Society of Friends

FRIENDS, SOCIETY OF, the name adopted by a body of Christians, who, in law and general usage, are commonly called QUAKERS. Though small in number, the Society occupies a position of singular interest. To the student of ecclesiastical history it is remarkable as exhibiting a form of Christianity widely divergent from the prevalent types, being a religious fellowship which has no formulated creed demanding definite subscription, and no liturgy, priesthood or outward sacrament, and which gives to women an equal place with men in church organization. The stu dent of English constitutional history will observe the success with which Friends have, by the mere force of passive resistance, obtained, from the legislature and the courts, indulgence for all their scruples and a legal recognition of their customs. In American history they occupy an important place because of the very prominent part which they played in the colonization of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The history of Quakerism in England may be divided into three periods :—(I) from the first preaching of George Fox in 1647 to the Toleration Act 1689; (2) from 1689 to the evangelical movement in 1835; (3) from 1835 to the present time.

George Fox: Period

Fox (1624-1691), the son of a weaver of Drayton-in-the-Clay (now called Fenny Drayton) in Leicestershire, was the founder of the Society. He began his public ministry in 1647, but there is no evidence to show that he set out to form a separate religious body. Impressed by the formalism and deadness of contemporary Christianity (of which there is much evidence in the confessions of the Puritan writers themselves) he emphasized the importance of repentance and personal striving after the truth. When, however, his preach ing attracted followers, a community began to be formed, and traces of organization and discipline may be noted in very early times. Fox and his fellow-preachers spoke whenever opportunity offered,—sometimes in churches (declining, for the most part, to occupy the pulpit), sometimes in barns, sometimes at market crosses. The insistence on an inward spiritual experience was the great contribution made by Friends to the religious life of the time, and to thousands it came as a new revelation. There is evidence to show that the arrangement for this "publishing of Truth" rested mainly with Fox, and that the expenses of it and of the foreign missions were borne out of a common fund. Margaret Fell (1614-1702), wife of Thomas Fell (1598-1658), vice-chan cellor of the duchy of Lancaster, and afterwards of George Fox, opened her house, Swarthmore Hall near Ulverston, to these preachers and probably contributed largely to this fund.

Nearly all their distinctive views (e.g. their refusal to take oaths, their testimony against war, their disuse of a professional ministry, and their recognition of women's ministry) were being Put forward in England, by various individuals or sects, in the strife which raged during the intense religious excitement of the middle of the 17th century ; nevertheless, before the rise of the Quakers, these views were never found in conjunction as held by any one set of people : still less were they regarded as the out come of any one central principle or belief. Robert Barclay's Inner Life of the Religious Societies of the Commonwealth, pub lished in London in 1876, contains much curious and instructive information about these societies (including the Quakers) .

Their insistence on the personal aspect of religious experience made it impossible for Friends to countenance the setting apart of any man or building for the purpose of divine worship to the exclusion of all others. The operation of the Spirit was in no way limited to time, or individual or place. The great stress which they laid upon this aspect of Christian truth caused them to be charged with unbelief in the current orthodox views as to the inspiration of the Scriptures, and the person and work of Christ, a charge which they always denied. Contrary to the Puritan teaching of the time, they insisted on the possibility, in this life, of complete victory over sin. Such teaching necessarily brought Fox and his friends into conflict with all the religious bodies of England, and they were continually engaged in strife with the Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, Episcopalians and the wilder sectaries. Al though there was little or no stress laid on either the joys or the terrors of a future life, the movement was not infrequently ac companied by most of those physical symptoms which usually go with vehement appeals to the conscience and emotions of a rude multitude. It was owing to these physical manifestations that the name "Quaker" was either first given or was regarded as appropriate when given for another reason (see Fox's Journal concerning Justice Bennet at Derby in 165o and Barclay's Apology, Prop. § 8). The early Friends definitely asserted that those who did not know quaking and trembling were strangers to the experience of Moses, David and other saints.

