NOTABLE QUAKERS

Evening Star, Issue 20555, 6 August 1930, Page 11

NOTABLE QUAKERS

LEADERS H MARY SPHERES The essential faith of Quakerism is that the spirit of God is Within every, human being. Therefore, the Quakers have no ministers, •no dogma, no sacraments, and no liturgy, "hey interpret the scriptural commands literally, and “conscientiously object to war and violence.” Men and women have been equal in Quakerism for 300 years. There are 19,065 Quakers in Great Britain. That is the membership of the Society of Friends, whoso yearly meeting was held recently hi London. What are they among the 44,375,000 population of England, Wales, and Scotland? But. . . . Look around and you will find that in every phase of national life this tiny community of, Quakers has attained amazing eminence. Fry, Cadbury, and Rowntree are all synonymous with chocolate—all Quakers. Huntley and Palmer, Carr’s, and Jacob spell biscuits—more Quakers. Every woman links starch with Reckitt—another Quaker. The first man to put tea into packets ready for sale was Edward Horniman—yet another Quaker. . Perhaps you prefer more vigorous refreshment ? Then such famous brewers as Hoare, Barclay, and Perkins, Walker’s. Parkinson (famous in the north of England), Truman, and Hanbury. . Turn to other realms of business. Banking, for instance. Lloyd’s Bank, Bank, Hoare’s Bank, are all. Quaker in their origin. Quakers, indeed, originated and founded the English banking system, with its solidity and honesty. _ . You have to take a journey? That means Bradshaw, the Manchester Quaker, who printed the first railway time-table. Look at the cover, and you will see the current issue is still dated “ 6th month,” in accordance with the Quaker disregard for heathen names for months and days, such as May and Sunday. Friend Edward Pease financed George Stephenson in the building or the first railways. John Ellis, another Quaker, founded the Midland RailwaySir George Newman, M.D., principal medical officer to the Ministry of Health, is a Quaker. Another was Lister, the great surgeon whose introduction of antiseptic methods has saved more lives and suffering than any other human agency. So was Sir Jonathan Hutchinson, whose research marked a definite dominance over skm diseases and leprosy. Quakerism and scientific distinction have long been closely assoejated. Dalton, with his law of atomic weights, was a Quaker. In the development of telephony and telegraphy, Silvanus Thompson, a Quaker, was foremost. Professor Eddington, university astronomer at Cambridge, whose recent book is creating as great a stir as Einstein’s theory, is a Quaker. Membership of the Royal Scmety is the supreme honour paid to any scientist. The number of Quakers elected as Fellows of the Society is iorty-six times greater than their numerical proportion to the population. To politics the Friends have given John Bright and W. E. Forster, who instituted education for the whole people in 3870. _ In literature do you recognise E. V. Lucas in the “.Edward Verral Lucas, to whom the Quaker magazines refer, as a Friend? Again there are G. B. Burgin (who published his hundredth book recently) and Wilfred Whitten. The Cunard Line (founded by ft Quaker), crosses the Atlantic, and .Friefid Herbert Hoover is President of the United States.