USA > Pennsylvania > Chester County > New Garden > Two hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the Friends meeting at New Garden, Chester County, Pennsylvania > Part 4
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THE QUAKER WIDOW BAYARD TAYLOR
[Recited by Mary B. Cooper in the Friendly plain dress and bonnet.]
Thee finds me in the garden, Hannah, come in. 'Tis kind of thee To wait until the Friends were gone, who came to comfort me. The still and quiet company a peace may give, indeed,
But blessed is the single heart that comes to us in need.
Come, sit thee down! Here is the bench where . Benjamin would sit
On First-day afternoons in spring, and watch the swallows flit: He loved to smell the sprouting box, and hear the pleasant bees Go humming 'round the lilacs and through the apple trees.
I think he loved the Spring; not that he cared for flowers : most men
Think such things foolishness,-but we were first acquainted then
One spring; the next he spoke his mind; the third I was his wife, And in the spring (it happened so) our children entered life.
He was but seventy-five; I did not think to lay him yet In Kennett graveyard, where at Monthly Meeting first we met. The Father's mercy shows in this; 'tis better I should be Picked out to bear the heavy cross alone in age-than he.
We've lived together fifty years; it seems but one long day, One quiet Sabbath of the heart, till he was called away ; And as we bring from meeting-time a sweet contentment home, So, Hannah, I have store of peace for all the days to come.
I mind ( for I can tell thee now) how hard it was to know If I had heard the spirit right, that told me I should go; For father had a deep concern upon his mind that day But mother spoke for Benjamin,-she knew what best to say.
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Then she was still; they sat awhile; at last she spoke again, "The Lord incline thee to the right!" and "Thou shalt have him, Jane !"
My father said. I cried. Indeed, 'twas not the least of shocks, For Benjamin was Hicksite, and father, Orthodox.
I thought of this ten years ago, when daughter Ruth we lost; Her husband's of the world, and yet I could not see her crossed. She wears, thee knows, the gayest gowns, she hears a hireling priest-
Oh, dear! the cross was ours; her life's a happy one, at least.
Perhaps she'll wear a plainer dress when she is old as I, -- Would thee believe it, Hannah! once I felt temptation nigh ! My wedding dress was ashen silk, too simple for my taste ; I wanted lace around my neck and a ribbon at my waist.
How strange it seemed to sit with him upon the women's side ! I did not dare to lift my eyes; I felt more fear than pride. Till "In the presence of the Lord," he said and then there came A holy strength upon my heart, and I could say the same.
I used to blush when he came near, but now I showed no sign ; With all the meeting looking on, I held his hand in mine. It seemed my bashfulness was gone, now I was his for life; Thee knows the feeling, Hannah, -- thee, too, has been a wife.
As home we rode, I saw no fields look half so green as ours; The woods were coming into leaf, the meadows full of flowers ; The neighbors met us in the lane, and every face was kind .- 'Tis strange how lively everything comes back upon my mind.
I see, as plain as thee sits there, the wedding-dinner spread ; At our own table we were guests, with father at the head, And Dinah Passmore helped us both,-'twas she stood up with me ; And Abner Jones with Benjamin, and now they're gone, all three !
It is not right to wish for death, the Lord disposes best. His spirit comes to quiet, and fits them for his rest; And that he halved our little flock was merciful, I see; For Benjamin has two in Heaven, and two are left with me.
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Eusebius never cared to farm,-'twas not his call, in truth, And I must rent the dear old place, and go to daughter Ruth. Thee'll say her ways are not like mine,-young people now- a-days Have fallen sadly off, I think, from all the good old ways.
But Ruth is still a Friend at heart; she keeps the simple tongue; The cheerful, kindly nature we loved when she was young; And it was brought upon my mind, remembering her of late, That we on dress and outward things perhaps, lay too much weight.
I once heard Jesse Kersey say, a spirit clothed with grace, And pure, almost, as angels are, may have a homely face; And dress may be of less account ; the Lord will look within; The soul it is that testifies of righteousness or sin.
Thee mustn't be too hard on Ruth; she's anxious I should go, And she will do her duty as a daughter should, I know. Tis hard to change so late in life, but we must be resigned; The Lord looks down contentedly upon a willing mind.
