1 August 2014 £1.80 the discover the Friendcontemporary quaker way

Welcome to Bath the Friend Independent Quaker Journalism Since 1843

Contents VOL 172 NO 31

3 Thought for the Week: 12-13 Open for transformation: Being Friends being a Quaker – Ben Pink Dandelion, Ian Kirk-Smith Swarthmore lecturer 4-5 The futility of war – 14-15 From the archive interview with composer compiled by Janet Scott Sally Beamish 16 Blind to disability? 6-7 News Marlêne Cantan-Taylor 8-9 Called to be poets 17 A vision in pink Harvey Gillman 18-19 1899 Peace Conference 10-11 Honey, I shrunk the state Penelope Cummins Mike King 20 Friends & Meetings

As we are one in Christ, and can never be at war… While 4 August will be the centenary of the outbreak German-Swiss border, as part of the commemorations of of first world war, it is less known that it is also a the fifth centenary of the Council of Constance. significant centenary in the history of peace. By 3 August it was clear that anyone who wanted to On 4 August 1914, on the platform of Cologne get home without difficulty should leave immediately, station, Henry Hodgkin, a British Quaker, and so the conference was terminated prematurely, without Friedrich Sigmund-Schulze, a German Lutheran pastor, establishing the ‘Movement Towards a Christian made a solemn farewell handshake, declaring ‘We are International’ it had been discussing. one in Christ and can never be at war’. Nevertheless, Hodgkin set up a ‘Fellowship of Hodgkin and Schulze had been participants in a Reconciliation’ in the UK, which has now become Christian pacifist conference held at Constance, on the international.

Cover image: Pulteney Bridge, Bath. The bridge was designed by Robert Adam. Photo: Michael Maggs / Wikimedia Commons.

The Friend Subscriptions Advertising Editorial UK £79 per year by all payment Advertisement manager: Editor: types including annual direct debit; George Penaluna Ian Kirk-Smith monthly payment by direct debit [email protected] £7; online only £59 per year. Articles, images, correspondence For details of other rates, Tel/fax 01535 630230 should be emailed to contact Penny Dunn on 54a Main Street, Cononley [email protected] 020 7663 1178 or [email protected] Keighley BD20 8LL or sent to the address below.

the Friend 173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ Tel: 020 7663 1010 Fax: 020 7663 1182 www.thefriend.org Editor: Ian Kirk-Smith [email protected] • Sub-editor: Trish Carn [email protected] • Production and office manager: Elinor Smallman [email protected] • Journalist: Tara Craig [email protected] • Arts editor: Rowena Loverance [email protected] • Environment editor: Laurie Michaelis [email protected] • Subscriptions officer: Penny Dunn [email protected] Tel: 020 7663 1178 • Advertisement manager: George Penaluna, Ad department, 54a Main Street, Cononley, Keighley BD20 8LL Tel: 01535 630230 [email protected] • Clerk of the trustees: Nicholas Sims • ISSN: 0016-1268 • The Friend Publications Limited is a registered charity, number 211649 • Printed by Headley Bros Ltd, Queens Road, Ashford, Kent TN24 8HH

2 the Friend, 1 August 2014 Thought for the Week

Being Friends

We did conclude among ourselves to settle a meeting, to see one another’s faces, and open our hearts one to another in the Truth of God once a year, as formerly it used to be. Yearly Meeting in London, 1668 Quaker faith & practice 6.02

he Yearly Meeting Gathering in Bath will be held in the shadow of history – one hundred years after the start of the first world war. It was called the ‘war to end all wars’. Sadly, it was not, despite leaving approximately Tseventeen million dead. The first modern, industrialised, war merely pointed the way to the future. The Quaker response to the first world war will be one of many subjects raised and explored at what should be the most vibrant Quaker event in years. The past is important because it has shaped who and what we are. We can learn from it. This is true both for society and our Society. One aspect of Bath will be an outward looking one dealing with Quaker engagement in the world: the faithful witness being done in areas, for example, such as criminal justice and peace. The other aspect, a more inward looking one, is also vital. 2014 marks the end of a three-year project looking at what it means to be a Quaker today. This theme is addressed by Ben Pink Dandelion, honorary professor of Quaker Studies at Birmingham University, in his Swarthmore Lecture. The lecture – a lucid, perceptive and achieved work – is a significant contribution to British Quakerism. Contemporary Quakerism is sometimes talked about in terms of an ailing patient that was once in wonderful health. I wonder if this was ever the case. As with all institutions and movements, it evolves and changes. Friends in Bath will be casting a thoughtful eye on the patient, discerning symptoms and enjoying the space and time to reflect on creative remedies. In the past the word ‘Friend’ was, perhaps, more widely used in the Society. It is a word with rich associations and meaning – both within Quakerism and in society: ‘A friend in need is a friend indeed’; ‘to be-friend’; ‘a friend to strangers’. Friend is a word, as Irish Friend Ross Chapman has written, that ‘implies fellowship, camaraderie, concord, fraternity, shaking hands, holding out an olive branch.’ In John’s gospel 15: 15 it says: ‘I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.’ We are called to be friends of Christ – of a living Christ – of a spirit of love, peace, compassion, kindness and charity towards others. We are called to be Friends in the way we live our lives. Yearly Meeting Gathering in Bath will be a great coming together of Friends, a time of fellowship, a time to ‘see one another’s faces’. The team that have put it together have worked with enormous dedication and energy. Bath was once a mecca for people who sought renewal. Hopefully, it will be for some days a place of worship, joy, productive business and lively discussion among Friends. As Thomas Jefferson said:

‘Difference of opinion was never, with me, a motive of separation from a friend.’