The activity of the early Friends was not confined to the British Isles. Fox and others travelled in America and the West India islands, and others, again, in Holland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Italy. Such efforts were the outcome of individual enthusi asm. Much later (see reference below to service in foreign lands) the work was revived and organized.

It was only gradually that the Quaker community clothed itself with an organization. The beginning of this appears to be due to William Dewsbury (1621-1688) and George Fox; it was not until 1668 that a complete system of church organization was definitely established, by the introduction of Fox's rules for the management of meetings. An ordered system and discipline was naturally viewed with some suspicion by people taught to believe that the inward light of each man was the only true guide for his conduct ; there was determined opposition, and a number of secessions took place.

Persecutions.

During the whole time between their rise and the passing of the Toleration Act in 1689 the Quakers were the subject of almost continuous persecution, which they endured with extraordinary patience and fortitude. They insisted on the duty of meeting openly in time of persecution, declining to hold secret assemblies for worship as other Nonconformists were doing. They were liable not only to the dangers in which all dissenters from the established church were involved, but to special misunder standing, slander, and persecution because of their refusal to take an oath. After the Restoration, one of the most common causes of imprisonment was the practice adopted by judges and magistrates of tendering to Friends (particularly when no other charge could be proved against them) the oaths of supremacy and allegiance. The Toleration Act of 1689 put an end to the persecution of Quakers (along with other dissenters) for non attendance at church. But for many years after this they were liable to imprisonment for non-payment of tithes, and, together with other Dissenters, they remained under various civil disabil ities, the gradual removal of which is part of the general history of England.

Period 1689-1835.

From the beginning of the 18th century the zeal of the Quaker body abated. Although many "general" and other meetings were held in different parts of the country for the purpose of setting forth Quakerism, the notion that the whole Christian church would be absorbed in it, and that the Quakers were, in fact, the church, gave place to the conception that they were "a peculiar people" to whom, more than to others, had been given an understanding of the will of God. The Quaker ism of this period was largely of a traditional kind; it dwelt with increasing emphasis on the peculiarities of its dress and language; it rested much upon discipline, which developed and hardened into rigorous forms ; and the correction or exclusion of its mem bers occupied more attention than did the winning of converts.

Excluded from political and municipal life by the laws which required either the taking of an oath or joining in the Lord's Supper according to the rites of the Established Church, exclud ing themselves not only from the frivolous pursuits of pleasure, but from music and art in general, attaining no high average level of literary culture (though producing some men of eminence in science and medicine), the Quakers occupied themselves mainly with trade, the business of their Society, the calls of philanthropy, and the foundation of schools.

Period From 1835.

During the 18th century the doctrine of the Inward Light acquired such exclusive prominence as to bring about a tendency to disparage, or, at least, to neglect, the written word (the Scriptures) as being "outward" and non-essential. In the early part of the 19th century an American Friend, Elias Hicks, pressed this doctrine to its furthest limits, and, in doing so. he laid stress on "Christ within" in such a way as practically to take little account of the person and work of the "outward," i.e., the historic Christ. The result was a separation of the Society in America into two divisions which persist to the present day (see section below, United States). This led to a counter movement in England, known as the Beacon Controversy, from the name of a warning publication issued by Isaac Crewdson of Manchester in 1835, advocating views of a pronounced "evan gelical" type. Much controversy ensued, and a certain number of Friends departed from the parent stock, most of them joining one or other of the orthodox evangelical churches. They left be hind them, however, many influential members, who may be described as a middle party, and who strove to give a more "evan gelical" tone to Quaker doctrine. Joseph John Gurney of Norwich, a brother of Elizabeth Fry, by means of his high social position and his various writings (some published before 1835), was the most prominent actor in this movement, the effects of which were felt throughout the 19th century. Other causes have been at work modifying the Quaker society. The repeal of the Test Act, the admission of Quakers to Parliament in consequence of their being allowed to affirm instead of taking the oath (1833, when Joseph Pease was elected for South Durham), the establishment of the University of London, and, more recently, the opening of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge to Nonconformists, have all had their effect upon the body. It has abandoned its peculiar ities of dress and language, as well as its hostility to music and art, and it has cultivated a wider taste in literature. In fact, the number of men, either Quakers or of Quaker origin and proclivi ties, who occupy positions of influence in English life is large in proportion to the small numbers of the body with which they are connected.

