Omaha daily bee., 1883-05-14

huHlUer 80 a gathctlt y OF severely
plain men and women, who, with
heads covered, sat In silent commun.
ion with cd, with rarely over a word
being spoken. The meeting would
sometimes %'set," as they termed 1t,
fer two hours Without even the signs
OF life In the members composing 1t.
No one was allowed to ssy anything
unless the spirit with its moving power
prompted him, and II was not an In.
frequent occurrence for weeks to pass
Without a word having been said Ia
their meetings, ''sll as still as death "
Two hours was allotted as the time
for the meeting TO "set," and at
the close of that time the sig.
nal was given TO adjourn by two
men, who bore the time of leaders,
advancing aud shaking hands. The
men were separated from the women
during worship, and the male children
we're kept apart from those Of the op.
posite sex. In these meoting.houses
Of those days there we're no carved
pull Its, no hired preachers with
dreary sermons, no organ or inatten.
tive choir, no bread and wine, no
ushers, and no collection.box moth.
ing but plain benches and silent
worshipers, waiting on God to
touch their hearts and open their
lips bathed in perfect s%tillness.
Recently falling In with a crowd
of modern and neatly dressed gentle
men of middle age, who proved to be
Quakers, l accompanied them to the
Quaker church to attend Quaker quar-
terly meeting. We entered an I'm.
mense, barn.like structure, the interior
of which showed some evidence of
decorative taste and skill, and the
large room was partltioned off Into
two apartments by q framework, eI.
tending from the ceiling to the floor,
having In 1t sliding doors, by the
opening of which the two rooms might
be thrown Into one vast auditorium.
The seats are raised one above the
other, and those In front are plsced
facing those In the rear of the church;
hence, when the house Is filed one
half the congregation sits facing the
other, while the "altsr," or space of
level floor, is between them. No pul.
pit wac visible, but the preachers and
other members of the church occupied
the highest row of seats In the front
part OF the room. The men did not
sit with their hats on, as WAS their
custom OF yore; neither could l dis
cern any difference between the dress
of the Quakers and those who are not.
l saw not one Of the old colorless, cut.
away coats that were formerly worn by
both young and old. l noticed
a few plain gray or drab dress.
es worn by the older ladies' OF
the congregation, but further than
this l could not see that their dres,
differed materially from that of other
people that l met on the street. The
congregation consisted Of 200 or 800
; men, women and children. The old
custom of separating the men from the
women was wholly ignored, and l saw
l boys sitting by girls, young men by
/ young ladies-s spectacle that would
: have created wonder a few years ago.
The deep silence that was rsignipp
| over the room when l entered wat
soon broken by u song being started
? by n of the young ladies, In tn,
singing of which nearly the whole con
~gregadon Joined. Promptly at thu
close of the song q finely dressed man
r sporting handsome gold watci
=. and chain, arose and read
q lesson from the scriptures
j. upon which he talked earnestly an,
thoughtfully for q few moments. II,
was followed by the Offering of praye
and song, and then it was announce,
that the privilege would be given t
r all those who felt like classifying 70
n Christ" One after another In quic
succession came the testimonies, unit,
In all l07 persons by actual count ha
testified to ssnctificstion. Among tn
number, however, were a great man
of M%ethodiBts, who had met with ther
In their praise-meeeting. There wa
little to distinguish the meeting fror
the Methodist prayer and experierc
meeting. The Methodiats inform m
d that the Quskers are rapid
ly adopting their methods an
= customs, and are now only
% short way behind them, Some of tn
most prominent Quaker preacher
T. have been baptized, and the ne
school of preachers advocate perfet
10 freedom of belief In regard to the OF
p %servanoe of the ordinances of tn
Lords Supper. The church until re
Gently, has always been q bitter or
:. ponent Of a ualaried ministry, BIT
evolution Is at work here also, for |
a. some Of the churches in this countr
,: the ministers receive a regular SALARY
= 1t has only been about three yea
ia since the revival system was Intro
duced here, but is already carried o
ia to a great extent.
g The fashions of the day have take
T. such strong hold upon the youngt
10 Qlakers hat their dresy Is no bada
O. whatever of their faith. The old Wi
8, liam Penn hats and scuttle-shaped sill
ID bonnets are seldom If ever seer her,
Their plain speech Is fast falling INF
y disuse, and is now entirely discarde
! by the young people. Even mu,i
y which was once such q bugbear anon
d them, Is being indorsed by them, an
an organ or piano in a Quaker famil
Of Is 10Y 40 uncommon thing. Hymn
1t ara introduced into all their meetlngl
1t They still profess to be very strictin Ii
10 matter of amusements, but with a
\. this the young men are regula
attendants upon the theater, and al
o not particularly averse to daucinl
,r The laws of marriage are no iongC
heeded-they are no longer looked
" as mere religious transactions, but
10 civil, AZ well. The marriage Is seldol
,r celebrated in the church, and In r.
cent years tho intermarriags wit
l. other churchep, which was former