Ian Kirk-Smith editor of the Friend

the Friend, 1 August 2014 3 Interview

The futility of war

Sally Beamish is one of Britain’s leading composers. She spoke with Ian Kirk-Smith about

Photo: Ashley Coombes. Photo: Ashley her life, work and Quaker faith.

n Friday 1 August Sally Beamish’s Violin she loved it there. There were seven pieces of ministry Concerto, based on the theme of war, is being and they all seemed to be speaking directly to me. To given a London premiere at the Royal Albert rediscover it was wonderful – and the way Quakers OHall as part of the BBC Proms season. The programme, embraced green issues, homelessness, peace and so on. commemorating 100 years since the outbreak of the first I felt it was somewhere that I could really grow. My world war, includes William Ivor Walton’s Symphony daughter remains very involved.’ No.1 in B flat minor and Gurney’s War Elegy. Today, Sally has close links with Glasgow Meeting. Sally’s career began as a violist with the Raphael What keeps her within the Quaker family? She explains: Ensemble. However, it is as a composer that she has ‘It’s that feeling that you don’t have to conform with made a significant mark on British music, particularly what you find. You are important and, whatever you feel, after her move from England to Scotland in 1990. you know it will be held up and valued – whatever it is.’ She has written for the orchestra (including two Quakerism, historically, has always been concerned symphonies and several concertos) and also chamber with conflict. A vital perspective is a concern to explore and instrumental music, film scores and theatre music. the seeds of conflict. Being a Friend, Sally feels, has Sally, who currently lives in Stirlingshire in Scotland, had an influence on her work as a composer: ‘We write had a Quaker father and a Church of England mother. from our inner self. The inner prompting is important. This meant a childhood alternating, on Sundays, A lot of the ideas that I put into my music resonate with between church and Meeting house. Quakerism. I am not a political animal. The way I express She recalls the last time she went to Meeting, as a myself is through music. We all crave a connection with young person, before abandoning Quakers for thirty each other, but often end up warring with each other, years: ‘I remember I was about seventeen. I was called with family and friends, and I feel the seeds of war are to speak but couldn’t. I was going to speak about my with us all the time. The need to see where the other brother, who has Down’s Syndrome, and I felt strongly person is coming from is so important.’ called. It was a definite, powerful, feeling, which I didn’t She was able two express some of these ideas in a have the courage to respond to, and I think I was afraid commission she did for the 500th anniversary of the to go to Meeting after that, in case it happened again.’ battle of Flodden. The battle was in 1513 and involved Her re-engagement with Quakerism, she says, came the worst loss of life until the battle of the Somme in about almost by accident. She had been taking her sons 1916. In the piece she drew on words that did not glorify for some years to a Sunday School associated with the war: ‘I used three poems that conveyed war through local Church of Scotland. They lost interest around the the perspective of the women left behind. It started as age of ten and she drifted away. an idea for a male narrator, but ended up as a piece She says: ‘Then one day, on impulse, I went with for a lone female soprano and orchestra (the Scottish my daughter, who was seven, to Glasgow Meeting and Chamber Orchestra). I wanted to convey, in the piece,

4 the Friend, 1 August 2014 my deep sense of the futility of war.’ In November a major work for the London Symphony One of her loves is Middle Eastern poetry. She Orchestra (LSO) and chorus will be performed. Equal describes it as ‘poignant in these days of conflict’. In Voices was commissioned to commemorate the start of The Lion and the Deer (2007) she used some for a the first world war: ‘I was quite cautious about doing commission for Portsmouth Grammar School that it – about approaching the idea of commemoration. responded to the subject of peace. The poems were by Andrew Motion had brought out a book of poems the Persian fourteenth century poet Hafez. She says: about war, Laurels and Donkeys. I chose a text – a ‘found ‘They were all about separation from the Beloved – poem’ [one created from words taken from different a lover – God. I wanted to use the idea of longing, sources and put together]. It contained quotes from separation and craving love.’ men with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.’ The violin concerto on Friday 1 August at the Proms Sally was drawn to the subject but had to find a way is one of her largest, and most important, works. The of translating her feelings into music: ‘War can destroy background to the piece, she explains, came through nerves. It can be completely devastating. But I did not a friendship with Andrew Marwood, who had played want the whole piece to be in one tone. I wanted a sense with her in the Raphael Ensemble: ‘He had a request for of redemption. I came up with the Song of Solomon. a concerto. He also asked me to read a book – All Quiet Love is the opposite of war. It’s about confronting hate on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. I was with love. It’s a love poem. It’s about sex, human and baffled until I started to read it. spiritual love, separation. Solomon and Sheba. There ‘The world of Remarque’s novel is one of abject is a theme of losing each other. The piece is about the terror, grief and loss, but couched in achingly beautiful nightmarish state of mind of being in conflict. It’s about language which lends itself immediately to the visual, a beloved who is lost in war – in every way.’ and also, for me, musical imagery. I realize now that She believes that love is ‘hardwired into us’ and feels it also tapped into my own deep-rooted sense of the that we are constantly ‘searching for connection with futility and tragedy of war.’ each other but over and again find ourselves distanced Sally says that she loves the concerto form: ‘It pitches by conflict – not only in war but in our daily lives.’ an individual against an orchestra. There is a special People who know her as a composer and involved relationship. I see the soloist as a storyteller interacting with music, she admits, often say ‘How come you are a with the orchestra, and also directly with the audience. Quaker? How can you worship in silence?’ She says: ‘In It is about putting the soloist in different situations. fact, when I go to a Church of Scotland service I often At times the soloist is almost overwhelmed by the find the music distracting – my professional ears kick orchestra and then re-emerges.’ in! I love the silence of a Quaker Meeting. I find creative The violin concerto reflects different emotions. There ideas flow in silence, and this is something I try and are moments of great tenderness. It also conveys anger. find in my daily work and life – the silent waiting.’ ‘Yes’, she explains, ‘there are passages in the book that made me angry. A young man who returns home on The world premiere of Equal Voices will be at the leave during the war, who has experienced the horrors. Barbican, London, on 2 November, performed by the LSO They do not go away, but he can’t discuss them. It makes and LSO Chorus. The Scottish premiere will be given by me angry – the reality of training people to kill. They the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) and RSNO can wrap it up in any way they like.’ Chorus at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, on 7 November. Photo: Paul Hudson / flickr CC. Hudson / flickr Photo: Paul BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in 2011.