Public Worship.

There is not now the sharp distinction which formerly existed between Friends and other non-sacerdotal evangelical bodies; these have, in theory at least, largely accepted the spiritual message of Quakerism. By their special insistence on the fact of immediate communion between God and man, Friends have been led into those views and practices which still mark them off from their fellow-Christians. It is rather in their em phasis on this thought of Divine communion, in their insistence on its reasonable consequences (as it seems to them), that Friends constitute a separate community. The appointment of one man to preach, to the exclusion of others, is regarded as a limitation of the work of the Spirit and an undue concentration of that responsibility which ought to be shared by a wider circle. For the same reason they refuse to occupy the time of worship with an arranged programme of vocal service; they meet in silence, desiring that the service of the meeting shall depend on spiritual guidance. Thus it is left to any man or woman to offer vocal prayer, to read the Scriptures, or to utter such exhortation or teaching as may seem to be called for. Of late years, in certain of their meetings on Sunday evening, it has become customary for part of the time to be occupied with set addresses for the pur pose of instructing the members of the congregation, or of con veying the Quaker message to others who may be present, all their meetings for worship being freely open to the public. Occasionally hymns are sung, very rarely as part of any arrangement, but almost always upon the request of some individual for a par ticular hymn appropriate to the need of the congregation. The periods of silence are regarded as times of worship equally with those occupied with vocal service, inasmuch as Friends hold that robustness of spiritual life is best promoted by earnest striving on the part of each one to know the will of God for himself, and to be drawn into Christian fellowship with the other worshippers. The idea which ought to underlie a Friends' meeting is thus set forth by Robert Barclay : "When I came into the silent assemblies of God's people, I felt a secret power among them, which touched my heart, and as I gave way unto it, I found the evil weakening in me and the good raised up" (Apology, xi. 7). In many places Friends have felt the need of bringing spiritual help to those who are unable to profit by the somewhat severe discipline of their ordinary manner of worship. To meet this need they hold (chiefly on Sunday evenings) meetings which are not professedly "Friends' meetings for worship," but which are services conducted on lines similar to those of other religious bodies, with, in some cases, a portion of time set apart for silent worship, and freedom for any one of the congregation who wishes to, to utter words of exhorta tion or prayer.

From the beginning Friends have not practised the outward ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, even in a non sacerdotal spirit. They attach, however, supreme value to the realities of which the observances are reminders or types. Their testimony is not primarily against these outward observances; their disuse of them is due to a sense of the danger of substituting the shadow for the reality. They hold that every event in life, important or unimportant, may be turned into a sacrament, a means of grace.

When the ministry of any man or woman has been found to be helpful to the congregation, the Monthly Meeting (see below) may after solemn consideration, record the fact that it believes the individual to have a divine call to the ministry, and that it encourages him or her to be faithful to the gift. Such ministers are said to be "acknowledged" or "recorded"; they are emphati cally not appointed to preach, and the fact of their acknowledg ment is not regarded as conferring any special status upon them. Indeed the practice of recording Friends as ministers has ceased in most Monthly Meetings, from some concern lest it should hinder the free course of the Gospel ministry. The various Monthly Meetings appoint Elders, or some body of Friends. to give advice of encouragement or restraint as may be needed, and, generally, to take the ministry under their care. With regard to the ministry of women, Friends hold that there is no evi dence that the gifts of prophecy and teaching are confined to one sex.

Doctrine.

