He reminded women of their great influence | ing closed under a solemn covering of divine in the world, and of their power for the re- love, and with a devout ascription of praise form of dangerous evils. The use of alco- and thanksgiving to the great head of the holic stimulants, and the cultivation and use Church, who has abundantly blessed the deof tobacco, are now great evils which need liberations of this assembly. the utmost efforts of the thoughtful to combat them. He commended the faithfulness of those who have come forward, and called upon others to labor in the vineyard of the Lord. The Nominating Committee directed to bring forward names of Friends to serve on the Committee to consider deficiencies, then reported. They presented a long list of names, which were duly considered and approved, and the Friends proposed were appointed to the important service of considering our deficiencies, with the view to remedy them if possible, and report to our next Yearly Meeting. The Epistle prepared for New York Yearly Meeting was read and approved, and directed to be forwarded to that body. THE PRESENT OPPORTUNITY. From the Christian Union we take the fol lowing article, which is worth the perusal of those who feel that they do not receive all they deserve. This thought is often accompanied by want of action, because the mind has conceived the idea that the world is unappreciative. Earnest effort is, in the long run, appreciated; hard work, mental or physical, shows a result worth the labor. Even the genius of Carlyle could not evolve his profound thoughts without intense application, A memorial concerning our deceased Friend without labor such as few give to any subject. Mary Levis, prepared by Abington Monthly-Eds. Meeting, was read, solemnizing the meeting, and bringing back to memory her gentle and humble walk with God, and her simple and touching ministry of the word of life. A memorial prepared by Upper Springfield Monthly Meeting, concerning our deceased Friend Maria Kirby, was next read. The record of a long, useful and beautiful life was felt to be strengthening to the principles of virtue and truth in others. She was an elder worthy of double honor, strengthening those who were called to the ministry of the gospel, and illustrating the way of life by walking uprightly therein. The gathering together of the embers increases the warmth of the home. Even so the gathering of concerned minds, alive to the truth, from many quarters of this, our Yearly Meeting causes an increase of Christian love and of zeal. It is well if we who have enjoyed this season of refreshment and blessing, may at this closing hour be mindful to store up and bear away with us somewhat of the good we have received. One Friend spoke impressively of the high mission intrusted to the Society of Friends, and expressed her belief that there is among us an amount of power which, if rightly employed, might move the world. The simple spiritual worship of one God, and the testimony to the truth that our God is to be known in the secret of the soul, and that he is himself the all sufficient teacher and leader of his people, are the simple foundation stones of this Society, and if we maintain our stand faithfully, we may witness the triumph of the truth. After the review of the minutes, the meet It is the "open secret" which, as Carlyle insisted through his long life, most people fail to read; the obvious truths which most people continually overlook. They are always looking into the distance for the succor which lies in their own surroundings, to others for the help lodged in their capacity, to those richer, stronger, or wiser for the power in their own strong hands, to the wide world for the opportunity which lies hidden in their own neighborhood. We cannot learn too soon nor too well that in ourselves is lodged whatever force is needed to send us along the path of a successful life; that close beside us is the work which our hands are to do; and that right before our feet is the path in which we are to walk. In every community there are men and women "waiting for something to turn up.' They think they are willing to work, but they fail to find anything to do; they are looking for opportunities, but somehow the opportunities elude them. Every successful man is overrun with applications for positions; every vacant place is crowded with people who are anxious to fill it; every editor is overwhelmed with the manuscripts of those who aspire to success in literature; and yet thousands of these seekers for positions do not find them, or if they find them they do not keep them. Numberless manuscripts go back every year to those whose desire for literary work will never bear fruit in any satisfactory results. What is the trouble? Most people want to begin at the top. Instead of taking hold of the first piece of work that comes to hand, and driving it through as if it were the grandest thing they ever expected to do, they either decline it because it does not meet their tastes, or they do it in a halfhearted way because they take no real interest in it. Their thoughts are so far in advance of what they are doing that the thing in hand is only half done. It is the use of the first opportunity that makes a second opportunity, but thousands are always waiting for the second to come first; they are expecting miracles when they ought to be working along the normal lines of success. It is the boy who takes a place in the country store and puts brains, strength, and heart into the weighing of sugar and the measuring of potatoes, who finally sits down in his office in a great warehouse and telegraphs his orders to the ends of the earth; the other boy, who wanted to be a great merchant, by omitting the sugar and potatoes continues in the obscurity of his native village. These small duties, these meager opportunities, are