the Friend, 1 August 2014 5 News Liverpool Friends open café

Friends in Liverpool have building,’ Liverpool Quakers’ just launched a new project that will outreach worker Lisa Hoyle help Quaker outreach in the city. told the Friend. The Quaker Meeting house café Local Friends advertised is a collaboration with local charity the partnership opportunity Blackburne House. Its menu is before approaching Blackburne vegetarian, with an emphasis on House. The charity started fresh, seasonal food. out as a women’s technology A 2012 Discernment Meeting centre and now also runs held by Liverpool Quakers sowed social enterprises and supports the seeds for the venture, which developing businesses. It is was launched last week. particularly concerned with At the Discernment Meeting, equality, making it a good fit Friends agreed that their building for the Meeting. Blackburne was unwelcoming. Money was House’s share of the café profits set aside for a remodelling of the will fund training bursaries for

ground floor (worship rooms are women, Lisa said. Photo: Lisa Hoyle. upstairs), to include a Quiet Room, The café is staffed by paid Lesley Lee, the café manager. community areas and a café. The workers – all of them earning café was to operate as a social a living wage – but once it is thought and there is much to be enterprise. established, volunteers from local done. We can, though, say that we ‘The café has three aims: to raise charity North West Community are working towards our Meeting's revenue to take our work further, Services will be brought on board. intention to provide a spirit-led to demonstrate our values through ‘We have learned much from the space that is open and accessible the integrity of our practice and to establishment of the café. It has in the middle of our bustling city,’ encourage people to come into the taken much longer than we first said Lisa. Hlekweni closes – Friends of Hlekweni continue Hlekweni Friends Rural Valindre Farm, part of the centre, Samathonga School. Service Centre (near Bulawayo, has been sold (by Central and ‘We know the needs we have Zimbabwe) has closed. The centre Southern Africa Yearly Meeting) been supporting remain. We now was founded forty-seven years to the Zimbabwe Teachers’ have an opportunity to review ago, but is no longer financially Association, which has plans for a our commitments, especially in sustainable. secondary school and continued education and peacebuilding, and Thousands of young training. to extend our reach. We hope that Zimbabweans owe their livelihoods Friends of Hlekweni trustees Friends will continue to support to the training they had there. The plan to continue working in us in this,’ said Lee Taylor, clerk to last students graduated in mid June. Matabeleland, particularly at trustees.

White Feather Diaries go live

The white feather diaries hidden stories of those whose In addition to the 4 August website will go live on 4 August at bravery saved lives and changed launch of the website, the white Yearly Meeting Gathering (YMG) British legislation, leading Feather Diaries can now be 2014 in Bath. to a wider recognition of the followed on Facebook and Twitter. Quaker writer and broadcaster legitimacy of the right to refuse The launch is timed to mark the Geoffrey Durham will read extracts to kill. The diaries offer an insight centenary of the outbreak of world from the diaries at the launch into overlooked aspects of war: war one and Quakers at YMG will event. resistance to killing and the relief of be reflecting on their forebears’ The project sheds light on the suffering. response.

6 the Friend, 1 August 2014 reported by Tara Craig [email protected]

New Meeting at St Neots St Neots, the largest town in Cambridgeshire, now has its own Quaker Meeting. Local Friends had been travelling to Huntingdon to worship until eighteen months ago, when a monthly Saturday Meeting for Worship was launched in the United Reformed Church. Friends at St Neots later decided that a Sunday Meeting would better suit those who work during the week. The first weekly Sunday Meeting for Worship took place on 6 July. The Area Meeting is providing elders on a rota basis, and the group hopes to attract new members, including those from beyond the town. Quakers at St Neots have found themselves in unlikely surroundings, as Hazel Shellens explained to Bale. Photo: David the Friend: ‘We meet for worship in a room within St the first world war, and so we are sharing space with a Neots Museum, which used to be a courthouse. The replica trench made out of recycled materials!’ museum is marking the centenary of the outbreak of ‘I’m not sure whether that’s good or bad,’ she added. Civil partners denied marriage ceremonies Many Quaker couples a ‘certificate of conversion’, rather and they eagerly anticipated the in Britain have reacted with than a wedding certificate. day when all Quaker marriages, disappointment to the news that ‘This is more than a formality of same sex or opposite sex the conversion of civil partnerships for those in civil partnerships,’ said couples, could be prepared, into marriage will not involve a Paul Parker, the recording clerk of celebrated, witnessed, recorded marriage ceremony. Britain Yearly Meeting. and recognised as legally valid and The publication of a draft ‘It is deeply unfair that reported to the state in exactly the government regulation has revealed Quaker couples are denied their same way’. that couples wishing to convert opportunity to celebrate their long- Draft government regulations their civil partnerships to marriage term loving relationships in their are planned to go before the House will be required to attend a registry worshipping community.’ of Lords on Tuesday 29 July in the office instead of having a wedding Britain Yearly Meeting stated, Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act ceremony. From 10 December, if in a press release, that ‘Quakers in 2013 (Consequential and Contrary this regulation is adapted, these Britain welcomed the law passed Provisions and Scotland) (No. 2) couples will take part in a civil last year enabling same sex couples Order 2014, introduced by Lindsay process before being issued with in England and Wales to marry Groushaw, baroness Northover.

