are three volumes recently published for the neighborhoods could leave their planting to be use of families and First-day Schools-" Fa-present; but in this we were agreeably disapmiliar Talk with Children," in " Part First" and "Part Second," and "Biblical History Familiarized by Questions"-all having the same end in view, viz., to draw the mind away from that which has a hurtful tendency, and lead it into a field rich with fruit that will not only be pleasant to the taste, but healthful to the spirit. The Fourth Annual Reunion of Friends' Social Lyceum took place on the grounds of Swarthmore College, on the 15th inst, and was held to the satisfaction of the large concourse of Friends who assembled on the occasion. The day, though warm, was pleasant, and many from the city and adjoining counties, and some from New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware, participated, and exchanged the friendly greetings which the occasion was calculated to inspire. One of the pleasant features of the scene was to observe so many in advanced life participating with the young in innocent relaxation and enjoyment. Owing to the excellent arrangements of the Committee, every thing necessary for comfort and enjoyment was provided. Entire order prevailed throughout, and nothing occurred that we heard of to mar the pleasure of the day. The literary exercises were of an unusually interesting character, and two of the articles read on the occasion appear in the present number. For Friends' Intelligencer. FRIENDS ON THE PRAIRIES OF IOWA. A year ago, in the Sixth month, the Prairie Grove Quarterly Meeting was opened under a feeling of solemnity not soon to be forgotten. On the 8th inst., the Meeting for Ministers and Elders convened, and was favored to realize a unity of spirit and judgment, and a sensible evidence of the covering of Divine Power. On First-day previous to the public meeting the First-day School was held, in which an excellent and impressive article was read from the Intelligencer After the Bible reading, a season was devoted to conversation and comments upon what had been read, which interested many. The school was closed by reading a chapter in the book of James, when the hour arrived for the public meeting. On this occasion the house was completely filled, a number being unable to find seats. Owing to the very remarkable backwardness of the season, it was not anticipated that Friends from remotel pointed, several having travelled over 140 miles ESSAY Read at the Fourth Reunion of Friends' Social Lyceum, on the Swarthmore College Grounds, Sixth month 15th, 1867. When invited a few weeks since to contri bute something by way of essay for the present occasion, I felt a strong desire to comply, and ran over in my mind some of the subjects which seemed most appropriate and calculated to call forth agreeable ideas and feelings. The one at last selected will not I fear prove to be of this agreeable character; but it had previously so occupied my thoughts that, to write at all, it was necessary to write on that. In its treatment I may approach so near the confines of censure and sarcasm, that if they are overstepped I must plead the necessity of the case. There is a strange power, whose fantastic freakishness is only equalled by its unreasonable despotism, and which is withal so insidious, that even while we protest against it, it is silently leading nearly all of us captive. Unlike most despotisms, which control only the actions of men, but leave thought free, this power tyrannizes over thought, taste and sentiment, compelling its subjects by some subtle process to adopt and even to admire that which but a short time before they condemned. When we have given the name of Fashion to this mysterious something, we have not defined it. The question still arises, What is it? whence originates this influence which leads so many captive, enters our homes uninvited, models our dress, our social intercourse, and our household arrangements? I imagine that of this large company not one could answer the question satisfactorily. Some perhaps would say, It is the force of custom. But custom is steady and regular, and does not tolerate changes, which is certainly not a characteristic of Fashion. Custom is congenial to that faculty of the mind which dislikes change, while Fashion appeals to that which loves change. Some would say it is imitation-that propensity ex isting more or less in all-to do as they see grieve and protest. When a young woman other people do. No doubt it is to this propen-walks in the public streets, wearing a man's hat, sity that Fashion chiefly addresses itself, but we have come no nearer to defining Fashion; for the question then arises, who are the other people whom we imitate, and who are they who influence them? Is there a league, a secret association, where these things are all settled? If so, there is some hope that a vigorous attack may disband it! But, giving up as hopeless the attempt to define this power, let us look at some of its strange freaks, which of latter time have been so odd and ludicrous as to suggest the hope that the old tyrant is in his dotage, and may ere long pass away. We will take as an example a and wearing it, too, in a manner that would characterize a young man as "fast" and "rakish;" when, like the untutored savage, she ornaments nearly every part of her dress with beads; when, like him, she perforates her flesh that she may introduce a pendant ornament; when she trails the finest and costliest fabrics in the dirt, with