246 



FRIEXDS. 



of the conditions of labor, influence the relations 

 between labor and capital, and appoint concilia- 

 tors or arbitrators in the case of strikes. The 

 amnesty bill was passed without the inclusion of 

 M. Deroulede and his fellow-exiles or of the As- 

 sumptionist monks. 



FRIENDS. Friends in America. Besides 

 the regular sessions of the yearly meetings, con- 

 ferences of American Friends to consider special 

 questions were held in Philadelphia in 1829 and 

 in Baltimore in 1849. The first general conference 

 of the yearly meetings was held in Richmond, 

 Ind., in 1887, and was attended by delegates from 

 London and Dublin yearly meetings, and from all 

 the yearly meetings on the American continent 

 except that of Philadelphia, which was unofficially 

 represented. It was afterward decided to hold 

 similar conferences of the American yearly meet- 

 ings once in five years. Such conferences have 

 been held at Indianapolis, Ind., in 1892 and 1897. 

 At the conference of 1897 it was felt that a closer 

 union of the yearly meetings and a uniform disci- 

 pline would be desirable. A committee was ap- 

 pointed in furtherance of this purpose, which pre- 

 pared a draft of a constitution and discipline and 

 published them in May, 1900, for the information 

 and consideration of 'the yearly meetings. No 

 change was proposed in the new constitution in 

 the organization or principles of government of 

 the society, or in methods of transacting business. 

 The democratic principle was sought to be main- 

 tained by continuing the chief legislative, judicial, 

 and executive authority in the yearly and monthly 

 meetings, in the proceedings of which every mem- 

 ber has a right to participate. The brief article 

 on belief was intended as a general statement, and 

 was thought to be all that was now necessary, 

 since the " Richmond declaration " had been so re- 

 cently prepared and had met with general accept- 

 ance. The preparative meeting was discontinued, 

 its business being referred to the monthly meeting. 

 The five years' meeting, adopting the idea of the 

 quinquennial conference into the Quaker system, 

 was designed to be a practical working body, 

 without legislative authority. In it the smaller 

 yearly meetings were given a larger representation 

 than in actual proportion to their numerical 

 strength. The article on belief declares that " the 

 vital principle of the Christian faith is the truth 

 that man's salvation and higher life are personal 

 matters between the individual soul and God. 

 Salvation is deliverance from sin and the posses- 

 sion of the spiritual life. This comes through a 

 personal faith in Jesus Christ as the Saviour, who, 

 through his love and sacrifice, draws us to him. 

 Conviction for sin is awakened by the operation of 

 the Holy Spirit causing the soul to feel its need 

 of reconciliation with God. When Christ is seen 

 as the only hope of salvation, and a man yields to 

 him, he is brought into newness of life, and real- 

 izes that his sonship to God has become an actual 

 reality. This transformation is wrought without 

 the necessary agency of any human priest or ordi- 

 nance or ceremony whatever. A changed nature 

 and life bear witness to this new relation to 

 him. 



" The whole spiritual life grows out of the soul's 

 relation to God and its co-operation with him, 

 not from any outward er traditional observance. 

 Christ himself baptizes the surrendered soul with 

 the Holy Spirit, enduing it with power, bestow- 

 ing gifts for service. This is an efficient baptism, 

 a direct incoming of divine power for the trans- 

 formation and control of the whole man. Christ 

 himself is the spiritual bread which nourishes the 

 soul, and he thus enters into and becomes a part 

 of the being of those who partake of him. This 



participation of Christ and apprehension of him 

 become the goal of life for the Christian. Those 

 who thus enter into oneness with him become also 

 joined in living union with each other as members 

 of one body. Both worship and Christian fellow- 

 ship spring out of this immediate relation of be- 

 lieving souls with their Lord. 



" The Holy Scriptures were given by inspiration 

 of God and are the divinely authorized record of 

 the doctrines which Christians are bound to ac- 

 cept, and of the moral principles which are to 

 regulate their lives and actions. In them, as inter- 

 preted and unfolded by the Holy Spirit, is an ever 

 fresh and unfailing source of spiritual truth for 

 the proper guidance of life and practice. 



" The doctrines of the apostolic days are held 

 by the Friends as essentials of Christianity. The 

 Fatherhood of God, the Deity and humanity of 

 the Son, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the atone- 

 ment through Jesus Christ by which men are rec- 

 onciled to God, the resurrection, the high priest- 

 hood of Christ, and the individual priesthood of 

 believers, are most precious truths to be held, not 

 as traditional dogmas, but as vital, life-giving 

 realities. The sinful condition of man and his 

 proneness to yield to temptation, the world's ab- 

 solute need of a Saviour, and the cleansing from 

 sin in forgiveness and sanctification through the 

 blood of Jesus Christ, are unceasing incentives to 

 all who believe to become laborers together with 

 God in extending his kingdom. By this high call- 

 ing the Friends are pledged to the proclamation of 

 the truth wherever the Spirit leads, both in home 

 and in foreign fields. 



" The indwelling Spirit guides and controls the 

 surrendered life, and the Christian's constant and 

 supreme business is obedience to him. But, while 

 the importance of individual guidance and obedi- 

 ence is thus emphasized, this fact gives no ground 

 for license; the sanctified conclusions of the 

 Church are above the judgment of a single indi- 

 vidual. 



" The Friends find no scriptural evidence or 

 authority for any form or degree of sacerdotalism 

 in the Christian Church, or for the establishment of 

 any ordinance or ceremonial rite for perpetual ob- 

 servance. The teachings of Jesus Christ concern- 

 ing the spiritual nature of religion, the impossi- 

 bility of promoting the spiritual life by the cere- 

 monial application of material things, the fact 

 that faith in Jesus Christ himself is all-sufficient, 

 the purpose of his life, death, resurrection, and 

 ascension, and his presence in the believer's heart, 

 virtually destroy every ceremonial system and 

 point the soul to the only satisfying source of 

 spiritual life and power. 



" With faith in the wisdom of Almighty God, 

 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and be- 

 lieving that it is his purpose to make his Church 

 on earth a po\ver for righteousness and truth, the 

 Friends labor for the alleviation of human suffer- 

 ing; for the intellectual, moral, and spiritual ele- 

 vation of mankind ; and for purified and exalted 

 citizenship. The Friends believe war to be incom- 

 patible with Christianity, and seek to promote 

 peaceful methods for the settlement of all differ- 

 ences betwen nations and between men. 



" It is an essential part of the faith that a man 

 should be in truth what he professes in word, and 

 the underlying principle of life and action for indi- 

 viduals, and also for society, is transformation 

 through the power of God and implicit obedience 

 to his revealed will. 



" For more explicit and extended statements of 

 belief, reference is made to those officially put 

 forth at various times, especially to the letter of 

 George Fox to the Governor of Barbadoes in 1671, 



