Thomas Clarkson, A Portraiture of Quakerism, As taken from a view of the Moral Education, Discipline, Peculiar Customs, Religious Principles, Political and Civil Economy, and Character, of the Society of Friends

The Quakers, then, believe that the spirit of God formed or created the world. They believe that it was given to men, after the formation of it, as a guide to them in their spiritual concerns. They believe that it was continued to them after the deluge, in the same manner, and for the same purposes, to the time of Christ. The qualification for the ministry being allowed to be the true one, it will follow, the Quakers believe, and it was Luther’s belief also, that women may be equally qualified to become ministers of the Gospel, as the men. Some Quakers have been inclined to think, that novels ought to be rejected on account of the fictitious nature of their contents. But this consideration is, by no means, generally adopted by the society, as an argument against them.