Quaker backing helps Canada’s Tsilhqot’in people Canadian Friends Service Committee (CFSC) on negotiations between Canada and First Nations to last month congratulated the Tsilhqot’in people on an resolve outstanding title disputes. historic victory for the rights of indigenous peoples. CFSC and Amnesty made formal interventions in Following a campaign supported by CFSC and the Tsilhqot’in title case to encourage the Supreme Amnesty International Canada, the Supreme Court Court to adopt an approach to indigenous land of Canada recognised the right of the Tsilhqot’in rights that would be consistent with international people to own, control and enjoy the benefits of human rights standards, including the United Nations approximately 2,000km2 of land at the heart of their Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. traditional territory in central British Columbia. ‘We welcome the Court’s affirmation that indigenous It is the first time that a Canadian court has peoples’ rights to own and control lands should be on awarded land ownership to a particular First Nation, a a broad, territorial basis, which is necessary to ensure Canadian aboriginal group, rather than relying solely the health of their cultures and economies,’ said CFSC.

the Friend, 1 August 2014 7 Reflection

Called to be poets Photo: Andrew / flickr CC. / flickr Andrew Photo:

Harvey Gillman reflects on religious language

first came to Friends as a teenager after a period of I am a person hence I express relationship in personal intellectual seeking. I had read Towards a Quaker terms, but I do not assume that the divine is personal View of Sex and peace posters outside Mount – nor yet impersonal. Thus, I am neither theist nor IStreet Meeting house in Manchester. I was convinced nontheist (or am I both at the same time?). As I stress (persuaded) by what I read there. But I left after a year, relationship over definition, I am not an –ist, for I convinced (persuaded) by the logic of atheism. will not define myself either. I do not seek to possess mental knowledge of the divine, as if one could; rather A decade later, after a mystical, intuitive, holistic I want to be in communion through the whole of self experience, I was convinced (convicted, turned upside and through others on this journey. I love philosophy down, shaken) by something more profound. This led and theology, but my membership is not a matter of me to want to ‘worship’ (the only word I could use), to intellectual persuasion. say ‘yes’ to something which I would now describe as Presence, the beyond within, Spirit (with a capital S), the divine, even God. I use the word worship Among Friends precisely because it has The fact that there is no one word to encompass this reality is a sign to me that it is not the naming but the these overtones relationship which is paramount. (How wise are the Jews who refuse to use the word God except in prayer of encounter in depth and Martin Buber who wrote that the only real name for the divine is Thou!)

8 the Friend, 1 August 2014 The main reason I remain among Friends is in order to worship – not just to think, meditate, or recharge Living adventurously my batteries, or to have a quiet time, although there are elements of all of these in it, but to be open to may mean that at times the depths of reality itself through a quiet shared communion – though I fail very often in this! I use the we may need to assume word worship precisely because it has these overtones of encounter in depth. I recognise, however, that for the mantle of poets some readers it may remind them of cringing obedience before a patriarchal tyrant-god.

Religious language a burden. Different people use different tools. It is the pilgrimage that matters. And the respect for the At its best, religious language is poetry; at its most diversity of the pilgrims. profound a kind of love poetry, one which expresses joy and pain, presence and absence, and the fragility All communication is a sort of miracle. We may of mortality. It is experimental, inclusive, a game of life use the same words but disagree on meaning. We may and death. At its worst, it is a game of powerful elites use different words and be very close to each other’s seeking to perpetuate themselves and claim possession understanding. Thus the questions ‘Do you believe in of truth. God or not?’, even ‘Are you a Christian?’, or ‘Are you a theist or nontheist or atheist?’, are meaningless to me unless we sit down together and share the narratives of The words are useful, our lives and our longings. not ultimately true – Questions that are more meaningful to me might be: Do you find the word or the idea of God, or Spirit, can ultimate truth be expressed or Christ, or Buddha nature, or whatever, useful in your life? Does the word point to something you in words at all? could not otherwise express? Is there a better word for you? If you do reject it, what for you is of ultimate concern? Communication is more important than I sometimes wonder whether the religious vocabulary tribal sloganising. we use says more about our psychology, upbringing, and experience than any objective take on the world The sacred within all life around us. There is a dilemma here that I have faced many times. I use words as stepping stones to help me As Friends, we may wish to posit silence as a medium of on the journey to a sense of the rightness of things, as a reconciliation, but silence itself is ambiguous, exclusive traveller might use the legend on a map to an unknown as well as inclusive, threatening as well as hospitable. destination. Like words, it has value when it is the medium for intimacy, relationship, for revelation. We are called to The words are useful, not ultimately true – can answer the sacred within all life, however it is described ultimate truth be expressed in words at all? Thus, I use – with or without words. the words God or Spirit as symbols for the dimension of depth and creative connectedness – God is not There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the earth’, the name of God. However, I also know that is not wrote Rumi, the Sufi theologian poet. ‘In my father’s how others may be using or understanding the word. house,’ said Jesus the weaver of parables, ‘there are many Integrity demands I be true to what I learn from my mansions.’ Living adventurously may mean that at times experience and speak my own language; love demands we may need to assume the mantle of poets, or even be that I be aware of and respect the diversity I meet in multilingual, like Paul the apostle, who in Athens was those with whom I am communicating. prepared to talk the language of the Athenians and yet at the same time speak in the name of the unknown – A sort of miracle and unnameable – God.

