Note 159 — Chapter XVIII

In order that it might be positively clear that he "exalted Christ in all His offices," he wrote an extended Letter to the Governor of Barbadoes. The Letter takes the form of a declaration of faith and is often referred to as an authoritative statement of the belief of Friends. It was, however, not written for that purpose, and it is not by any means a full statement of their belief. It does not even mention the principle which held the leading place in all Fox's teaching and preaching. The Letter to the Governor was written to clear Friends from false charges, and it dwells solely on the points on which Fox is rumored to be unsound, or charged with dangerous teaching. The earliest "declaration of faith" of the Quakers was issued by Christopher Holder, John Copeland and Richard Doudney, from Boston prison in 1657. The earliest statement issued in England was Richard Farnsworth's "Confession and Profession of Faith in God," London, 1658.