will be by a still, small voice, a sound of gentle stillness. Accordingly, when thou hearest a rustling, however gentle, in the tops of the mulberry-trees, bestir thyself: for then it is that Jehovah, David's son and Lord, offers to rescue thee from the host of the Philistines. THE YOUNG FRIEND.1 THE word "Friend" implies a knowledge of the nature of man and his relations to God. Much substantial knowledge of these relations is found in the Bible, which specifies many occasions in which God has made Himself known to man. The uniform testimony of the men of the Bible is that by obeying the Spirit of God, the Light, that dwelt within them, they were enabled to live a holier and better life. This, meeting the witness in our own hearts, teaches us that Christ is the Light of the World, and by this Light our thoughts are elevated, and we are encouraged to aspire after "immortality and eternal life." In the second chapter of James, twenty-third verse, we find that Abraham was called the "Friend of God," because he believed in God; and when he received a command from God, he willingly performed it, regardless of the sacrifice required of him. A very appropriate name has been chosen for our Society. It presumes upon the fellowship of God, and believes that He reveals Himself directly to His children, not through any outward medium, but that He has placed within each, even within the savage, an illuminating light that will enable him to distinguish right from wrong. Other denominations believe that they must have a medium by whom these commands are to be interpreted, and then related to the people; thus leaving the impression that mankind are not able to understand the commands of God for themselves; that only a few commune with the Father, exclusively receiving wisdom from Him, and claiming for themselves the knowledge of His will. Friends have ever borne testimony against war, slavery; and oppression of any character that would allow undue authority on the part of one over the rights of another; thus to a remarkable degree putting into practice the golden rule "Do unto others as you would that they should do to you." They have ever ranged themselves on the side of freedom, especially of freedom of thought, which leads to unfettered action; and they have cheerfully endured many persecutions in order to be able to transmit to their children the dearest of all legacies-religious liberty. me The founder of our religious society, called "Friends," and by others who inclined to ridicule our belief, "Quakers," was George Fox, who lived in England about the middle of the seventeenth century. This period was noted for the general interest manifested in the various forms of belief among the different sects. He was educated according to the established [1An essay, read at the Commencement, in Sixth month last, of the Friends' Seminary in New York City. The author, Mary Rees was of the class of 1885, graduating at that time.-EDs.] views of that day, but, being of a thoughtful disposition, he soon became dissatisfied with this traditional belief, and doubted whether this was the form of worship that was most pleasing in the sight of God. He believed that God teaches His people Himself, and after many inward struggles he made his views. publicly known, being earnest and sincere in his belief, and still retaining it through all torments and trials; many persons having similar views united themselves with him and likewise fearlessly advocated their convictions. However small or apparently trivial appeared the requirement, they felt they must yield unqualified obedience to the Divine monitor within. Thus, they went on, step by step, unto the "fullness of the perfect day,” and they have left abundant evidence to prove that, having been "faithful unto death," they were worthy to receive the crown of life.” The young Friend is the ward of the Society; to him belongs the inheritance of the views and principles that have been maintained for so many generations. That he may appreciate it and be qualified to receive it, a duty, devolves upon the mothers and fathers of to-day; having the responsibilty of the future welfare of the Society in their power, they ought to educate their children as much in its time-honored belief as possible. The young Friend, in hope and joyfulness, should walk in fellowship with the discretion of experience and the serene faith of the aged. The true church is the garden of the Lord, which is perpetually bearing its fruit, and whose very breath gives health to the nations. The young people are the hope of the Society, the promise of the future; thus the Society depends upon their interest and co-operation. In but a few years the young people of to-day will be the middle-aged, upon whom a great part of the work will rest. If they be not encouraged in the work by those who are older, a part of whose duty it is to draw them into action, they will seek it in other fields. As is the youth so will the future condition of the body be. If they be thoughtless as regards their conduct to their seniors, cold, indifferent and doubting, then the body will lack interest in all forms of labor in the church. If they be thoughtful, earnest in all their acts, diligent, and true, then the body will flourish, giving contentment, peace and happiness to all those who are connected with it and with God our Father too. Wherever there is wrong to be relieved, justice to be done, truth to be proclaimed, there should the young Friend take his stand, and labor with all the strength given him of God. True to the glorious inheritance he has received, he should not only see that it suffers no loss in his hands, but that it grows richer and fairer