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THE WASHINGTON CONVENTION OF THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION. In reviewing, in our issue of Twelfth month 21st, the published proceedings of the 1907 Convention of the Religious Education Association, we made announcement of the time and place of the Convention of the present year. We may now give some particulars as to program.

This Fifth General Convention will be held in Washington, D. C., Second month 11th to 13th, inclusive. The general theme will be "The Relation of Moral and Religious Education to the Life of the Nation." On Third-day, the 11th, the president of the association will make his annual address on "Enlarging Ideals in Morals and Religion." The subject to be discussed at the first general session is, "How can the Educational Agencies be made more Effective in the Moral Life of the Nation?" On Fourth-day the secretary of the association, Henry F. Cope, will give a Survey of the Work for the past year. The Annual Survey of Progress in Religious and Moral Education will be made by Dean George Hodges of Cambridge, Mass. The subject for discussion at the general session in the evening will be "How can the Moral and Religious Agencies in the Life of the Nation be made more Effective?" Among the subtopics considered will be "Lincoln's Contribution to the Moral Life of the Nation." On Fifth-day the subject for discussion will be "The Education of the Conscience of the Nation." This will include a consideration of the Significance of the Present Moral Awakening, and Newer Ideals of Peace. Among other subjects that will be discussed are: "Practical Experiments in Graded Courses, The International Lesson System, Educational Methods in the Sunday School, Materials for Children's Home Reading, Responsibility of the Home to the Nation in Rightly Starting the Work of Education, What is the Function of Religion in Public School Edu

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[First month 11, 1908

cation? and What is Christian Social Service? Among the speakers at the Convention will be: U. S. Commissioner of Education Brown, Jane Addams, Washington Gladden, President King of Oberlin, George Albert Coe, Professor Jesse H. Holmes of Swarthmore and many others who are taking the lead in this movement.

Nothing could afford a better check to the constant removal to the cities of the farming population all over the United States than the possibility of combining community life with agricultural occupation. Jane Addams.

CANADIAN FRIENDS AND SWARTH-
MORE COLLEGE.

At Friends' regular Quarterly Meeting on Philanthropic work held at Coldstream, Ontario, Canada, Twelfth month 29th, 1907, the subject of the acceptance of Anna T. Jeanes' bequest to Swarthmore College was introduced and after a spirited discussion in which the intense desire was unanimously expressed that the said fund be accepted by the management of the college, a committee was appointed to convey the views of the meeting to said management and also to Friends' Intelligencer for publication. We fundamentally believe that the spirit engendered by intercollegiate games is not in harmony with the spirit of true Quakerism, and that it lowers the ability of the college to give that high moral and intellectual training to both sexes, for which it was established.

A college that is appealing to all our yearly meetings for financial assistance, in insignificant amounts in comparison with this bequest, should weigh well the wonderful opportunities for good which this fund would furnish for the present and for all future time.

Instead of binding future Boards of Managers to a false course, we think it broadens their. sphere of usefulness in right directions.

We are anxious to see Swarthmore in line with highest Quakerism. There are hundreds of Friends' children deprived of such a college course by want of funds which this bequest might help to supply. If this great gift is rejected, we fear that Swarthmore College and our Society at large will be divorced and the college will be deprived of many of the Society's best sons and daughters. Signed by the Committee:

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AMERICAN PURITY ALLIANCE.

ANNUAL MEETING.

The American Purity Alliance will hold its thirtysecond annual meeting on First month 30th and 31st, in Philadelphia, the Social Purity Alliance and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of that city extending a cordial welcome.

The opening meeting, which will be public, will be held in Race Street Meeting House on the evening of the 30th, at eight o'clock. The Annual Business Meeting will be held at 2.30 p.m. the next day, in the assembly room of Holy Trinity Parish House, on 20th Street below Walnut. At this session the president, Dr. O. Edward Janney, will deliver his annual address, after which officers will be elected and other business transacted.

On the evening of the 31st there will be another public meeting in Race Street Meeting House, to be addressed by well known speakers. On the next evening there will be a reception at the Willard, 1921 Arch Street.

A conference to consider the Suppression of the White Slave Traffic will be held on First month 31st and Second month 1st, to which will be invited all those who have come into actual contact with any form of the traffic. By this means may be obtained the experience and point of view of the mission worker, the immigrant official, the police, the lawyer, the physician and the purity associations.

