FRIENDS' INTELLIGENCER. PHILADELPHIA, FOURTH MO. 25, 1885. SAMUEL J. LEVICK.-We hear, with deep sorrow, of the sudden death of our friend, Samuel J. Levick, a minister whose long and valued labors among us are well known to a wide circle of Friends. His earnestness, boldness and clearness in the ministration of the word were very marked, and his departure is a sad and solemn visitation, not only to those who stood near him by kinship, or by church connection, but to the Society of Friends throughout our borders. BE HOPEFUL.-For the real progress of good there is no inspiration equal to that of a large hope. Alas! that in so many it is so small. As a religious body, we have our full share of "Martha's" anxious and troubled ones, wondering which shall prosper, "this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good." Paul told us long ago that "every man's work shall be made manifest," but we show too much anxiety while we wait. We are often asked to point out the results obtained from the many new avenues for creating interest, and some are discouraged because the progress is so slow. Long and patient labor will be needful ere we recover from the paralyzing effect of the unwisdom that marked out two diverging lines for Friends over half a century ago. What we need now is more faith, more hope, and to put more of ourselves into our work, "that it be thorough, genuine, simplehearted, the best that is in us, the best that can come out of us," and never forget that God still rules over all, and is so just a taskmaster, that we are wise when we leave success to Him. And let us not place too high a value on our work; be as liberal with it as we may, it is so small compared with nature's work. An exchange paper beautifully says: Be bounteous in thy faith, for not misspent Thy need is sown and rooted for His rain. His thoughts are as thine own; nor are His ways Work on. One day, beyond all thoughts of praise, OUR APPROACHING YEARLY MEETING.-There Philadelphia Yearly Meeting will be an important are many reasons why the approaching session of event in the history of our branch of the Christian Church. Leading off, as it does, the Yearly Meetings of our denomination, and representing to a large extent the conservative element of the Society, its proceedings excite, perhaps, greater interest than should really attach to them. Some of us feel that Philadelphia is the Jerusalem of our hopes as a people, and the nursing mother of our faith, and as we come up yearly to our annual feast, our prayers arise that she may indeed be "the City of the Great King" in all that widens and deepens the hopes, the aims, and the aspirations of our Israel. It is no small occasion for gratitude that the broad, liberal thought of the best Christian life is increasing in our midst, and with it comes, in a larger sense than has before been witnessed, a charity that thinketh no evil, a faith founded upon experience, and a hope born of confidence in the ulimate triumph of righteousness. The growth of a religious cult that makes no appeal to the senses, that has no outward emblem or offering, and is without rite or ceremony, must of necessity be slow, for it is by slow degrees man gains an eminence that brings him into the clear vision which spiritual life implies. We need to be instructed in this. It was not enough for Samuel that he heard a voice; it was to him a human call until the prophet, perceiving the Lord had spoken, bade him make answer, "Thy servant heareth." We do need the word of encouragement from the Lord's anointed, "In the practical working of good agencies there must always be a certain prodigality. The light which illuminates this speck of a world is but a sin- and we need also to recognize that he is the truly gle beam in comparison with that immense body of anointed who, by what means soever it be, touches the light which passes off to be lost, apparently, in end-spring of feeling in us, and makes plainer and clearer less space. Nature produces a hundred seeds for every one that comes to maturity; and at every sculptor's feet there is an unheeded pile of marble chips which have been sacrificed to the fulfillment of the artist's design." So let us be prodigal with our labor, sowing with a trusting faith that, if we only sow good seed, no anxiety need be ours regarding the harvest. "And do not fear to hope. Can poet's brain to our understanding the Divine revealings. Said one of old, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not." We find Him often where we least expect; often in the little ministrations of daily life, or in the meaner things of common service. When, like the Patriarch, our bed is the bare earth, and a stone is our pillow, we may realize our nearness and find ourselves in blest communion with the Highest. As we leave our homes for the great convocation, RHODES.