With regard to the fundamental doctrines of Chris tianity, the belief of the Society of Friends does not essentially differ from that of other Christian bodies. At the same time their avoidance of exact definition embodied in a rigid creed, together with their disuse of the outward ordinances of Baptism and the Supper, has laid them open to considerable misunderstanding. As will have been seen, they hold an exalted view of the divinity and work of Christ as the Word become flesh and the Saviour of the world ; but they have always shrunk from rigid Trinitarian defini tions. They believe that the same Spirit who gave forth the Scrip tures still guides men to a right understanding of them. "You profess the Holy Scriptures : but what do you witness and ex perience? What interest have you in them? Can you set to your seal that they are true by the work of the same spirit in you that gave them forth in the holy ancients?" (William Penn, A Sum mons or Call to Christendom). This doctrine has enabled Friends to face fearlessly the conclusions of modern criticism, and has contributed to a largely increased interest in Bible study. During the past few years a new movement has been started in the shape of lecture schools, lasting for longer or shorter periods, for the purpose of studying Biblical, ecclesiastical and social subjects. In 1903 there was established at Woodbrooke, an estate at Selly Oak on the outskirts of Birmingham, a permanent settlement for men and women, for the study of these questions on modern lines. The outward beginning of this movement was the Manchester Con f erence of 1895, a turning-point in Quaker history. Speaking gen erally, it may be noted that the Society includes various shades of opinion, from that known as "evangelical," with a certain hesi tation in receiving modern thought, to the more "advanced" posi tion which finds greater freedom to consider and adopt new sug gestions of scientific, religious or other thinkers. The differences, however, are seldom pressed, and rarely become acute. Apart from points of doctrine which can be more or less definitely stated (not always with unanimity) Quakerism is an atmosphere, a manner of life, a method of approaching questions, a habit and attitude of mind. They have always held that war is contrary to the spirit and precepts of the Gospel ; and that the attempts to enforce truth-speaking by means of an oath, in courts of law and else where, tend to create a double standard of truth. "When the Quakers entered into history, it was indeed high time, for the worst of Puritanism was that in so many of its phases it dropped out the Sermon on the Mount. Quakerism has undergone many developments, but in all of them it has been the most devout of all endeavours to turn Christianity into the religion of Christ" (John Morley, Oliver Cromwell, p. 429).

Periodic "Meetings..

The present organization of the Quaker church is essentially democratic ; every person born of Quaker parents is a member, and, together with those who have been ad mitted on their own request, is entitled to take part in the business assemblies of any meeting of which he or she is a member. The Society is organized as a series of subordinated meetings which re call to the mind the Presbyterian model. The "Preparative Meet ing" usually consists of a single congregation ; next in order comes the "Monthly Meeting," the executive body, usually embracing several Preparative Meetings called together, as its name indi cates, monthly (in some cases less often) ; then the "Quarterly Meeting," embracing several Monthly Meetings; and lastly the "Yearly Meeting," embracing the whole of Great Britain (but not Ireland). After several yearly meetings had been held in differ ent places at irregular intervals as need arose, the first of an un interrupted series met in January, 1669. From that date until 1904 it was held in London. In 19o5 it met in Leeds, and in 1908 in Birmingham. Its official title is "London Yearly Meeting." It is the legislative body of Friends in Great Britain. It considers ques tions of policy, and some of its sittings are conferences for the consideration of reports on religious, philanthropic, educational and social work which is carried on. Its sessions occupy a week in May of each year. Representatives are sent from each inferior to each superior meeting, but they have no precedence over others, and all Friends may attend any meeting and take part in any of which they are members. Formerly the system was double, the men and women meeting separately for their own appointed busi ness. Of late years the meetings have been, for the most part, held jointly, with equal liberty for all men and women to state their opinions, and to serve on all committees and other appointments. The mode of conducting these meetings is noteworthy. A secre tary or "clerk," as he is called, acts as chairman or president ; there are no formal resolutions ; and there is no voting or applause. The clerk ascertains what he considers to be the judgment of the assembly, and records it in a minute. The permanent standing committee of the Society is known as the "Meeting for Sufferings" (established in 1675), which took its rise in the days when the per secution of many Friends demanded the Christian care and mate rial help of those who were able to give it. It is composed of representatives (men and women) sent by the quarterly meetings, and of all recorded Ministers and Elders. Its work is not confined to the interests of Friends ; it is sensitive to the call of oppression and distress (e.g., a famine) in all parts of the world, it frequently raises large sums of money to alleviate the same, and intervenes, often successfully, and mostly without publicity, with those in authority who have the power and the will to bring about an amelioration.

