You are curious to know whither so many are wending their way,
and meeting a sailor-boy, he tells you it is "fifth day," and if you
follow in the wake of the "slick bonnets," they will pilot you to their
nearest light-house; but precious little light you will get unless the
spirit move some of them to pick up the wick. You move on with the rest
till you come to their house of worship, which appears as humble as
those who enter its doors. As you contrast the plainness on all sides
with the richly decorated edifice in which you have been accustomed to
worship, you try to smile a smile of contempt at the scene, but cannot,
for you feel that the spirit of Christ is in their midst; and though not
a word is spoken during the hour and a half, yet you feel that the
silent worship which went up to Heaven, was heard by Him who answers
prayer. As a signal for dispersing, the elders who occupy the "rising
seats," arise and shake hands, and you go your way with those silent
ones, feeling that their worship was acceptable to God. The Quakers of
Nantucket are rapidly diminishing in number. Formerly two-thirds,
perhaps, of the population, were of the Society of Friends, but now not
one-third are of that denomination.
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