out of darkness into His marvellous light. Then followed the years of prosperity when the principles of our faith were apparently established, and we grew zealous in mere conventional arrangements, then from a living, growing body, attracting on all sides, we came to be sectarian, formal, lifeless. On all sides there were losses in numbers, and a relaxed interest throughout. Individual communion with the Highest and His manifestation in each consciousness which was the old thought brought newly into life by our fathers, fell somewhat into the background as doctrinal points came to the front, and we grew to resemble Martha who was troubled about many things. In the various religious denominations there is a stirring of new life, a starting up of the sap, which will by and by be felt in every branch. In our enclosure, too, there are those who are saying, "Thy son is dead,” and others, more full of faith, cry, Lord, if thou wilt thou canst save him." Let us believe the answer will be, "He is dead, but sleepeth." not THE CHILDREN'S COUNTRY WEEK.-We have before us The Sixth Annual Report" of this very useful charity, and would call the attention of all interested to the need of funds from those dwelling in towns and cities, and the kindly invitation from those living in the country, to aid the "Association" in its work. Who can withstand this appeal, from the report: "We should like to send all the poor children of the city into the country for a healthful, happy holiday. Many of them have but a few days respite from exhausting labor, and these they would, without aid, be obliged to spend in the unwholesome surroundings of their homes. Others come with irresistible pleadings in their thin pale faces, for fresher air and better food; and then come the sturdier little ones who have thus far been able to resist the effects of bad air and crowded courts, and ask for a visit to the cool green country. This holiday is to many of the children the one bright spot in the year, which they look forward to with the keenest delight, and recall with the greatest pleasure. To how many the coveted recreation shall be given, will be determined by the money, we receive from the generous public." Contributions for this purpose will be received at " Friends' Book Association," 1020 Arch Street, Philadelphia. MARRIED. KNOWLES — BUNTING. On Fourthday, Fifth mo. 23d, 1883, at the residence of the bride's mother, in Newtown, Bucks co., Knowles, of Yardley, and Sarah E. Bunting. Pa., according to Friends' order, Thomas C. DIED. dence of her sister, Alice Wright, of Saratoga, EWER.-On Fifth mo. 23d, 1883, at the resiN. Y., after a four days' illness of measles, Eunice M. Ewer, widow of Isaac Ewer, of Mendon, N. Y., aged nearly 81 years. The call of the bridegroom found her watching, with her lamp trimmed and burning, her countenance bearing the impress of a tranquil spirit in unison with the life she had lived. LARRABEE.-On Fifth mo. 26th, 1883, at his residence, in Baltimore, Ephraim Larramember of Baltimore Monthly Meeting. bee, in the 80th year of his age; an esteemed HARTLEY.-On Fifth mo. 26th, 1833, and within an hour of the time of the death of the Baltimore, Md., Monthly Meeting. above Friend, Elias P. Hartley, an Elder of The news of the death of these two valuable and highly esteemed members met most Friends on their return from the funeral of Lydia C. Stabler. LIGHTFOOT.-On Third month 30th, 1893, near White Cloud, Kansas, Emilie C., only daughter of Lee Garrigues and Rebecca Lightfoot, in the 4th year of her age. LINTON.-On Fifth month 31st, 1883, near Chelten Hills, Pa., Elizabeth M., wife of Isaiah W. Linton, and daughter of Rachel N., and the late Thomas T. Mather; a member of Abington Monthly Meeting, Pa. MARSHALL.-On Fifth mo. 30th, 1883, at the residence of her daughter, Emma Clarke, Martha H., widow of Preston Marshall, aged 76; a member of the Monthly Meeting of Philadelphia. SUSANNA WESLEY. The following brief account of the life of Susanna Wesley, taken from "Consecrated Women," is submitted with the desire that some weary and way-worn mothers" who may at times feel almost like fainting beneath their burdens, may be encouraged to press forward on the journey of life with renewed vigor, when remembering what this dedicated woman was enabled to accomplish in training her beloved offspring for a life of usefulness here, and, we trust, happiness hereafter. Susanna Wesley was the wife of a clergyman, whose income never exceeded £200 a year. They were married about the year 1700, and had nineteen children, of whom ten died in their infancy; yet with the nine left it might be supposed the mere struggle for subsistence, and the cares attending on such a family, would have proved an excuse for some neglect of their mental training on the part of the mother. But before we inquire if such an excuse were needed, let us consider some of the circumstances that surrounded her. Her husband was an excellent but eccentric man, too much engaged in the duties of his pastoral office, and in literary pursuits, to give very much assistance in the early education of the children. The parish of Epworth, where the greater part of their lives was spent, is situated in a part of Lincolnshire known as The Island; at that period the resort of a peculiarly wild and lawless population, upon whom the learning and scholarship of Samuel Wesley produced little effect. His parsonage was twice burnt (it was believed by incendiaries, in revenge for some difference of opinion in political matters); and on another occasion the good man was taken off to prison by some powerful adversary for a small debt which a little forbearance would have enabled him to pay. These troubles, as may be supposed, fell heavily on the noble wife and mother. The second conflagration took place in the night; the family were aroused from their slumbers by the cry of" Fire!" but, after great exertions, it was believed all the living treasures were