—On Fourth mo. 8th, 1885, at Hinsdale, Queens co., L. I., Phebe Eliza Hallett, wife of Cornelius H. Rhodes, aged 76 years. SCOTT.-On Third mo. 23d, 1885, in New Market, Frederick co., Md., Elizabeth Scott, aged 82 years; a member of Pipe Creek Monthly Meeting. Formerly a resident of Loudoun co. Va. fully and resignedly she entered into rest. let us remember the injunction, "Bring all the tithes | aged 77 years; a member of Green Street Monthly Meeting of Friends. into the storehouse "-tithes of brotherly kindness, of patience, of forbearance, of charity, of meekness, and all those gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit that characterize the Christian who is thoroughly furnished for every good word and work-" that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of Heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it." Do we crave the blessing? We must labor for it -must do our part; our Father promises nothing to the idle and the indifferent. As poverty and want follow indolence in outward things, so surely will it bring barrenness to the spiritual life. We must labor if we would have that bread which cometh down from “God out of Heaven," of which he who partakes shall never hunger. And in our labor we must see to it that we do it with the full ability that we possess; and, what is quite as important, that in the doing we stand not in the way nor hinder another worker whose methods differ from our own. SHARPLES.-On Fourth month 13th, 1885, at West Chester, Pa., Mary A., wife of Philip P. Sharples, in her 70th year; a valued member of Birmingham' Monthly Meeting. TAYLOR.—On Third month 25th, 1885, at Lincoln, Va., Bernard Taylor, in his 83d year; an elder of Goose Creek Monthly Meeting. TITUS.-On Fourth mo. 13th, 1885, at Westbury, L. I., of pneumonia, Robert Titus, in the 72d year of his age. WALKER.-On Fourth month 7th, 1885, in Baltimore, Md., James T., son of Elisha H. and Lucy Cooper Walker, aged 7 months. land, N. J., Edward T. Yardley, a son of the late William and Elizabeth Yardley, of Philadelphia, in his 74th year; a member of the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia.. YARDLEY.-On Third month 7th, 1885, at Vine For Friends' Intelligencer. As a body composed of members diverse in character and function, there must be recognized a curTHE PARABLE OF THE HOUSEHOLDER ! rent running through and gathering to itself all the parts and parcels furnished by each. Every little. Few, if any of the parables of the New Testament, rill has its place, and the failure of the smallest spoken by Jesus Christ, are so full of encouragement brings loss to all. To have a good meeting needs as that of the householder, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers to work in his vineyard. only that we do our individual parts to make it what He was for each one giving his best in the service we desire; then, truly, "the blessing" will be ours. DEATHS. BOWMAN.-On Fourth month 15th, 1885, at the residence of Lester Comly, Byberry, Pa., Joshua R. Bowman, formerly of Merion, in his 80th year; a member of Green Street Monthly Meeting, Philadelphia. ELLIS.--On Fourth month 11th, 1885, at Johnstown, Pa., C. Frazer, youngest child of Samuel P. S. and Acsa M. F. Ellis, aged 2 years. HART.-On First-day, Fourth month 5th, 1885, at the residence of his uncle, George Eastburn, Philadelphia George, son of Samuel and Ellen E. Hart, of Doylestown, Pa., in his 24th year. LEEDOM.—On First-day, Fourth month 5th, 1885, in Haverford, Delaware county, Pa., Hannah S., wife of John Leedom, in her 62d year. LEVICK.-On the evening of Fourth month 19th, 1885, suddenly, at his residence in West Philadelphia, Samuel J. Levick, in the 66th year of his age; a minister of the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia, Race Street. MOORE.—On Second mo. 27th, 1885, in Philadelphia, Euretta McVicker, widow of John G. Moore, and daughter of the late Dr. Benjamin S. Budd, aged 51 years, a former teacher of elocution in Friends' Central School. RITTENHOUSE.-On Second-day evening, Fourth mo. 13th, 1885, Rebecca Rittenhouse, of Germantown, allotted them. The "third hour" was his first call, then the sixth, and so on to the eleventh. He did not reprimand any, but simply inquired why they were not using the time to some useful purpose, and thus glorifying the Giver, instead of gazing idly all the day upon the passers-by. When the time for settlement came there were some complainers among them. The early workers expected more; though they had agreed for a penny. They seemed to forget they had all the time been reaping the benefits the others had lost, even the hundred-fold reward promised for willing service. Take Here comes a gentle reprimand to them: that thine is, and go thy way; is it not mine.to do what I will with mine own? I will give to this last even as unto thee." Oh, the sweetness of devotion from youth to old age; it is like "the dew of Hermon, the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion, where the Lord commands His blessings, even life forevermore.” SARAH HUNT. West Grove, Fourth mo. 15th, 1885. I CANNOT tell you how solemn a thought it is to have now lost all my relations of the generation preceding our own, and to be thus visibly brought into that generation whose time for departure comes the next.