As a full and free discussion is desired, these conferences will not be open to the public, admission being only by card, to be obtained from the Secretary, Elisabeth Stover, 207 E. 15th Street, New York City; or Eliza Worrell, Young Friends' Association Office, 140 N. 15th Street, Philadelphia.

zation of a committee not yet completed but working for the abolition of white slavery, and for the improvement of the local conditions which make that iniquitous traffic possible. The Committee has established its headquarters at 207 East 15th Street, New York City, where there is an office secretary in charge of a specialized library and bureau of information. From the same office Purity leaflet literature, books for circulation, and "The Philanthropist" are sent out. This department, instituted and carried on by the American Purity Alliance, promises to be of increasing value and assistance to the National Vigilance Committee work.

Under the direct auspices and initiative of the National Vigilance Committee five investigators have made careful examination of conditions in cities extending in a chain from New York and the Jamestown Exposition on the Atlantic Coast, to San Francisco and Oakland, California, on the Pacific.

At the Jamestown Exposition care was exercised to secure properly worded contracts where concessions were made, and to see that concessionaires lived up to such contracts. This exercise of vigilance had a wholesome effect. In California some successful work has been done in endeavor to destroy the iniquitous "crib" system in vogue there, and to prevent the importation of Japanese and Chinese slave girls. Recently a new immi. gration law has been passed by Congress which will make it very difficult to import women or girls for immoral purposes.

In several cities, notably Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Buffalo, Philadelphia and Norfolk, a number of employment agencies used as a means of luring women into immoral resorts were discovered. The encouragement and assistance of the National Vigilance Committee lent valuable aid to the authorities in their efforts to secure the prosecution and conviction of the guilty parties, and a large number of these infamous agencies were broken up. In several cities laws have

Two sessions of the conference will be held on Seventh-day, the 1st, at 9.30 a.m. and 2.30 p.m., in the Parish House of Holy Trinity Church. Those who are not able to attend the Annual Meeting are asked to kindly forward their contributions to the Treasurer of the Alliance, Marcia Chace Powell, 975 Summit Avenue, Bronx, New❘ been revised, so as to make such wrong use of York City.

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PURITY ALLIANCE AND VIGILANCE

WORK.

The extent of territory, the States-rights clause in the United States Constitution, the widely varying conditions of the different states of the Union, the rapid commercial and industrial development of a young nation-all have their effect upon the social evolution in which the National Vigilance Committee for the United States of America is a very recent development.

employment agencies legally impossible and much. easier of detection.

From different sources in Nebraska information has been received that young children there are being sold into a form of slavery. Investigation has been undertaken and it is probable that amendments, or a new state law, will be secured for the better protection of children in State institutions.

The time of our field-secretary is at present devoted to the securing of facts in places that call for careful investigation. In the nature of the case, progress along this line cannot be rapid, The record of its first year begins with the organi- ' and it is necessary that caution and great wisdom

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be exercised. Incidentally, opportunities for immediate action are presented, and assurance that good work is being accomplished comes to us almost every day. O. EDWARD JANNEY, ELISABETH STOVER, Secretary. President.

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A FRIENDS' SCHOOL IN AUSTRALIA. By reports to the General Meeting of Friends of Australia, there are now at Friends' High School, Hobart, about 150 children in attendane (about 28 of them boarders). Some 30 are connected with Some 30 are connected with Friends. Through the liberality of English English Friends who collected 1,700 pounds, an additional class-room and a spacious lecture hall, a portion of which might be used as a class-room, had recently been erected. The laboratory was said to be quite equal to those in many good English schools, except that there was not such a stock of apparatus and chemicals. A Friend present spoke of having had the pleasure of meeting Godfrey Williams, the new principal, and his wife at Hobart, and of being at "the breaking up," which was the largest and most enthusiastic meeting of parents he had ever seen. He thought Friends He thought Friends should realise the twofold work of the committee; we had to have a school which would come up to the ideals of Friends, and also to have one which would be popular in Hobart. He was pleased to learn from the Minsiter of Education that the standing of the school and its principal had very favourably impressed him. Other outsiders were of the same view.

FRIENDS IN ENGLAND THE PAST
FIFTY YEARS.

[From The Friend (London).] The more carefully we study the last half-century of Quakerism the greater appears the advance in Christian activity. Anyone who carefully reads the account of London Yearly Meeting in issues of The Friend fifty years ago will, we think, conclude that the way was then being faithfully prepared for the enlargement and progress that have happily taken place. In 1857, Friends were concerned to bear our testimony against Church rates, and published a lengthy and vigorous address signed by Robert Forster. In the United States the awful Civil War was rising to the front, which ultimately resulted in the liberation of the slaves. At home the new meeting-house in Bull Street, Birmingham, was opened, affording enlarged facilities for church work. The number of Friends' meeting houses and missions now in and around Birmingham speaks for itself. Joseph Thorp, Robert Forster, and Robert Charleton sat as Clerks at our Yearly

[First month 11, 1908

Meeting in London. James Backhouse, Benjamin Seebohm, John Pease and Joseph Pease, Peter Bedford, Grover Kemp, Daniel P. Hack, Josiah Forster, Joseph Sturge, and Samuel Bowly were active in religious service during the various sessions. We owe much to these forefathers who upheld the Society, and thereby upheld the truth for which the Society of Friends stands.

