TENETS OF THE CHILDREN OF PEACE. I 9 



of York, and province of Upper Canada. We who are dis 

 tinguished from other worshippers, of our country, by the 

 name of Peace, which name we have given to our place of 

 worship, here insert singular purposes, not generally known 

 to our friends abroad ; we esteem all such who are not our 

 enemies ; these latter, in a literal sense, cannot be our bre 

 thren or our friends. 



&quot; The world is in a singular system to us, as we can be to 

 them ; that is, that they are in a state of servitude to a set of 

 Christian priests, since Christ came to liberate the captives. 

 The objector may say, they are in no servitude on the clas 

 sical plan, but what is voluntary. I answer, a child should 

 be directed in his choice, and a disciple taught to pray. We 

 confess the people are directed in their choice, and invited to 

 be baptized, join society, and partake of the holy ordinances. 

 If we may give the ancient names to the present apostles, 

 Peter saith come, for this is the way, and I can prove it by 

 scripture ; Paul saith come, for I can condemn the very creed 

 that Peter approves, and justify mine own to an extreme. 

 Now, we are of the mind to leave the creeds of the Christian 

 Apostles of this age (of which they have no scant number) 

 and take into a simple way, in which there can be no dispute, 

 and which, we think, will outwit the priests of the Christian 

 church to condemn. We take the words of Christ our Saviour 

 for truth, but to believe in all the contradictions of the age, 

 is to us impossible. Priests quarrel now for titles ; the printers 

 print them, and sell them to the world, and make barter of 

 priests disputes ; and the clashing of creeds has become a 

 popular trade, and brings in a considerable wealth to the 

 craftsmen that have set up selling these tales from their re 

 fined presses, which makes religious disputes and new occur 

 rences subjects of detail. 



&quot; We publish these lines, and refuse for a considerable time 

 to publish any more. We give them gratis, because the Lord 

 hath given to us ; not that which is the form of others, but 

 of our own that we may rejoice in his favours, and envy not. 

 Our form or ceremony is not in contradiction to any religious 

 creed, and will therefore admit of no dispute ; and with us, we 

 intend that religious arguments shall come to a close. 



