chine. Call attention to special cases of damage, known to the class, by the use of alcohol and tobacco. Let them compare the classes addicted to the use of these things with those free from them.

VOICES FROM THE ASSOCIATIONS.

THE ATTITUDE OF FRIENDS.

[Essay read before Young Friends' Association of Willistown, Chester County, Pa.]

As a Society have we been guilty of too much individualism for our own good?

In reviewing the history of the Society of Friends, we cannot but note with what earnestness of purpose early Friends pursued their calling, and with what Christian fortitude the sufferings, trials and persecutions were borne for the Truth's sake, during the rise and growth of the Society. It is with some surprise we read of a little later period when they were enjoying a season of peace and rest from the strife through which they had passed, as a Society, that a marked abatement in enthusiasm was noticeable as well as a decline in numbers. The only apparent reason is, that when persecution and imprisonment ceased, Friends became wrapt up in their own affairs, drifting into forms rather than abiding in the "power and life." What was a religion pure and simple in its origin now came to be governed by a rigid discipline, and there was a sad state of bondage to ancient traditions. Many were the disownments because of non-compliance with these strict rules, and but few inducements were held out to others to join. Before the second hundred years had passed even love for one another, let alone charity for each other's views, was not known among them, and a crisis was reached, so disastrous that the recovery has been long and tedious. We do not wish to recall the incidents of the past with any feeling of malice, nor to review the actions of those who have passed on with an unkind criticism. I think we realize to-day as never before what Quakerism has been to humanity and how grandly and how nobly its mission has been performed. We read with admiration of the exemplary lives of many of the teachers and promoters of its cause, and honor and revere their memory. If they have made mistakes it is only right and just that we should realize fully wherein they have gone astray, that we may profit by their shortcomings. The events recorded during two centuries leave their impress, and those upon whose shoulders rests the responsibility of the present are often the victims of circumstances over which they have no control-the inevitable result of others' actions. Close upon the sad period of 1827 did Friends rise to the need of the hour as they should have done? Rather have they not waited for time alone to mend the shattered fragments, instead of putting their own right hand to the work, and, with hopeful hearts look to Him who is able to help in times of trial? Their meetings were kept up, it is true, but was not much of the Life, as spoken of by George Fox, crushed out of them? This does, not apply to all places, but still is it not true in too many cases?

I

Friends were prone to rest with the feeling of security behind the shield that their children had a birthright in the Society, thinking that would release them from much anxiety as to their future. To me the responsibility is the same. have nothing to say disparagingly of birthright membership, -only do not abuse it. From a child I have with feelings of pride enjoyed my privilege in the Society as a birthright member. How often do children of God-fearing parents and happy homes stop to realize their feelings regarding that home and, if so, can they give the true, full meaning? It is a feeling not to be defined. When manhood and womanhood are reached the result of such training and environment will be the useful life for God and humanity. The birthright membership to me means that I have a religious home which should exercise all the care and responsibility which the word implies regarding my religious life. I fear it has become too much of a form, and the true, full meaning has been lost sight of to a great extent.

We have repeatedly heard the love which Friends show for one another spoken of by those outside the Society. This is not wrong of itself, and yet have we not suffered, as a

Society, from this excessive self-interest,-self love, as it were? Is it not in the recollection of many here present that only those who were members of Friends' families were considered suitable associates for other Friends' children? What was the cause for such feelings? I know not,—surely not contamination at the hands of other children of our common Father; and yet the result is apparent regarding our members. We know it is true of human nature, that that which we are forbidden is what becomes the alluring object to be attained. Some have gone from among us owing probably to the fact that such extreme ideas were too binding. We need years ago to have sought a higher plane, far above such self-hood, and been willing, if our religious principles had been of benefit to us, that after having them grounded firmly in our character, we go forth into the world to do battle with what is wrong and evil. We are not gaining strength in any cause so long as we keep ourselves far away from the scene of action, caring only for self. It is only as we meet in the conflict and vanquish our enemy that honor comes.