The offices known to the Quaker body are : (I) that of minister; (2) of elder, whose duty it is "to encourage and help young min isters, and advise others as they, in the wisdom of God, see occa sion"; (3) of overseer, to whom is especially entrusted that duty of Christian care for and interest in one another which Quakers recognize as obligatory in all the members of a church. In most Monthly Meetings the care of the poor is committed to the over seers who hold, from time to time, meetings separate from the general assemblies of the members.

A genuine vein of philanthropy has always existed in the Quaker body. In nothing has this been more conspicuous than in the matter of slavery. George Fox and William Penn laboured to se cure the religious teaching of slaves. As early as 1676 the assem bly of Barbados passed "An Act to prevent the people called Quakers from bringing negroes to their meetings." On the attitude of Friends in America toward slavery, see PENN, WILLIAM. It was in 1783 that the first petition to the House of Commons for the abolition of the slave trade and slavery went up from the Quakers; and in the long agitation which ensued the So ciety took a prominent part. In 1798 Joseph Lancaster, himself a Friend, opened his first school for the education of the poor; and the cause of unsectarian religious education found in the Quakers steady support. They also took an active part in Sir Samuel Romilly's efforts to ameliorate the penal code, in prison reform, with which the name of Elizabeth Fry (a Friend) is especially connected, and in the efforts to ameliorate the condition of luna tics in England (the Friends' Retreat at York, founded in 1792, was the earliest example in England of kindly treatment of the in sane). It is noteworthy that Quaker efforts for the education of the poor and philanthropy in general, though they have always been Christian in character, have not been undertaken primarily for the purpose of bringing proselytes within the body, and have not done so to any great extent.

By means of the Adult Schools, Friends have been able to exer cise a religious influence beyond the borders of their own Society. The movement began in Birmingham in 1845, in an attempt to help the loungers at street corners; reading and writing were the chief inducements offered. The schools are unsectarian in charac ter and mainly democratic in government : the aim is to draw out what is best in men and to induce them to act for the help of their fellows. Whilst the work is essentially religious in character, a well-equipped school also caters for the social, intellectual and physical parts of a man's nature. Bible teaching is the central part of the school session : the lessons are mainly concerned with life's practical problems. The spirit of brotherliness which prevails is largely the secret of the success of the movement, and which is no longer exclusively under the control of Friends, is rapidly becoming one of the chief means of bringing about a religious fel lowship among a class which the organized churches have largely failed to reach. The effect of the work upon the Society itself may be summarized thus : some addition to membership; the cre ation of a sphere of usefulness for the younger and more active members; and a general stirring of interest in social questions wherever the work has been developed.

A strong interest in Sunday schools for children preceded the Adult School movement. The earliest schools which are still exist ing were formed at Bristol, for boys in 1810 and for girls in the following year. Several isolated efforts were made earlier than this; it is evident that there was a school at Lothersdale near Skipton in 1800 "for the preservation of the youth of both sexes, and for their instruction in useful learning"; and another at Not tingham. Even earlier still were the Sunday and day schools in Rossendale, Lancashire, dating from 1793. A "provisional com mittee" of members of the Society of Friends was formed in 1865 to deal with offers of service in f oraign lands; this work is now organized by the Friends' Foreign Mission Committee, and much information respecting its development is given by H. T. Hodgkin in a volume of essays, Friends beyond Seas, issued in 1916. The central offices for the Friends for Great Britain are at the Friends' House, Euston Road, London, N.W. I ; and for Ireland, 6, Eus tace Street, Dublin.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.—The following list, which is far from exhaustive, Bibliography.—The following list, which is far from exhaustive, is based on a Bibliography prepared by the Literature Committee of the Society of Friends, Friends' House, London, N.W. 1, from whom further information may be obtained.

