorn called Quakers, to all Magistrates and People. [Signed by Crook and fifteen other Friends.] London: Thomas Simmons. 1659. 4to. 1 sheet. This is a pathetic appeal to those in authority and others, relative to their manifold sufferings. As this was in the time of the commonwealth, they assert that they suffer not by assisted in destroying those tyrannies over the people's libr Bishops and High Commission courts, but by those who ties. Of those Friends who signed it, four had been justices, two members of parliament, three officers of rank in the army. An Epistle of Love to all that are in present Sufferings, whether inwardly or outwardly. Printed by M. I., and are to be sold by Robert Wilson, at the sign of the Black Spread Eagle and Windmill, in Martin's Le Grand. 1660, 4to, 3 sheets. This epistle seems to have more immediate reference to political sufferers-officers and soldiers, rulers or governors, public preachers or ministers of the Gospel, to those who understand not the result of the commotions around them, or why it should be, to those in present power, and to those that fear the Lord, who suffer mentally at the oppression of the righteous. It is an honest word of reproof, caution, and encouragement to those various states. The Case of Swearing (at all) discussed. R. Wilson. 1660. 4to. 4 sheets. what myself, with our ancient Friends, held in the year 1063." Ed. London: James Phillips, George Yard, Lombard Street. 1776. 8vo, 3 sheets. Ed. London: J. Phillips, 1781. This is a clear, definite exposition of the principles of Truth as held by Friends; and may be termed a text-book London: of doctrines; as such it seems to have been regarded by the Society in its revival of it. 1 should be glad to see it again brought before individual notice and widely circulated. A True and Faithful Testimony concerning John Samm. Part, Thomas Green. London: 1664. 4to. 2 sheets. The "Case of Swearing," is indeed "at all discussed," that is, the particular arguments used in favour of judicial swearing, appear to be judiciously met, and ably answered, by the writer. He demurs to the legal proceedings of the period, and proves that the practices of the courts are illegal, tyrannical, and clearly denounced by accredited law writers. Sixteen Reasons drawn from the Law of God, the Laws of England, and Right Reason, to show why diverse true Christians, called Quakers, refuse to swear at all. London: R. Wilson. No date. 1 sheet. [Written 1661.] This edition is called "Sixteen Reasons;" but in the various editions of his collected works we find it "Fourteen Reasons." It appears that for some reason, two 66 Reasons" were ex punged. The "Reasons are cogent, well-defined, explicative, and conclusive-well worthy of present consideration. Liberty of Conscience asserted, and several Reasons rendered why no untoward Force nor Impositions ought to be used in matters of Faith and Religion. [Signed by Crook, Fisher, Howgill, and Hubberthorne.] Loudon: R. Wilson. 1661. 4to. 1 sheet. An Epistle for Unity, to prevent the Wiles of the Enemy. London: R. Wilson, 1661, 4to, 2 sheets. [Dated from Aylesbury Gaol.] An Introduction by the Morning Meeting, Reprinted with J. Smith. 1760. This is a tender expostulation with Friends, and calls their attention to the manifestation of the Lord's power, under all circumstances, which they had practically experienced. It is an earnest caution to sustain the watch against the inroad of all hurtful things. An Apology for the Quakers, wherein is showed how they answer the Chief Principles of the Law, and Main Ends of Government. London. 1662. 4to. 1 sheet. "This people's principles are now well known, and the more, because they have been so much opposed, and often This tried, even from the mitre cap to the curate's coat!" is an excellent apology. It is occasionally bold and pungent in its strokes on the intolerant spirit of the time. The Cry of the Innocent for Justice. London: 1662. 4to. 5 sheets. This is the account of his trial. Glad-Tydings proclaimed to the Upright in Heart, who walk in the Light of Life. London: 1662. 4to. 1 sheet. Truth's Principles; or, Those things about Doctrine and Worship which are most surely believed and received amongst the People of God, called Quakers. With I. Pennington's Persuasions in matters of Religion. London: 1662. 4to. 3 sheets. Ed. London: R. Wilson. 1663. 4to. 3 sheets. Ed. No date. 8vo. 93 sheets. [With additions of Burrough, Parker, Dewsbury, and Humphrey Smith. Morris Birkbeck gives an Ed. in 1665, 12mo, 6 sheets, Whiting, 1668, 8vo, and another Ed. 1671, 9 sheets.] Ed. London, Tace Sowle, White Hart Court, and at the Bible, in Leaden Hall Street. 1699. 8vo, 3 sheets. This was reprinted from the edition of 1663. To this J. C. prefixed this declaration, the year before he died: "It being allowed by some late adversaries, that we are more sound in the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith than they thought of; yet they persist to object, that we have altered our religion, and that our ancient Friends held grievous errors: I am therefore willing, in the cighty-first year of my age, that this following treatise should be printed, that they may see A sweet testimony to a Christian martyr. dren of the Lord. An Epistle of Peace and Goodwill unto all the Chil1664. Broadside. 