If the quiet, unassuming worship of Friends has met our needs, is it not selfish in us to keep what is of such vital importance to our welfare closely locked within our breasts, when some poor, hungry soul is craving the food we could give them? How can they know, unless we tell them? Term it converting, proselyting, or what you will. We are called a peculiar people; let us continue a peculiar people in so far as the Quaker principles of faith and practice can make us Christian men and women,—a religion which consists of a life of service.

He that would be great among you, let him serve. He that would be happy, let him remember that it is more blessed-more happy-to give than to receive." Let us strive to attain, as the one aim of our every-day life, that we "let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common."

"O brother man! fold to thy heart thy brother;
Where pity dwells, the peace of God is there;
To worship rightly is to love each other;
Each smile a hymn, each kindly deed a prayer.
'Follow with reverent steps the great example

Of Him whose holy work was doing good;
So shall the wide earth seem our Father's temple,
Each loving life a psalm of gratitude.”

Glad should we be that it is our privilege to live at a time of such general awakening in religious thought and feeling, as the world at the present is being made conscious of. Let us keep ever before us the duty we owe the living present that it may mean the greatest good to the greatest number.

Do not allow the fear of our Society dying out as regards actual membership to overwhelm us, but, by living the principles which we profess as we come in close touch with the lives around us, we may leave our influence in passing and the world be all the richer. We cannot read the following words of the poet without their awakening thought. Oh that we might make them a part of our lives!

Friends' Intelligencer and Journal.

FRIENDS' INTELLIGENCER ASSOCIATION, LIMITED. HOWARD M. JENKINS, LYDIA H. HALL, RACHEL W. HILLBORN, ROBERT M. JANNEY, CHARLES F. JENKINS.

EDITORS:

HOWARD M. JENKINS. LYDIA H. HALL. RACHEL W. HILLBORN

PHILADELPHIA, FIRST MONTH 22, 1898.

APPOINTMENTS.

THERE is always the "line upon line, precept upon precept" advice for those who have in our meeting the appointment of committees for the various services. for which our business meetings stand organized. Whether this appointment is called for in the meeting at large, or by a committee set apart for the purpose, there should always be time taken for reflection and inward guidance, so that natural fitness for the work in hand, time for it without crowding out other duties, and sufficient interest in it, by the person selected, as well as possibility for growth in those inexperienced, should all be weighed ere names are presented.

Especially in reappointments should careful observation and good judgment be exercised. Those who have been indifferent or spasmodic should be suffered to retire, that the cause be not hindered, or good workers discouraged by being obliged to carry the duties of others in addition to their own.

If any "concern" is worth promoting, the work should be well done, and half-hearted or neglectful ap pointees should not be re-appointed on the oft-repeated plea that their feelings must be considered. In Society service the good of the whole and not the ndividual, must be paramount. Unselfishness should be the indwelling sentiment, and the promotion of truth, the desire of all Friends, and if love and kindness are exercised, all changes can be made without injury to the feelings of any, or any breach of harmonious activity.

A SUGGESTION TO Y. F. ASSOCIATIONS. To promote the better general acquaintance with the history of the Friends, and thus increase the respect and regard of young people-and perhaps old-for the faith and practice. of the Society, we desire to urge a more systematic and thorough study of particular incidents, occurrences, and episodes, of our Friends' history. There are many of these, which when properly studied and described, would be of great interest, not only to the person who is engaged upon them, but to those who might have the privilege of enjoying the fruits of such investigation.

We say, however, "properly studied and described." We do not now mean a hastily-made and superficial sketch, but a careful and painstaking paper. And we do not mean, either, a paper made up from convenient and familiar materials, but one which shall utilize all accessible sources of information, including those that are not so familiar. Papers which merely

work over details comparatively well known, if well done in a literary sense, may have their use, of course, but we are now proposing something more thorough and more important.

In a future number we shall mention some themes which appear to us very interesting, and which will, we are sure, well repay study. We will add, also, some sources of information, which ought to be within reach of most of the Young Friends' Associations, and will make some more precise suggestions as to the character of the articles which we are proposing.