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MEETING HOUSE
NEW GARDEN
TWO HUNDRETH ANNIVERSARY NEW GARDEN MEETING
715-1015
CHILDREN'S EXERCISES
Eighteen children, ranging in age from four to twelve years, representing the families of both branches now belonging to New Garden Meeting-gave a well-rendered exercise, under the direction of Mary H. Tudor.
Promptly at two o'clock they were seated on the platform to form the letter U. Each one wore a light blue ribbon badge from shoulder to waistline, plainly printed "1715 New Garden 1915."
They arose and repeated in concert as introductory-
We are little children of "The Light'' And represent both meetings, On eighteenth, ninth month, nineteen fifteen We greet you, with hearty greetings.
We welcome to our New Garden spot Every one, both young and old; And if you're not, we wish you could Be one, to come within the fold.
They then came forward two by two and each one told in original rhyme their name and a bit of their family lineage. The exercise concluded with the following given in concert.
'Tis said "A little child shall lead theni," So come and join our throng, And be led by this "Inner Light," For it will teach no wrong.
Those who took part were: Ruth Richards, Ruth E. Hoopes, Sara S. Sweigart, Sara M. Thompson, Marian Sharp- less, Frances Goodwin, Lydia Richards, Mary Richards, Eliza- beth Thompson, Maud A. Larkin, Mary Parrish, Roland Par- rish, Edwin Kay, Franklin M. Cooper, Katharine Starr, Chand- ler Starr, Herman B. Anderson and William George Nelson III.
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OUR OPPORTUNITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
BY J. BARNARD WALTON.
F RIENDS, the great days of the Society of Friends are in the future-in the future, I say, for I will not let that part of my subject be taken away-"The Opportunities and Responsibilities of the Society of Friends in the Future."
That may be a little less practical than just "Opportunities and Responsibilities," which ties us down to the present; but let us be dreamers for a little while. This is not in any sense of disrespect for the two hundred years of noble past of this Meeting, or the two hundred and fifty years of noble past of our Society. That has been a wonderful achievement; but let us draw our minds for a little while to the future. The future is longer than the past; yes, and it is broader and deeper. For that reason every moment of it should be the richer. We have the experience of the past to guide us at the start, and each task should therefore be the better performed.
Let me draw your minds, then, just for a moment, to the future, and this is the thought with which I would bring them. I came on this little gem from one of the Russian exiles. Madam Breshkovsky writes from her exile in Siberia, at the age of seventy-one-one of those grand old women, called the "grandmother of the Russian revolution" -- at that age when many of us think that the processes of the mind tend to be- come fixed and crystallized. We say we dwell in the past. That is often said of the Society of Friends-that it has be- come conservative and dwells entirely in the past. Friends, it is not so; for listen to this, from this old lady of seventy- one, who has been eighteen months in solitary confinement in northern Siberia, and who writes to a correspondent in Amer- ica. I clipped it from this week's issue of "THE SURVEY." "All your letters reach me now. Today I got that in which you speak of someday having the story of my life. Dear child, perhaps you will not believe me, but I tell you seriously that I do not know my own history. I have not felt it. It was always my soul that was in action, and the direction taken by it from childhood never changed; so that its history would be monotonous, too. The details of my material life interested
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me so little that I do not remember them clearly, and every time that it happens to me to read the memories of my old comrades, I am always surprised at what they say about me. It makes me smile. I have to make an effort of memory to recall the past, so far as it concerns myself. The only thing I can say with certainty about myself is that all my life I wanted to be good and worthy, and that up to this moment I am correcting my faults and imperfections. In regard to others, it is their moral inclination, their psychology, which are the object of my observations, rather than anything else. Also, I must say that it was always the future that especially preoccupied me. The past and the present touch me in so far as they precede, in so far as they give hope of such or such a degree of perfection of human life."
That is the Quaker type of mind. Don't you see the mysti- cism in it? The world is full of them. There is another mind that dwells in the future about which I wish to tell you a story today, for I think it is particularly appropriate. It was the first time, I think, that I ever heard Henry W. Wilbur speak, and he dropped a couple of phrases that have sunk into my mind, so that I could not forget them, and they have clinched with me his message.