safe. Suddenly, however, it was found that one lovely little boy, of about six, was sleeping alone in a room which had not been entered. The father endeavored to force his way to it, but was met by volumes of smoke and hissing flames; the staircase fell, and thus all access from within was cut off, and the father, in his agony, knelt down to commend the soul of his child to God. Meanwhile, the little one had been awakened by a red gleam on the walls, and, after attempting in vain to escape by the door, he ran to the window, where the little white figure was espied by some kind people who had gathered below. "Go for a ladder!" cried one. "There is no time," answered his neighbor; "but mount on my shoulder and open the casement." It was done, and the child borne safely from the very jaws of the fire into his parents' arms. Well might they kneel down and thank God when they saw their children all safe about them; and well might this son, in after years, when his fame as John Wesley was worldwide, describe himself as literally, as well as spiritually, "a brand plucked from the burning." Thus wave after wave of trouble swept over the heads of this noble pair, but the anchor of their faith held fast. It was some time before their parsonage was rebuilt, and the family, which had been perforce dispersed, was re-collected. At length, however, this was accomplished, although it was found that some good had been lost by the children during the dispersion; and something like quiet settled down around them. Susanna Wesley was almost the sole instructress o her daughters, and of her sons also, with the exception of the classical lessons given to both by their father, until the sons were ready for college. Her methods were peculiar, and might not be necessary or possible in all instances, though eminently successful in this. Strict discipline was of course of the first importance among such a number, in so limited a space, and when so little help of any kind was to be had. For instance, no child was permitted to cry aloud after the age of one year; and strict rules as to food and sleep, etc., were enacted. Perfect honesty, uprightness, and truthfulness were enforced; reverence for their superiors and just as well as kindly feeling among themselves, and courtesy towards those of a humbler class of life, were strictly inculcated. Regular school hours and lessons were observed, and, as an instance of her indefatigable zeal and industry, it is told that, not satisfied with any manual of religious instruction within her reach, she prepared one herself for the use of her children. Her own practice was to spend two hours daily in private and special prayer and communion with her God. Here we have one of the secrets of her strength, and of the calmness of soul which enabled her to accomplish her daily work. She trained her children to a similar habit suited to their years. She also made a point of having special religious conversation with them; and by this means, and afterwards through correspondence, she maintained unbroken the bonds of confidence between her children and herself, keeping open as it were the pathway between their hearts and her own, along which traveled many a loving word of counsel, of warning, or of cheer. Few things perhaps are more touchingly beautiful than to see how her sons, as young and strong men, applied to her for help and advice in their spiritual embarrassments and difficulties, how they poured out their troubles into her willing ear, and were animated by her words and the unspeakable yearnings of her soul for their welfare. Nor was this excellent woman unmindful of the condition of her poorer neighbors. When her husband was absent on Church affairs in London, and service in the church was held only once on the First-day of the week, she made it a practice to invite a few of the people about, to join in her family reading with her children in the kitchen of the parsonage. This became so popular that her room was soon crowded, and she was almost L startled at her own work. She read to them the best sermons she could find in her husband's library, and at length the people begged they might remain during the family worship, which she also conducted during the absence of her husband. Some exaggerated account of all this reached the ears of the worthy man, and he wrote in great alarm; but she was so convinced that she was doing rightly and usefully that she said in reply, after explaining how simple the whole thing was, that if he still wished her to abstain he must command her to do so, and then she should think it her duty to submit. and the ripening of spiritual forces to unfold and perfume life and character must be made the primary consideration. The simple life has its dangers and temptations; but, when the moral basis is laid, there can be no deceptions and no spurious sentimentalism. That is not heroic,-to fly to the woods and court the woodpecker and dine on bark. Perhaps you are needed where you are and your simple, earnest life and ways may be the unconscious influence to elevate your surroundings. Where there are no men, show thyself a man, runs the old rabbinical saying. If it is a vain, babbling crowd that encircles you, a crowd without dignity and grace and culture and abiding faith, let them perceive, not through the conscious exhibition of goody qualities, which would display your conceit, not your character, but through the unconscious beauty, purity, and simplicity of your life, as effortless as the shining sun at dawn, that your example is worthy of imitation. Jewish Messenger. HOW THE ZUNIS WERE RESCUED. The ancient and-so far as appears-hon Thus, amid labor and prayer. wifely submission and family love, life passed away in this remote parsonage among the fens of Lincolnshire; till at length, one by one, the sons left their home, some of the daughters married, and the father was laid down to rest in the quiet churchyard that surrounded the scene or his