A SUBSCRIBER in Tennessee writes that the INTELLIGENCER is "much appreciated, for it has kept us in touch with the Society in which we were born, and which, will I trust, always stand first in our denominational appreciation." He adds, also: "I am glad to recognize in the INTELLIGENCER' a broad and comprehensive view of religious differences. It is a source of gratification to me to believe that those differences which divided and weakened the ever-valuable influence of the Society seventy years ago, are annually growing less, and to hope that the true Friends, who hold the life above creed, may yet come to worship together. Much that the paper has given us of and from our Friends over the water we have highly appreciated."

BIRTHS.

MOORE. First month 4, 1898, to William and Hannah G. Moore, members of New York Monthly Meeting, (15th Street and Rutherfurd Place), and residing at 343 South 4th Ave., Mount Vernon, New York, a son, who is named William Lea.

SEAMAN.-At Glen Cove, Long Island, N. Y., on First month 14, 1898, to William H. and Margaret Laurie Seaman, a daughter, who is named Faith Frances.

WASHBURN.—At Quaker Street, N. Y., Twelfth month 19, 1897, to Charles E. and Elizabeth C. Washburn, a daughter, who is named Miriam Margaret.

GREEN-BROOKE.-Twelfth month 21, 1897, at Falling Green, Sandy Spring, Maryland, by Friends' ceremony, Dr. W. French Green, and Edith F. Brooke, daughter of Charles H. and Anna F. Brooke.

KEMP-POWELL.-In Philadelphia, First month 4, 1898, by Friends' ceremony, in the presence of the Mayor, William H. Kemp, son of the late William T. and Margaret A. Kemp, and Sallie K. Powell, daughter of Wm. N. and Sarah A. Powell, both deceased, all of Easton, Talbot county, Maryland. SATTERTHWAIT-WAY. — First month 3, 1898, by Friends' ceremony, in Philadelphia, Dr. Abbott Satterthwait, of Crosswicks, N. J., and Mary P. Way, daughter of S. Emma Way, of Kennett, Pa.

He was a birth-right member of the Society of Friends, and for many years a member of Benjaminville Monthly Meeting, of Illinois. He held the principles of the Society dear, manifesting a deep interest in its welfare, and though for several years his health did not permit him to attend the meetings, he was always pleased to hear about them. He was a radical Prohibitionist, and an honorary member of Benjaminville W. C. T. U., in the organization of which he was the prime mover, and was always ready to lend a helping hand to it. He was also strongly opposed to the use of tobacco in every form, although addicted to it in his earlier life; from conviction of its evil effects physically and morally on the person, he gave up the habit thirty years ago, and he never missed an opportunity of testifying in favor of total abstinence from the use of both liquor and tobacco.

In his death, not only has his family, consisting of wife and six children, suffered an irreparable loss, but the meeting and neighborhood, as well.

A large gathering at his funeral testified to the general respect in which he was held. C.

FAWCETT.-At his home in Zanesfield, Logan Co., Ohio, Twelfth month 31, 1897, after a lingering illness, Charles Fawcett, in his 85th year.

He was a member of Green Plain Monthly Meeting, uniting with the Society of Friends when a young man, He was born in Frederick county, Va., in 1813, and came to Ohio, with his parents when nine years old. He moved to Logan county, in 1834, where he resided until his death. J. F.

LAMBORN.-At the residence of her son-in-law, George S. Lamborn, Twelfth month 21, 1897, Abigail Coates, aged 88 years, 2 months, widow of Ellis Coates, of Homeville, Pa.

She was the oldest and last daughter of Samuel and Margaret Coates, formerly of Chester county. The remains of Margaret and four daughters, Esther C. Wileman, Anna C. Moore, Mary C. Cutler, and Abigail Coates, were interred at Drumore Friends' ground.

Although her mental faculties were much impaired, she remained a model of patience and gratitude to the last, having been confined to bed eight months. S. W. L.

LIPPINCOTT.-At Friends' Boarding Home, Moorestown, N. J., First month 13, George Wilkins Lippincott, in his 85th year; a member of Chester Monthly Meeting held at Moorestown, N. J.