as time goes on. Within the pale of the organization are the best helps to the highest possibilities, and its aim is to encourage practically every virtue. Character, when established upon such a foundation, adorns the temple of God with imperishable graces, which are the real glory of this world and the passport to their full fruition in the world to come. MARY REES. All that weighs heavily now is the state of our beloved society. To build it up in its former excellency we must come down to first principles and maintain that simplicity which Christianity requires; no new way has been open to Heaven, the cross and self-denial are the rules laid down. Immediate revelation of God's holy will and obedience to it, is the key that opens into the holy of holies where Christ dwells; and meekly to confess him before men secures us a place by his side. The lowest place at my Lord's feet, Farewell, SARAH HUNT. Jennerville, Pa., Seventh month 27th, 1885. For Friends' Intelligencer and Journal. A REMINISCENCE OF SLAVERY TIMES. YOUNG men setting out in life, and encountering for the first time the difficulties usually met with, and which prove so discouraging to many, will do well to read the story of Charles Reese, who was born a slave in Southampton county, Virginia, his mother of course a slave, and his father a white overseer on an adjoining plantation. He was fortunate in having in his early life kind masters, but at the age of twenty-five, on the death of his master he was advertised to be sold. He exerted himself to find a good master, and was fortunate in procuringa certain kind doctor to become his purchaser and who paid for him $950. After some two years service in the Doctor's family, he obtained permission to work on his own account by paying his master ten dollars a month, and soon after secured a situation as waiter, the business of his life, with a man in Richmond, who was about going to New York to live. The master was obliged to go and make oath to the capta a of the vessel as to his ownership of Charles, and his consent to his going on the vessel, before the aptain would take him. The new employer paid the passage money and so they departed. The master's friends made mer er what they considered his folly, saying that "the nigger" would never come back, and that it was a clean loss of some $1500. The master, knowing Charles's sterling truthfulness and honesty, silenced them by betting $100 against a cravat that J Charles would return when he said he would, and won his bet and turned the laugh the other way. After this further proof of his trustworthiness, Charles was allowed to go when and where he pleased, spending generally his winters in New Orleans and his summers at this (Hot Springs), or other summer resorts, but paying regularly the price of his time to his master. He was steadily saving money, the amount of which he did not take any special pains, however, his master should know. In the meantime he married a slave woman in Richmond where he made his home, and had two children, when, at the age of forty, in 1857, after having paid his master $10 a month for ten years, or an aggregate of $1200 in cash, he proposed to his master to buy himself out and out, which was finally agreed to, and $1100 fixed as the price. Charles placed the money in the hands of a colored friend on whom the master was told to call, the services of an attorney were obtained, the deeds of manumission duly executed, and after due legal notice free papers obtained from the court allowing him to remain in the State as a free citizen. But a year or so had elapsed after this when he was horrified to learn by a letter from his wife Emily, that she and their two children were about to be sold. He hastened to Richmond and found it but too true; they belonged to an estate which had to be settled, and he was told that if he had any person to buy them some "nigger traders" would be got to appraise them, and they were valued at $1600, and Charles arranged for their purchase, but succeeded in getting the amount reduced to $1250, one-third cash, one-third in six months, and the balance in nine months, security being given for the last two payments, all of which he met as they matured. A few years after the close of the war, in addition to having bought himself, wife and two children for an aggregate of $2350, he found himself able to purchase a house and large lot of ground in Richmond on which his children have since built for themselves three other houses. Though wholly without education himself, he has had all his eight surviving children educated in the public schools, in which two of his daughters are now teachers at fair salaries. Charles is now at this place, where he has spent many summers. and is in the charge of some of the baths for men, as his wife is for some of those for women. This story of their lives has been taken from their own lips and their truthfulness verified by others. Hot Springs, Va., Seventh month 27th. AMONG SO many, can He care? I asked. My soul bethought of this: In just that very place of His T. H. S. -A. D. T.Whitney. Give what you have. To some one, it may be better than you dare to think. To give thanks before partaking of the food at the family board is a custom that prevails among all Christian peoples, and all with the exception of the Roman Catholics and the Friends, use some form of words. The Roman Catholics make the sign of the cross, and the Friends, when the custom is observed, sit a moment in silence. The Psalmist declared, “It is a good thing to give thanks unto God," and the Apostle Paul writing to the Ephesians enjoins the giving of thanks "always for all things unto God." It cannot be doubted