the training-schools of success, and no one gets the prizes who does not take his degree in them. The world is full of people who do things "fairly well," it is in daily and pressing need of those who do them supremely well. There are thousands who would like to write, who make no grammatical blunders, are guilty of no solecisms, and can strike off sentences that read fairly well; every editor reads hosts of manuscripts from such writers. The article which is always in demand, for which there is always a place, no matter how crowded the pigeon-holes are, is the article which is rich in vitality, tense with earnestness, instinct with fresh thought. The men and women who write such articles do not pass at once from a school composition to the pages of the first magazines and papers; they think, feel, live, suffer, and work until the gift of insight is matched by the gift of speech. Paul already had the training of the schools and the early vigor of a splendid intellect when the heavens opened over him on the road to Damascus, and a great new truth was flashed upon him; but he did not at once become a teacher: he went into Arabia and spent three years in silent meditation before he took up the pen that was to address Jew, Greek, and Roman with a wealth of thought, a glow of conviction, and a splendor of speech such as they had never had before. If you want success, do not expect to get it by chance, but seek it through the open doors of the things that lie next you; and seek it as if your soul depended upon your finding it. To him who withdraws himself from his friends and acquaintances to seek after God, will God draw near with his holy angels. Thomas à Kempis. LOCAL INFORMATION. An adjourned meeting of the Association. for the promotion of First-day Schools within the limits of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, was held at Race Street Meeting-house on Fourth-day evening Fifth month 16th, 1883. At the Annual Meeting in Tenth month last, the clerk was directed to correspond with the clerks of the various Unions, in order, if possible, to report a schedule of dates, at which times the Union Meetings are held, with the view to have but one held on the same day. He submitted the following, which was approved: Philadelphia Union to be held on the evening of the second Sixth-day, in Third, Sixth, Ninth and Twelfth months. Burlington Union, on the morning of the second Seventh-day in Third, Sixth, Ninth and Twelfth months. Bucks Union, on the morning of the third. Seventh-day in Ninth month, and fourth Seventh-day in Fourth month. Haddonfield Union, on the morning of the last Seventh-day in Third and Ninth months. Western Union, on the morning of the first Seventh-day in First, Fourth and Tenth months, and last Seventh-day in Seventh mo. Concord Union, on the morning of the second Seventh-day in Fourth and Tenth months. Abington Union, on the morning of the third Seventh-day in Fourth and Tenth mos. Salem Union, on the morning of the second Seventh-day in Fourth and Ninth months. By this arrangement Salem Union is the only one that is held at the time fixed by other Unions. It also was agreed that hereafter the annual meeting of the Association be held on the first Seventh-day in Eleventh month. Seven hundred and fifty copies of the Report of the General Conference, held at Waynesville, Ohio, last year, have been received and apportioned to the several Unions. The epistles from the Associations of New York, Genesee, Illinois and Baltimore were read, introducing the meeting into a lively concern for the maintenance of our First-day schools, that an increase of interest may be awakened on the part of teachers, that they may endeavor to prepare for enlarged service, and with more active zeal engage in the duties devolving upon them. The minutes of the Executive Committee were read, and their labors approved. For the information of concerned Friends, it was proposed that a series of questions be forwarded to the clerks of the various Unions, and through them to the individual schools, eliciting replies concerning the use of the "Lesson Leaves" that have been prepared by the General Conference, and distributed during the past year. An encouraging report from the editor of "Scattered Seeds" was read. The preparation of epistles to other associations was referred to the Executive Committee, and they to be submitted to the Annual Meeting in Eleventh month, before being forwarded. The meeting was well attended and much interest manifested. The following minute was read, closing the exercises of the evening. "We are again renewedly impressed with the deep concern of many minds for the welfare of our youth, that they may have thrown around them the protecting arm of the Society, and early be made acquainted with those testimonies which have been so well tried in the past two centuries of the world's history. We have been affectionately counseled to continue in this great work of laying the foundation for usefulness and uprightness in life by training up the children in the way they should go, that when the fullness of years comes around, they may not depart from the highest standard." I. C. M. INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL WORK. The Friends' School of West Chester closed for a spring vacation of one week (during Philadelphia Yearly Meeting), on the 12th inst. In addition to the usual literary exercises, a new and interesting feature was added, in the display of a large variety of useful and ornamental articles, the handiwork of the pupils, who evinced praiseworthy skill and aptitude in all the work exhibited. The list embraced specimens of the culinary art, such as bread, cakes of various kinds, canned fruits, and in needle-work, all done by hand, there were all the varieties of hemming, stitching, embroidery and knitting. Besides these, free-hand