PITMAN.—On the evening of First month 9, 1898, Barzillia F. Pitman, in his 90th year. Interment at Laurel Hill cemetery.

This dear, aged Friend was born in Burlington county, New Jersey, and came to Philadelphia fifty-four years ago, and became a member of Green Street Monthly Meeting. He was a constant and regular attender there. His quiet spirit and unobtrusive life did not make him conspicuous in the world, but his integrity and uprightness of character won him the respect and confidence of all who knew him. He was a busy worker to the last, and after a few days' sickness passed quietly and peacefully to his eternal rest.

W.

PRATT.—In Newtown, Delaware county, Pa., First month 3, 1898, Christiana Pratt, in the 75th year of her age; a member of Goshen Monthly Meeting.

SHINN.—At the residence of her son-in-law, Abram H. Brown, near Benjaminville, Ill., after an illness of three months, at the age of 68 years, Mary K. Shinn, a life-long and consistent member of the Society of Friends, and for many years a member of Benjaminville Monthly Meeting.

She was a regular attender of meeting, whenever health would permit, often going when her friends and even her family thought her scarcely able. She was a loving and devoted mother, leaving five sons and one daughter to mourn her removal, the latter being assistant clerk of Illinois Yearly Meeting. C.

SMITH.-At Berlin Center, Ohio, First month 3, 1898, Elizabeth (Heston) Smith, in the 77th year of her age.

Formerly of Bucks county, Pa., the daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Atkinson) Heston, of Buckingham township.

STEWART.—At Greenwich, N. J., Eleventh month 10, 1897, Elizabeth Stewart, widow of William M. Stewart, in the 77th year of her age.

VALENTINE.—On the morning of First month 16, 1898, John K. Valentine, aged 67 years; a member of the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia.

For a number of years he was United States District Attorney at Philadelphia, and was otherwise a useful citizen.

VANDYKE.-Suddenly, on the afternoon of First month 11, Elizabeth Mary Shreve, wife of Theodore Anthony Van Dyke, Jr. and daughter of Benjamin Davis and Elizabeth J. Shreve; a grand-daughter of the late William and Elizabeth Clapp Jackson.

WORSTALL.-At her residence in Newtown, Bucks county, Pa., First month 14, 1898, after an illness of three days, Maria E. Worstall, widow of the late Edward H. Worstall, aged 82 years, 10 months, and 23 days; one of the most useful and respected members of Makefield Monthly Meeting.

She was at Newtown Meeting and First-day school on the First-day previous to her death, and took a lively interest in the exercises of the school that day, and afterwards called on her cousin Isaac W. Hicks, who is now in his 87th year, and the last survivor of the children of Edward Hicks, the minister, who died in 1849, in his 70th year. E.

MARTHA SMITH.

Martha Smith, whose death was noticed in a recent issue of this paper, was a valuable member of Buckingham Monthly Meeting, and served as its clerk for eight years. She was also superintendent of the First-day School for about the same length of time, and while holding this position was very faithful in the discharge of her duties.

She was active in various forms of philanthropic work, and was all her life especially zealous in the cause of Temperance, being president of the Lahaska W. C. T. U. at the time of her death. Her Christianity was of the practical type of that servant of the Master whose name she bore, and she was ever ready to give time and money to the good cause that needed assistance.

*

NEWS OF FRIENDS. PURCHASE QUARTERLY MEETING will be held at Purchase, New York, on the 2d and 3d of Second month. Any desiring to attend will be met by notifying Robert Barnes, White Plains, N. Y., on Fourth-day morning, the 2d, or the afternoon before. Train leaves Grand Central Station, New York city, for White Plains, at 3.35 p. m., and 9.10 a. m. Northern trains arrive at White Plains, 4 p. m., and 9.40 a. m.

"Park Avenue Friends' Home of Baltimore City has been incorporated under the laws of Maryland for the purpose of opening a boarding home for Friends under the care of Baltimore Yearly Meeting.

