First day, the 14th. Indisposition of body prevented my attending meeting. I therefore spent the day quietly at home; and in reading a portion of Moshiem’s Ecclesiastical History of the Fifth Century, and which is indeed enough to astonish any sensible, considerate man, to think how the professors of that day could be hardy enough to call themselves Christians, while using every artifice that their human wisdom could invent to raise themselves to power and opulence, and endeavouring to crush down their opposers by almost every cruelty that power, envy and malice could inflict, to the entire scandal of the Christian name; and changing the pure, meek, merciful, and undefiled religion of Jesus, into an impure, unmerciful, cruel, bloody, and persecuting religion. For each of those varied sects of professed Christians, in their turn, as they got the power of the civil magistrate on their side, would endeavour, by the sword, and severe edicts, followed by banishment, to reduce and destroy all those who dissented from them, although their opinions were not a whit more friendly to real genuine Christianity, than the tenets of their opposers; for all were, in great measure, if not entirely, adulterated and apostatized from the true spirit of Christianity, which breathes peace on earth, and good will to man. The rest of the week I spent in my family cares, except fifth day, which was the time of our monthly meeting; in which the women’s meeting brought forward, for our consideration and concurrence, requests to be joined in membership for eight individuals. Six of these were children, at the request of their father; another, a minor of about ten years of age, who appeared very desirous of membership: she sent forward her request, joined by her parents. The other was an adult of a promising aspect, the mother of several children. She had been brought up and educated in the Episcopal profession; but being favoured with an opportunity of attending Friends’ meetings, she was convinced of the truth as held by us; and cheerfully submitted to the cross, accounting the reproaches of Christ a greater treasure, than all the comfort and delights that could be found among her former associates in an outside pompous profession. Their requests were all admitted by the meeting; and it was, I think, a comfortable instructive season.