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Aug. 16, 1851.J ®f> * ILeabtV* 779
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QUAKERISM. Quakerism ; or, the. Story of...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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A Iiost I'Okt. Jo Anclic ! Porni:!, Chie...
upon a poem too lon # to quote . This was the result of the second venture : — " human life . " Great God ! how strange a thing is human life ! Though borne by us , and felt , enjoy'd , and seen , Inexplicable ever hath it been , To calm self-study , or the curious knife . Minds rich with genius , and with knowledge rife , Have doubted even if being truly be ; And if the firm-set earth we seem to see—The scene of all our joy , grief , love , and strife—Be more than fancy—an idea . Strange , Oh . ! very strange , indeed , the life of man ! Beyond the walls of time and space to range , And all the now invisible to scan , It were not much to die , if by the change We might appreciate the wondrous plan I " Here is the third : — teaks . " Tears- are the ink with which deep feeling writes Its most endearing bonds of tenderness . VVhat tongue and lips fail fitly to express , Silence , with pen in eye-dew dipp'd , indites Upon the cheek . Grief draweth solace thence ; And Anguish , with the corrugated brow , Feels its sore pains to easeful weeping bow ; And hard remorse so melts to Penitence . But Hope , and Joy , and Gratitude , and Love , Emotions are , not less in unison With the effusions of the surcharged eyes . And hath not Nature shown like sympathies ? Over the waters came the Blessed Dove , And through , celestial drops the Rainbow shone . ' * After these can even the most sympathetic reader sympathize with this utterance of sadness ?—" SONNET . " How many of my years have pass'd away , And yet how little has been done for fame ? Oh ! shall this burning wish to leave a name , That may reecho to a distant day , Know nor in life fulfilment nor decay , But still consume my bosom—now a flame Fuell'd with noble hopes , and now a tame , Dull gloss , that wastes , not lights , this frame of clay ? Is it , then , fruitlessly that thus I yearn ? May Heaven have planted in the human soul This deathless thirst for an immortal urn , And yet made unattainable the goal ! From thought to thought , from view to view , I turn , And meanwhile pauselessly the seasons roll . "
Aug. 16, 1851.J ®F> * Ileabtv* 779
Aug . 16 , 1851 . J ® f > * ILeabtV * 779
Quakerism. Quakerism ; Or, The. Story Of...
QUAKERISM . Quakerism ; or , the . Story of My Life . Vy a Lady , who for forty years was a Member of the Socieiy of Friends . S . B . Oldham , Dublin . We have been greatl y disappointed with this book . Written with spiteful animus , it lias not the sharpened cleverness of malice ; recording early experiences , it does not rise above the smallest gossip ;
pretending to lay bare the follies , weaknesses , and assumptions of Quakerism , it has no more claim to be accepted as a fair piclurc of that sect , than the village talk respecting the conduct of " the Squire" has to bo accepted as a judgment on the M . I * . The authoress , with all her means of judging , lias wanted judgment ; her experience has been of details , not of wholes ; ishe has been arrested b y the incidental trifles which have obtruded
themselves so prominently as to have obscured her perception of the actual thing . Not that we are disposed to take up cudgels in favour of Quakerism . Our entire ignorance insists upon entire isilenoe . The merely outward characteiislics are absurd enough ; but are not all symbols absurd to those who feel not what they symbolize ? And although it is more than probable that drab coats and broad brims arc now mere "
conventions , " having no real ( significance , arc we guilty of no analogous formalism ? tie that , is without a . broad brim may laugh ! Indeed , on reading these querulous pages wo were much struck with their equal applicability to one and ull of our sects : tin : colour of the coat and the width of the brim may vary , but the underlying spirit in the same . Oh ! with what ineffable pity—for worn is too human » nd unwise a feeling—would noine superior creature look down upon the fierce antagonism of our
Kcets , so arbitrary in their symbo | s , so slavishly to wing to their self-created idols , so raueorously hating their brethren for a slight difference in colour ! It was a keen perception of this microscopic hiUernes . s which gave Voltaire the feather to many <> 1 his -shafts ; and when Thackeray ' s friend pointed out to him two compartments of oysters in a fisliijiouger ' s window , bearing the Heveial labels " Hd . a 'lozen , 0 ( 1 . a dozen , " the great satirist profoundly observed , " flow they must hair each other !" It in not Quakerism tho authoress oxpoKcs : it is irivml-minde unesrs as exhibited by Quakers , but
not as confined to them . The book is superficial and worthless ; but it contains some amusing passages . Here is one : —
HOW QUAKERS PAY TITHES . " Soon after becoming a housekeeper , I was called on by the tithe collector . Friends annually sum up the amount of all they have lost by this suffering , as they call it ; and I was then under the idea , that ' our noble testimony against an hireling ministry ' was an essential part of all true Christianity , and that our refusal to pay the unholy tax was an acceptable martyrdom , in a small way . I had heard much preaching on the subject , and very much self-laudation on the faithfulness of the Society generally , indeed
universally , to this our testimony , which so widely separated us from the hirelings of all other creeds . The two men who called on me for the purpose of collecting the disputed impost , were exceedingly gentle and polite . They saw at a glance that I was an ignoramus , and kindly volunteered to inform me how other Quakers managed ; for I had told them , that my profession would not allow me to pay tithes ; and that if they insisted on forcibly taking away my property , though I would not resist , still I would look on it as actual robbery .