A suitable house has been leased at No. 1700 Bolton St., corner of Wilson, within two squares of the meeting-house. A matron has been engaged, and the committee of arrangement hope to be ready to open the home about the first of Second month. Application for admission may be made to Rachel L. Husband, 1705 Park Avenue; Mary D. Hull, 1527 Edmundston Avenue; Emma L. Taylor, 2229 Eutaw Place.

Isaac Wilson and wife, of Bloomfield, Ontario, have a prospect of attending some of the Quarterly Meetings in this direction in Second month, beginning with Purchase or Westbury, and continuing to those of Bucks and Burlington, also of appointing some meetings.

VOICES FROM THE ASSOCIATIONS.

(Coucluded from page 59.)

or the Young Friends' Association to the Meeting is one of mutual dependence and helpfulness.

There has been a need of an organization to arouse interest and fan the spark of enthusiasm of young Friends to a study of the vital principles of our Society, and where can this need be better supplied than in our Association meetings? The mere asking and discussing of questions, here, in this body, should make us better informed and consequently more alive to the object of our meetings.

While some consider it wise to suppress the discussion of doctrinal points, many young minds are seeking to know the opinion of their elders, not in a spirit of controversy, but pure earnestness of purpose. Is it right to withhold any possible help toward the unfolding of a struggling life, perhaps quenching aspirations for higher and nobler development? I believe we would be stronger to-day if all those earnest impulses and yearnings had not been suppressed for so long a time.

There are many who are thirsting and hungering for the liberty and truth found in the Quaker testimonies, and it seems too bad that our Society seems to be known more by its peculiarities than its great underlying principles. There are many people who would become more closely united with us if we extended to them the proper cordiality and encouragement.

Some of these are not members of our Society, some are members, but for various reasons do not, or cannot attend our meetings. We wish to reach all these as much as possible, and in what better way can it be done than through our Young Friends' Association ? Are we careful when strangers attend our meetings to make them feel at home, and are we careful to invite them to come again? Sometimes we find some of our regular attenders at meeting are not members of our Society, and when asked why it is, they tell us they have never been invited to join us.

Then again, though we do not for one moment doubt the spirit which moves our ministers, we may at times regret the mode of expression, the tone of voice or the repetition of words and ideas. Is it not that without the educational advantages to enable them to cultivate all the powers which are given them for the proper expression of thought, they are unable to express just what they feel, and the thought loses force in its transmission to us?

We certainly have no right to criticise them, unless we are faithful and appreciate our advantages, which are greater than those of the older generation. Have we, with our greater advantages, learned the important lesson of proper and concise thought? The ability to say the most in the fewest possible words is much to be sought after; beautiful thoughts lose their power and force when weighed down by too many words.

I think that in our Association we should find opportunity for the development of our powers. There should we learn more of our Society, its needs, and what it requires at our hands. There should be that sympathy and frankness among us that we might kindly criticise the sayings and writings of our members. And perhaps more than all this, that we might come in contact with the brightest minds, the kindest hearts there are among us, and be stimulated to our best efforts by their friendship and advice. Let the Association remember that this work cannot be performed by a few members, but its success depends upon the earnest endeavor of each individual, that they should attend business meetings whenever possible, and shoulder their part of the work of the Society, and that they be most careful not to allow the absorbing interests of daily work to prevent them from maintaining a loving intercourse with our elderly Friends, many of whom have withdrawn from the social life of our Society and need the sympathy and love of the young people.

No place in life that has its advantages is without its corresponding duties and responsibilities. There is a world of good in everything about us, if we will but make it our own by accepting all that it can teach us. Nothing of value

is easily won, so we may feel assured that even if we strive for what proves to be of small account, the struggle will make us stronger, and the seeming failure will keep us from making the same mistake again.

Some of us are too apt to feel that active work need not begin until a certain age is reached; we convince ourselves that we were intended to be only idle listeners; we quietly wait, passing by the little things thinking of some great service which may come up in the future, and on which all our energies can be spent. Do we know that if we seize not the golden opportunity while it is here, it slips by and is gone forever?