1 sheet. Written from Ipswich Gaol.] Fraught with Divine encouragement for his persecuted brethren and sisters. Truth's Triumph, or the Day of the Lord broken 3 sheets. forth. 1664. 4to. To the King and both Houses of Parliament. [Written from Kingston-on-Thames. 1664.] Some Reasons why the People called Quakers do absent themselves from the Publick Way of Worship. 1665. 1 sheet. Valid reasons are given for their absenteeism, and would suit some of the present day who leave this Society and sit down under a hireling ministry, and sustain a forced main tenance. Compassion to all the Sorrowful, Afflicted, Visited, Tempted, Suffering Seed. 1665. 1 sheet. Written chiefly for Friends of London. Truth's Progress; or, A Short Relation of its first Appearance and Publication after the Apostacy. 1667. 3 sheets. The writer sets forth in lively terms the character and zeal of the first promulgators of Quakerism; how they ran to and fro, filled with deep solicitude for their relations, friends, and neighbours, and strangers as well, preaching to them the Word-the Christ of God-the unsearchable riches of his love. Twenty Cases of Conscience propounded to the Bishops, or others, who are called Fathers in God, for them to answer. No date. 1 sheet. These are twenty home-strokes, and when Episcopacy reads them, must close the pamphlet convinced that it is overmatched and rendered obnoxious in imparcial estimation. An Epistle to all that's young in the Truth, and lately convinced. Part, Tho. Green. [Written, London, 1672. 1 sheet.] This epistle contains sentiments worthy of reiteration. Rebellion Rebuked. [An answer to Wm. Ilaworth and Wm. Dimsdale's Quaker converted to Christianity.] Part, W. Bayly. P.S. by St. Crisp. 1673. 7 sheets. Eleven Friends of Hertford inquired into the truth of this "Quaker converted," and found that he was a young man, the servant of a Friend of that town, one who might have attended meetings when a boy, but no Friend, and nowise the "Goliah" Haworth declared him to be. It is said Haworth was once a tender-spirited man, and at one time admired the principles of Friends. He was convinced of their excellency, but not converted to their efficacy. Korte Antwoord-A Short Answer to the Antichristian Mandate of the Magistrates of Embden. Part, Tho. Green. 1675. 2 sheets. [A Dutch pamphlet.] The Counterfeit Convert discarded. Part, W. Bayly "about and C. Taylor. No date. Whiting gives 1676. 4to. 18 sheets." An Epistle to all that profess the Light of Jesus Christ (within) to be their Guide. 1678. 4to. 1 1 sheet. sheet. Ed. with additions, 1696. 8vo. Sick-bed Meditations. [Written about 1683.] This is doubtless an unpublished paper; that is, not till his works were collected. It was written during severe illness; and his spirit seems, at that time, to have been particularly baptized into a feeling of the deep sufferings of the dying Saviour, and of the martyrs in all ages. An Epistle to Young People professing the Truth. [Dated from Luton, 1686. 1 sheet.] Ed. with additions, 1696. 8vo. 1 sheet. A tender incentive to more care and watchfulness in their conduct and conversation. He charges them to examine themselves, and on what foundation, that they may be sound Christians, and not traditional Quakers. Worthy of present attention. The Way to a Lasting Peace and True Reconciliation. 1697. Broadside. 1 sheet. Though referring chiefly to that peace and reconciliation which the true Christian experiences, he touches also on the possibility of the universal spread of Peace Principles, and seems to augur the adoption of them as we see them at the present day. [An Epistle of Remembrance] to Friends of Sewel's Meeting, Bedfordshire. 1698. A sweet effusion of counsel and exhortation. "I can tell you," says this aged Christian, "by good and long experience, that afflictions are God's furnace, in which he refines his people as gold; then they can tell of his doings, and that they are miraculous in their eyes, as my soul can do to this day, as a man that hath been afflicted from my youth up; and now in my old age (being eighty years) in all which the Lord hath tried me, but never forsaken me.' An Epistle to Friends for Union and Edification of the Church of God in Christ Jesus. 1698. 8vo. 1 sheet. The Design of Christianity. [Dated from Hertford, 1698.] An Epistle to Friends belonging to Hertford Meeting. [1698-9.] Advice to my Children and Grandchildren. [1698-9.] The Design of Christianity testified in the Books, Epistles, and Manuscripts of that ancient servant of Christ Jesus, J. C. London: T. Sowle. 1701. 8vo. 27 sheets. A Short History of the Life of John Crook, by him self. 1706. 