Caffin appears to have been one of those one-sided people who, with a repugnance to all assumption on the part of the Church, and with a dislike of what are called dogmas, do not sufficiently consider the importance of principles as resting-places for faith and as sources of religious inspirations. In his horror of ultra-Calvinism, he forgot that dangers may arise from other points of the horizon. Not foreseeing the consequences of his course, not intending to open the door of heresy, he, through lack of sufficient positiveness, became the forerunner of those lax opinions which afterwards injured the churches of the General Baptist order. Orthodoxy is not identical with scholastic definitions; neither is it a foe or a stranger to charity. Caffin’s forgetfulness of this involved him in disputes with his own and with other denominations, and brought upon him suspicions which he did not deserve. Of his pugnacity, evidence exists in the account of his debates; and as a specimen of his wit, the following incident is related: A Quaker called on Caffin, saying he had a message from the Lord. “Come in then and do thy message,” replied Caffin. The Quaker rejoined: “I am come to reprove thee for paying tithes to the priests, and to forbid thy doing so any more.” “I think I can fully convince thee,” said the Baptist, “that thou art deceived, and that the Lord hath not sent thee; for I assure thee I never did pay any tithes, nor am ever like to be charged with any.” The land he rented was tithe-free.[540] [Sidenote: 1688–1702.] Turning to the Quakers, we find them placidly thankful for toleration, yet vexed by demands for tithes and church-rates--sufferings, of which records were drawn up and sometimes printed and circulated. When they approached the Throne, both the King and the Lord-Keeper treated them with respect, and gave them assurances of friendship. Parliament listened to their expostulations, but of course the laws of the country rendered it impossible that they should be exempted from the payments in question any more than other people. Justified by the substitution of affirmations for oaths, the members of their community did not shrink from an anti-Socinian test; but the continued requirement of oaths in various relations exposed them to much hardship, for as they would not swear in legal exigencies, they were often defrauded of their rights. The policy of the Revolution opposed this condition of things, and in 1695 the complaints of Quakers and the efforts of their friends secured a beneficial change: affirmations were substituted for oaths in civil as well as ecclesiastical concerns. Fox and Barclay remained leaders, visiting societies and promoting the spread of their principles. Identifying their own cause with the cause of humanity, regarding themselves as charged with a pacific mission to the world, they continued to serve their generation in the spirit of the angels’ song: “On earth peace, goodwill toward men.”