that all who in sincerity and and in truth remember the Giver, as they take their seats around the table, will find it a profitable service. There is a dignity in this observance that befits the occasion, and it has an educating and refining influence over the younger members of the family. This will be readily acknowledged when one sits at meat with those who do not observe the custom, and then makes a social visit where the practice is adhered to. If for nothing more than the moment of quiet it brings to the family circle three times a day, it were indeed a blessing to any household, but more especially where there are little children. And when we remember towards whom the silence is offered, the reverent spirit that it awakens leads to a thoughtful consideration of "Him from whom all blessings flow," which the children will hardly fail to discern and in some measure enter into. We have need to gather our children closer to the Divine Father, and how better can this be done than by our own example of reverent thanks, showing them how near we feel Him to be to us? It was a great consideration to the Hebrew that he worshipped the God of his fathers, and it was a very precious thought to him that the promises made to the fathers would be fulfilled to the children if they followed in the footsteps where they had trodden. We as a people have not given this the consideration that it deserves. We have left the children to work out these problems of religion, as it bears upon daily life and example, for themselves. The vitality of every requirement has not been presented to the youthful mind, nor have we a right to expect that it will, seeing that the child is not brought into the world full fledged, with all the powers of mind and body in working order. It is to all intents and purposes a new creation, and has to be guided into all knowledge by the wisdom of those who have gathered from preceding generations the first glimpses of the truth, that is to lead along in the path of instruction and experience, until the mind is thoroughly and completely furnished unto every good work. The intuitions of the child are in the line of right, but he is timid and uncertain, he must have some one that he has confidence in to open the way for his best thoughts to find an utterance. How often have all of us in our childhood had questionings and misgivings, that we could not answer for ourselves. Happy has it been for us, if in the reverent spirit that pervaded the home circle we have found where we might carry our little perplexities and gain ready, willing and attentive hearing. It is the want of this sympathy experienced by the child in its more thoughtful moments that builds up little by little a wall of division which is seldom in after life broken down. There is no element of the child mind so delicate and so easily crushed, as the religious. It will not bear rude or careless handling, nor will it develope in an atmosphere that is inimical to its growth. Some heart must touch its chords tenderly and in sweet harmony if the music of its holiest symphony is awakened. Happy will it be if that touch comes from the parent, for both shall grow together in sweet companionship and all the aroma of best living will distil-all its sweetest notes will be awakened where its true place must ever be-in the sacred enclosure of the family. DEATHS. GILLINGHAM.-On the morning of Eighth month 12th, at his residence, Moorestown, N. J., Yeamans M. Gillingham, in his 68th year; a member of Chester Monthly Meeting, N. J. JENKINS.-At the residence of his daughter, in Germantown, N. Y., Sixth month 1885, to which place he removed a short time before his death, Nathan C. Jenkins, a devoted member of Chatham Monthly Meeting. Very truly we may say, an upright man has been removed from our circle. A kind husband, a loving father, grandfather, and a truthful friend. Peaceful in his neighborhood; speaking evil of no one; and dealing justly with all; a steady attendant of our religious meetings, at the head of which he sat for many years, and where we enjoyed the precious privilege of looking upon his placid countenance. We miss the pressure of his warm hand at the meeting-house, and at his pleasant home in Chatham. His work was all done. His accounts with every man are settled and closed up. His illness was brief; his departure very peaceful. And may we all remember that there is nothing worth living for but to love the Lord, do all the good we can, and see to it that we are prepared to die. HAINES.-In West Chester, Second-day, Eighth month 10th, Lavinia Haines, in her 56th year. HARLAN.-In Hamorton, Pa., Eighth month 11th, Hannah V. wife of Thomas Harlan, in her 78th year. HAWLEY.-At his residence, in West Chester, Pa., on the morning of the 17th inst., Thomas P. Hawley, in the 68th year of his age; a member of Birmingham Monthly Meeting. MILLER.-At Chicago, Ill., Seventh month 30th, 1885, Sarah Ann Miller, wife of the late Edward Miller, aged 67 years; a member of Purchase Monthly Meeting of Friends. SHARP. Suddenly, in Philadelphia, Eighth month 6th, Benjamin H. Sharp, of Mt. Laurel, N. J., in his 58th year. YARDLEY.