" 'Did you ever pay tithes , ma ' am ? ' said one of the men . " 'Never , ' I replied . " ' Well , then , ' said , ' you are a stranger here , I see , and I'll just tell you how the Bristol Quakers manage ; for lam going about among them for twenty years past , and I am always glad to accommodate them and meet their scruples . The sum you must pay is one guinea ; so I will call here to-morrow , at eleven o ' clock in the morning , and you just leave on the sideboard there some articles of plate—your teapot will do very well , or spoons , or whatever you like —then I come and take it away . You don ' t give it , and so your conscience is clear . You will then return
to your meeting-people , that your tea-pot , worth ten guineas , was distrained for tithe ; and as soon after as you like you can go to Mr . Jones , the silversmith , and tell him how you lost your tea-pot , and are obliged to buy anew one . He will condole with you ; and after showing you a variety of new ones to select from , he will hand you your own identical article , and say , he can sell you that cheap—say one guinea . You pay your guinea , and get your own safe back again , cleaner and brighter than ever ; and if you like , you can purchase some other little trifling article ; for Mr . Jones is a very accommodating man . '
" I was really shocked at the cool proposal of so nefarious and unprincipled a transaction , and indignantly rejected it ; declaring , at the same time , my firm belief , that no Quaker would be guilty of so undignified and false an act . The man smiled , and said , ' Ay , that is the way they all go on at first ; but , ma ' am , it is a great deal the easiest and best plan in the end ; ' and then he gave me the names of very many , my own acquaintances , who regularly once a year , as he jocularly said , ' allowed Mr . Jones to dean their plate . ' 'There is old Mr . ]{ ,., ' said he , ' lias a line massive silver tea-pot . It is always laid out ready
for me ; I always give notice before I go ; and now , twenty times I have carried it off , and got it brightened for him . He values it at twenty pounds , and his tithe is only one pound ten . And there is young Mr . It . lie likes me to get liiu spoons done for him . He gives so many dinners , lie likes to have them bright and new-looking . ' Seeing me still very incredulous he said , Well , ma ' am , 1 wont call on you for a week , to give you time to think about the matter . ' During that week 1 went to old Mr . lt . V , and told his daughter that tithes had been demanded of me , but that 1 had not paid them , and was expecting another visit from the collector .
" Oh ! yes , said . she , ' this is just the time they go about . They seized a valuable silver tea-pot from us last week . My father values it at twenty guineas , and the demand in money is only about thirty shillings ; but it is a noble testimony we are called oa to bear ; and I trust our faithfulness will yet be the means of opening the eyes of professing Christians to the nature of a pure , free , ( jfospel ministry . 1 trust , rny young Friend , thou wilt be faithful . ' 44 She spoke ho seriously , that I hesitated to say what I intended about Jones ' s i-hop , lest the idea that 1 for a moment could think her < r her father capable of aueh a deed , mi"lit offend .
44 1 then called on young Mrs . It ., and mentioned the same thing to her . 'They did indeed , ' nuid she , 4 lake our spoons ; but my William has souk ; way or other to get them back . 1 can ' t tell how he manage * ; but 1 suppose they are ashamed , of taking bo much over their demand , and no return them . At , anv rate , they are sent back beautifully polished ; and not only that , but a handnoiue HUgar-kpoon , with our crest , engraved on it , was also amongst them . J nuppo . se they were sorry , and put , in the spoon by way of atonement . ' I Hiispected that , my Friend William might know more than his wife on the subject , but said nothing .