He was speaking, of course, on his usual theme-the fu- ture of the Society of Friends-and he said: "In New York, where I come from" (for he was living in New York then and addressing a Philadelphia audience-he referred to the other place by courtesy) "there are two types of mind-a kind of pessimism and a kind of optimism, and I do not know which is more deadly. The pessimist says, 'The Society of Friends is dying out; there is no hope in it; you see our meetings get- ting smaller. Everything is just fading away.' There is no possibility of getting those people to do anything for the future. The optimists are about as bad. They say, 'The Society of Friends and its principles are all right; they always have been. People are coming to them; all the world is coming to recog- nize the Friends' principles. We need do nothing but sit and fold our hands and everything will be all right.' Both of those two thoughts are equally deadly, for they would not bring us to anything in the future."
I could never forget that thought, which seemed to me to be always the central thought of Henry W. Wilbur's life- that the Society of Friends has a future. That was said twelve or thirteen years ago, but the message is practically the same today. At that time we did not have our summer schools. A fellowship meeting like this, in which both branches came to-
gether, was a doubtful venture. The influence of Woodbrooke was scarcely beginning to be felt in America. I could go on and name all those signs of awakening life that Francis Taylor referred to in the growth of the last ten years that have im- pressed many an intelligent observer.
Now, we know that we have made some progress, we do not need the eye of a prophet to see a future for the Society of Friends. To us the message is clear. We need merely take it and get that conviction, that consecration, which Francis Taylor has said this morning has been bequeathed to us, and from which I am bound to take my subject this afternoon, in order to carry the message on.
There is a great future for the Society of Friends. I say it not in a sense of glory, not in a sense of reward to us, but rather-"whosoever would become great among you, shall be your minister, and whosoever would be first among you shall be servant of all."
With the future comes the opportunity for service and the responsibility to grasp it. Now, what are we to do? John Fiske, the historian, in a tribute which he pays to the Quakers, which I think gives the keynote of our message, says of George Fox: "The basis of his teaching was the belief that each soul is, in religious matters, answerable not to its fellows, but to God alone, without priestly meditation; because the Holy Spirit is immediately present in every soul, and is thus a direct cause of illumination. From this central belief flowed two important practical consequences, both essentially modern. One was com- plete toleration; the other was complete equality of human beings before the law."
"Complete toleration and complete equality before the law!" What could better express our Quaker message? How simple it is! God is present with each one of us. His indwell- ing Spirit is in our hearts; it speaks directly to us, without any ceremony or organization, and without any mediation to come between. Therefore we are all brothers-a complete brotherhood of man. What could be more simple-God and man-making us brothers?
From that, it seems to me, follows all our practical work- all of our Friends' principles, and all of our social endeavor. When George Fox grasped that thought two hundred and fifty years ago, he was ahead of his time. That is why he was not accepted. Now the time has caught up to us; so that when Friends stand for complete equality they are not in revolt against their time, but in harmony with the general direction of it. Therefore, I would say that while it was our first mis-
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sion to be opposers of what other people were thinking and doing-to be a peculiar sect, set apart-now our opportunity and our responsibility is the same as that of all Christian peo- ple. It is simply the bringing of the Kingdom of Heaven upon the earth.
Now let us make a few practical applications. First of all, are we aware how much the practice of our everyday life depends upon our thinking? It was said this morning, "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he." I had the privilege this summer of going to the Friends' National Peace Conference at Winona Lake. If I learned one thing there it is this: It makes little practical difference whether President Wilson calls a conference of neutrals; whether we pass this particular crisis in our international affairs; whether we set up at the close of the war a league of all the nations to maintain peace; or whatever practical solution we make of the present problem. It makes little difference. We shall still continue to suffer from war uness we change the undercurrent of thought, both of our people in America and throughout the world. As long as we believe that force is the only ultimate defense, so long we shall have war. But when we come to believe that there is a higher way; that there is a stronger power than force; that love. and brotherhood are not only God's way, but a more effective way to live in relation to our fellowmen-then shall we get the one sure defense against invasion.