—At Mt. Washington, Md., Seventh month 31st, 1885, Charles F. Yardley, in his 79th year; a member of Baltimore Monthly Meeting. IN For Friends' Intelligencer and Journal. N the uninstructed times of early childhood, we looked up to the blue arch of the sky, and imagined that in the soft fleecy masses of gently floating clouds was a bliss and perfect joyance beyond all things of earth. O, to get up there and float along with the soft cloud in the blue sky! Suppose the childish theorist is quietly assured, upon authority not to be doubted, that there are men now living who are destined to build a comfortable hotel for 1000 people up in that heavenly region of holy purity and calm, and that in this present life we shall go up thither in the hot summer-time and dwell as long as we desire in the sky land, and only return to the hot, weary, noisy earth when we are tired of our skyward tabernacle, how could we have credited the report. Childish theology credits the sky regions with being the very heaven of blessedness reserved for the righteous, and childish theology does not like to have its ideals dissipated. We have journeyed southward along the valleys of the mountains, until we have reached the narrowest part of the Appalachian system, where the two outside ranges seem to be so denuded and washed away that they are the lowest. Here, on the boundary line of North Carolina and East Tennessee, rises the lofty, short range of the Roan mountain, whose peak ascends skyward 6,394 feet above the sea. Upon this height is sufficient space for a great hotel and necessary supplementary buildings. The climate is equable, and the thermometer in summer varies from 50° to 70°. The vegetation is that of the latitude of the lower end of Hudson's bay, and belongs to that proper to a much higher altitude-perhaps to that of 5000 more feet, or to near 12,000 feet. A recent observer, a correspondent of the Nashville Union says that, "As during the ages the mountain has worn and wasted away, the higher vegetation has descended, and now there is on the top of Roan over 1000 acres of rye grass, forming a thick velvety turf, which will fatten cattle more in six weeks than will four months feeding in the lower valleys." We enquire why the name Roan is applied to this mountain, and this is the received theory: The name is due to the color. The color is due to the dense masses of balsam fir, intermingled with rhododen dron, of which there is one solid patch of 400 acres on the summit. The flowering of the Rhododendron Catawbiense gives such a mass of color in June as justifies the name of Roan mountain. Other rich colored plants occur in great masses, among which is the golden rod, which makes a great golden pattern. And so we will go up to this wondrous place, and try what we may learn in regard to its noble scenery and get a glimpse of its botany. A narrow-gauge railroad connects Roan Mountain station and Cranberry Forge with Johnson city on the Norfolk and Western line, and by means of a most astonishing Titanic piece of engineering, it reaches its present terminus. The road is pronounced one of the most romantic in the world, and I can give no adequate idea of its character. One cannot ride along it without wonder and awe. And why this enormously costly short road? It is the Cranberry black magnetic iron ore, the only deposit of the kind, quality and peculiarity known in the world. Vast stores of mica deposit also enrich this mountain, and furnish employment to the road. I suppose there is hardly a limit to the mica market of the world, nor is there a known limit to the mica deposit of the Roan mountain. Great wealth is here for somebody, and we feel an enthusiasm for the prosperity of the present proprietors, General John T. Wilder and others, who have invested in Cranberry iron mines. The Cranberry ore carries about 52 per cent. of iron, and the vein is 148 feet thick and of unknown depth. The present shipment is 300 tons a day to Roanoke, Va., and Ludlow, Ky. No limestone is needed for flux, for the ore carries its own flux in the lime and ammonia contained within itself, making it the equivalent of any 62 per cent. ore. In the centre of the iron district General Wilder has purchased 13 square miles of country, on which are thirty veins of iron running over 30 feet in thickness. Up on the top of the mountain is in course of construction a great hotel, in which is to be used more than 1,000,000 feet of balsam fir and black spruce, cut upon the spot and prepared in his steam saw-mill. This skyward hotel is twelve miles up the mountain by a properly engineered road, but the route is very bad from the incessant rains, and it is promised that next season the summit will be reached by a cable railway from the foot of the mountain. Yes! we will go up the mountain, and try to scale once more the steep and craggy pathway of the gods. But terrible is the ascent. Great mud holes, and stones that threaten to jolt us down the steep. The skill and vigilance of an excellent driver and the unfailing good humor of our company comfort us, and we go all the way through densest shade, and our lunch for three does duty for seven. All day long we toil on, step by step, jolt by jolt-astonished by the beauty of the floral display, by the mighty size of the lords of the forest, by the glimpses of far-reaching scenery, and the awful badness of the roads. Just at sundown we emerge from the forest gloom to the top of the mountain and find a delicate shower falling, and as it passes by, a rainbow of great intensity remains, arching the abyssmal depths of mountain gorges. There is yet a weary stretch of difficult road after we enter the fenced-in domain of General Wilder. We are weary and back-sore before the hotel is reached, and pause at length in the presence of an extensive new white building, where we are to find a home for a season. But the builders are yet hard at work, everything is unfinished, there is but little pretence of comfort, there is no skilful cooking, and the best rest we can get is that of comfortable spring beds, where sleep and dreams come quickly. We waken at the dawning strangely rested-ready to rise and try how we may best improve this opportunity in lofty cloudland. Alas! it