If we make ourselves capable we shall always find our elder brothers and sisters more than willing to let us put our hands to the plough, and as we do so, they will be enabled to pass on to the greater works awaiting them.

The question is often asked, “Are Friends' Meetings dying out?" If we have not in later years made as much visible progress as some expected, it is no sign that we are dead or even sleeping. If our winter of thought and quiet growth has been long and severe, is not the spring of renewed vigor and power coming upon us, with surer and more lasting promises? We need a living ministry as well as a spoken one, and the Young Friends' Associations are accomplishing the work for which they were organized, that of finding out the needs of the Society and presenting it forcibly before our members. Who of us could attend such a meeting as was held at Newtown two weeks ago, and return home without feeling that there is a work for each of us to do?

May we who have been known to say that we would take a greater interest in our meetings both for worship and discipline, were there more life exhibited, only look to our own individual responsibility, attending faithfully to the little duties as they come, however small they may seem, then would the result of our efforts show where the trouble has been. Each one would give to the world the best that is in them, and no more would we hear it questioned, "Is our Society experiencing a decline ?" No longer would we have some of our young members straying about without our fold, and seeking in other churches what they say they cannot find in ours.

To rightly bear our responsibility we must seek within, listen there for the Christ-spirit, doing our duty when we recognize what it is, and all things thus working together for the best under Divine guidance, our Society would weave itself into a web, which could not be broken. Our beloved poet has said :

What asks our Father of His children, save
Justice, and mercy, and humility,

A reasonable service of good deeds,
Pure living, tenderness to human needs,
Reverence and trust, and prayer for light to see
The Master's foot-prints in our daily ways?
No knotted scourge, no sacrificial knife,
But the calm beauty of an ordered life
Whose every breathing is unworded praise !

FIRST-DAY SCHOOL LIBRARIES.

[A paper read by Seth T. Walton before the Bucks FirstDay School Union, at Newtown, Pa., in answer to the question, "What books suitable for children should be placed in our First-Day School Libraries? and explain the plan of the circulating library."]

THE endeavor to say what books should be placed in our First-Day School libraries is a difficult task; and one involving great responsibility; for it is to be presumed that no one person has read all the good and helpful books that have been written for our children and youth from which to select for their edification, instruction and entertainment, nor all the bad or worthless books, whose selection for obvious reasons should be avoided. But in making such an attempt, and assuming that we who are older are but "children of a larger growth," and that our needs, too, should be considered in connection with the children and youth, as more

and more we are becoming scholars and learners with them in the First-Day School, the first thing to claim our consideration, is the question of needs of the First-Day School; whether fifty, a hundred, or five hundred volumes are required to begin with, and next the amount of available funds and resources for making the first selection, to be added to from time to time, as growing needs and resources to supply them develop.

To name the best one hundred, fifty, or even ten books with which to start a First-Day School library I shall not attempt:-probably no two persons among us would, in making such selection, name the same list, and such efforts would only lead to confusion. But rather, I shall endeavor to name a few of the classes of books that should be selected from by judicious committees, and a few of each kind that, in my judgment, should be chosen for the uses indicated. And in making such selections every condition of childhood, youth, and mature age should be carefully and conscientiously considered.

Among the classes of literature from which it is important to select are the following: First, short and healthful stories for the children, in which accounts of travel and adventure, interspersed with anecdotes and incidents of persons and places, together with lessons in natural history, and through all the thread of which good morals and precepts are thickly woven, for these, if rightly inculcated, are the lessons that will lead eventually to the more serious and sober ones of religion and truth, and which will, ultimately, bear their fruits in pure, chastened and dedicated lives.

As the children grow to youth they should be supplied with higher grades of literature, including biography, history, and poetry, and works of a scientific and philosophic character, for which, if the early training in reading has been judicious, they will by this time have acquired a taste.

For our advanced youth and maturer Friends the best books obtainable on ethics, economics, religion, and the vital reforms of the present time, that commend themselves to thoughtful, intelligent and rational men and women, should be procured. For it is the things of to-day that concern us most; the past cannot be changed, but if we give our aid in doing that which in the living present seems the best to do, we may be largely instrumental in shaping the future for the highest welfare of the race.