The statistics of our membership show a marked advance. But the greatly increased breadth of work which the Society is now sustaining at home and abroad is much more notable. The concern of Friends for foreign work was then mostly evidenced by longer or shorter visits to foreign lands. lands. Now we have more than one hundred missionaries residing in foreign lands supported by the home membership. A still more notable criterion of progress is in Adult Schools. In 1857, Bristol and York made a definite stand for Adult Schools, which was rapidly followed in the next three or four years in many other Friendly centres, William White moving about among Friends with his racy narratives of experiences in men's classes, and their encouraging results. Samuel Bowly and other Friends were zealously advocating temperance reform. The Society of Friends was becoming an active community, and many of its members were throwing themselves into the work of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Peace Society, the Anti-Slavery Society, and into Prison Reform. It might seem at first sight as though much of this energy was being spent in what was then called outside work. But as time ran on, the adage of our Master was manifestly fulfilled, "Whosoever would save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life for My sake shall find it." It is not sectarianism that saves a religious community, but a largehearted life of service for others, under the government of the Spirit of Christ. Friends are as eager as ever for maintaining Christ's testimony against all war. . . Friends have also practically become for the most part a community of total abstainers. Home mission work has made our Christianity more practical.

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SPRING STREET MISSION. Spring Street Mission has for its head center a building formerly used by a Friends' School, 12231225 Spring Street (first street above Race, Philadelphia). Its officers are Samuel S. Ash, president, Swarthmore, Pa.; Elizabeth Lloyd, secretary, 140 N. 15th Street, Philadelphia; Ellwood Heacock, treasurer, 1313 Vine Street, Philadelphia. The object of the Mission is to aid the colored citizens who live principally on Pearl, Wood and Carlton Streets. It has now been in successful operation for more than a year. departments of work are as follows: Gymnasium Class for large boys, in which wholesome talks are given.

Its

Social evenings for small boys and girls. Some preliminary work is done, after which games are played, lantern talks given, etc.

Social evenings for large girls. Same as above.

A SPRING STREET MISSION CLASS.

ceed in your efforts to extend the Mission's usefulness.'

The officers of Spring Street Mission appeal to the generosity of their friends, and the public in general, for funds by means of which to carry on this work.

Nearly all the service on the part of the teachers and workers is voluntary.

All contributions should be sent to the treasurer who will promptly acknowledge them.

CHRISTMAS AT THE GUILD.

There have been so many lovely things done for the Friends' Neighborhood Guild this Christmas time that I think I must try and tell you something about them. Barrels of fruit and vegetables came in from Bucks County through the W. C.

T. U., boxes of clothing and checks from our good friends-some as far away as West Virginia. A widow with limited means wanted to help and sent the two garments she could spare by express and a letter that would do you all good to read. The two branches of Friends in West Grove, Pa., worked together and sent six warm home made comfortables and many other things. The comforts are such a joy and were soon in use. A Bucks County woman, who has an invalid husband to support, sent a homemade fruit cake so that the few old people could have a piece with their Christmas dinners, and it certainly was deeply appreciated. A dear little boy who goes to one of our own schools, in the primary grade, wanted to help the poor children, so he asked his

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Mothers' meetings. To discuss helpful topics of father to let him have a little plot of ground. He home-life and care and training of children. Domestic Science Class. To teach girls plain housekeeping duties, industry and obedience.

First-day (Sunday) School. Including Library.
Savings Fund. A branch of the Starr Center.
Colored Probation Officer.

raised vegetables and sold them to his parents, sending the entire amount of his earnings here, to be given to some poor family. It has been given to two old women who were very destitute. The Friends who gave the "Little Mothers" overshoes and umbrellas should have heard them as they filed out, a happy lot. Three hundred new garments have been given out, and many partly worn ones; also orders for coal, shoes and bedding (over $200 worth). We have had seven entertainments and two more still to come; our home is so small that we have to take them in sections. Judge Beitler, in a letter approving of this It will be a joyful day when we have a house large work said:

The head worker, Anna M. Titus, and assistant aim to look after the welfare of the pupils of each department and their families, upon the basis of friendly visiting, extending advice, where it may be acceptable, and exerting a helpful influence wherever possible.