I. History: Rufus M. Jones, Studies in Mystical Religion (1909) , Spiritual Reformers in the 56th and 57th Centuries (1914), and The Later Periods of Quakerism (1921) ; W. C. Braithwaite, The Begin nings of Quakerism (1912) and The Second Period of Quakerism (1919) ; R. M. Jones and others, The Quakers in the American Colonies (191I) ; Isabel Grubb, The Quakers in Ireland (192 7) ; N. Penney, The First Publishers of Truth (1907) ; A. N. Brayshaw, The Quakers: their Story and Message (2nd. ed., 1927) ; E. Grubb, Quaker Thought and History (1925).

II. Biography: the Journal of George Fox.-1624-1691, and the Short Journal and Itinerary of George Fox, both edited by Norman Penney, have been published by the Cambridge University Press (191I, 1925) ; see also: J. W. Graham, William Penn (1924) ; A. M. Gummere (ed.) , Journal of John W oolman (1922) ; and Some Modern Appreciations of George Fox (1925). Among older books may be mentioned: Joseph Basse, The of the Quakers (1753), refer ring to events in England and America; William Tanner, Lectures on Friends in Bristol and Somersetshire (1858) ; A. E. Pease, Diaries of Edward Pease (1907) ; Phebe Doncaster, J. Stephenson Rowntree, his Life and Work (1908) .

III. Faith and Practice: J. William Rowntree, Essays and Addresses Iii. Faith and Practice: J. William Rowntree, Essays and Addresses (1905) ; W. C. Braithwaite, Spiritual Guidance in the Experience of the Society of Friends (1909) ; L. Violet Hodgkin, Silent Worship (1919) and Quaker Saints (1924) ; Lucy F. Morland, The New Social Outlook (1918) ; Margaret E. Hirst, Quakers in Peace and War (1923) ; R. M. Jones, Faith and Practice of the Quakers (1927) and New Studies in Mystical Religion (1927) ; John W. Graham, The Faith of a Quaker (192o) and The Divinity in Man (1927) ; E. Grubb, The Nature of Christianity (vol. i., 1927, "Christianity as Life," vol. ii., 1928, "Christianity as Truth") ; E. Stephen, Quaker Strongholds (4th. ed., 1923) ; T. E. Harvey, Silence and Worship (1923) ; A. Kemp Brown, Sacraments (1924) ; Herbert G. Wood, Quakerism and the Future of the Church (1920) ; Carl Heath, Religion and Public Life (1922) ; G. K. Hibbert, The Inner Light and Modern Thought (1924) ; A. N. Brayshaw, The Things that are Before Us (1926). On the "church discipline" of the Society, see Christian Life, Faith and Thought (1922) ; Christian Practice (1925), and Church Government (1917; under revision) .

The above-named references are almost limited to books of com paratively recent date, but these give many references to earlier sources of information. Mention must however be made here of the famous classical work on Christian doctrine from the Quaker point of view, Apology for the True Christian Divinity, by Robert Barclay the elder (in Latin, 1676; in English, 1678, and many later editions to 1886; in Dutch, 1683 ; in German, 1684 ; in French, 1702 ; in Spanish, 1710; in Arabic, in part, 1881) ; and of Sewel's History of the Rise, Increase, and Progress of the People Called Quakers (in Dutch, 1717; in English, 1722, and later editions; in German, 1742) . An extensive and im portant collection of the literature of the subject, of great value to those interested, is contained in the Reference Library at the Friends' House, London. (X.) The Colonial Period.—Between 1656 and 1658 Quaker mis sionaries arrived in Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, New Amsterdam, Maryland and Virginia, where they made converts and established meetings. The visit of George Fox to America in 1672 gave fresh impetus to the movement. By 1700 the Friends had acquired New Jersey and Delaware, founded Pennsylvania, were politically powerful in Rhode Island, North Carolina and Maryland, had organized meetings in all the Colonies except Con necticut and South Carolina and had established six yearly meet ings.

