After those meetings, we turned our faces homewards, attending meetings in our way, at Little York, Columbia, Pottstown, and the Great Swamp, alias Richland; these were through divine favour, instructive seasons. The next meeting was at Plumbstead, in the compass of Buck’s quarterly meeting, which we attended on third day, the 7th of 7th month: and on the two following days, we were at Buckingham, and Wright’s Town meetings. My mind, in those meetings, was brought under a close exercise, from a prospect of Friends being too much leavened into the spirit of the world, its customs and maxims; by which, many appeared to be greatly wounded, and had become as dwarfs in our Israel. And I believe, nothing contributed more to this, than their becoming parties in the civil government, and taking offices therein; for here, the spirit of contention gets in, and a striving to be uppermost, and fill the principal seats: then party animosities take place, from whence are derived envy and jealousy, one against another; and then reviling, and neighbours speaking evil of each other; hence wars and fightings arise, as from their natural ground. As any give way to these things, it leavens their minds into the spirit of the world, which is a spirit of darkness, that blinds the understanding and hardens the heart, and draws into many hurtful and pernicious practices, such as dealing in ardent spirits, drinking strong drink, and handing it out in their fields to their workmen, to stimulate them to an excess of labour; hence an excess of drinking strong drink is gradually introduced among the poor labourers, by means of which many families are ruined. My spirit was deeply exercised on those accounts, but as I patiently endured the baptisms I had to go through, and submitted to communicate what appeared clearly to open; I was enlarged in setting forth the dangerous and hurtful tendency of such conduct, and its great inconsistency with our holy profession, and to exhort Friends to a more frequent recurrence to the first principle of our profession, the light within; whereby deliverance and preservation could only be experienced. The Lord was graciously with us in those meetings, and the faithful were encouraged and edified, and many hearts greatly tendered, under a sense of the Lord’s mercy and goodness extended to us in these seasons.