life-long labors. Then Susanna Wesley went forth, still in outward poverty, and found a home with one or other of her children, until her turn too came to go across the river. She continued to be their best earthly guide and counsellor, and was soothed in re-orable tribe of the Zunis, Pueblo Indians, have turn by their devoted love and filial care. She had the happiness of believing that all her children (though to them, as to herself, life had anything but a thornless path to offer) were conscious heirs of a better and more enduring inheritance. Some of them she saw prominently and extensively useful to a degree that has not often been equaled, and at her peaceful falling asleep she had the joy of believing that, through the riches of redeeming love, she would be permitted to rejoin or to welcome every one of her nineteen children in the better world to which she was hastening. The British Friend. THE SIMPLE LIFE. That is alone worth striving for,-the life which is simple, simplex, without, a fold or duplicity. It is the Ionic order in moral architecture, the life that is simple in its tastes, genuine in its sympathies, strong without adornment. a reservation in New Mexico, not far from Fort Wingate. It is an arid country, a red and yellow sand plain, encircled by a rockwall and sand hills. From the north one slender water-course winds its way, as has been said, "like a long whip-lash" over the plain. The Zunis are farmers, and possess a good measure of Aboriginal civilization, dwelling in clay-built houses in the midst of gardens, with the sheep, pigs, chickens and donkeys of a western ranch. The tribe, besides being a peaceful and industrious people, possess such interesting traditions and customs that the Smithsonian Institute in 1879, sent out a special agent, Mr. Frank Cushing, to study and report on them as a typical tribe of those Indians whose homes, either as cliff dwellings or mason-built houses, are evidences of fixed homes of these ancient people, in contrast to the nomad tribes. The Smithsonian envoy has since become an adopted citizen of the Zuni tribe, and has been able to make record of many interesting ceremonials and customs, some of which have much value in illustrating the early history of America and in the comparative record of religious rites. Is it not possible to resist social tendencies which enslave and degrade, without being needlessly insolent and self-inflated? If men and women were wiser, they would rate themselves higher, and not suffer their natures to From the location of their lands, it will be be dwarfed out of all proportion by the frivo- seen how important to these Indians is the lous atmosphere of small talk and small one stream which waters their otherwise waachievement. They would resist courteously terless territory. Last winter a land claim but firmly what they knew to be counterfeit, was located around the Nutria Springs, which whether fashion countenances it or not. The springs are the source of that one, and the fashion of truth, sincerity, dignity, is the oldest establishment, as was proposed, of a great and best fashion. For moral growth is of cattle ranch there, would have certainly cut more consequence than purple and fine linen; them off. If this had occurred in the neigh borhood of any other tribe, which had not naturalized a white man and penman among them, possibly the whole matter would have been settled, and the land claim granted and the stream cut off, before any other [result than an Indian " outbreak gave notice of trouble. Possibly the new "ranch" at the springs might have been raided by the "savages" as the quickest way of calling attention to their parched fields and cut-off rights. The President's attention was called, however, to the interference with the Zunis this land claim would cause, and to the fact that only by an oversight these springs were not included in the Zuni reservation. The President acted most promptly and justly in the matter. The coveted lands were withdrawn from settlement and a water famine and ruin no longer threaten the tribe.-Public Ledger. It is a favorite speculation of mine that if spared to sixty we then enter on the seventh decade of human life, and that this, if possible, should be turned into the Sabbath of our earthly pilgrimage, and spent sabbatically, as if on the shores of an eternal world, or in the outer courts, as it were, of the temple that is above, the tabernacle in Heaven. What enamors me all the more of this idea is the retrospect of my mother's widowhood. I long, if God should spare me, for such an old age as she enjoyed, spent as if at the gate of heaven, and with such a fund of inward peace and hope as made her nine years' widowhood a perfect feast and foretaste of the blessedness that awaits the righteous.-Dr. Chalmers. MY DEAD. BY F. L. HOSMER. I cannot think of them as dead Who walk with me no more; Along the path of Life I tread, They have but gone before. The Father's house is mansioned fair Beyond my vision dim; All souls are His, and here or there, Are living unto Him. And still their silent ministry As when on earth they walked with me Their lives are made forever mine; Mine are they by an ownership THE WORLD'S UNITED STATES. BY W. C. BENNETT. Oh, when shall we the bless'd day see We look through History's weary years, Of battles, wounds, and woe. They madly murder, pay and bleed, Ah, Christ! two thousand years have passed O, God! that war might cease! Oh, when shall we the bless'd day see Then all the regions of the earth One common good shall know, And life shall be of nobler worth, And freed from want and woe. Then all for each, and each for all, Shall labor as they can, And equal bliss to all shall fall, And Heaven shall be for man. -Herald of Peace. ROYAL FOOT WASHING. The Hofburg, the chief palace of the Austrian sovereigns, has been, says the London Standard, the scene of an ecclesiastical ceremony or act of devotion which is a curious relic of medieval