It seems to me that it is one of the most pressing respon- sibilities upon Friends. We must re-make our own thought and philosophy, and we must do it speedily, for the crisis is at hand.
Take another example, in the field of property. We pray, "Thy Kingdom Come;" we profess that we intend to obey God; we say that our lives are in stewardship for Him; and yet, is that the undercurrent of our thought? Or are we living for ourselves? Why, friends, half of our law in this country is for the protection of private property, and not for the wel- fare of human beings. We profess that we are stewards of God's property, for His Glory and His Kingdom; but we really think, "This is my particular property, and it is my right to do with it what I please."
Now let me draw your thought to a few practical appli- cations. I would there were time to go over them all, except that it would be tiresome. I think it has been better for us to fix our minds on the central thought-the essential brother- hood and equality of man. Each one of you can work out that thought in your own particular field of interest in your own
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way. We need merely get the fundamental thought-God's Word coming to each of us, making us brothers-and apply that thought to each of our lines of social and philanthropic work.
The application is easy to the question which is stirring the country at the polls this fall. If God speaks to women as well as to men, are they not to be considered the same in all of our affairs of government ?
The application is just as easy to the old question of slavery. It was because the black man was as much a son of God in God's eyes as the white man that Friends believed he should not be a slave. Our interest in the welfare of the Negro is the logical result of our thought for the slave. The same thought applies to all other race problems-the Indian, the Chinese, and the immigrants from Southern Europe.
Friends have always stood for freedom-freedom of the slave, freedom of speech, freedom of conscience. Let us continue to stand for freedom until every vestige of slavery is gone-every vestige of slavery, whether it be the working girl, or the child in the mines, or the Italian peon. It may pinch the pocketbook when we apply it to modern practical problems, such as the minimum wage or child labor; but I think essenti- ally the issue on which to fight it out is that of brotherhood. I think that it is in the industrial problem that our churches have possibly come farthest from doing their duty. We were told this morning that there were countless fishermen, carpen- ters and bricklayers among the great crowds who heard George Fox and accepted his teachings. Do we have that feeling of brotherhood with the men who do the muscular work of the world today-with the men who build the skyscrapers ; with the men who dig the Panama Canal? Does the struc- tural iron-worker feel at home in our churches? How many of them have we made welcome in our Friends' meetings dur- ing the past year? That is the real test of our brotherhood- does the other man feel it? Do we feel it ourselves?
Then consider the question of unemployment. There is plenty of work offered to every man on the farm this summer, but where is the floating laborer going to be next winter? Do we see the problem from his side? There is a real unemploy- ment problem in the cities every winter. Have we done every- thing that is possible to solve it, to give every man an oppor- tunity to do useful work? That is our opportunity and privi- lege, to face these problems honestly and solve them.
I might go through the list and mention all the other problems of modern social work, every one of which presses
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more severely on the workingman, on the wage-earner de- pendent upon others for employment, than upon the profes- sional and farming people who make up the rank and file of the Society of Friends.
There is the problem of infant mortality in the cities, which someone has said is the index to our civilization. There is the campaign against tuberculosis; the campaign against poverty-all of our modern social problems, to be worked out on the theory of fellowship and brotherhood. The same spirit should animate our dealing with the criminal and the conduct of our prisons and reformatories.
I would like to see our temperance work carried out on exactly this same plan. Let us work for freedom for the individual to live his life in brotherhood. If we can remove those oppressive influences which drag a man down, I have confidence in the innate goodness of every man that he will live a normal, straight life. Let us give him freedom from the traffic which ensnares him. Then the words "freedom" and "liberty" will be on the side of the temperance people, rather than on the side of the saloon.
How simple, then, is the message! All of our practical work is merely an expression of the brotherhood which God has given us,-a working out in everyday life of the thought that God has put His Spirit in each of us; has made each one a son of God, in order that we may live in harmony with Him, and in brotherhood with each other. (Applause.)
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PERSONAL REFERENCES AND INCIDENTS
BY TRUMAN COOPER, AVONDALE, PA.
At the time when the New England Colonies were resist- ing the efforts of France to secure their possessions, and in the South Spanish soldiers were likewise abusing the settlers, we find that in Southeastern Pennsylvania the Quakers were busy clearing away the forests-were learning to love their neigh- bors the successors to Lord Baltimore over the border, and were building pleasant habitations for themselves and posterity.
