standing, but warmed my heart with a certain heat which I had not till then felt from the ministry of any man.

THOUGHTS ON SILENT WORSHIP.

When the meeting was ended, our friends" took us home with them again; and after supper, the evenings being long, the servants of the family who were Quakers, were called in, and we all sat down in silence. But long we had not so sat before Edward Burrough began to speak, and though he spake not long, yet what he said did touch, as I suppose, my father's copyhold, as the phrase is. He having been from his youth a professor, though not joined in what is called close communion with any one sort, and valuing himself upon the in this country (England,) after quoting, "He knowledge he esteemed himself to have respecting the various notions of each profession, thought he had now a fair opportunity to display his knowledge; and thereupon began to make objections against what had been delivered. The subject of the discourse was, 'The universal free grace of God to all man kind.' To this he opposed the Calvinistic tenet of particular and personal predestination; in defence of which indefensible notion he found himself more at a loss than he expected. Edward Burrough said not much to him upon it, though what he said was close and cogent. But James Nayler interposing, handled the subject with so much perspicuity and clear demonstration, that his reasoning seemed to be irresistible; and so I suppose my father found it, which made him willing to drop the discourse. As for Edward Burrough, he was a brisk young man, of a ready tongue, and might have been, for aught I then knew, a scholar; but what James Nayler said had with me the greater force, because he looked like a plain, simple countryman, having the appearance of a husbandman or shepherd. As my father was not able to maintain the argument on his side, so neither did they seem willing to drive it on to an extremity on their side; but treating him in a soft and gentle manner, did after a while let fall the discourse, and then we withdrew to our respective chambers.

"The next morning we prepared to return home, (that is my father, my younger sister, and myself; for my elder sister was gone before by the stage coach to London); when, having taken leave of our friends, we went forth, they with Edward Burrough accompanied us to the gate, where he directed his speech in a few words to each of us severally, according to the sense he had of our several conditions. When we were gone off, and they gone in again, they asked him what he thought of us; he answered them, as they afterwards told me, to this effect:-"As for the old man, he is settled on his lees, and the young woman is light and airy; but the young man is reached, and may do well if he does not lose it."

It is possible that on glancing at the above title, the mental exclamation of some may be, What a trite subject! We have been schooled into it from childhood, and are perfectly familiar with every argument for and against it. Let us at least have something new and striking." But we may remember that there are some things which, though ancient, are ever new. The blessings showered upon us by our Father in Heaven, though so ancient as to have their source in that which is without beginning, are nevertheless "new every morning." The late Job Scott, in one of his sermons preached brought me up out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and bath set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings, and hath put a new song into my mouth," continued, "And though sung by saints on earth, and by angels and archangels in the regions of bliss, it still continues to be a new and living song." And thus we might say that Silent Worship, though offered by saints ou earth, and by a great mul titude which no man can number, together with angels and archangels in heaven (see Revelation vii. and viii.) still continues, and ever will be a new and living worship. We are familiar with the complaints that are so often made against the manner in which our meetings are conducted; but what is the true cause of these complaints? Not that we have so much, but so little silent worship. Oh! we can none of us complain of real silent worship; for in proportion as we have been so blessed as to know any measure of this exercise, we have had to acknowledge not only that all worldly pleasures, but even that all our religious privileges were unworthy to be compared with this unspoken union and communion with our God, and have realizad the truth of the Psalmist's words, "A day in thy courts is better than a thousand," and that in his presence is fulness of joy. No; the irksomeness of which we have complained has been the irksomeness of a formal and dead silence, wherein our minds have been beset by worldly thoughts, the current of which there has seemed no power to resist or control. We have heard that expression peculiar to our religious Society—" silent waiting "-quoted with contempt, yet, is it not full of meaning? Those holy men, the first Friends, seldom adopted any custom or expression without solid ground for it; and it is because in so many instances the empty form has taken the place of the substance that these expressions have lost their deep meaning. Silent waiting would be a term most inappropriately applied to the silence which prevailed over a company whose thoughts were roaming hither and thither, to the farm, to the merchandize, to the family cares, or to the objects of mere

earthly love. It belongs only to those who do | Whence the dulness, whence the lifelessness? wait or watch not idly, not listlessly, but with their loins girded and their lamps burning, as those who wait for their Lord." There is a distinction between waiting and worship; the silent waiter expects the blessing not yet poured out, and "he putteth his mouth as in the dust." The silent worshipper has found what he sought; has been admitted into the presence of his Lord, and he cries, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty."