-Dr. Arnold. A DAY IN WITTENBERG. On the kind invitation of a pleasant German young lady, we rose early on the morning of Third month, 27th, and left Berlin for Wittenberg, on the express train. The depot from which the train set out is a fine structure of yellow brick, and is said to be the largest depot in the world; it is certainly imposing. We were soon seated in the compartment for ladies, and a pretty, prattling, little German girl of some three summers amused us by her attempts to speak German, and we wondered how she would ever learn to pronounce some of those long, difficult words. The little one had made a very good beginning, and did not seem to fear the future. Our kind friend met us at the station, which is some ten minutes walk from the small town, and as we left the railroad she pointed out the oak tree under which Luther burned the papal bull in 1520, a step which was the forerunner of wider emancipation for the German people. Wittenberg is a quaint old city, once surrounded by a wall and moats, of which the former is almost entirely torn down, and the latter is being converted into a pleasure ground and into promenades for the good citizens of Wittenberg. It is a very pretty way of utilizing those old land-marks of feudal times, and one that makes us realize that we are enjoying the benefits of peace. Our attention was called to Luther's house on our left, as we entered the town, with the promise that we should pay it a visit in the afternoon. We passed reluctantly by under the friendly guidance of our hostess, who took us through the College street to the market place, one well worthy of the artist's pencil. Well may tle Wittenbergers be proud of this their town's chief ornament. Surrounded as it is on all sides with quaint old houses, with its old stone fountain and two noble statues of Luther and Melanchthon, on our right the picturesque Rothhaus, or city hall, it produces the most artistic effect and calls forth our sincerest admiration. We are told that in the corner room or rather cellar of the Rothhaus used to be a beer saloon, where Luther bought his beer. We were soon at our friends very pleasant house, and ate with good appetite the simple breakfast of chocolate, bread and butter and sausage, which her good mother had ready for us. Herr H. (our friends father) is a jovial German host full of fun and ever ready with a joke, whose only brother lives in Pittsburg, Pa., and whom he has not seen for thirty years. They both look forward to a reunion either in America or Germany. Our pleasant chat at the breakfast table was cut shorter than we liked, but time was precious, and we had much to see. We turned our steps to the Schlosskirche where Luther preached, and on the doors of which he nailed his famous theses. This door was unfortunately burnt in 1760 (though the Berliners declare that they possess one half of the original), a loss which King Frederic William VI made good as far as it was possible, by presenting to the church handsome heavy bronze doors with the theses engraved on the bronze. The interior of the church is very simple and the graves of Luther and Melanchthon are the chief objects of interest. The inscriptions are in Latin and read much the same. That of Luther is as follows: "Here lies the body of Martin Luther, Doctor of Theology, who on the 18th of February, in the year 1546, at his birthplace, Eisleben, succumbed to death, after he had lived sixty-three years, two months, and ten days." It is said, though not authorized, that Emperor Charles V, one day in the month of May following Luther's death, stood at his grave, and upon being urged by Duke Alba to cause Luther's bones to be dug up and burnt, as an arch heretic, he replied, “I carry on war with the living, not with the dead." The church when we visited it was about to be repaired and fitted up just as it was in Luther's time. We climbed the stairs and stood in the pulpit, from which he so often poured forth his fiery words against the abuses of the Church, with mingled feelings of awe and curiosity, wondering whether he to-day would not find evils nearly as great against which to use the battery of his eloquence. From the Schlosskirche we paid a short visit to the handsome old Gothic Stadtkirche with its spires and fine work in stone, and niches with saints, carved out of stone. Though much prettier it had none of the interest