is cold, damp, chill-a region of mist impenetrable. The walks are steep, rough and hard, and it is only after hours of waiting that the glorious mountain panorama is unfolded around us. To the north, across the broad valley of East Tennessee, we can see 150 miles, reaching over into Kentucky. To the northwest we see 150 miles into West Virginia. To the northeast we see 150 miles into old Virginia. To the south, 110 miles, over the Blue Ridge, across North Carolina, into South Carolina. To the westsouthwest, 150 miles over the mountain ranges of western North Carolina. I cannot describe the wondrous and the ever varying beauty of the scenery of this cloudland. It is incomparable and indescribable, and is a grand memory for the remaining portion of mortal life. We are above the ordinary thunder storms of the valleys, and at night we can often look down from our elevation upon a pyrotechnic scene of strangeness and splendor beyond compare. We had hoped that many botanizing strolls might be here enjoyed, but we found that the great elevation makes the air much less buoyant than usual, and we despair of accomplishing much in original investigation. Prof. Asa Gray, the botanist of Harvard, thus described the flora of Roan Mountain, to the botanists of the British Association last August, at Montreal, Canada: "But at this season a more enjoyable excursion may be made to the southern portion of the Alleghany or Appalachian Mountains, which separate the waters of the Atlantic side from those of the Mississippi. These mountains are now easily reached from Philadelphia. In Pennsylvania, where they consist of parallel ridges, without peaks or crests, and are of no great height, they are less interesting, botanically, than in Virginia; but it is in North Carolina and the adjacent borders of Tennessee that they rise to their highest altitude, and take on more picturesque forms. On their sides the Atlantic forest, especially its deciduous leaves portion, is still to be seen to greatest advantage, nearly in pristine condition, and composed of a greater variety of genera and species than in any other temperate region, excepting Japan. And in their shade are the greatest variety and abundance of shrubs and a good share of the most peculiar herbaceous genera. This is the special home of our Rhododendrons, Azaleas and Kalmias; at least, here they flourish in greatest number, and in most luxuriant growth. Rhododendron maximum, which is found in a scattered way even as far north as the vicinity of Montreal, and Kalmia latifolia (both called Laurels) even become forest trees, in some places; more commonly they are shrubs, forming dense thickets on steep mountain sides, through which the traveler can make his way only by following old bear-paths, or by keeping strictly on the dividing crests of the leading ridges. Only on the summits do we find Rhododendron Catawbiense, parent of so many handsome forms in English grounds, and on the higher wooded slopes the yellow and the flame-colored Azalea calendulacea; on the lower, the pink A. nudiflora and more showy A. arborescens, along with the common aud wide-spread A. viscosa. The latter part of June is the proper time to explore this region, and if only one portion can be visited Roan Mountain should be preferred. "On these mountain tops we meet with a curious anomaly in geographical distribution. With rarest exceptions, plants which are common to this country and Europe extend well northward. But on these summits from Southern Virginia to Carolina, yet nowhere else, we find, undoubtedly identical with the European species, Lily-of-the-Valley." The Leiophyllum buxifolium is called the heather of this mountain; but it is only the Sand Myrtle of the sandy pine barrens of New Jersey and the mountain tops in Virginia and southward. It is a pretty heatherlike plant and interesting. Orchids of extraordinary growth, Geum, which is quite a new acquaintance to me, and many other of the choice things of the mountain are yet in their glory, and as we go down to-morrow we may make other fortunate discoveries before leaving this august mountain. The soil is of such extraordinary richness no one can be surprised at the luxuriance of plant life on the great sides of the Roan; nor can we see why the trees that roof over the dark depths should not be so lordly in dimensions as to call up the wonders of California. When will we come to the Sky-land again? The answer might well be-when there is a better way of getting up and down, and when we want persistent humidity in the weather. Then too, the hammers and saws are going incessantly, and the rooms are being created rapidly, and as soon as one is done it is furnished and occupied, and the great hotel progresses. There is abundant heating, and the supply of lumber for building and firing is so apparently infinite that no one thinks of economy. Elaborate dressing is of course out of the question in this land of the mist, and the guests amuse themselves in their warm, substantial garments. Gen. Wilder will put the place in charge of competent managers; order and neatness will come with completeness; and suitable furniture will make all things cozy and sufficient. Upon the ample galleries will be resting places, and in the mighty procession of the mountains, the people of northland and of southland will grasp hands in helpful fraternity, and "the thoughts of men will widen with the progress of the suns." On the 12th of Eighth month we took leave of Cloudland and essayed our descent down the terrible steeps. There were various disasters in the breakage of our wagon, and the sore trial of the faith and patience of our faithful driver, but we accomplished the |