"I have taken quite an interest in the work of Spring Street Mission not only because it aims to help the colored people in the neighborhood but also because the aid extended to them indirectly benefits all of us. I sincerely hope you will suc

enough to have one for all. We had enough and no one was sent away empty handed. No pleading child was refused and that was happiness. We sent out 63 good dinners and one at New Year's that I did not know about at Christmas. One Friend, through the Public Ledger, has prom

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FRIENDS' INTELLIGENCER.

ised to send two dollars weekly to a poor old man and his sister-in-law, who takes care of him but is now losing her sight. Moorestown First-day school sent three bountiful barrels, Swarthmore First-day school, one fine one. They all helped so much with the dinners. A pair of warm gloves came "for the man who carried the bundles," who is one of our very useful and highly esteemed neighbors.

It is impossible to make mention of all, but I must not forget the big box which came in from Easton, Md., nor the generous contribution from our different schools including George School. It has been a wonderful Christmas with its baptism of loving service and helpfulness. The world seems like one great family and Christ the head. What a power this Christ spirit is, strong and tender and sweet, opening hearts and pocketbooks, and blessing us all, those who give and those who receive. EMILY WILBUR.

Friends' Neighborhood Guild,

151 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa.

Whatever criticism [of the Bible] has taken from us, it has given us back the personality of Jesus, and an understanding of His consciousness of God, as no century since the first has known it. -Edward Grubb.

BOOKS AND READING.

[Any book mentioned in this column, or information as to its cost, may be had from Friends' Book Store, 15th and Race Streets, Philadelphia.]

"There is always the morning air of a soul that breathes freely, and always the fragrance of a loving spirit;" so wrote Oliver Wendell Holmes concerning Whittier's poems. It is this kindliness and spiritual clearness that makes all the pages of the poet's writings beautiful, marking him as the imaginative voice of the noblest type of Quakerism.

The publishers who issued Whittier's works, and who held such honorable relation with him for many years, -it was just a half-century ago this month that he contributed a poem to the opening number of their periodical, the Atlantic Monthly-have put forth two books in recognition of the Whittier Centennial. These are the Life and Letters of John Greenleaf Whittier, edited by Samuel T. Pickard, and the Whittier Memoir, with Autobiographical and other Poems, by Bliss Perry. The first-named is a one volume re-issue of the biography that was published in two volumes in 1894. Its eight hundred pages form a precious record of the fact and bring one into close rela

[First month 11, 1908

tionship with all the rich years of Whittier's long life. The book should have a wide reading in this hundredth year. Its picture of the retired life of the Whittiers, of their happy home, of the boy's aspirations, his renouncements and his gradual conquests and achievements, and finally of the sweetness and cheer and kindliness that increased with every mellowing year, all this forms a biographical record that is precious beyond words.

The letters of Whittier are indispensable for a full understanding of his character; they illustrate and illuminate his poetry in a remarkable way. They bring out unsuspected qualities, too-his humor, for instance, which smiles forth shyly from many a letter and reported conversation, and convinces us of the man's all-round sanity and easy friendliness. Some of his lighter verse is printed among his letters; and here, too, his humor gives a pleasant flavoring, as where he describes a speech he once made to a school committee,

"No parson's sermon e'er was graver,

It had the very pulpit flavor,

Yet with the unction and the savor

Of my enteating

Was doubtless something of the quaver

Of Monthly Meeting."

Pickard's biography shows how the young Whittier absorbed the Bible and the saintly old Quaker journals, thus laying the ground for the power he has with all thoughtful readers, his spiritual charm and his mastery over imperishable sources of contentment and consolation.

The word portrait of the poet's mother is a beautiful one-"Abigail Whittier was esteemed by all who knew her as one of the loveliest and saintliest of women, a person of much native refinement of feeling and manners, with a dignity of bearing and benignity of expression that impressed and charmed all who knew her. placid, equable, elevating almost into religious rites the whiteness of her bread and the purity of her table linen,—a nature simple, noble, direct.”

Bliss Perry's little book gives a vivid, if brief, essay on Whittier's character and poetic message, and reprints a score of the poems that illustrate his life and his creed. "Whittier's poetry," he says, "has revealed to countless readers the patient continuity of human life, its fundamental unity,, and the ultimate peace that hushes its discords. The utter simplicity of his Quaker creed has helped him to interpret the religious mood of a generation which has grown impatient of formal doctrine;" and he speaks with sympathy of certain of Whittier's religious verses as "grave, sweet, quiet poems, devout and consolatory." (Both books are published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co.) J. RUSSELL HAYES.

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