Friends were persecuted in all the non-Quaker Colonies except Rhode Island. In New England and Virginia this was primarily due to their religious nonconformity. Four Friends were hanged on Boston Common in 1661 and one died in Virginia as the re sult of flogging and subsequent neglect in prison. Their refusal to pay tithes, take oaths or render military service brought on them fines and civil disabilities in most of the Colonies. Penn sylvania Colony (q.v.) was founded by William Penn in 1682 as a "holy experiment" in the application of Quaker ideals to the State, but the Friends were not able to give their principles a full expression in Pennsylvania, because the Crown imposed limita tions on the Colony's policy. The later settlers were hostile to the Quaker ideals, and at the outbreak of the French and Indian War the Friends voluntarily gave up control of the Government. They used their influence to keep peace with the Indians and to protect them from fraud and debauchery. They worked for popular edu cation, peace, temperance and democracy and championed effec tively the cause of religious liberty. Chiefly through the patient work of John Woolman the Society had cleared itself of slavery, without a war or division, before 180o.

By the end of the colonial period Friends had retired from public life generally, and during the next century, chiefly on ac count of the neglect of higher education and the prevailing quiet ism, the society declined in numbers and in influence. But they pioneered in prison reform, the care of the insane, and the anti slavery movement.

Migrations.

Between 1725 and 1775 there were considerable migrations of the Quaker population from New England, Pennsyl vania and New Jersey southward into North and South Carolina. Toward the end of the 18th century large numbers of southern Friends, finding it difficult to live in a slave-holding society after freeing their own slaves, emigrated to the free territories of Ohio and Indiana.

Divisions.

In 1827-28 came the great disruption of the so ciety, due to the clashing of new forces which made themselves felt after the Revolutionary War. Elias Hicks (q.v.), alarmed at the intolerant spirit and new methods of the newly felt Evan gelical influences, became the champion of the older quietism. In the effort to rationalize and defend the sufficiency of the doctrine of the Inner Light, he built a theology of his own. The opposition of the city elders to his views made him the champion of the democratic opposition to their authority, particularly on the part of the country Friends. The result was a division in five of the yearly meetings. The resulting groups, usually, but not officially, called Orthodox and Liberal (Hicksite), were about equal in numbers, but since the westward migrations were mainly from the undivided yearly meetings of Virginia and North Carolina, which sided with the Orthodox, the latter have since greatly outstripped the Liberals in numbers.

The Liberal yearly meetings never adopted the theology of Elias Hicks, their position being that theology is not the essence of Christianity but a matter of individual opinion. There are seven Liberal yearly meetings with a total membership (1927) of 16,576, of whom 10,425 belong to the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and 400 are residents of Canada. In 1902 they united in the Friends General Conference, which meets biennially but has no legislative authority. Through standing committees it carries on First-day schools, philanthropic labour, education, the advance ment of Friends' principles, young Friends and foreign service. The central offices are in Philadelphia, where they publish The Friends Intelligencer.

