Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1881-03-09

Not that the people commonly calle'
Quakers were declining in numbers o
influence, or their churches being disor
ganized On the contrary they were in
creasing; the membership of the societ,
of Friends was now probably double wha
it was twenty years ago; their usefulnes
was wide; new meeting houses wer'
builded and more Friends schools wer'
instituted; but the distinctive features o
Quakerism were rapidly disappearing
The plain dress which once distinguished
Quakers wherever they we're seen was
now confined to a very few, not the middle
aged and aged. but the aged alone, the
greater portion of the society differing in
dress from the worlds people" in nc
point. not even in extravaganza wher'
wealth was abundant. The plain Language
was still the home language, but outside
the familiarity of that precinct it was
dropped.
Their new houses for worship were
more stylish in appearance, and the higf
seats" which from time immemorial rose
up opposite the door of every Quaker
meeting house in the land were being dis
placed by platform with railing inclos
ing chairs and table with Bible there
on. The shutters " dividing the mer
and women were no longer used. The
women's meetings for business, formerly
aprecious prerogative, were merged in
house being represented by the appoint
ment of a woman for assistant clerk
Singing in meeting, much to the scandal
of the old men and women, had become
SO common that it was the rule rather
than the exception, and "hireling minis
try" that abomination of the primitive
Quaker, was not only winked at, but in
one or more cases salary was paid a
Quaker minister.
Their methods of propagating the gos.
pei became similar to those of the MeIho-
dists, and their general meetings not
unlike Il camp meeting of twenty years
There is no more reason that the society of
Friends should remain as it was hun
dred years ago than there is for the pres
ent generation to usc the fireplace and
loom of our grandmothers. Their only
mistake is in calling themselves Quakers
Quakers they surely are not, and do not
see why they should any longer exist as a
distinct society. If they were to unite with
other religious bodies, and turn over to
them their church property, which in some
places is not inconsiderable, it seems to
me it would strengthen the Christian
church which must necessarily be weak
ened by being divided into so many sects
The most elderly Friends, to whom tra-
diton is dear, could never make them
selves at home in other societies, but that
they are not in their own, and would
scarcely feel more left out in the cold if
their society was obliterated.
Perhaps Quakerism has had its day. 1t
had mission. Upon its rise in England
the church was most corrupt. Its pulpits
we're filled with men who entered the
profession simply for II living, who loved
eating and drinking and the church's gold
more than they loved religion or the saliva
ton of men. Some of them had not even
been converted. No wonder George Fox
preached against the hireling ministry
for when in distress of conscience he
sought them for spiritual counsel, he was
bled and given physic by one, and advised
by another to chew tobacco! No wonder
that he emphatically taught the need OF
regeneration and Il spiritual religion; but
no less elnphatically is this taught by
orthodox Christians of the present day.
Doubtless there is need now of "a little
infusion of Quakerism in the matter OF
dress, but in the day when men were gay
with streaming ribbons, gold laces and
false ringlets, and women frivolous in
greater degree, it was not surprising that
Quakers should protest against the vain
fashions of the world. Their scruples
against war are no longer held exclusively
by Friends. and many of heir minor tes,
/. timonies are now shared by other religions
or the need for them passed away.
If the society could now be absorbed by
the various evangelical churches the con.
troversial spirit agitating its body and
surely tending to disruption, and thus
weakness in some localities, would subside
ard the little leaven of Quakerism diffused
through these various sects do no harm
but perhaps some good to the religion o
TODAY.
But alas for the poetry of Quakerism
My memory goes back to the days of my
childhood and early youth when a Quaker
meeting was the most solemn and impress
sive OF all religious worship. My heart
bows in reverence to the occupants OF
those high seats" the white haired men
whose rugged faces were refined and illu.
mined by the inner light. and the women
with calm and sanity look. 1t all
comes back before my mental vision, the
solemn restful silence, when | reverently
scanned those peaceful countenances, or
waiting, gazed through the open window,
perchance upon green fields, suggesting
those beyond the swelling food, or ripen.
ing grain and distant woods, and heard
insensibly AS part of the sweet picture
the music OF the birds, the hum of the
bees, lowering over the low graves in the
burylng ground, unmarked save by rose or
violet-until recalled to myself by the ris
ing OF some minister man or woman, be.
ginning in slow, carefully enunciated
words the gospel message, warming into
earnesness and eoquence and power
Then silence again, shortly broken by
another speaker and another AS the case
might be. Occasionally there was q
wholly silent meeting, when not word
was spoken, from the opening until the
ministers and elders on the high Sc ats
shook hands; but the silence was never
dreary nor empty.
There was no singing. never felt the
need or desire for it; indeed, it would
have marred the simplicity of this worship.
There was music sweeter than tone of or.
gan or tongue of man when some calm.
faced woman removing her bonnet kneeled
to pray. | can hear again the quiet rustic
of the multitude rising TO their feet, then
the soft hush upon which fell the loving,
pleading tones of woman's PRAYER tba,
seemed to open the very gates of Heaven,
and Hood the room with divine presence,
The impressiveness of prayer, especially
woman's prayer in an old fashioned Ouak.
er meeting can never be forgotten. Indeed,
the women were said by the "world S
people y to be superior to the men in
preaching, Possibly the men had greater
intellectual power, women had not the ed
ucatlonal advantages they have now, but
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