8vo. 3 sheets. That when the "Design of Christianity" was published in 1701, the "Short History was not prefixed seems evident, as the latter is not only printed from a different fount (a Pica face with a larger body), but the last page is also printed on T. Sowle's Catalogue for "1708;" whereas, the chief title is dated "1701." So, having copies still on hand, she made it additionally interesting by this prefix, we may infer from a catalogue, dated " 1710," simply naming the "Design" with out the "History." IRELAND. T. W. J. NOTES ON THE STATE OF THE COUNTRY.-NO. XLI. LEEDS TO LONDON--THE EXHIBITION.-Having finished my business at Leeds, the low fares to London and back tempted me to go up and devote two days to the Exhibition. I selected the Great Northern Railway for my route, as it passes through a district of country new to me. We started at half-past nine in the morning; the first town we came to was Pontefract, rather an old place; the land, so far as we could see from the railway, in that district, looked to be inferior, and the crops poor, both oats and wheat; a great number of ploughed fields lying idle in fallow, which surprised me much. As we neared Doncaster, the land improved and so did the crops, more particularly the wheat, some very luxuriant fields of it lying on the south side of the town. The oat crop looks as if it had been checked by the late drought, but is now recovering, and, no doubt, will continue to improve. As we advanced towards Retford, the luxuriant appearance of the wheat and beans declined, indicating an inferior class of land; several fields to be seen under fallow-a mode of culture that will not pay, now-adays, anywhere; even in poor backward Ireland, it is given up long ago. We observed some fields where they were burning the top-sod to convert it into manThe next town of importance was Lincoln, with her ure, just the same way as it is done in Connaught. dozen of wind-mills, beautiful cathedral, and old castle; farther on stands the fine venerable ruin of Tattershall. The line hereabouts, runs, for fifty miles, over a district of country as flat and level as a carpet; the land is beautifully cultivated. The farmers were busy sowing turnips. I never saw nicer husbandry. No The wheat was most land lying fallow in this part. luxuriant, the leaf broad, rank, and of a deep green. A very intelligent farmer, of that neighbourhood, came with us to Boston. He said the rents of land, in that quarter, had fallen about ten to fifteen shillings per acre; but they were still very high-two guineas to two pounds ten, for the small, or statute acre; and land in fee, even in country parts, sold for £80 per acre. Then the quality of the land is very prime, and produces immense crops when the season is favourable. He stated that he often had forty to fifty bushels of wheat, and seventy to eighty bushels of oats, from the statute acre. The fields are nicely laid out: not extremely large. The population seems to be very thin -no wonder the farmers are glad to see the poor Connaughtmen going over to cut their harvests. The potatoes in Lincolnshire did not strike me as any thing superior-no great breadth of land under them. continued to be the best I ever beheld; but, after On by Boston, Spalding, and Deepingfen, the wheat passing the latter town a few miles, the general appearance of the crops declined, which continued to be the case until near London-of course there were tion. some exceptions where the fields were in high condi We arrived at the terminus at the exact time appointed, having travelled 206 miles in nine hours, with an immense train, containing many hundred passengers. The arrangements along the line were most of the carriages extremely smooth. admirable-nothing need be better-and the motion It is a few years since my last visit to the metropolis, so that I was greatly struck with the improvements already made, and in progress, in the city, and the west end as well. 16th instant, I was in an omnibus on my way to Hyde Shortly after nine o'clock on the morning of the Park. I had time, before it opened, to glance at the building, and found it very like the prints of it that are in circulation. On first entering the transept, one feels overpowered by the size, grandeur, and magnificence of the structure itself. Surely, thought I, this is something more than a “grand idea, as our French neighbours would say, or an American "notion." The building, of itself, is a great British fact, worked out to a successful issue, and far surpassed my expectations, in both beauty and magnitude. Upon entering this wonderful palace, some of the first objects that arrest the attention are the fountains throwing up clear water, which falls most gracefully around them -one that stands in the centre of the transept, made of pure colourless glass, twenty-seven feet high, is an object of great beauty-then the fine old trees, under cover, look to be quite out of their natural element, while the tropical plants and shrubs, surrounding the fountains, seem to be quite at home. I am no judge of the fine arts, but I was greatly pleased with some of the beautiful groups of marble statuary that are scattered so abundantly over the great leading aisles on the ground floor, called the transept and nave, particularly, "The Greek Slave;' |