Our words are tools for the journey. We can also lay them down when they are no longer useful, or become Harvey is a member of Brighton Meeting.

the Friend, 1 August 2014 9 Economics

Honey, I shrunk the state

Mike King writes about two influential Quakers and the role of the state

can think of no more fundamental question for the treasury Alexander Hamilton and the laissez-faire social justice than this: how big should our state be? president Thomas Jefferson. The latter believed that ‘the Those who argue for a small state place themselves government is best which governs least’. Mazucatto then Iwithin the right or libertarian tradition, while those who quotes this brilliant observation: ‘With time and usual want more state intervention place themselves within American pragmatism, this rivalry has been resolved by the left or social democrat tradition. I was prompted putting the Jeffersonians in charge of the rhetoric and the to explore this question by two recently published Hamiltonians in charge of policy.’ What this means for books, Life After the State by Dominic Frisby and The Americans is that laissez-faire is the populist myth, while Entrepreneurial State by Mariana Mazzucato, which extensive state intervention is the rather resented reality. respectively advocate small and large government. In Britain there has been a growing Americanisation First, I need to define what we mean by ‘big’ or of the popular press, with an increasing appetite for a ‘small’ when it comes to the state. Only two things, I British kind of libertarianism, as exemplified by the think, really matter here: government spending and work of Frisby. Mazucatto’s book, on the other hand, is a government regulation. In most developed countries plea for us to understand that the state, far from being a government spending amounts to something between drag on private enterprise, has in many cases – including thirty-five per cent and fifty per cent of Gross Domestic Apple and Google – funded the initial research and even Product (GDP) – a figure that strikes libertarians as far provided ‘start up’ capital for such businesses. The state too high and a fact to deplore. It is much harder to can be an innovative risk-taker. Frisby’s book rejects quantify government regulation of our lives, though for any idea that the state has such value, and argues for a free-market libertarians the regulation of enterprise is drastic reduction of its role and tax take. considered an onerous interference. Who is right? Bright and Cadbury So, who is right? We can say that the Quaker John Bright Quakers are a fiercely independent group of people was an instinctive Jeffersonian, believing in as little state and so it is not obvious in the first instance whether interference in our lives as possible, while the Quaker they welcome or deplore big government as appropriate George Cadbury was an instinctive Hamiltonian, who for the furthering of traditional Quaker goals of social worked quietly to initiate or support greater government justice. Indeed, when we take two eminent Victorian regulation of industry. Interestingly, it was Bright who Quaker businessmen, George Cadbury and John Bright, entered parliament – and made his reputation there we find them at opposite ends of the political spectrum – while Cadbury resisted all calls to stand for safe here. Although their respective campaigning and wealth Liberal seats. As far as I know, Bright was only the were equally at the service of the poor and disadvantaged, second Quaker MP – the first being Joseph Pease, the we can say that Cadbury’s philosophy naturally leads to ‘father of the railways’ – and in his day Bright’s political big government while Bright’s leads to small. reputation was on a par with that of William Gladstone Mazuccato tells us that the US founding fathers were and Benjamin Disraeli. torn between the principles of the activist secretary of The distinction in outlook between George Cadbury

10 the Friend, 1 August 2014 and John Bright is well summed up by AC Gardiner, A Quaker way forward who said of Cadbury: ‘He was a social reformer always in advance of the thought of his co-religionist John Bright, Britain saw a surge in wages after world war two who remained constant to the strict individualism of that lifted the majority of working people out of the Manchester School, and carried his views as to the absolute and relative poverty, but the rolling back of noninterference of the state in industry so far that he the interventionist state following Margaret Thatcher’s even opposed legislation directed at adulteration.’ The policies in the 1980s saw Bright’s philosophy triumph reference to the Manchester School is significant here again over Cadbury’s. Today we have millions of as it is celebrated today by free marketeers, and is the working poor whose wages are so low as to necessitate ideological home of the early advocates of free trade state welfare support and the kindness of charities, and the free market: Adam Smith and David Ricardo. including the scandalous existence of food banks. The philosophy of freedom has brought social justice Social and economic justice in many new spheres, and it is entirely within the enlightened conservatism of the Bright tradition that A direct comparison between Bright and Cadbury has this has been, for example, extended to gay marriage. to be tempered with the recognition that Cadbury was But these freedoms have not compensated, I would born twenty-eight years after Bright, and that Bright was suggest, for the millions who are at the sharp end of the a skilled politician who carefully avoided arguing for truly staggering wage inequality that now reigns. I do causes too far in advance of their day. For example, after not want to elevate the Quaker-inspired achievements his stunning victory with colleague Richard Cobden of George Cadbury over those of John Bright, but do in the repeal of the Corn Laws he was measured and believe that a careful look at the differences in their realistic in how he then pursued the widening of approach could help us find a Quaker way forward democracy to include working people. But Disraeli, in in answering the question of how big we want the his parliamentary speech supporting the Corn Laws, state to be. In particular, I would make these points predicted that their repeal would involve the transfer of to the inheritors of the Bright legacy, including Bill power from the aristocracy to the manufacturers. Cash. Firstly, that the abolition of the Corn Laws was George Cadbury, one of the leading manufacturers of an undoubted triumph of social justice, but what was the later nineteenth century, was keenly aware, I would to stop the manufacturers then lowering wages below suggest, of the truth of this, and that Bright’s victories the new starvation level? The extension of voting to all for social and economic justice could not be built upon households was another of Bright’s triumphs, but how without a more interventionist approach. Industrial would that in itself end low wages, poor housing and capitalism by itself would offer no protection to the lack of education? working poor or the environment. Bright’s efforts to secure tenant farmers in Ireland Bright’s earlier biographer, J Travis Mills, is clear that ownership of land was laudable, but what of the millions Bright belongs amongst the ‘enlightened conservatives’, of urban workers in England with no productive or as we might say today, ‘one-nation Tories’. Bill Cash, resources other than their labour and no hope of land author of a more recent biography of Bright, credits to grow food on? Bright and the libertarian tradition him with laying the foundations, in fact, for much of emphasise freedom above all else. But how does modern conservatism, one which places emphasis on freedom in itself put food on the table? freedom as the most important of human rights. But To those that defend the interventionist tradition, Cadbury could see that no amount of freedom and no one that recognises the validity of such questions, I extension of the franchise to working people would in recommend a study of the life of George Cadbury. I themselves put food on the table of the working poor. truly believe that he saw further than Bright, and in He and his brother Richard strove to progressively his great social experiment at Bournville I believe he raise wages above subsistence for their workers, and instigated answers to social questions we have been the same was true for Rowntree in York, but, as Joseph retreating from for the last thirty years. Seebohm Rowntree’s famous ‘Report’ of that time concluded, it was low wages at the bottom that were the Mike is clerk of Ipswich Meeting. root cause of poverty. Cadbury’s life stood for the ending of contemptuous wages and bad working conditions for Mike King’s new book Quakernomics: An Ethical the urban labourer through legislation. He may well Capitalism is published by Anthem Press. have had a strong belief in individual freedom, but I ISBN: 9780857281128. £13.99 think he could see that advances in social justice on that front had to be matched by advances in economic justice For more information his Ethical Capitalism blog is at for the worker, and only the state could achieve this. www.jnani.org/blog.

