FRIENDS’

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REVIEW.

A Religions, iterary and liscellancons Journal.

~

Von: Sve

Seer

EDITED BY SAMUEL RHOADS,
To whom all Communications may be addressed.

 

PUBLISHED WEEKLY,
At No. 109 N. Tenth street, Philadelphia.

ARAAAL

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For Friends’ Review.
DAVID COOPER.

The manuscript diary of David Cooper, con-
taining much that is valuable, lies before me.
de was born in 1724, and was grandson of Wm.
Cooper, who came to New Jersey, from England,
in 1678. He was a person of sound and strong
mind and an influential, consistent Friend. A
letter written by him to one of his fellow-mem-
bers of the Meeting for Sufferings, eighty-five
years ago, and some remarks respecting it, which
he penned for the benefit of his children, ap-
pear to me so pertinent to the present times, that
I offer a insertion in the Review.

‘“‘ Woodbury, 15th of 6th month, 1777.

‘“ Dear Friend, received a hint from thee,
implying that I had withdrawn from service in
asking a release as a member of the Meeting for
Sufferings. It hath since frequently come in
my mind to give thee some of my reasons, which
may remove censure if thou hast thought me
deserving. Kew perhaps have seen more than
myself the want of wise and faithful laborers,
ata time when darkness appears to cover the
land, and gross darkness the people, and I have
greatly desired an inerease of the number who
might be favored with sufficient light to distin-
guish thing from thing, and to know when
to move and when to stand still; and not, like
men groping in this darkness, believe they are
serving God, whew they are actuated only by
outward views and conclusions as men, as it ap-
pears the good king Josiah did when he opposed
Pharoah in his own will,—which proved his de-
struction.

The exercise I have felt at times within three

 

PHILADELPHIA, THIRD MONTH 15, 1862.

 

 

 

No. 28,

 

years, is not to be expressed, from beholding a
mixture of human policy so manifest in the de-
liberations of that meeting; Friends declaring —
to the world that we are redeemed from it, and
at the same time constantly meddling with it,
as though we did not believe in or were not
willing to trust to a superintending Provid
appearing to think ourselvesand the conclusions of
that meeting of abundantly greater consequence
than any body else thinksthem. Thou wilt per-
haps say these proceedings arose from a clear
sense of duty. Possibly they may,—but if free
from much mixture, I am sure one so mistaken
and insersible as I have been was not a suitable
member. nO
* The compass of a letter will not admit giving
my reasons fully for saying policy hath mixed
in our deliberations; but, itdid not require much
discerning to discover that our Testimony, pub-
lished Ist mo., 1775, was first drawn up with a
view to please at St. James’ as much if not more
than to be useful in America. — Is this treason ?
It was my real sentiment at the time and ever
since: witness: ‘The king having been our
nursing father’—and other parts which were

_|expunged ; as also expressions frequently used,

then and since, urging the great care necessary —
not to displease these rulers over the water,—
that our conduct as a Society would hereafter be -
narrowly inspected by them, &c. And every
line of it, almost, appeared to me to be dictated
from human views, instead of that unerring Spirit —
we profess to be guided by, which indeed sees
not as man sees. A step which will, I believe,
be thought illy to comport with this. principle
of ours, should Providence permit the establish-
ment of the separation for which the people are
now struggling, and with which I am clear we
had no business to interfere or meddle; but we
should have realized our profession by leaving
these things wholly to Him who needs not our .
assistance in setting up or pulling down.

But this is digressing from my first view of
giving reasons for my release as above, and I
may say, these meetings occasioned deep auffer-
ings to me ; sometimes from a humbling fear lest
I was exceedingly in the dark, in, that the feel-
ings of my mind were so different from some of