_>s Life and Letters of Francis Gallon 



"This forcing of men's consciences is contrary to sound Reason, mid the very 

 Law of Nature. For Man's Understanding cannot be forced, by all the Bodily Sufferings 

 another man can inflict upon him, especially in matters spiritual and supernatural : '2"is 

 argument and evident Demonstration of Reason, together with the Power of God reaching 

 the Heart, that can change a Man's Mind from one Opinion to another, and not Kn 

 and Blows, and such like things ; which may well destroy the Body, but can never inform 

 the Soul, which is a free Agent, and must either accept or reject matters of Opinion, as 

 tftey are born in upon it by something proportional to its own nature. To seek to force 

 minds in any other manner, is to deal with men, as if they were Brutes, void of under- 

 standing ; and at last is but to lose one's labour, and as the Proverb is : To seek to wash 

 the Black-moor white. By that course indeed, men may be made Hypocrites, but can 

 never be made Christians." (Apology, 4th Edn., p. 497.) 



This may serve as a sample of Barclay's opinions, and of his 

 command of our tongue. With his father, Colonel David Barclay, 

 Robert had to suffer much for his faith. Colonel David Barclay had 

 been a soldier of fortune, serving under Gustavus Adolphus through 

 many fierce campaigns, and again in our own civil wars. Then between 

 50 and 60 he tells us that having served many others he made up his 

 mind to enter the service of God, and looked around him with the 

 greatest anxiety and earnestness, to know, in the midst of so many 

 pretenders, what society of Christians to join with. Ultimately in his 

 perplexity he found refuge in the Society of Friends. He resolved in 

 the year 1666 to suffer indignities and injuries for conscience' sake and 

 to exhibit his bravery in a new field. He established the Quakers' 

 meeting at Ury and henceforth prison, public mockery, fine and dis- 

 traint were his lot. He has met his reward in the noble ballad of 

 Whittier 1 : 



1. "Up the streets of Aberdeen, 



By the Kirk and College Green, 

 Rode the Laird of Ury ; 

 Close behind him, close beside, 

 Foul of mouth and evil eyed 

 Pressed the mob in fury. 



2. Flouted him the drunken churl, 

 Jeered at him the serving girl, 

 Prompt to please her master ; 

 And the begging carlin, late 

 Fed and clothed at Ury's gate, 

 Cursed him as he passed her. 



' John Greenleaf Whittier, Poetical Works, London, 1904, p. 35. 



