The Religious Society of Friends is as the name implies a group of people with the religious conviction that one’s life is the experience of love, love of God and love of one’s fellow man. It is a living fellowship rather than a sacred institution. From this view comes all of its good. It affirms that it is the Presence in the Midst—that God is everywhere—that every man is endowed with this light within. Religion for Friends is not apart from life nor for special days. The early Friends had no Christmas nor Easter, every day is equal in the sight of God. It is “the life we lead, the things we do” which count; as witness their history in Loudoun: that African children should be educated; that men should be free; a man should not demean himself by taking off his hat to another; that work is noble; that the laborer is worthy of his hire; that no man should lose while you gain; that children must be educated to live a fuller life for mankind; that no one has the right to take a life that only God can give; that the _fallen_ should do better and come back into the fold, “which is our desire for her.”
Friends hold their meetings for worship unplanned; with no constant jumping up to do this or sitting down to do that; in a plain room without distracting influences, trying to find in a silent communion, enfolded by His presence, the spiritual guidance they seek.
And so I find it well to come For deeper rest to this still room,
For here the habit of the soul Feels less the outer world’s control;
The strength of mutual purpose pleads More earnestly our common needs,
And in the silence multiplied By these still forms on either side,
The world that time and space have known Falls off and leaves us God alone. _Whittier._
Sources other than acknowledged in the text: Henry B. Taylor, Howell S. Brown, Mabel N. Lybolt, L. H. Taylor, for minutes, notes, articles, manuscripts, and consultation; _Landmarks of Old Prince William_; Briscoe Goodhart, _The Loudoun Rangers_; James Head, _The History of Loudoun County_; Loudoun Historical Society _Bulletin_, 1958; Samuel M. Janney, _Memoirs and History of Friends_; Hopewell Friends, _History of Hopewell Friends Meeting_; Hinshaw, _Quaker Genealogy_; Frederick Gutheim, _The Potomac_, from “Rivers of America” series.