The Quakers manage their discipline by means of monthly, quarterly, and yearly courts, to which, however they themselves uniformly give the name of meetings.

To explain the nature and business of the monthly or first of these meetings, I shall fix upon some county in my own mind, and describe the business, that is usually done in this in the course of the month.  For as the business, which is usually transacted in any one county, is done by the Quakers in the same manner and in the same month in another, the reader, by supposing an aggregate of counties, may easily imagine, how the whole business of the society is done for the whole kingdom.

The Quakers[21] usually divide a county into a number of parts, according to the Quaker-population of it.  In each of these divisions there are usually several meeting-houses, and these have their several congregations attached to them.  One meeting-house, however, in each division, is usually fixed upon for transacting the business of all the congregations that are within it, or for the holding of these monthly courts.  The different congregations of the Quakers, or the members of the different particular meetings, which are settled in the northern part of the county, are attached of course to the meeting-house, which has been fixed upon in the northern division of it because it gives them the least trouble to repair to it on this occasion.  The numbers of those again, which are settled in the southern, or central, or other parts of the county, are attached to that, which has been fixed upon in the southern, or central, or other divisions of it, for the same reason.  The different congregations in the northern division of the county appoint, each of them, a set of deputies once a month, which deputies are of both sexes, to repair to the meeting-house, which has been thus assigned them.  The different congregations in the southern, central, or other divisions, appoint also, each of them, others, to repair to that, which has been assigned them in like manner.  These deputies are all of them previously instructed in the matters, belonging to the congregations, which they respectively represent.

[Footnote 21:  This was the ancient method, when the society was numerous in every county of the kingdom, and the principle is still followed according to existing circumstances.]

At length the day arrives for the monthly meeting.  The deputies make ready to execute the duties committed to their trust.  They repair, each sett of them, to their respective places of meeting.  Here a number of Quakers, of different ages and of both sexes, from their different divisions, repair also.  It is expected that[22] all, who can conveniently attend, should be present on this occasion.

[Footnote 22:  There may be persons, who on account of immoral conduct cannot attend.]

When they are collected at the meeting-house, which was said to have been fixed upon in each division, a meeting for worship takes place.  All persons, both men and women, attend together.  But when this meeting is over, they separate into different apartments for the purposes of the discipline; the men to transact by themselves the business of the men, and of their own district, the women to transact that, which is more limited, namely such as belongs to their own sex.