If our chief objects in life be the pursuit of pleasure, the acquisition of fame, the exaltation of self, what marvel that it is weary work to wait for that which we neither chiefly desire nor expect! "Ah! but it is not always thus," some may reply; "there are many sincere-hearted ones who have waited long, and, as it seems to them, vainly for the promised blessing, until they despair of ever finding it in silence." They need not despair-it will come at last! The soul that diligently seeks the Lord never sought Him yet in vain. Elijah waited long in silence for the promised rain; seven times his servant sought in vain its faintest indications; at last it was a little cloud out of the sea, no larger than a man's hand, and then, following that, how rich the outpouring! The impotent man waited many a weary day at the pool of Bethesda; the healing came at last. So with us; we cannot sincerely, earnestly wait on the Lord, and wait in vain. And all the longing, and the hope, and the unfulfilled expectation?-these may be a very necessary part of that which God works within us, for, as in the outward world, so in the spiritual; the seed comes not to maturity unless it first lie long in darkness and silence underground.

We know well the difference between a living and a dead silence in things less solemn than worship. Let us for a moment picture to ourselves a family group in an hour of expectation or waiting. The father has been absent in foreign lands,-months have rolled away since his beloved countenance last shone upon his wife and children;-fervent have been the prayers offered up for his safety, and many the alternations of hope and fear; but now the prayers have all been answered; the fear is almost at an end, and the hope is just about to be realized. Tidings of his landing have been received, and in half-an-hour he will be at home. Oh! who can measure the throbbings of that wife's heart, as with her children around her, all capable of entering into the intense feeling of the moment, she awaits the But, reverting to that expression, "We want fruition of so many hopes and prayers. They something new and striking," I would reply are waiting! How? Words are needless. that that which is not new to us may still be There is breathless silence; but each knows so to others. Have we no mission of love in what is foremost in the hearts of all the others. this respect to our fellow-Christians; have we Is not this a living silence? and is it not a still-never thought of making known to them that ness fraught with union and communion which words would only disturb? Shall we go on with the picture? The father has actually arrived; there is no more silence now. But the first burst of thankful rejoicing is over-each and all have spoken their glad welcome, though perhaps that one which sprang from the deepest source was spoken only in tears. And now the father himself speaks, and from all save him there is once more an intense silence; but this time it is the silence, not of expectation, but of enjoyment, of fruition, of realization. To apply this simple illustration :-the love of that earthly father is but the faintest shadow of the love of " our Father who is in Heaven ;”—the expectation of those waiting ones is the image only of what is felt by those who truly wait for their God;-their enjoyment when expectation is realized is but the feeble reflection of that foretaste of bliss that will be the portion of all who have thus waited, when they exclaim in adoring wonder, "Lo, this is our God! we have waited for Him, we will rejoice and be glad in His salvation."

Now, it cannot be such waiting or such worship that we pronounce unprofitable, or complain of as irksome, but a dull lifeless silence, unanimated by desire, or hope, or blessing.

which we have profited by and enjoyed ourselves? It is wonderful that this silent union in worship of the hearts of those who are one in Christ Jesus should have been confined for so many years to the Society of Friends; but, I would ask, has not the time come for it thus to be confined no longer? We have been wont to make it our boast that we are not a proselyting society; but, in our desire to avoid proselytism, have we not run to the other extreme, and neglected evangelization (the bearer of good tidings)? Shall we not arouse ourselves and bear good tidings to the nations? If we have found a blessing in united silent waiting on the Lord shall we keep that blessing to ourselves, or shall we not rather spread it abroad in all the world? All around we hear of the sound of revival-the nations have heard the voice of the Lord, and those not yet touched by the sacred fire are longing for the blessing. Shall we not encourage them to wait for it? Shall we not each use our mite of influence to introduce the custom of silent waiting as an essential part of all congregational worship and of public prayer-meetings? What would have been the effect if all the earnestness manifested by those 200 or 300 who used daily to meet in Crosby Hall (for instance) to implore the out

year ago; this, with one from a Friend within the limits of Baltimore Q. M., (both voluntary,) have been applied to the building of the house. HIRAM BLACKBURN.

