New-York tribune., 1869-05-22
TILE ERLENDLY AGENTS.

and from none of them is the prospect other
wise than encouraging. In the first place. they
will act, as we have every reason TO DelleVe'
under n sense of religious duty and III the
second under the wholesome restraint OF rell-
gious discipline Theoretically, at least, more
than any other sect. they govern the various
transactions of life by the intlexibe decisions
of conscience and although it cannot and
probably would not be claimed by them, that
they always keep steadily to their profession,
yet in no religious body is there more gene
raj fidelity to the recognized standard OF moral
obligation. That they should sometimes, III
individual cases, deviate from this IS merely a
proof which we do not need OF the lntrmlty OF
human nature, and is not nearly so remarkable
as the average fidelity which the Society has
maintained to its professions, under clrcllm-
stances of great trial and temptation. The adj
mirabe moral government of this body, though
it may, in rare cases, work injustice, Is
strong check upon breaches OF rather strict
discipline. An offender is cut off, not by vote
but by a sentiment-by the moral force OF the
weighty part Of "the meeting" He finds himself
excommunicated, ho hardly knows how lie Is
"disowned,n and there is nobody to quarrel Wlth'
nobody who will quarrel with him and although
he NAV be in a most un-quakerly passion,
he is met by a serenity which is absolutely
inyincible. Moreover, the unsteady and recall
citrant Friend is watched over by religious
system which is at once simple and compli-
cated-by the Weekly Meeting, by the Monthly
Meeting, by tho Quarterly Meeting, by the
Yearly Meeting, by the Meeting for Suffer
ings. and possibly by other Meetings, the names
dealt with" by the shrcwduess of men and
by the acuteness of women. He is held re
sponsible for the ancient and well-deserved
respcctabilty of society which cares very
little for numerical Importance, but great
deal for it's good character.
The influence of religious association like
that of the Friends would have been, especially
in this country much greater If tho quetlStc
character of the Society had been less marked;
but while Government assumed the right of
going to war, and of levying taxes to maintain
hostilites-whle it continued to enforce Sab
batarian observance by statute-while 1t
! claimed, as it did for a long period, that
churches should be supported by public taxes,
il Is not strange that Friends looked askance
| at Government, and kept as clear as possible
from such mixtures The effect was neces-
sarily somewhat TO limit in its action the broad
est, deepest, and most tender and catholic
philanthropy which the world has ever wit
messed Tho Society Of Friends had always
words of warning; no great public wrong could
exist against which it did not bear its testi-
"mony,1 either orally or by memorial but it
shrunk from taking any pronounced part
in the hustle and belligerency of politics;
and the result of this was inevitably kind of
mOnastic privacy, and work which was pretty
rigidly kept separate and apart from that of
the rest of the religious world. To this rather
exclusive retirement there were many natural
indictments and temptations. Controversy,
however agreeable to primitive Friends, was
distasteful TO their modern representatives,
who loved nothing so much as Peace. Their
peculiarities Of costume were as we'll marked
as those of any of the monastic orders, and to
these were added peculiarties of speech. The
ordinary amusements Of the world were never
more rigidly discarded by friar or by nun. Of
tho three learned professions only two were
open to Friends, and one of these but to a
limited extent. The effect of these singularities
could only be general tendency of younger
members, oblvous of their "birthright," to
fall away from ancient strictness, and to be-
come what is technically called worldly"
while somewhat inOrdinate attention to
money making and mOney-keeping was only
natural, because the acquisition of wealth was
the one enterprise which the discipline of :" the
Meeting allowed its members. Friends had
great deal moro vigOr Ito say nothing of
charity and kindness) than they knew exactly
what to do with, and the result was what they
called in their reports "a dwindle,n even of
nominal members.
We therefore, with full sense of the real
excellence and the rare integrity of this re-
ligious body, welcome 1t to Il sphere of public
activity in which it cannot fail to benefit
others as we'll as itself. The American Indian
is an old object of Friendly concern. The
story of William Penn's Treaty is too familiar
to all to require rehearsal but it may not be
so generally known that George Fox himself,
when in this country in 1912, had service with
the Indians "on Patuxent River" "The same
"week," he says in his delightful Journal, we
event to an Indian kings cabin, where seye-
"ral Indians were, with whom we had pretty
opportunity to discourse. and they carried
themselves very lovingly" A day or two
after is tho following entry: "The twenty
fourth, we went by water ten miles to an
Indian town, where the Emperor dwelt
"whom | had acquainted before with my COM
"ng and desired TO get their kings and coun
:" ellis together In the morning, tho Emperor
"came himself, and had me to the town
where they were generally come together,
their speaker and other officers being with
" them, and the old Empress sat among them.
"They sat very grave and sober, and were all
every attentive, beyond many called Chris
" tans. had some with mo that could inter