Show philadelphia quakers you will seldom hear of the friends work yet there ia is no reform in the country from the public SC hool hooi system to the abolition of slavery of which they have not been luau inaugurators inaugurato rs our drab coated friends isaac and deborah in fact appear to be so exactly th the e opposite in private and public of the able follies and vices which are now degrading us as a people in the eyes of the world that we are tempted to lift them up as examples to this untoward generation the bane the antidote are both before us are we braggarts brag garts here aro arc still stillness nes and modesty do we make a sham show of wealth and prosperity go into their plain brick dwelling on arch street if you would know what reality is from the welcome on the threshold to the dinner on the kitchen fire here is no plated pewter ware no sleazy silks no cheap brussels eis do we squander and drink and 9 gambie gamble 11 ul blo bio our way headlong to poverty who ever saw a begging quaker are our belles forward aud and scheming heming Ec in flirtation and matchmaking maii male ing does the hare sometimes hunt the hounds daughters of deborah wear not the plain garb perhaps but they are aro clothed upon with a wondrous modesty and self respect they are clear eyed and clear brained and always able if need be to earn their own living by other modes than marriage the file lover who woos them will not pay homage as a carpet knight to a sham but as the tile first man to the unknown epure c pure mystery of the first woman do we nind find free love and spiritual affinities necessary to solve the problem of marriage who has heard of a divorced quaker or to come to pettier matters though though just as vital does the worldly housewife find her children nervous her husband driven day after day to a restaurant for something to eat chambermaids a perpetual thorn in her side bide and cooks mere messengers of ian imn satan sent to bubbet buffet her hex let her go into the noiseless nurseries of the friend deborah through giu gli her spotless kitchen and beholding the serene brows brews of mistress and maids lay her hand band upon her mouth and her mouth in the dust and be silent our friendly brethren in philadelphia are about we perceive to give to the indian problem their gravest consideration we are tempted to wish that they would take all these other muddles of life which prove too much for us and with their keen eyes and placid fingers set them to rights now and forever nem new york tribune |