Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1858-09-11
THE GAZETTE.
SATURDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER u, 1858
A QUAKER MEETING.

A QUAKER MEETING.
1t was our privilege upon . recent Sunday,
to attend public worship in q Quaker "Catbe-
dral," in the very plesssns> village of Ames.
bury, Mass. We went in company With
Whittier, the renowned Quaker poet, whose
literary lame extends aeross the Atlantic,
and whose purity Of life and rare fidelity to
his principles. command universal respect -
The friends attached to'sbe Friends Meeting
House in Boston are far different from those
connected With q Quaker church 10 q rural
village where the worsbippers follow agricni-
tural pursuits and the BIRDS at the season OF
the year do the singing for the meetings on
''frst day" We never saw so neat a place
OF public assembly ss the house at Ames-
bury--the very floor is cleaner than the walls
Of many Of our city churches. The little
folks present we're models Of propriety. and
the whole atmosphere of the place was favor
able to reflection and meditation. tn SER
vice consisted Of the most profoupd silence, Q
short but excellent address, ADD q brief, COM
prehensive prayer. We oever have witness
ed a more devout or ~thoughtfdi assembly.
The smsil congregation of wosshIppers
were mot iuap,ly called Friends" The
mild and anisble looks Of tbUse present gave
evidence Of calm aud tranquil souls and omar
acters 10 which y ere BLENDED fraterCai love,
universal charity and recsi,ude. we were
in a church not ouly without priests Out
without sacrsments-no pesllDg organs, 90
trai ed and cultivated singers. no reading OF
the Sacred Word, no hymn books, no written
discourse-there vas not even q pulpit, that
prea. bulwark Of Professionalism, 10 the sane
tuary! But we felt that We were in q truly
Christian assembly.
Those about US, according to the testimony
Of the worlds people" are good ne'ghoors'
good men and women, good Cbristiaos.-
They lead lives Of unos;entatiOus and simple
goodness. We would recommend q visit to
q Quaker meeting to those OF our city irieods
who are 10 the vicinity of one during their
summer vacations. The silence OF the as
semb,y will be q novel experience 70 persons
accustomed to have the outward senses con-
stantly appealed to. One of the earliest. as
we'll as one Of the most protracted, silent
meetings named in history, is recorded 10 fhe
book of Job, where Eliphaz, Bildad and 10
phar remained with Job 'seven days and
nights, and none spake a word unto blm,
for they saw that bis grief was great"
A story is related of q person, who told q
Quaker that the silence OF u meeting OF the
Society Of Friends vas enough to kill the
devil; to which the Quaker replied, that 1t was
the very thing the silent assembly we're try
ing 10 do. .. -I
An Eoelish Archbishop has stated that
religion seems to have made the deepest
impression on the Quakers. Whittier has
beautifully said
The Quaker of the olden time!
How calm and firm, and true,
Unspott.d by its wrong and crime,
He walked the dark earth through;
The lust of power, the love Of gain,
The thousand lures OF sin
Around him, had no power TO stain
The love Of purity within.
As we sat within the plain walls Of the
modest clearinghouse" and saw faces upon
which "tbe dove sat visibly brooding," we
thought Of Charles Lambs charming essay
upon such an assemblage, and the following
words Of the gentle Ella haunted our medlta-
tiOns:
"Wouldst thou know what true peace and
quiet mean: souldst thou find u refuge from
the noises and olamors Of the multitude;
wouldst thou enjoy at once solitude and socie-
ty; wouldst thou possess the depth OF thine
owl spirit 10 stilloess, without being shut out
from the consolatory faces Of thy species;
wouldst thou be alone and yet accompanied;
solitary, yet not d~esolate; singular, yet not
without some one to keep thee in coustensnce;
g into a Quaker meeting. To pace alone
time.stricken,
Tor under hanging mountains,
Or by the fall of fountains"
is but a Vulgar luxury, compared with that
which those Ell y who come together for the
purpose Of more complete. distracted solitude.
This is the loneliness Ito be felt" The Alb.
hey Church Of Westminster hath nothing 80
solemn, 30 spirit-scothing, a. the naked wslls
and benches of a Quaker meeting. Here are
no tombs, no Inscriptions
Islands, ignoble things,
Dropped from the ruined sides OF Kings"
but here is something which tbrows ADtiqui-
ty herself into the foreground Silence
eldest rf kir ga-language Of old N'ght-pri
mitivs discOurser--to which the insoleot
DECAYS of Wondering grandeur have but ar
rived by a violent and, as We may say unnatur
al progression.
frequently the meeting is broken up With.
out a word having been spoken. But the
mind has been fed You g. awsy ~itb a
sermon not made With hands. You have been
10 the milder csverns OF Trophonius, or as 10
some den, where that tercest and ssvsgest
Of all wild creatures, the tongue, that unruly
member, has strangely lain tied up and cap
tive. You have bathed with stiffness. Oh
when the spirit is core fret,ed. even tired 10
sickness of the janglings and nonsense. noises
of the world, what a balm and solace iii to
20 aud seat y~ourself, for a quiet half hour
amorg gentle Quakers. Their garb and still
ness coojoiped. present an uniformity, tran
ouil and herd ike--as ina pasture--''fOrty
feeding Ike one."--Boston Tran.