Among the many excellent and good books from which selections may be made, I will name a few in each of the classes that have been alluded to beginning again with those adapted to the use of the smaller children. Of these, Whittier's Child Life," and "The Story Hour," by Susan H. Wixon, are two of the best for the little folks. On the title page of "The Story Hour" the author quotes Longfellow's lines from "The Children's Hour" :

'Right Living," also by Susan H. Wixon, is a book of carefully prepared essays that are well adapted to the uses of youth, as are also the various stories, poems and sketches written by Louisa M. Alcott, Adelaide D. T. Whitney, Susan Coolidge," Lydia H. Sigourney, Maria Edgeworth, Felicia Hemans, the Cary Sisters, Josiah T. Trowbridge, and Bayard Taylor.

To the list for the advanced youth and older Friends we may add the essays of Emerson and Macaulay, the histories of Hume and Bancroft, the biographies of Forster and Parton, and the poetical works of a few of the greatest and best poets of the past and present, especially those of our own countrymen, John Greenleaf Whittier, Bayard Taylor and Thomas Buchanan Read.

Among miscellaneous books may be mentioned No

In addition to a well-stocked library for the First-Day School, it is desirable, both for the children and those who are older, in order to keep posted with the occurrence of events and the march of progress, that suitable periodicals should be received into the family circle, and of this class of literature I know of none better than "Scattered Seeds" and the "Youth's Companion," for the children and youth respectively; both bright, clean, fresh, healthful and helpful. And for those who are older the “Friends' Intelligencer and Journal." As a weekly visitor to our homes it comes, bringing the clear and living messages of conscientious seekers after Truth, which entitles it to the earnest and sincere support of all who are interested for the welfare of our beloved Society.

Concerning the " Circulating Library," I am unacquainted with the methods of its workings and consequently cannot explain its plan. I hope, however, some one may be able to supply the information asked for.

In conclusion I may say that good books and periodicals, next to good companions, are the best friends of which we can be possessed, for through their medium we derive all the knowledge that we have of the past with all of the richness of its wonderful achievements. They also enlighten us as to what the world is doing to-day in the living and vital present, with its myriad fields of human endeavor, that are crowded with the toilers, who in their daily striving are making common cause with all who are in the upward march of progress and enlightenment, and through them we obtain prophetic glimpses of the future, as our seers and prophets portray in colors of living light the condition to which the race in its aspiration may attain.

Conferences, Associations, Etc.

PHILADELPHIA.—At a regular meeting of the Young Friends Association, First month 10th, 1898, the chairman, William E. Walter, presiding.

After the approval of the minutes as read, the Standing Committee made their reports. Through the History and Discipline Committees there has been secured a type-written copy of the "Talks" given by Joseph M. Truman, Jr., on "Old Meeting-houses." The report says: "We are glad to have in this form the valuable information of which our friend seems to be the sole possessor." The scrap-book prepared by this committee is now placed in the rooms of the Association, and is open to contributions of matter pertaining to the interest of Friends.

The committee appointed in Twelfth month presented the following nominations: President, William E. Walter ; first vice-president, Hannah H. Clothier; second vice-president, Charles Paxson; secretary, Isabel Chambers; corresponding secretary, Anna Jenkins Ferris; treasurer, John Woodall; Executive Committee, William W. Birdsall, Helen A. Comly, J. Eugene Baker, Mary Janney, Ellis W. Bacon, Alice Hall Paxson.

The report was accepted.

The secretary of the Building Committee stated that they had held two meetings, and were actively at work.

The Executive Committee reported the election of a new member, and the program for the evening.

Joseph Fussell gave expression to the feelings of appreciation and enjoyment which we all had in the lectures given us by members of the Swarthmore College Faculty. The hours in which we shared their beautiful thoughts were times of real pleasure and profit, and we are deeply grateful to our friends for the literary culture and social mingling of those evenings.