attached to the other Church.. After a pleasant dinner (where we were not pressed to drink wine) in this charming German home, so grateful to us after months of life in a "pension (boarding house), we hastened out again after the half hour after-dinner nap, which the Germans always take, to visit Luther and Melanchthon's homes. The great Reformer passed the happy years of his married life with Catherine von Besa, in what was once a convent. One enters the court and garden through a gateway, and notices first the lime tree under which he loved to sit and chat with his wife and friends of an evening. Before ascending the the winding stairs leading to the rooms occupied by Luther and his Catherine, our attention is caught by the stone seats in the wall, with his bust in stone above the one and his coat of arms (made by himself over the other. This coat of arms, a rose with a heart in the centre and in the heart a cross, is characteristic of Luther. He said of it that if one had the cross in one's heart, one would walk on roses. The Luthershule (room) with its low, inlaid wooden ceiling, well worn floor,old fashioned stove, and the table which he used, impresses one at once with the many years that have passed since these walls echoed with the laughter of his children, and the songs of the happy family when gathered together. Here at the small, round paned windows, with thick glass, through which one cannot see, stands a bench with places for two. We take our seats on it and pull back the pane, or rather several panes, of glass, left loose for that purpose, and look down upon the courtyard, and our thoughts are carried back to the time when the much honored pair sat on this very bench and looked out on the very same peaceful garden. Many more souvenirs of Luther are preserved in other rooms, among them the best picture of him by Lucas Cranach, the first printed Bible in the German language, according to his translation, letters written by him, the first large wood-cut, composed of several pieces of paper, as they did not prepare such large sheets then, the hour glass which he used during his sermons, the rosary which he used as monk, as well as Catherine von Besa's as nun, and many, many more. country finds himself surrounded by a people speaking his native tongue, among whom he may at once engage as a teacher of youth, or as a preacher, if he feels so called. He will also find himself in close proximity to nations whose language he may be acquiring, and at the same time gaining lessons to fit him for successful work among the untaught heathen. Among the pictures here, one by that quaint, old painter Cranach, amused and interested us as well. It represents the vineyard of the Lord. On one side are Luther, Melanchthon, Bugerhagh and many other active workers in the cause of the Reformation, busily engaged cultivating the vineyard, culling and training the vines, and bringing fresh water from the well of life, while on the other side of the hedge are the Pope, cardinals and priests just as busily engaged in tearing all down and making the well muddy. The picture explains itself, and is extremely interest-ent to the claims of Liberia.' An offshoot from our ing as well as a work of art. A short visit to Melanchthon's home and to the stone bank in the garden, on which he loved to sit, ended our sight-seeing, and we were soon bidding a reluctant farewell to our kind German friends who had done so much to entertain their guests. The memory of Wittenburg will always be a loving one, as well as of that lovely family to whose kindness we owed our pleasant and profitable glimpse of the scenes of Luther's most active life, as the monk, the reformer, and lastly as the father of a family. F. H. Berlin, Prussia, Third mo., 29th, 1885. LIBERIA. This African Republic is just now attracting the attention of the civilized world, and is looked upon as an important gateway to the "Dark Continent." It lies along the Eastern shore of the Atlantic Ocean, from Cape Palmas, in latitude 4 degrees 20 minutes, north to Sierra Leone on its northwest limit. Eli Jones, in the Worker and Expositor, writes: "In the Colonization Society's report for 1884 they say, "The interior, immediately in the rear of the coast line of Liberia, for hundreds of miles is easy of access. Paths lead out in every direction, and the natives are not only approachable, but as peaceful as any upon the continent. The govern ment has inaugurated treaties with many of the tribes, and a definite understanding and their good will have been obtained. Calls are frequent from these people for instruction in divine truth and the these people for instruction in divine truth and the useful arts, that the Christianizing and civilizing power of true religion and advanced industrial skill may be employed in the regeneration of that inviting region. Numerous