" 1 then went to Jones ' s shop , and boldly asked , if they would return me articles of plate which might 1 ms distrained for tithe , on paying tho exact amount ol titho domandod , and was politely informed , that
they would be most happy to do so—to enter into the same arrangement with me as with other Quakers . ¦« But , ' said I , ' what recompense will you require , for affording me so great an accommodation ?' " 'Hone whatever , ' replied the shopkeeper ; ' the Friends are very good customers of ours ; we are always glad to see them entering our doors . ' " ' And what must I pay the collectors ?' " ' They make no charge either ; you can give them an odd shilling now and then if you like , for they are very honest civil fellows . '
" Faithful to their appointment , at the end of the week , the men came to me , walked straight into the parlour , and over to the sideboard , and looked disappointed not to find the plate ready laid out for them . I told them I had to apologise for doubting their veracity . I had inquired , and found that their statement was true ; but as I could not see any sense in such a roundabout way of paying , I thought it simpler , and it came to the same thing in the end , to pay the money at once , which I did . They thanked me , and broadly grinning , said , ' I was the only Quaker in Bristol who did the thing in a straightforward manner , as most of the Society had a crank in their consciences about it . '
This first drew my attention to the doctrine of our Friends as relates to tithes . I studied the rules of the Meeting , Barclay ' s Apology , and various tracts , & c . on the subject ; and finding that , in the first place , they assume , that all who receive any pecuniary aid , are hirelings , and preach for the sake of filthy lucre ; and in thenext place , that the one only Scripture text on which they profess to be called on to bear this testimony , is this—* Freely ye have received , freely give , ' I imagined , that the first was an uncharitable , as well as a most unwarrantable assumption ; and the second seemed to me an actual command to give . Surely it is a curious perversion to construe ' freely give , ' into ' do not give . ' "
There is less about Quaker customs than mi ^ be desired ; or perhaps it would be more accurate to say there is little that is graphically portrayed . The following is a curious account of
A QUAKER WEDDING . " Soon after my visit to London , I was married . Oh ! what an ordeal I had to go through ! My intended husband lived in England , and I in Ireland ; so that we had to undergo all the formalities which the Society boasts of having instituted under the ' influence of best wisdom , ' for the periormance of the ceremony . First of all I had , in the presence of two men witnesses , to sign a document , stating that the gentleman was authorized by me to stand up in his own Meeting , and to inform his assembled brethren that he had an intention of marrying me , telling them all who I was , and where I lived . His Meeting then made inquiry into his former conduct ; and a month after , they gave him a written peimis-ion to marry me , as thevhad satisfied themselves that he wus ' clear
of all other marriage engagements . ' lhe second step was then , that fie and I , with a lan ; e company of our respective relatives , bad to walk in together , arm-inarm , into the women ' s Monthly Meeting that 1 belonged to ; and there , belore the assembled throng , all ueated and gazing at u .- > , we had each to make the appointed speech standing , then to sit down , while the clerk of the Meeting a-ked the relatives who accompanied us , did they consent to the ' presentation , of marriage ' which had just been mad : ;? Thev answered ' Yes ; ' and then the written permission from the Knglish Meeting was read . We then . ' paused a bit , ' and retired from the women ' s room , in the ; same solemn procession we h ; ul entered it ; and , having walked into the men ' s meeting room , there went through the very same formalities .
" It . is esteemed very desirable , that , as soon as the ceremony is over , the presentation party should , one and all of them , return to their respective uieetingtooiiib , and sit , out the sitting ' with the Friends . We evaded this custom , and returned home . We had a large dinner party that , day , and I received many compliments on the elegance of my dress , the beauty of my companion , the satisfactory manner ia which we bad performed , and admonition oil the necessity of ( speaking louder at the next and linal ceremony . 44
Five weeks after thin , another monthly meeting wus held , and then the two men and the two women Friends who had been appointed to make inquiry , reported , that there did not appear to be any reason lor refusing to allow of our marriage ; and therefore they gave uh formal permission to go on with . it . Then * was then a delay of two weeks more , before the wedding day came . At last it arrived , and then , accompanied by sixteen couple , we wt-rc marshalled into the elders' and overseers' gallery , which in two steps lower than the ministers ' , and like it , fronts tins
whole assembly . As usual on such occasions , a vast number of the town ' s-people flocked to hoc thowhow . A Quaker bride in not allowed to wear a veil ; and there , for two long weary hourw , wo hud to sit mikJ be stared at . About the middle of the Mooting . » ' » » Ppointed man Friend eaino over to whero we nut , an < placed before us tho words that we were lowland u \> ami repeat aloud . Thou we signed each ( lie long certiheate , which wus a very elaborate nnd elegant specimen of penmanship , on vellum , and the man J ' nend road tho whole out very loud . After this wan done , thxe «
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 16, 1851, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_16081851/page/15/
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