the Friend, 1 August 2014 11 Swarthmore lecture

Open for transformation: being a Quaker

Ben Pink Dandelion, the 2014 Swarthmore lecturer, talks with Ian Kirk-Smith, editor of

Photo courtesy of Ben Pink Dandelion. Photo courtesy of Ben The Friend.

Ben, could you tell me about your background? myself in Denver on a schedule that would miss my flight home from New York. I had to get a new ticket My mother and father were very strict atheists. They for a different bus to get to my plane on time but did also believed in private education. When we moved not have enough money for one. I begged around the north, when I was eleven, they had to choose between bus station and, eventually, a man helped me out. I gave a Catholic school and the Quaker one at Wigton, and him as much as I could as a sign of my goodwill and he they chose the Quaker one because they felt it would be paid the rest. I fasted for the three days it took to get to less religious. They felt it would do me ‘the least harm’. New York. It was on that journey that I had a great sense The plan backfired horribly! of being lifted up and held by what I call ‘God’. Totally Later, I went to college and got very involved in left unexpected and unbidden, I felt ‘this is real’. I have lived wing politics. I dropped out and went to live at an an accompanied life ever since. Quakerism, after that, anarchist peace camp. That was when I changed my made a lot more sense to me. Morning worship and name, to protest against the tradition of always passing Business Meetings came alive. on the name of the father. It was about the only thing we could all agree to do together (being anarchists!) We all chose silly names so it was obvious they had You chose to pursue a career in the academic world – been changed. After a while, I concluded that there particularly focusing on Quaker history, theology and wasn’t going to be a revolution in England. I trained sociology. Why? as a chauffeur, but also remembered the Quakers and their peace witness, that they had no leaders and no It has come out of a personal interest. I went back to votes, just like my anarchist group. I was drawn back college and it was natural for me, when I came to do a to them. PhD, to choose modern British Quakerism as a topic. I really enjoyed study.

Were there any early defining experiences for you? You have pioneered, with others, Quaker Studies as an Yes. I joined Quakers after six months of attending. I academic subject. Why is it important? think it may have been a bit premature. I was still an agnostic and mainly attracted by the activism. I got I think it is important because it has been under- a bursary to study in Pennsylvania in America – in researched. It has a distinctive history, theology and Haverford and Swarthmore – and got a wonderful sociology. It is part of the study of religion. The study of grounding in Quaker history and theology. While there Methodism, for example, had already established itself I travelled across the States and on the way back found on the academic shelves. I felt the study of Quakerism

12 the Friend, 1 August 2014 needed to take its place beside it and other faith groups. what it means to be a Quaker today. That was the brief. I also feel it is important for Quakerism in that we can Where are we as a Society? It addresses three areas. take that research and use it to better understand and Firstly, I say what I think it means to be a Quaker today. bolster our tradition. Secondly, it looks at some of the challenges facing us from beyond our Society, particularly individualism and secularisation. Thirdly, it considers where we go What do you feel about the role of Quaker Studies, and from here. Woodbrooke, in the wider context of Quakerism?

Woodbrooke and what happens there is an integral part Ben, what, for you, is at the heart of your personal of British, European and world Quakerism. Nurturing faith? the Quaker faith has always been the raison d’être of Woodbrooke. It was set up as a permanent place of It is the sense of presence, the knowledge that I am not learning – a place to discern and learn. It continues alone, that I do not do things in my own power and that to fulfill this role whilst continually adapting to new I can be guided. Discernment is central, as is prayer. needs. This October we start new online degrees in Quaker Studies and this is very exciting. What about Quakerism more generally?

