The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-11-05
DECLINE uF TIE ouAKERs.
Younger Generation csa,Iugto Wear the
Peculiar Ghrb.

0hrb.
New York Mail and Express; Much
interest and some public discussion has
been aroused in Pennsylvania bg the
assertion that the Society OF Friends IS
dying out, Leading authorities among
the Quakers contend that this asseF-
ton is not wen founded, but Is born OF
the fact that the younger Friends have
generally ceased to wear the peculiar
garb that anee distinguished the
members OF the society They hold that
the Quakers 10 this country were never
more vigorous or foil OF Vitality than
they are to-day, and that next summer
the national gathering VIII prove their
strength and the positive character Of
their influence In the United states,
Strange as 1t may appear, both sides
Of this Pennsylvania discussion are In
the right The protesting Quakcrs are
undoubtedly declining in numbers, yet
Quakerism vas never so strong the
Quakers are disappearing because the
world Is annually growing uearer to
the principles for which, during q CEN
fury and a half, they suffered and died,
The better men become, the more they
become unconscious Quakers, and the
younger members OF the society, find
Ing the worlds best sentiment so close
~ In touch with their traditions and
their creed. have come to meet their
fellows half way in the concession of
outward symbols, and gradually dlsap-
pear in the greater army OF those who
are striving for the betterment Of man
kind and intoxicating the daily and
hourly, as well as the Sunday, practice
OF Christianity,
From the middle OF the seventeenth
century, when George Fox founded the
Society of Friends in England as a pro-
test against the existing forms OF
Christian teaching-and laid the corner
stone OF a system of persecution Sec
ond to none that had ever marked the
development OF religious warfare-the
Quakers. more nearly than any other
sect, have exemplifled In their daily life
the teachings of Christ, Their faith was
based upon the equality and brother
hood Of man, the utmost plalnness and
simplicity in living, unfalteTlng oppo-
sltIon 20 Immortality In every form, to
war, ven in self-defeuse; to slavery,
and to oppression OF every sort.
Their creed. like all true creeds. has
survived persecution, exile and death.
Their organization, negative tn It's
force, has not shaped the advance OF
civilization, 1t was generations ahead
OF It's period. and has waited patiently
for the world 20 catch up with 1t. As
the world advanced 10 the doctrines of
Quakerlsm, the rising generations of
Qunkers have been more and more alb
sorbed In the general march, abandon-
ing the distinctive cut OF their gar
ments, admitting the elevatIng mission
OF music and throwing down the bar
worship.
The protesting Quakers argue that
these changes are matters Of minor I'M
port, and are prone to attract more at
tention than their true significance JUS
tiHes. But they are wrong. These
changes are straws Indicating the d.
rectlon Of the wind, aud straws under
such circumstances are hurdened with
Importance. Every society of ethical
culture. every home mission society, ev-
cry charitable organization, every So
ciety Of Christian Endeavor, the Kings
Daughters and kindred bodies, the mu-
tuaI tolerance OF all Christian denomi-
nations, the uplifting OF the black man
and the amelIoratlon OF the condition OF
the red man, the growing favor OF in"
ternational arbitration. aud every pro-
teCt, local or cosmopolitan, that makes
for universal peace and Justice, the
stamping out Of immortality In thought
and deed, the adherence OF barbarism
In all Its hideous phases and the substi-
tuition of Christianity for theology as n
ruling force, is n positive step toward
Quakerism's strongest and best.
The Quakers are disappearing because
we r all gradually becoming Quak~
ers. The millennium is not yet In
sight, hut we are nearer 20 It than
when the Society Of Friends began to
I-naA-..n Lan. AnnL A. liz