Friends in Warwickshire Author:William White Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. The Society on its trial at the commencement of the eighteenth century.—Meetings for discipline and number of members.—No formal admissions into ... more »membership.—Many travelling ministers.—A judging spirit.—John Love's labours—Incident at Warwick and Coventry. —Circular Meetings.—Convincements.—Meeting at Balsall Street.—Appointment of Elders and Overseers. —Exercise of the discipline on offenders.—Care for younger Friends—Meetings for them at Coventry and Warwick. ALTHOUGH the History of the Society of Friends after the passing of the Toleration Act, and during the eighteenth century, yields less of stirring incident, there yet remains much that is deeply interesting and worthy of record. The period in question was that in which the Society, after the bitterness of persecution had passed, was put on its trial as to how far the anticipations of its founders would be realised, in the spread of its principles, and in the completion of its church discipline. They had to show to the world the fruits following the maintenance of that great doctrine of the " Light of Christ" as influencing the hearts of all men, and the necessary connection between that doctrine and the freedom of gospel ministry. It is not difficult to prove that for at least seventy years of its history, the Society of Friends was a truly living church, and consequently aggressive in its action, and that this was to a large extent the condition of the meetings in Warwickshire there can be no doubt. At the end of this period, too, it is probable that the number of members in the county had reached its maximum of from one thousand to twelve hundred. Yet at this time the meetings for discipline were not surrounded with a compact system of either written or printed rules, easy of reference in cases of ...« less