aborigines, in order to secure the advantages of proximity to the civilized settlements, are flocking from the interior and building villages. near the Liberians. Zodaque, a Pessah Chief, with some two hundred followers, has located near Crozarville. Another chief, with about three hundred refugees from heathenism, is expected soon to settle in the same neighborhood. "The emigrant ships of the Colonization Society ply twice a year between this country and Liberia. The passage is set at $100; if persons go as emigrants it is free, with a gift of land on which to settle, and aid given for the first six months while acclimating. The experience of their physicians is such that nearly every case is treated successfully. “Ön arriving in Liberia, the missionary from this "A strong Christian negro nationality on the West Coast of Africa will greatly aid in advancing the interests and promoting the welfare of the colored people in America. We cannot afford to be indiffer country-speaking the same language-with a constitution and laws modeled after our own, she should receive our fostering care and kind aid. Educated Christian men and women is her crying need to-day.” ALCOHOL AND DIGESTION. hol and digestion, writes: Dr. Norman Kerr, referring to the subject of alco liquors actually hinder this vital process. Again "So far from aiding in digestion intoxicating and again, on examining after death the bodies of persons who have died suddenly I have found large quantities of food which had been hindered from being digested by strong drink taken a few hours before. The presence of an intoxicant in the stomach markedly interferes with the digestive act. "True, if you take half a glass of brandy after eating too hearty a meal, you may fell temporary only made the nerves of sensation-God's messengers relief, but you have not digested the food You have in the living body drunk, so that they cannot do their duty; they cannot deliver their message to the brain that the stomach has been oppressed by excess in eating. The more any one is troubled with indigestion, the more need is there to avoid using agents which arrest and retard digestion. Hence the most frequent cause of the terrible amount of that scourge of life-dyspepsia-in our country at the present time, is the use of intoxicating drinks. There must in the drinking of water and other wholesome nonbe moderation in eating solid food, as there must be habit of drinking inebriating beverages would cause intoxicants; but the general abandonment of the the greater part of the indigestion and its attendant miseries to cease from the land.—Exchange. HOSPITALITY. It is well to realize in all the appointments of life that there are always some things that must be left out, and trying to choose wisely, arrange our plans of life accordingly; for while Time endues us with its power, it also imposes its restrictions. The question is constantly submitted to us, "This or that ?" not "This and that." While many things must be crowded out margin should always be left for meeting and greeting and enjoying intercourse with one another. Nothing can take the place of the conversation of living men and women. The meeting of thought with thought, of mind with mind, of heart with heart, is essential to the full and healthful development of every individual | have come for ourselves, for what we can give them. heart and mind and soul. We Americans, it is said, are a hurried, driven people. It is true that the struggle for existence is an all-absorbing struggle. It is quite as true that existence," grows to be a more and more comprehensive term. So many things are coming to be considered essential that are in reality quite separate from the real needs and necessities of simple living. The taste for "pretty things" is being carried to a great and unsatisfying extreme. Elaboration in dress and in house decoration and appointments is usurping a place that should be devoted to other and better things. Tastefulness and the love of beauty are both desirable and useful; it is the excess that is to be deplored, where strength and mind and money are used in a way that too often, is but a robbing from the real resources of life, its development, necessities and duties. All those who can afford to indulge in dainty and expensive furnishing without trenching upon an insufficient income or upon life's higher duties and nobler uses, may surely do so. But those who cannot afford it should be content to have homes which are true and pure in their simplicity and honesty. Simplicity is not in the least akin to meanness, and one can keep the home neat and clean and tasteful without any elaboration of decorative ornaments. own We should be blind, in any envious or emulous way, to the gleam of the gold or silver of those richer than ourselves when we are regulating our household