Dunning's Creek, Bedford Co., Pa., 1st mo. 5, 1868.

Loudon Co., Va., 1st mo., 1868. We have lately had two Conferences of Friends, held at our Meeting House on Firstseveral other books relating to our princiday afternoon, in which parts of our Discipline, of our members, old and young, and proved to ples, were read. They were attended by many be interesting opportunities.

Our First day School is suspended for the winter, but we intend to open it again in the spring.

pouring of the Spirit, had been gathered up into the intense silence of truly waiting souls! "We have tried it long enough," some may answer, "but where are the results?" Think what you say have we really tried it? Have we thus waited in true union of spirit? Can we point out a company of two or three hundred within our border who daily, or even weekly, wait with one heart upon the Lord, not one indifferent there-all else forgotten-and every eye directed singly to Him with earnest breathings for His presence? Oh! for such gatherings as this! The waiting would soon be turned into worship and into praise the voice of prayer, true living prayer-would be heard from some who had no other public vocation : the word of the ministry would go forth in the The colored school is well attended, (mostly name of the Lord, and not be confined to the by men, in the winter,) and the pupils are two or three who may have long borne that making good progress. burden which ought to have been shared by others. If our meetings for worship were like this, would not many come from the east and from the west, and have fellowship with us? Is there any reason why our next meeting for worship should not be such? Let each ask himself this question, remembering that He is faithful who hath pronounced the invitation, Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

Let us believe in it. Let us pray for it; let us wait for it, and, when it is given, let us be come the channels whereby it shall flow forth into all the world.-Friends' Quarterly Examiner. SARAH S.

For Friends' Intelligencer.
LOCAL INFORMATION.

There have of late been quite a number of letters, and some extracts from private ones, published in the Intelligencer, giving local information concerning our Society, which have, I think, been very interesting to a large number of the readers of the paper.

S. M. J.

Verona, Ill., 1st mo. 15th, 1868. In a recent number of the Intelligencer, the wisdom and propriety of establishing a Yearly Meeting for Illinois and Iowa has been alluded to by a Western Friend.

I for one would like very much to have this matter investigated and brought feelingly be fore all those interested, that sentiments on the subject may be freely and publicly offered. We are suffering loss by not having an annual gathering or conference together, for it must be evident to all that the Yearly Meetings to which we belong, (Baltimore and Indiana,) are too remote for a general attendance. There is a large number of Friends in the States mentioned, many of them isolated; and no doubt a more thorough organization would have a tendency to draw them nearer together.

The " race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong," and I hope that the Friends of Baltimore and Indiana may think us worthy of this boon, when it shall come up officially before them. Let us have a general expression through the Intelligencer, our only public medium. A SUBSCRIBER.

LITTLE SINS.

In order to add a little thereto from near the The Spanish have a proverb, "peccadillos mountains of Pennsylvania, I will state that to son pecados," peccadilloes, or little sins, are, day we held our first meeting in our new Meet-after all, sins; a foreign proverb which we ing House. Although not quite finished, it is so far completed that we can hold meetings in it quite comfortably, and expect to have the work all done before the Quarterly Meeting in the Fifth month. The meeting here is not very large, and some thought that we could hardly raise the funds to build a house; but, like Virginia Friends, we were more successful than was anticipated. The first subscription to our house was $10, by a Friend from Long Island, who was here on a religious visit more than a

might profitably naturalize and elect to an important office among us. For how often do we forget that little sins are to be regarded, that we are accountable for them, that they are our most dangerous enemies. One man commits a great sin, and though he repent of it, he is denounced as a vile criminal; another goes on committing what are called "little sins," and never even heeding them, much less repenting of them, but he is accounted a respectable man. Watchman and Reflector.

NOTES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL, FROM PRIVATE | sterile, the villages dreary and miserable, and