The daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1904-1905, 1904-09-19
PROF. RUSSELL
| OF EARLHAM
DELIVERS AN ADDRESS AT
PLAINFIELD MEETING.
TENDING TOWARDCREED
Is the Society Of Friends-Infuence
Of Methodism on Friends
Society.
TENDING TOWARDCREED

was regarded by many as the most
important address made to the year.
ly meeting in years was that by
Prof. Ebert Russell, of Earlham Col
lege, on the subject of Quaker litera-
ture and the need Of the society to re-
turn to it.
The speaker is one of the young
est ministers in the Friends Society
and he made clarion call for
Friends to return to their great liter
ary-religious heritage, that the dis
tinguishing and vital characteristics
be not lost.
Professor Russell said the early
Friends were a literary people as re-
garded dthe great output Of writing
on religious questions and those re-
lating to the belief Of Friends.
The vast store of these writings
was practically unknown to the pro-
gressive Friends. The old writings
were frequently regarded as antique
and tiresome, the speaker said. When
the grand revival occurred, thirty
years ago, he said, Friends were
saved from death through stagnation,
but lost large part, of their conser-
vative members, and with them the
old Friends literature.
Without this literature the Friends
had no guide in the days which fol-
lowed the great revival, and instead
of consulting the writings Of the
great and inspired founders of the
society, Friends had to fall back on
their own observations. They saw
that the most successful evangelists
were Methodists and Of the Moody
type. The literature Friends began
to read, was nonquaker, and if not of
some other denomination, was at least
INSTRUMENTATION.
Resulting from this, Professor
Russell said that Friends were tend
ing toward a creed. Their separation
from the great heritage of Quaker lit
erature was causing them, also, to
place too much emphasis on literal
external authority Of Scripture. The
early Friends teaching was that ev-
erything found in the letter of Scrip
ture was not necessarily authorita-
tive. the speaker said that Friends
would Immediately have to recede
from their position regarding capital
punishment, and would have also, to
abolish their ministry by women. He
said Quakerism should mean the in
terpreting of the Scriptures not by
the letter, but by their entire spirit.
Another result of the loss of the
old Quaker literature, the speaker
said, was the great influence OF
Methodism on the Friends Society.
Methodism emphasized the expert
ence and emotion of the moment
when the soul found God, Prof. rus
sell said. Quakerism did and
should continue to emphasize the
presence of Christ in the soul con-
tinually, which produced the even
high-leveled, honest, benevolent, pure
type Of historic Quakers.
"Moody and Shankey gave
Friends their songs, but only the re-
vival ones, and Friends today have no
songs to express the Quaker emotion,
of service, love and abiding faith in
loyalty, which were the inspiration Of
Quaker like and character" Profess
sor Russell said:
$50 far have Friends departed
from the fountain head of their
teaching that it would hardly be safe
for minister to quote Barclay and
escape the charge of higher criti-
cism,' the speaker continued.
In his eloquent plea for Quaker
literature, Professor Russell said that
the three yearly meetings-Western
Indiana and Wilmington-held the
future destiny Of the society in their
hands.
From these three yearly meetings
are going the teachers and ministers
to the other yearly meetings, and UNI
less they be rightly grounded, the
great and important message of Qua
kerism to the world will be lost, he
said.
There was demand that Professor
Russell's address be printed, and it
is likely this will be done and copies
will be sent to meetings throughout
the yearly meeting.