You have written many books. They seem to fall into When it comes to the Religious Society, the spiritual two clear categories. basis is fundamental. Everything we do is rooted in our spiritual experience and its transforming power. If we Yes. The academic, more formal, work is always by Pink don’t understand that about the Society of Friends, or Dandelion, which is legally my name, and the books at least recognise that is the Quaker tradition (even for written for Quakers are by Ben Pink Dandelion. The people like me who came to Friends as an agnostic), former are ‘filling the gaps’ on that academic bookshelf then we are probably in the wrong place. – in the history, theology and sociology of religion. Celebrating the Quaker Way and Living the Quaker Way are short devotional books, written with a different What was the main challenge of writing the book and voice. They took longer to write. There is a lot more preparing the lecture? of me in them. They seem to have struck a chord for Friends and I joke that the less I write the more popular A new puppy and some food poisoning! I had set aside a I am! So, I have written with two voices but in recent month to write it. We had bought a new puppy, a Samoyed, years these voices have come together more and the just when I started, so I was writing in the kitchen rather Swarthmore Lecture is another example of this. My than my study so we could get the puppy house trained. recent book on the spirituality of travel, Making our Our kitchen is a busy place so that wasn’t easy. And I had Connections, also sits in this middle place. food poisoning for two weeks out of the four. So, either I or the puppy was running out of the room, sometimes me running with the white bundle of fluff! Why would you encourage Friends to take an interest One of the main challenges, though, has been to say in the history of Quakerism? what I want to say without alienating people, in other words to communicate what I am really trying to say. I I think it is important to see Quakerism as part of a think, having been brought up an atheist, that it can be constant stream that has been running for three and easy for me to underestimate how religious terminology a half centuries and has now spread worldwide. Our can divide and the later drafts of the lecture took more tradition is our heritage and to understand Quakerism account of this, so that it can, I hope, be better heard we need to understand where we come from. It is not and can be of greater use to us as a Society. just looking back but helping us move forward.

Could you talk about the background to your lecture: Ben is a member of Sawley Meeting. He is the Open for transformation: being a Quaker. programmes leader, Centre for Postgraduate Quaker Studies, Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre; honorary The invitation was to write something that tied in with professor of Quaker Studies, University of Birmingham; the three-year exercise in Britain Yearly Meeting on and honorary research fellow, Lancaster University

the Friend, 1 August 2014 13 From the archive

n the months leading up to war Friends were gospel of love and forgiveness, in which the suspicion reminded that in Australia and New Zealand there and hatred stirred up by strife can have no place. was already conscription and conscientious objectors We earnestly entreat all our members, in the name Iwere suffering imprisonment. This is an extract from the of Him who commended us to love our enemies, to report for Meeting for Sufferings held on 3 July 1914. abstain from taking part in, or encouraging, warlike preparations, and to testify in every way possible Coming to his special work in regard to the Defence to the sinfulness of war for those who profess to be Acts, A. H. Brown made his hearers realise that followers of the Prince of Peace. resistance in Australasia was no mere academic May we all endeavor “to live in the virtue of that question. When he stood beside a mother whose life and power that takes away the occasion of all boy was in prison, or watched the prosecution of wars.” lads in the courts, and saw them carried off in Charles E. Jacob, Clerk, military ambulances to undergo their sentences, The Friend, 31 July 1914 sympathy was almost too great for speech. There was sorrow, not only for the sufferers but for Australia and New Zealand, as he saw boys at A book entitled The War of Steel and Gold by HN Christchurch, members of Sunday Schools, lost to Brailsford was reviewed by David Pearson. His organised religion, because their ministers were the comments may, sadly, seem apposite to our own time. chaplains of the Defence forces. The Acts brought about a tangle of perplexity in many directions. But whilst a country as a whole does not Can we blame ministers who become chaplains as benefit economically from being in possession of the only way to keep hold of the lads, and perhaps armaments there are small groups of financiers protect them in camp? Can we blame parents who who do. These are interested in lending money to are leaving the country rather than expose their backward countries and particularly in ‘developing’ boys to the ordeal of imprisonment? In attacking these countries. They are competing for ‘spheres of the Defence Acts the only sure ground is to uphold influence’. Foreign policy is mainly concerned with the teaching and the spirit of Christ. these. Imperialism is ‘out’ to lend money and to The Friend, 10 July 1914 thrive on interest. When ‘conversations’ between diplomats take place they are accompanied by Meanwhile, in 1914, in Ireland the movement for the clashing of armour plate. Foreign investors of independence was growing. Leinster Quarterly Meeting all parties and countries successfully claim that sent this statement to the magazine. their money shall be ‘protected’. The mass of the people pay for this ‘protection’, but the proceeds Under a feeling of deep concern in the present go exclusively into private pockets. “Regarded as unsettled state of our country we desire once more a national undertaking Imperialism does not pay. to bring before our members the views which our Regarded as a means of assuring unearned incomes Society has always held on the subject of war. to the governing class, it emphatically does pay.” We would remind Friends everywhere of the Peace workers should see to it that those simple- peaceable nature of Christ’s Kingdom. We believe minded people who think Imperialism goes about that the whole life and teaching of our Lord and doing good should have their eyes opened. The Saviour testify against the spirit of war, and that to things England has done in Egypt should make oppose violence with violence is in direct opposition Englishmen blush for shame. to the precepts of our Divine Master. He proclaimed a The Friend, 10 July 1914

14 the Friend, 1 August 2014 Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914. The European Crisis was discussed in the Friend of 7 August 1914.

The following extracts are taken from the Friend’s report of Meeting for Sufferings held on Wednesday 7 August 1914. The quotes give an example of the grave concern felt not only for young Friends being drawn into the conflict but also for the German community living in the United Kingdom.