drawing, collections in natural history, especially botany; written exercises in Latin, French and German; maps and original designs were added; while pigeons and chickens, raised by the pupils, varied the display. In this departure from the usual routine of examination exercises, it is encouraging to see how willingly the scholars respond to the suggestions of teachers who are alive to the necessity of adding to the ordinary course of intellectual culture, the important adjunct of hand-work. Recognizing, as we all must, that however completely the intellect may be developed, the great mass of those who graduate from our schools must earn their bread by toil, in one form or another; the surest and most satisfying way to prepare our children for this duty is, to make it a part of their daily education. And this would be only carrying the excellent system of the Kindergarten into our higher schools. The unquestioned fact of its superior value in training the faculties of the little child, gives that method a place among the very foundation stones of modern education. To Elizabeth Lloyd, a valued teacher, of large experience in Friends' schools, belongs the credit of this "new departure," which was first attempted, we are informed, by a school at Buckingham, Bucks county, over which she presided. FRIENDS' INTELLIGENCER. PHILADELPHIA, FIFTH MO. 26, 1883. 13th line from the top, read latitude, instead ERRATA.-On second column of page 218, of longitude. On page 224, first column, 18th line from the bottom, read Tea-plant, instead of Seaplant. A SUBJECT FOR THOUGHT.-It may not be unprofitable for some outside of the large committee appointed by our Yearly Meeting on the subject of our deficiencies, to consider the causes which have led to the delinquency confessed in the answers to the first query. It is apparent that there is no desire on the part of some of our members to attend the smaller meetings; there is not sufficient attraction to draw them from their homes, where they feel that by spending the time in reading they are as much benefitted as they would be by sitting the quiet hour with their friends. There appears to be no difficulty in inducing an attendance of the Yearly Meeting, or in securing attention when there; this must be because there is found in the proceedings something which interests and instructs. In this day we need intellectual as well as spiritual food, and particularly do the young feel this need, and until the time of the stirring of the spiritual life comes, the intellectual and moral forces are the highest in our nature, and demand "food convenient for them;" for by their proper nourishment and training, the s oil, in which the heavenly seed is to be sown, is pre pared for its reception. "First the natural, afterward the spiritual," and the first, in its time, is just as right as the other. When the young man inquired the way of life, Jesus recommended him to the outward moral law, the commandments of Moses, to which, with the study of the religious books of the Jews, Jesus gave close attention in his youth, and we cannot doubt that faithfulness and conscientious adherence to the outer law, opened the way for the revelation of the inner and higher. It is too much our custom to direct inquiring minds, or those whom we wish to interest to the light within before its time has come. This witness for God in the soul is a revelation, a gift, something beyond the most sensitive conscience, and those who have realized this overshadowing of the Divine Love and revelation of the Divine Will, know that such a condition surpasses any that can be gained by man's teaching, however learned, or by an intellectual effort, however earnest; that while it is good "to do justly and to love mercy," it is abundantly more satisfying to the cravings of the immortal soul to receive the sight which enables it to "walk humbly with God." Introversion of spirit cannot be profitable until there is something for the spirit to feed upon; a mind too much turned in upon itself becomes morbid, and the demands of the conscience unreasonable. Let us remember the beautiful order "first the blade, then the ear, and afterward the full corn in the ear," and not expect the ripe grain as soon as the first green shoot appears. If the germ of spiritual life has been quickened it will grow, and we may trust the Power which gave it life to develop it. Our duty to the young belongs to the human facul ties, to enlarge the intellectual perceptions, to stimulate the growth of the nobler and more tender qualities of the mind and heart, to establish more firmly the moral convictions. Are we not feeling now the effect of a too narrow education in the past generations? The cultivated minds of to-day ask for instruction commensurate with their understanding. We see that the author of the book of Job had made himself master of great intellectual and moral learning, and he is thereby able to enrich and dignify his grand epic, nor did his learning prevent his seeing that the spirit could only be wrought upon by the inspiration of God, and that an understanding could only be obtained by the revelation of the Almighty. Though he asks, "Canst thou by searching find out God?" he sets us a noble example of search in other directions. MARRIED. PETTIT-THOMPSON.-On Fifth month 10th, 1883, by Friends' ceremony, Frank Pettit, of Philadelphia, to Hannah B. Thompson, of Salem, N. J. DIED. DARLINGTON.-On Fifth mo. 15th, 1883, at her residence, in West Marlborough, Pa., Edith, wife of Richard Darlington, in her 86th year. This dear friend was an esteemed Elder of Fallowfield Monthly Meeting for over 40 years. Though living remote from her place of worship her seat was rarely vacant, and during the past inclement winter, till within a few weeks of her death, she was at her post, and sometimes "How we shall miss her," was feelingly spoken by many the only woman present. gathered at her funeral, where testimonies were given to a life so valuable, that children, grandchildren, and many friends will long hold it in precious remembrance. JOHN.