| Title: | James Pemberton, Philadelphia, to "Dear Friends", London |
|---|---|
| ID | 2119 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | Pemberton, James/2 |
| Year | 1781 |
| Sender | Pemberton, James |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | unknown |
| Sender Religion | Quaker |
| Origin | Philadelphia, Penn., USA |
| Destination | London, England |
| Recipient | unknown |
| Recipient Gender | unknown |
| Relationship | religion |
| Source | D1044/922: From the Correspondence of the Greer Family of Dungannon, County Tyrone, a Quaker Family, Deposited by Captain U. McG. Greer. |
| Archive | The Public Record Office, N.Ireland |
| Doc. No. | 9909162 |
| Date | 24/09/1781 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | EMG |
| Log | Document added by LT, 08:09:99. |
| Word Count | 1074 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | From our Yearly Meeting held in Philadelphia by adjournments from the 24 day of the Ninth Month to the 29th of the same Inclusive, 1781. To the next Yearly Meeting of our Friends & Brethren in London. Dear Friends It is an inestimable priviledge [privilege?] of True Believers in Christ, however distant their outward residence from each other, to have true Fellowship & Communion, being this the Baptising power of the One Spirit, made members one of another in the one Body. In a sense whereof thro [through?] the receiving of Divine favour measurably Witnessed in this our Annual Assembly, which is unusually large & attended by some Friends of the several Yearly Meetings in this Continent, we are enabled once more tenderly to salute you. Tho we have not received any Epistle from your late yearly Meeting, yet that of the preceding year, which came to hand too late for our last, has been acceptably read in this Meeting, as were also the abstracts from your Minutes of [-----------?] communicated by your Meeting for Sufferings to the Monthly & Quarterly Meetings throughout Great Britain & Ireland. The sence [sense?] thereby received of the Prevalence of Divine Love in the Minds of Brethren tenderly Concerned for the Health & Preservation of the Beloved youth & to Promote a General reformation in Life & Manners, so Conspicious [conspicuous?] on your side, as well as ours, affording encouragment [encouragement?] & Edification to those who, not content with a name to live are animated with a degree of Holy Hunger, for that Bread which is the sure reward of well doing, of which number (thanks to the God of all Grace) there is an evident increase of different ages & Sexes, but more especially among the youth and by the accounts of Friends who have given up in Obedience to the call of the Lord of the Harvest & lately gone forth to & fro in his Service on this Continent & been preserved thro [through?] many dangers in this day of outward Commotion, labouring for the revival of ancient purity & vertue [virtue?], in its primitive brightness, as well as by Epistles received from the different Yearly Meetings. There are not only strengthening testimonies of Faithfulness in many Brethren but among numbers who are not in outward Communion with us, an earnest looking towards the Blessed peaceful Testimony of our Crucified Lord, some of whom have born [borne?] witness to its Heavenly Excellency by patiently suffering rather than voluntarily contribute to, or countenance the prevailing Spirit of War & Confusion. May this speak an awakening Language to the formal professors amount us who having too much neglected the great blessing of a Religious Education, in the Principles of Truth, have so little known or so much swerved from under the Government of the Prince of Peace, as for the sake of outward gain, or from veiws [views?] of temporal ease & security to contribute of their substance & give their Strength to a Work so evidently Antichristian as that of War & may every part of conduct both with you and us which tends to cross or lay waste this Testimony, which is evidently spreading & [and?] gathering strength in the minds of Individuals in this part of the world, be discouraged with a disinterested attention becoming our holy Profession. The Sufferings of Friends in these parts have much Increased & continue increasing, in a manner which to outward prospect appears ruinous, but being for the most part mercifully supported in patience under them, there is comfortable grounds of hope that he who has been with his Children hitherto will not leave them Comfortless but will still preserve thro [through?] every tryal [trial?], making their tribulations Instrumental to the advancement of his cause of Truth & righteousness & peace on Earth. Our two Brethren, who have been long Imprisoned in Lancaster jail are still under confinement there altho [although?] their innocence of any crime is acknowledged by those who detain them & [and?] endeavours have been used by frequent applications for their releasment [releasement?], which have not been effectual. The use of an uninterrupted Correspondence between your meeting for sufferings & [and?] ours is so obvious that we hope a diligent care to improve every suitable opportunity to maintain it, will be kept in view. The Weighty affairs which have come before this Meeting have been transacted in a Spirit of Brotherly concord, the overshadowings of divine regard having been manifest in our quiet sittings together. By accounts from our several quarters it appears that our religious Meetings are Generally maintained which we are also informed is remarkably the case in many parts of this Continent love & unity subsiting [subsisting?] in a good degree & a care lived in for the preservation of the wholesome order of our discipline. Altho [although?] we are generally clear of holding our fellow Men in bondage yet a concern for the oppressed Africans & their descendants & to promote their Spiritual and Temporal Wellbeing weightily remains as a duty indispensably our religious attention. These People have had a deep share in this day of Public Calamity, being numerous in some parts, where the ravages of War have prevailed, there is reason to believe they have suffered much injustice & cruel treatment, so lamentable are the effects of that Worldy carnal Spirit from whence war & the Iniquituous [iniquitous?] traffick [traffic?] of dealing in our fellow Men proceed. May a due consideration of this Subject have that place which its importance claims both with you and us, that the want of Christian endeavours for the suppression of so crying an evil may not lay as a charge against us. And thus beloved Brethren, fully believing that the work of Righteousness is peace, let us humbly wait for the quickenings of the spirit of prayer & Supplication, that we may be favoured to know our calling and in it to abide, so as to give evidence of the soundness of our Faith by the Purity of the works brought forth in us and to feel and know our standing to be on that Foundation which remains sure & Immutable Fellowship, which cannot be broken, under a fresh sence [sense?] whereof measurably prevailing at this time we conclude affectionately your Friends & Brethren. Signed in & on behalf of the said Meeting by James Pemberton Clerk to the Meeting this year. |