a disregard of cleanliness worthy also of the savage; what shall we say but that we are only so far civilized as Fashion will allow us to be! Oh! for the zeal and earnestness of an Apostle, to show to woman how she has surrendered to Fashion her dignity, her influence for good, and her high destiny. mischievous in its effects. It leads the young to believe that Fashion must be followed until a special visitation shall compel them into that sobriety of dress and manners which is regarded as peculiarly the outward sign of a religious life. Many, very many, have been thus redeemed. But should any higher motive be needed to induce a woman to dress herself properly than good sense and good taste? Divine power can indeed break the chains of the bondman, but should the chains ever have been placed upon him? woman's bonnet. The bonnet in its first con- The idea that prevails among Friends that a ception was evidently intended as a covering special visitation of Divine grace can alone refor the head, superadded to the natural cover-deem the mind from the bondage of Fashion, is ing for protection out of doors. Accordingly it had a crown, which fixed it firmly on the head; a front, which projected sufficiently to protect the face from sun and wind, and to some extent from the rude public gaze; and a cape, which protected the back of the neck. This bonnet, per se, admitted within its limits of some deviation in form, and much in material and ornament, according to the taste of the wearer. But in no article of woman's dress has Fashion played such pranks. The crown of the bonnet has been lowered and lowered, until it is now nearly obliterated; and various contriv- Although the distinctive form of dress worn ances have been devised to prevent its falling by Friends may not be the very best that could off the head. While this process was go-be adopted, and may indeed have been producing on with the crown, the front has been curtailed and curtailed, until it has nearly disappeared; and the cape has shared the same fate. The antiquarian who in a future age stumbles on the little disc now worn by the votaries of Fashion on the top of the head, and most absurdly called a "bonnet," would be somewhat at a loss to discover, from its shape, for what it was intended; and even if some quick-witted woman should suggest that perhaps it was worn as a head-dress, the wonder might still be why it was worn at all. The Friends' or plain bonnet (as it is technically called) has stood its ground without much change amid the mutations of fashion; and many a wearer has congratulated herself, with a feeling of thankfulness, that she was not compelled to change it for one of a less convenient shape at the command of a power she despised. It has stood, too, an unmistakable evidence of what a bonnet was originally intended for; a fact which but for it might have been lost sight of. A "plain bonnet" is a recurrence to "first principles." Did this wayward sprite, Fashion, confine itself only to fantastic freaks, we might be tempted to smile at them; but when it invades the domain of feminine dignity and delicacy, we must cease to smile in order that we may tive of evil, because too much stress has been laid upon it as a badge of religious fellowship, yet it has been found by many to be a refuge in these days of rapid and absurd fluctuations in fashion. Within its limits, some indulgence in individual taste and some convenient changes are admissible, while its rational permanency obviates the necessity of much thought and attention whenever a new article of attire is needed. I believe if the idea of what is called "making a profession of religion" could be disjoined from the "plain dress," many, even among the young, would adopt some approximation to it, on account of its convenience, neatness, economy and becomingness. If this association of ideas cannot be broken in upon, and the "plain dress" must continue to be avoided by those who are not willing to assume all that it implies, sensible women, who despise the tyranny of Fashion, while in some measure they feel compelled to submit to it, should adopt some alternative. In the suppression of many of the evils that afflict humanity, the principle of association has been resorted to with some success. The evils of war, of slavery, of pauperism, have had public attention called to them in this way, and have no doubt been lessened by united action. Why should not women avail themselves of some sities, will be abolished, and in the liberty, the enjoyment and the development of a higher order of faculties which will ensue, society will look back with astonishment, and ask, "Were these things ever so?" "Did women ever sacrifice good taste, convenience, and even modesty at the bidding of some one, they knew not whom? and did the sensible and high-minded bow down also, while they inwardly protested against it?" Fancy might run riot in depicting the change that would be produced were this tyrant laid low. Many a young woman whose appearance and manners suggest the idea such means to loosen the terrible bondage of forms, many social customs, many abuses digniFashion? If a woman singly has not the moral | fied by Fashion, and now considered as necescourage to resolve that she will adopt no fashion that makes her appear bold and unfeminine, none that is injurious to health, none that make scrupulous cleanliness impossible, none that are unbecoming, inconvenient or too expensive, then let her strengthen her feeble will and supply her want of independence by