-On Fifth month 1st, 1883, at his home, in Whiteside county, Ill., Elida John, in the 78th year of his age; a beloved Elder of East Jordan Monthly Meeting of Friends. MARIS.-On Fifth mo. 20th, 1883, in West Philadelphia, J. Emlen Maris, son of the late Jesse J. Maris, in his 58th year. WAY.-On Fifth mo. 15th, 1883. Ida Jane Way, daughter of William M. and Mary E. Way, in the 19th year of her age; a member of Little Britain Monthly Meeting. A LADY'S VISIT TO THE GEYSERS OF THE bling up in the edge of it, and crowded round YELLOWSTONE PARK. BY H. W. S. Concluded from page 221. Our route lay for two days through the Parks of the Rocky Mountains. These are so wonderfully beautiful that I feel as if I wanted to make everybody see them. Imagine an English nobleman's country seat set right down in the midst of these mountains, with great stretches of greenest grass, groups of beautiful trees, beds of brightest flowers, a winding, dashing mountain river, tiny lakes, slopes of turf, fantastic rocks scattered in the most romantic confusion, and around it all a girdle of grandest mountains, often flecked with snow, and changing continually from sunshine to storm, one hour covered with clouds, and the next standing out in clear cut beauty and sublimity against the deep blue sky. I confess that it stands out in my memory as the emblem of all that this world can give of peace and beauty and perfect rest; and to remember that these rugged mountains are full of such quiet nooks gives one a blessed sense of the sweetness of God's almighty power, which has delighted itself in such lovely bits of creation. We traveled over a road made of obsidian, which is a sort of volcanic glass, of a reddish black color, and glistened beautifully in the sun. We picked up some specimens, and found it was very much like the lumps that are thrown out of the melting pot in a glass factory when a pot breaks. It is very evident that the whole mountain was at one time a molten mass. It is one of the boasts of the Yellowstone Park that it possesses the only glass mountain and glass road in the world. The road was made by building great fires on the glass mountain, upon which, after a thorough heating, cold water was dashed, thus cracking off large masses of glass, which were afterwards broken into small fragments with small picks and sledges. But I confess that I walked along that wonderful road, and looked up at that cliff in a very common-place frame of mind. For the fact was I had been so unmercifully jolted over the stumps of trees and small rocks of which our "excellent carriage road" was composed that every bit of sentiment except fatigue had been shaken out of me, and I could not help thinking as much of the jolts that had been and the jolts that were to be as of the obsidian mountain. At one of the hot springs along the bed of which we passed, some of our young people barely escaped a serious accident. They had dismounted, and gone down to get a drink at the river, when they saw a hot spring bub it to see the curious phenomenon of a hot spring in a cold river. A crust of geyserite had been formed on the bank, and they rashly ventured upon it, when, to their dismay, it crashed through, and let them all down into the water! Fortunately it was neither very deep nor very hot, as it was tempered by the cool water of the river, and no harm came of it but a temporary wetting. When we reached the celebrated Mammoth Hot Springs, we felt that we were fully repaid for all our journey. The first impression on beholding it is that of a snow mountain, beautifully terraced into exquisitely-shaped and colored basins, and with frozen cascades projecting on each side. At the top of this snowy hill there is a large lake of boiling springs, which is exquisite in coloring, and full of most beautiful formations. It shades off from a deep crimson rim to a snowy white, and then to a deep emerald centre, and seems to be filled with bunches of the finest spun glass, and with thousands of sinter ferns and mushrooms, and stalactites and flowers of all shapes and colors. From this lake the water falls gently and quietly down the hill, dropping as it goes into a series of terraced basins, from a few inches to six or eight feet in diameter, and from one inch to several feet in depth. The margins of these basins were exquisitely fluted and scalloped, with a finish resembling the finest bead-work. Some were a delicate pink, some a lovely lemon, then an ultramarine blue, dark red emerald green, bright yellow, or a rich salmon; each basin perfectly distinct in form and color. The whole formed a scene that baffles description. When we reached the summit it was just sunset, and the evening glow was over it all. The quiet water of the hot lake was rendered lovelier still by the sunset clouds that were reflected in its depths, and far off in the horizon lofty snowy mountain ranges bounded the view, with green valleys and dark canons making rifts in their rugged sides—it was a dream of beauty! But there is no escaping the stern realities of lite, and a camping-out tour has its drawbacks to the unmitigated enjoyment of the female head of the company, who feels the responsibility of having things moderately respectable. As it may interest any other old lady who thinks of making such a trip, with a party of young people, to know what lies before her, I will describe my various grapples each day, beginning with the morning. We slept mostly, as I have said, right flat out in the middle of the plain, with generally not even a shrub to creep behind, and as we all kept near together for protection, it became a matter requiring |