The Journal of William Evans

by: William Evans

William Evans (1787-1867) was one of the last spiritually living and weighty ministers amidst a greatly divided and quickly vanishing Society of Friends. His journal is remarkable for its deeply personal style, and its valuable and enlightening comments on Scripture, the church, the operation of grace in the soul, ministry, and many other important subjects. Evans witnessed and stood against the two unhappy divisions that greatly crippled the Society in the first half of the 19th century (the Hicksite and Gurneyite separations), contending earnestly for the original principles and practices of Friends. William and his brother Thomas were the editors and publishers of the original Friends’ Library, as well as an updated version of the four-volume work entitled Piety Promoted.