customs. In accordance with a usage observed from time immemorial, on Maundy-Thursday the ceremony of Washing the Feet of the Poor," was recently performed as usual by the majesties at the Imperial residence. In the Middle Ages the custom prevailed at many other Catholic Courts, but in the present day to find a parallel would be impossible, except at the Vatican and at the palace of the King of Spain. The proceedings opened at nine o'clock, when twelve old men, of whom the oldest is in his ninety-third year, and the youngest eightyseven, and twelve old women, the oldest ninety-six, and the youngest ninety, dressed, as usual, in the old German costume, presented to them by the Emperor and Empress, entered the Court Chapel, in order to receive | the sacrament, and were then brought into the Hall of Ceremonies at the Hofburg. On each side of the hall was a table with twelve covers, the one table for the old men and the other for the old women. They are all citizens of Vienna, and many among them showed by their behavior that they have taken part in the ceremony more than once. With the appearance of the clergyman, at eleven, the ceremony began. The Emperor, who was followed by all the archdukes present in Vienna, served the old men, and the Empress, followed by all the archduchesses and court ladies, served the old women at their respective tables. The Corps Diplomatique was, as usual, in attendance, but this year, for reasons generally known, the British, French, and Turkish ambassadors did not appear. All the Ministers were present, as well as Court dignitaries and Privy Councilors, the Chamberlains, the Grand Masters, and the highest representatives of the army. The tables being removed, the Emperor and Empress knelt down in front of each of the old people, took off a shoe and stocking from each, and washed the foot with towels moistened from a golden ewer, held by a chamberlain. After the feet of the old people had been wiped the archdukes and archduchesses replaced the shoe and stocking, and their majesties concluded the ceremony by hanging round the neck of each of the old people a purse with thirty silver florins. The old folks were then sent home in cabs, each with a well-filled box of provisions and wine.-Christian Advocate. A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE. receive, proves that in our hearts we do not believe that "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." We have always opposed the smattering process, which has been fashionable in certain circles, and by which young people have dipped into numerous studies and gained no thorough knowledge of any. Neither can we commend the wisdom of the man or woman who aims to be conversant with everything, who desires to be considered authority on all subjects that are brought up and who divides his energy among so many different objects that it is dissipated like vapor, and leaves no trace. To be " Jack of all trades and master of none," is certainly equivalent to being a very feeble and insignificant person, and carries with it its own natural penalty of contempt and disgrace. Yet neither can we uphold the exclusive devotion to one study or pursuit, and the neglect of all others. There is a certain correlation of studies, that our best educators now perceive, and a knowledge of one serves continually to throw new light upon others. Thoroughness of culture does not demand that any one subject shall be exhausted, but rather that foundation principles be so firmly laid, that they form a safe and easy support for whatever may follow. It does not disdain "a little knowledge," where much is impossible, if only that little be good of its kind, presented in its true order, and held for its real worth. In the same way the man of one pursuit misses it sadly when he scorns "a little knowledge" in others. Even his own proper business will suffer by it and his personal There are some proverbs which are received character will be dwarfed. Each of us ought as unquestionable truths, chiefly from their to strive for excellence in one thing, but we terse piquancy and frequent iteration. "A little also need "a little knowledge" on many others. knowledge is a dangerous thing" is one of We cannot all be lawyers, but we all need these. It is a well-worn adage, and bears some acquaintance with the laws of the land upon it a stamp of respectability which we live in. We cannot all understand medical recommends it to good society. It also science, but we all need some general insight has a degree of plausibility, from the into the laws of health. We cannot all be fact that we often see shallow and con- politicians, but we all want some cognizance ceited people airing their little knowledge of our own public affairs. We cannot all be in a very ridiculous way, and drawing from mechanics, yet we shall all, at times, want to it utterly absurd conclusions. But beyond know how to use tools. It is true that when this it is hard to see what there is to recom- we think upon the many and widely differing mend the hackneyed saying. Certainly every relations of life we sustain and the consequent one in studying any subject whatever, must various duties devolving upon us, we may feel first gain a little knowledge, and on that basis somewhat bewildered at the amount of alone can build anything higher. If we fully knowledge of many kinds that seems essential. believed the maxim it would paralyze our But as time is short and our powers are limefforts for the education of our youth, espe-ited, we must be satisfied with thoroughness cially the instruction of the large masses of in one department and only a moderate prochildren who must lay down their studies at ficiency in many others. "A little knowledge, an early age and enter upon the business of then, instead of being "a dangerous thing," is, life. The very fact that we so eagerly give in truth, one of the chief necessities of our them the small quota that they are able to | welfare. |