association with others who are prepared practically to protest that they will be slaves no longer. If such an association could be formed, large enough and influential enough to tell upon a community, Fashion would be foiled with its own weapons, and it might come to be the fashion for each one to dress according to her of a butterfly existence would be transformed own taste and her own sense of fitness, without danger either of forfeiting her position in society or of being supposed more religious than she really is. into a being she would herself scarcely recognize. Powers she was hardly aware of possessing would be discovered, and the time, the thought and the means once spent in votive offerings at this shrine would go to enrich and beautify her whole nature, making her existence not an ephemeral one, like the butterfly, but enduring in its influence, because a part of the fabric of Christian Civilization. Although it is in dress that the tyranny of Fashion is most seen, yet there is a social emulation springing from the same source, which creeps into almost every department of life, repressing spontaniety, originality and independence of character, and doing its utmost to In the reform of many of those social habits reduce all to a dead level. It strains every en-imposed upon us by custom, we should find a ergy in those whose means are narrow to keep up as nearly as possible in style of living with those whose means are ample; it fashions our entertainments without regard to our pecuniary means, transfers the habits of the city to the country, however inconvenient and unfitting, and substitutes a restless craving to do as others do for that calm serenity which is the portion of those who assume nothing and are content to appear what they really are. What a state of society would be witnessed were this unhealthy stimulant withdrawn! for a stimulant it undoubtedly is, and one too that leads to much activity and improvement in material things. Many a character would then shine out resplendently that is now shrouded by striving to be like some one else. How much care and toil and fretting would be avoided, and the energy thus expended, if turned into purer channels, would enrich and sweeten life. Much of this emulation and restlessness is peculiar to our own country, and is no doubt partly owing to the equality and absence of distinctly marked classes existing amongst us. But this effect need not be permanent. May we not hope that a higher culture, that is, a culture of the higher faculties (which is to be in "the good time coming,") and a more enlarged sphere of useful activity, will raise woman above the liability of being brought under bondage to a power which in her best moments she despises. The world is gradually breaking loose from all the grosser and more palpable forms of tyranny; and when attention shall be called by the wise and gifted to its more subtle freedom, a sincerity, and a consequent enjoyment of social intercourse, to which we are now strangers. Were the insincerity and untruth. fulness which are now thought necessary in order that the machinery of society may move smoothly, laid aside, the necessity for cultivating those virtues which politeness only simulates would be doubly felt, and in place of mere politeness we should have justice, kindness, selfdenial, generosity. But, it may be urged, these are Christian virtues, and the fruits of the Spirit! Truly they are; but no one can know until he has put away evil (and much of the fruit of Fashion is evil) how many of the Christian graces will take its place. S. Quiet confidence in God is the only way to in times of distress forsake the mercy seat and obtain deliverance from darkness. They who rely on their own devices must "lie down in sorrow." PROGRESSION. Read at the Fourth Annual Reunion of Friends' Social His word returns not void. Around the world Five years ago, in yonder city fair, When darkness nightly came upon the earth, To passers all the merchandize within. Far more than bolts and bars, and so they make there better entertainment with the creature than with God?-Flavel. LIFE IN THE HEBRIDES. The Habits of the Middle Ages in the Nineteenth Century. The Scottish Educational Commission gives incidentally some curious glimpses of Scottish life. Mr. Nicholson, an assistant commissioner who visited the Hebrides, gives an account of the way in which the people live in the island of Lewis, which has a population of more than twenty-one thousand souls. Three years ago, When ships put out to sea and bore the loved At home to distant lands, the anxious friends Awaited for the weeks to bring the news That safe the ship had reached its port. Last month I heard a mother say, "the ship in which Our Edward sailed, at Queenstown touched to-day;" And then the thrill that through the cable ran Beneath the sea, ran through our hearts, and filled Our souls with awe, our eyes with joyful tears, And thanks arose that man had learned so much Of that which Nature always held for him. Ten years ago our country's banner red With blood we saw. The proud oppressor's arm Was strong, and wrong appeared triumphant. Now human family still prevails to a very large ex The slave is rearing schools, and wielding votes, Here At last we've learned the olden truth that Wrong He, the Beautiful, And error only, shrink and flee before Its beams; and thus an outlook far and wide, ANN PRESTON. After specially excepting Stornoway, he says: "In other parts of the island the general apdescribed as that of ill-developed