During this period, 1744, was born in New Garden Town- ship, Chester County, Pa., to Jonathan and Rebecca Lindley, a son, Jacob, who as his life advanced to mature years grew to be a man of large stature-muscular build-with a voice of great depth.
As a minister of the Gospel he was regarded as a wonder- ful and striking example of how the Divine power is sometimes manifested through the agency of finite beings. His body, soul and spirit seemed to enter into his sermons. He was a member with Friends his entire life at this place, and within these walls much of the quickening influence of his preaching was felt, awakening many a "lukewarm" spirit to the neces- sity of repentance. He actively, even at that early period, opposed human slavery, and was widely known to be the friend of the aboriginal Indian, over whom he exerted a remarkable influence. This fact was so well known that in 1791, when several ludian tribes in the vicinity of Detroit had become restless and warlike, Jacob Lindley, with five other Friends of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, in conjunction with three military commissioners, were sent by the United States Government to soothe the ruffled feelings of the then Western Indian.
Again, in 1797, Jacob Lindley left home near the beginning of winter on horseback, in company with some others, for Canada, their object to give Christian cheer and comfort to a small band of Friends who removed there from Chester Co. We must not overlook the fact that one hundred and eighteen years ago a trip to Canada did not partake of the luxuries of Pullman sleepers and first-class hotel fare. It meant long and weary days in the saddle over mountainous country, upon little trodden highways, and the fording of deep rivers. Nights
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had to be passed cold and drenched with no protection save that afforded by a projecting rock or a fallen tree, for just these hardships were met and overcome in safety by these self-sacrificing men. It was a journey of duty, and in fact, wherever was the call to duty there was Jacob Lindley found. He was a close student of human nature, and so far as record and tradition serve to enlighten us was a man gifted with wonderful spiritual discernment.
He married Hanna Miller, his first wife, in 1783, who was also a minister possessed of marvelous inspiring power. An incident of Jacob making the acquaintanceship of Hanna is rather amusing. They were both young, at meeting in this house one First-day morning, Jacob cast his eyes with much pleasure upon the comely form and the sweet and winsome face of Hanna ! They were strangers! How was he to become acquainted-the question was an all-absorbing one to him- later in the day he rode to the Miller plantation, now known as the Joel Pusey estate, adjoining the Borough of Avondale, and made careful inquiry if a bundle of papers that had passed by way of the Lindleys to its destination at the Miller mansion had arrived in safety? This was before the days of the "big dailies" or rural mail deliverer. Jacob's purpose seems to have worked out nicely, he was "invited in," took supper, and ere long a marriage followed. Upon the wedding day, James Miller ( Hanna's father) took his daughter by the hand, led her to his young son-in-law's side, and said: "Here, Jacob, is thy little bundle of papers, take it, and take good care of it." The subsequent home of Jacob and Hanna Lindley was noted for its kindness to strangers, and was regarded as an ideal of hospitality. It was remarked by one who had shared its com- fort and shelter, that in one respect "the Lindley house is like the Kingdom of lleaven. No profession or complexion is ex- cluded."
It is recorded that Jacob Lindley was one day riding on horseback near this place, when he was overtaken by a rain storm; he sought shelter under the sheds a few yards to the rear of us; as can be observed they are contiguous to the grave- yard. His mind was filled with recollections of the many worthy ministers of the Gospel and other valued Friends whose bodies had been laid at rest almost at his feet. His feelings gave way, and his powerful voice broke the silence with the words of Addison:
"How are thy servants blessed, O Lord, How sure is their defence,
Eternal wisdom is their guide,
Their help-Omnipotence."
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It so happened just then that a countryman was hurrying down the road we see before us. He heard with consternation those words. He believed a spirit of the departed had awaken- ed, and with spurs to his horse dashed madly from the spot. Jacob observed the actions of the passer-by, and comprehend- ing the cause, called after him in that same earnest tone this only intensified the fears of the fleeing man, whom, tradition says, at three miles away neither the speed of the horse nor the terror of the rider had abated.
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