Homes and Haunts of the Most Eminent British Poets, Vol. 2 (of 2)Howitt, William
General
Homes and Haunts of the Most Eminent British Poets, Vol. 2 (of 2)
Howitt, William
Literary landmarks -- Great Britain; Poets, English -- Homes and haunts
This is perfect Quakerism; the grand demand of which is, that you
shall put down "this meddling intellect, which misshapes the beauteous
forms of things;" shall lay at rest the actions and motions of your
own minds, and subdue the impatience of the body, till, as Wordsworth
has most clearly stated it,
"The breath of this corporeal frame,
And even the motion of our human blood.
Almost suspended, we are laid asleep
In body, and become a living soul."
It was this very doctrine of the non-necessity of human interference
between us and all knowledge, of the all-sufficiency of this invisible
and "great teacher," as Wordsworth calls him, which led George Fox and
the Quakers to abandon all forms of worship, to strip divine service
of all music, singing, formal prayers, written sermons, and to sit
down in a perfectly passive state of silence, to gather some of
"All this mighty sum
Of things forever speaking,"
into
"A heart
That watches and receives."
Whoever sees a Friends' meeting, sees a body of men and women sitting
in the full and abstract practice of this very doctrine, by which
Wordsworth, in the very words of George Fox, says we come to
"See into the life of things."
"Come out," says Fox, "from all your vain learning and philosophy,
from your schools and colleges, from all your teachings and preachings
of human instruction, from all your will-worship and your man-made
ministers, and sit down in the presence of Him who made all things,
and lives through all things; who made the ear, the eye, and the heart
of man, and lives in and through them, and can and will inform them.
Put down every high and airy imagination, every carnal willing and
doing; cease to strive in your own strength, and learn to depend on
the teaching and strength of the Holy Spirit that filleth heaven and
earth; and the light given to enlighten every man that cometh into the
world will soon shine in upon you, and the truth in all its fullness
will be made known to you far beyond the teaching of all bishops,
archbishops, professors, or other swelling men, puffed with the vain
wind of human learning. Come out from among them; be not of them;
leave the dead to bury the dead. He that sits at the king's table
needeth not the dry crumbs and the waste offal of hireling servitors;
he that hath the sun itself shining on his head, needeth no lesser,
much less artificial lights."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account