hybrids beof the dwellings of the people may be pearance tween the hay and the peat stack. In fact the peat-stocks, which generally line the space in front of them, are of much more symmetrical architecture than the houses. The practice of housing the cattle under the same roof with the tent. The Lewis people for the most part tenaciously adhere to the rude menage of their ancestors. The description of their houses given in the old statistical account seventy years ago, requires no modification yet. The uncouthness of the outside is generally in faithful correspondence with the state of the interior. ¡ Windows in the wall are a rare extravagance. Usually there is just a single pane in the lower part of the roof, dimly revealing the otherwise conspicuous absence of furniture. "Visiting one of these dwellings with a friend who knew the occupants, the old woman who did the honors of the house at the time, accommodated us with stools, humbly apologizing for the absence of the chair.' My friend inquired what had become of it, whereupon the venerable woman gave a full and true account of how it had been sent to a neighbor on the occasion of a call from the minister, and had progressed from house to house for the same purpose, and not yet returned. [In reference to this subject it is right to bear in mind the almost total want of native timber.] The entrance to a house is generally through a rude porch, of aspect like a small cave in a hillside of a trap, the walls being of dry stone, sometimes mixed with turf. Beyond this one descends-supposing the season to be summer or autumn; in spring, before the contents are emptied, it is an ascent-into the apartment of the cows. "Cautiously picking his steps, the explorer turns to the right, and through the gloom advances to where the peat fire, burning in the It is as necessary as sweet that we and our centre of the floor, reveals the residence of the reios (that is our secret thoughts) should con-human inhabitants, and sends the circling fer together every night. We should call our eddies of blue smoke up to the straw roof, hearts to account every evening, and say, O through which it makes its way at its own my heart, where hast thou been to-day? Is sweet will,' without the aid of a chimney. For, strange to say, the chief end of a house in | studies and duties leads them to find no interest Lewis is not to keep out the elements, but to in commonplace duties and everyday affairs. produce manure for the potatoes from the floor Even Howard, the philanthropist, who visited beneath the cattle and the sooty thatch above, which is regularly lifted off once a year. Yet within these murky receptacles live many brave and stalwart, and sometimes most exemplary men. There are probably no better or bolder boatmen on the British coasts than the fishermen of Lewis, especially of Ness and Uig. On any sea where a boat can live-and the seas there must be seen to be judged of-they will venture out in open boats, however the wind blow, far out of sight of land. Their hardihood is often rewarded by takes of ling such as are rarely to be got anywhere else. There is also a good deal of lobster fishing. "The only other important sources of employment in the island besides, of course, the occupations connected with agriculture, are the improvements going on in the neighborhood of the castle and elsewhere, which give constant occupation to a considerable number of people, and the temporary but renumerative occupation afforded in Stornoway during the herring fishery in summer. A good many people are also employed in connection with the works erected by the proprietor for the extraction of oil, &c., from peat. There is none of that regular yearly migration for work to the Lowlands which prevails in some of the other islands. Ecclesiastically, nearly the whole population is connected with the Free Church."-Evg. Bulletin. DIGNITY GIVEN TO TRIFLES. In an admirable work recently published by the Appletons, entitled "Literature in Letters,' edited with much taste by Dr. James P. Hol come, of New York, there is a very suggestive letter published from F. W. Robertson, of Brighton, in which he makes this remark: "A little plan I have found very serviceable in past years is to put down every night the engagements and duties of the next day. The advantages of this are several. You get more done-a healthful feeling pervades the whole of life. There is a feeling of finding at the end of the day that the greater part of what is planned has been accomplished. This is the secret of giving dignity to trifles. As units they are insignificant; they rise in importance when they be come parts of a plan." The secret of dignity to trifles is a matter of the utmost importance and difficulty. To know how to occupy the units of time successfully and wisely is the great matter. As necessary parts to the success of a whole, points of detail may be made to assume such importance that they shall be sure of being well done and crowned with success. One of the greatest dangers and difficulties with exalted natures is, that the love of the noblest and most intense all the prisons in Europe, and performed the It is a plan which associates the commonplace A time for everything, and everything in its proper time, is what every man, sooner or later, finds most necessary to his success; and a plan gives dignity to trifles as a part of a great system, every portion of which is most valuable. Perhaps it may be added, that this is one way in which religion becomes so essential to the |