From these times to the coming of Jesus Christ, which is the second of the cases in question, the same spirit, according to the Quakers, still continued its teachings, and this notwithstanding the introduction of the Mosaic law; for this, which was engraven on tables of stone, did not set aside the law that was engraven on the heart.  It assisted, first, outwardly, in turning mens’ minds to God; and secondly, in fitting them as a schoolmaster for attention to the internal impressions by his spirit.  That the spirit of God was still the great teacher, the Quakers conceive to be plain; for the sacred writings from Moses to Malachi affirm it for a part of the period now assigned; and for the rest we have as evidence the reproof of the Martyr Stephen, and the sentences from the New Testament quoted in the fourth chapter.  And in the same manner as this spirit had been given to some in a greater measure than to others, both before and after the deluge, so the Quakers believe it to have been given more abundantly to Moses and the prophets, than to others of the same nation; for they believe that the law in particular, and that the general writings of Moses, and those of the prophets also, were of divine inspiration, or the productions of the spirit of God.

With respect to the Heathens or Gentiles, which is the third case, the Quakers believe that God’s holy spirit became a guide also to them, and furnished them, as it had done the patriarchs and the Jews, with a rule of practice.  For even these, who had none of the advantages of scripture or of a written divine law, believed, many of them, in God, such as Orpheus, Hesiod, Thales, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Cicero, and others.  And of these it may be observed, that it was their general belief, as well as it was the belief of many others in those days, that there was a divine light or spirit in man, to enable him to direct himself aright.

Among the remnants that have been preserved of the sayings, of Pythagoras, are the following which relate to this subject:  “Those things which are agreeable to God, cannot be known, except a man hear God himself.”  Again—­“But having overcome these things, thou shalt know the cohabitation or dwelling together of the immortal God and mortal man.  His work is life—­The work of God is immortality, eternal life.”  “The most excellent thing, says Timoeus, that the soul is awakened to, is her guide or good genius; but if she be rebellious to it, it will prove her daemon, or tormentor.”

“It was frequently said of Socrates, he had the guide of his life within him, which, it was told his father Sophroniscus, would be of more worth to him than five hundred masters.  He called it his good angel, or spirit; that it suggested to his mind what was good and virtuous, and inclined and disposed him to a strict and pious life; that it furnished him with divine knowledge, and impelled him very often to speak publicly to the people, sometimes in a way of severe reproof, at other times to information.”