appointments. If we make more display than we can afford we are unjust and untrue to ourselves. We can offer what we justly are able to do, considering our means, strength, and circumstances; filling all deficiencies with cordial good-will, of which the grace will reach deeper, and the charm will charm more fully and bless more wisely, than any mere collection of rare furnishing or elaboration of collation can do. A plain, unpretentious meal, at which the souls of the guests have been lightened, the hearts warmed, and the minds quickened by genial and earnest intercourse, is within the reach of all. All true-hearted intercourse is elevating; there is nothing which can give to youth so "liberal" an education as to mingle with and listen to those who are cultivated, who are full of high and noble thoughts and aims, those who are simple, earnest, and sincere, the disciples of truth and love, of faith and duty. Peter said, "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I to thee," and his saying might well be taken as a motto in social life. It is that which we have that we are to give, not that which we have not; we are not to strive to appear other than we The decline of hospitality is largely due to the are; not to strive to make a display to which there increased demand (supposed demand) for outlay and is no inward truth or possession. If we have good expenditure, for decoration and display. In older feeling, we can give that; if we have love, we can times people were honestly and heartily hospitable, give that; if we have good-will and charity, we can because it was not customary to make much change give of those; if we have education and refinement, from the ordinary custom of the house. Then a we can give of those; and, with our stock ever on housekeeper hearing of the coming of guests was not hand, we can always be ready to greet a friend. If disconcerted at the news; an additional dessert per- we have simple bread and milk, that given-shared haps, or one or two additional dishes, would be all-with a true sincerity of a true and earnest and that she need add to the clean table-linen to be in readiness for the guests, whose coming she did not dread because she felt they did not come to criticise but to enjoy themselves. If the same feeling on the part of both hosts and guests could now be general, how much greater pleasure, freedom and benefit would be found in the interchange of hospitality! If we could be willing to entertain our friends with whatever means and appliances we have at hand, we could greet our guests with cordiality instead of the frequent all-too-evident anxiety. We are too anxious about the appearance of the" best room," about the display of the rare china, and about the display of our culinary arts; too desirous to put out of sight the little "homely," comfortable ways of daily life, and to have everything in company parade, to be able to enjoy ourselves or give enjoyment to others. A guest who receives an earnest, hearty welcome, who feels that his coming does not disarrange, or greatly add to, the household plans or cares, is a guest placed at once at ease. It is not from having every outward want supplied that one derives the greatest enjoyment; but from being made sensible that one's presence is dear and desired. What matters it if our guests can purchase a dozen luxuries to our none? Had they chosen to enjoy their luxuries they might have remained at home to do so; but they have come to us. It would be simple courtesy, at the very least, to suppose they loving heart, will become precious by a solvent of truth and good feeling which alone can give life and vitality to any feast. Little or much, expensive or inexpensive, whatever we have will become precious in the sharing with a loving heart; as whatever is of truth and purity and goodness, blesses giver and receiver, as it passes outward and onward, leaving its gifts whence it rises and wherever it pauses. The fear and dread of adverse criticism, in addition to the increasing tendency to ceremonious display, threaten the foundations of all real social intercourse and the interchange of true and beautiful hospitality. Is there not some way of arresting this tendency and saving for ourselves the wholesome joys and benefits which we cannot afford to lose? There are multitudes of beautiful flowers of content, beauty, joy, and comfort, ready to burst forth in the friendly meetings of those who will gather together with simple hearts attuned to love and truth.-Mary Ferguson, in the Christian Union. I HOLD with Algernon Sidney, that there are but two things of vital importance,-those which he calls Religion and Politics, but which I would rather call our duties and affections towards God, and our duties and feelings towards men; science and literature are but a poor make up for most of these.-Dr. Arnold. |