Among the Orthodox Friends the Evangelical tendencies de veloped most readily in the new western yearly meetings, and they were powerfully stimulated by the visit of Joseph John Gurney, a prominent English Friend, in 1836. He laid emphasis on the authority of the Scriptures, favoured Bible study and Bible schools and gave an impetus to higher education. The opposition of John Wilbur of New England to his work led finally to small separations in New England and Ohio. The resulting groups are called unofficially, Orthodox (Gurneyite or Progressive) and Con servative (Wilburite). After the Civil War a great revival move ment began among Progressive Friends. The leaders introduced innovations in methods and in theological expression. In conse quence, there were small conservative separations in Iowa, Kansas, Western, and Canada yearly meetings (1877-84) and later in North Carolina (1905) . These seven Conservative yearly meet ings "recognize" one another and have an estimated membership of 2,600 of whom about 1,000 belong to the Ohio Yearly Meeting.

Reorganization.

Among the Progressive (Orthodox, Gur neyite) Friends the Evangelical emphasis on the outward authority of the Bible and other influences produced a movement toward the practice of water baptism, especially in the Ohio Yearly Meet ing. To consider this tendency a conference of the Orthodox Yearly Meetings in America and Great Britain was held at Rich mond, Ind., in 1887. It issued a "Declaration of Faith" which reaffirmed the historic position of the society in regard to the out ward ordinances and restated its doctrinal position in mildly evangelical terms. The Great Revival occasioned marked changes in the Progressive yearly meetings. The peculiarities of dress and speech have been abandoned almost entirely,. Music was in troduced into the public worship, which now conforms closely to the general type of "low church" Protestantism, without, however, using a fixed liturgy or abandoning the theory of Spirit-led wor ship. Pastors are generally employed to preach.

In 19o2 a uniform discipline was adopted which set up a Five Years Meeting with legislative powers, to which all the Orthodox Yearly Meetings belong except Ohio, Oregon and Philadelphia. The work of this body is carried on through the following boards: finance, foreign missions, home missions, peace association, prohi bition and public morals, religious education, publication, educa tion and young Friends' activities. It is also represented on the American Friends Service committee. The executive committee is composed of the chairmen or of representatives appointed by the boards. The central offices are in Richmond, Ind., where the official organ, The American Friend, is published. The Five Years Meeting is a member of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. The total membership (192 7) of the Five Years Meeting was 80,663.

Together with the Oregon Yearly Meeting the Five Years Meeting had (1926) mission stations in Mexico, Jamaica, Cuba, Palestine, east Africa and west China with 43 missionaries, 375 native helpers and 6,295 members. Ohio has stations in China and India ; Philadelphia in Japan, and California in Central America and Alaska.

Education and Philanthropy.

The Quaker pioneers usually established elementary schools and academies in their communi ties, which had a marked influence in shaping the public school sys tems in North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana and Kansas. In the eastern yearly meetings Friends of both the larger branches still main tain both elementary and high schools. There are several Quaker colleges.

In 1869, at the request of President Grant, Friends of both branches began to take charge of many of the Indian agencies. This work was finished in 1885, but missions and schools for the Indians are still maintained in Oklahoma and a school at Tunes sasa, N.Y., is under the care of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (Orthodox). Friends were active in the work of the Freedmen's Bureau after the Civil War and have contributed much to negro education. In 1917 Friends of all branches united in forming the American Friends Service Committee, with headquarters in Phila delphia, for relief and reconstruction work in the war-torn world. In co-operation with British Friends it helped in the restoration of the devastated districts in northern France, Poland and Serbia ; provided hospitals in France and Russia and orphanage-schools for the children of war victims in Serbia, Poland and Syria. It co-operated with the American Relief Administration in feeding the Russian peasants in the Volga basin and supervised the feed ing of two million underfed German children. It assisted the Greek refugees, the earthquake victims in Japan and the families of starving miners in West Virginia. It maintains, in conjunction with British Friends, goodwill centres in Paris, Geneva, Berlin, Vienna, Warsaw, Moscow and Salonika to promote international understanding and co-operation and to aid oppressed minorities in Europe. In recent years there has been a great increase in co operation and unity between the different branches of Friends. In 1920 they joined in the All-Friends conference held in London to review the Quaker peace testimony in the light of the experiences of the World War. A joint young Friends' conference is held each summer in the Middle West. (E. RL.)