The disparagement of external rites and ordinances, which we have found in so many mystics, appears in William Law, though he was himself precise in observing all the rules of the English Church.  “This pearl of eternity is the Church, a temple of God within thee, the consecrated place of Divine worship, where alone thou canst worship God in spirit and in truth.  In spirit, because thy spirit is that alone in thee which can unite and cleave unto God, and receive the working of the Divine Spirit upon thee.  In truth, because this adoration in spirit is that truth and reality of which all outward forms and rites, though instituted by God, are only the figure for a time; but this worship is eternal.  Accustom thyself to the holy service of this inward temple.  In the midst of it is the fountain of living water, of which thou mayst drink and live for ever.  There the mysteries of thy redemption are celebrated, or rather opened in life and power.  There the supper of the Lamb is kept; the bread that came down from heaven, that giveth life to the world, is thy true nourishment:  all is done, and known in real experience, in a living sensibility of the work of God on the soul.  There the birth, the life, the sufferings, the death, the resurrection and ascension of Christ, are not merely remembered, but inwardly found and enjoyed as the real states of thy soul, which has followed Christ in the regeneration.  When once thou art well grounded in this inward worship, thou wilt have learnt to live unto God above time and place.  For every day will be Sunday to thee, and wherever thou goest thou wilt have a priest, a church, and an altar along with thee.[353]”

In his teaching about faith and love, Law follows the best mystical writers; but none before him, I think, attained to such strong and growing eloquence in setting it forth.  “There is but one salvation for all mankind, and the way to it is one; and that is, the desire of the soul turned to God.  This desire brings the soul to God, and God into the soul; it unites with God, it co-operates with God, and is one life with God.  O my God, just and true, how great is Thy love and mercy to mankind, that heaven is thus everywhere open, and Christ thus the common Saviour to all that turn the desire of their hearts to Thee!” And of love he says:  “No creature can have any union or communion with the goodness of the Deity till its life is a spirit of love.  This is the one only bond of union betwixt God and His creature.”  “Love has no by-ends, wills nothing but its own increase:  everything is as oil to its flame.  The spirit of love does not want to be rewarded, honoured, or esteemed; its only desire is to propagate itself, and become the blessing and happiness of everything that wants it.”