Never surely since the earliest days of this meeting did service during the coming weeks… he had… made Friends gather under a more urgent sense of the need enquiries as to whether, if 500 or 1,000 Friends offered for Divine help and guidance that did the company that at once for relief work… the offer would be welcome… assembled on 7th inst… E. Henry Gilpin spoke of the concern of young The opening period of worship extended to half- Friends to take up some work for the nation in lieu of an-hour, and the Meeting was calmed and united military service. They had thought of ambulance work, as confession was made of our lack of love and of but that seemed too much part of the military system. overcoming zeal for peace in the past, and prayer offered for wisdom for our rulers and for guidance as Stephen Hobhouse brought forward the subject of the to the duty of the Society at the present time. We were needs of the large German colony in England. Many reminded that we had before us a warfare in which we German reservists had gone home before the war was might gladly spend ourselves to the uttermost, and that declared and their families would soon be destitute… out of the evil and ruin of the present, a new kingdom he urged the appointment of a committee to give relief of God, a kingdom born not of force but of faith, might and hospitality to those in need. This would not be a arise; and for this we must work, and to this look popular service, but surely it was one which our Society forward with faith and even with joy. ought to undertake.

A concern to issue some message of help and guidance Friends were asked to remember in prayer [Friends] in the present state of affairs, felt by several Friends, now in Denmark and… in Central France, where there was brought before the meeting… a draft message must be already a terrible scarcity of the necessities of life. had been prepared… pointing out our duty as Friends and as Christians in this time of strife… Many Friends Having sat from 11 o’clock till 5 o’clock, the Meeting expressed great thankfulness for the document… A few separated with the feeling of deep thankfulness that in amendments were suggested and a small committee this time of distress and perplexity the guidance and was directed to retire from the Meeting to put these into the message earnestly desired by Friends had not been shape and arrange for immediate publication. withheld from them.

…Arnold S Rowntree brought forward the concern… The Friend, 14 August 1914 which related to active work. He pointed out that the present war was not likely to be short, and that This the first in a series of excerpts from the Friends must take fairly long views of their duty. Unless Friend archive compiled by 1980 Swarthmore a definite call for service is made to young Friends, lecturer Janet Scott. many will not be able to resist the call to join the actual The Friend 1914-18 Digital Archive will go live in fighting forces… We must make the strongest possible August. appeal to Friends, young and old, to give self-sacrificing

the Friend, 1 August 2014 15 Opinion Blind to disability?

Marlêne Cantan-Taylor asks if Friends do enough

was looking at a Friend’s concern about being put the aid of my rolator wheels to find the door that in a tent or caravan at the coming Yearly Meeting would get me into the restaurant. It was extremely cold Gathering (YMG), when she had booked and and the November rain was teeming down. I walked Ihoped to be provided with a private room, as she for some time before I found the door in question. It considered she had paid for that. was locked. I became disorientated and could not find Numerous Quakers, including myself, do not go my way back. to YMGs held in the countryside or outside London. It was nearly an hour before somebody came The reason for this is – and I speak for myself as one looking for me and guided me back to where I had of many disabled Quakers – I could not contemplate started. I was then hauled, pushed and shoved up steps walking through fields or even walking quite long and stairs to get me to the restaurant area (albeit by distances to get to large tents where Meetings and helpful, kind and considerate people). I was so terribly activities are held (sometimes in fields). Recently, I was embarrassed. They had no facilities for people with told that this was the case in Bath. disabilities. When we finally got to the restaurant, It does seem extraordinary to me for Britain Yearly it was closed. The chef very kindly put something Meeting (BYM) to have such a long, large gathering together for me. based in tents, as it excludes not only those with For the rest of the day I was very well looked after mobility difficulties, but also those with learning by caring and concerned Quakers, some of whom difficulties and with asthma, which is now so common. were horrified that I should be sent out on my own, in Complaints show a serious lack of access for disabled teeming rain, to find a particular door, in a place I had people to toilet facilities that able-bodied people have never visited previously. The hotel on the way home without question. Why do you think this is the case? had disabled access and toilets that I was able to use. Ten years ago, I would never have believed that I As a society we have a large number of people in the would become so disabled with my Charcot–Marie– latter part of their lives. They find getting around more Tooth disease (CMT), also known as hereditary motor difficult for various reasons. and sensory neuropathy. I never complain about my The Religious Society of Friends seems to be so disability. I go everywhere. I get involved. It was when busy helping others around the world and all sorts of I saw someone else with a disability having real trouble causes they ‘absolutely must support’ while on their managing that it occurred to me how little Quakers do own doorstep they are blind to the fact that they are for their disabled Friends. not catering for – or looking after – their own disabled An intelligent disabled friend has confided in me Friends, whether young or old. that, because he had a physical disability, he was often BYM does not insist that all Meeting houses, and considered to be mentally incapable as well. He said, Meeting places, and schools have access for people with ‘that is why one seldom if ever sees Quakers with disabilities. We are constantly told on arrival at some disabilities taking on the more important jobs in BYM’. Quaker establishments that ‘we cannot afford it’, even I must say this had never occurred to me. though, I believe, it is the law to provide such facilities. Last November I was asked by my Area Meeting Quakers are reluctant to spend, often quite substantial, to go to a meeting in a Quaker establishment as a reserves on projects they don’t feel are in the interests representative. I was delighted to represent my Area of or to the benefit of ‘our current membership’. What Meeting. I took the early ferry and drove for several does that say for our Society? hours to my destination. When I arrived, there were Sadly, a large number of us, disabled people, will be no toilets suitable for people with disabilities and no unable to attend the Yearly Meeting Gathering this ramp access – only stairs and steps everywhere. year – or any year – if it is held outside London. At lunchtime, I was invited to go out by a particular door and walk around the numerous buildings with Marlêne is a member of Isle of Wight Meeting.

16 the Friend, 1 August 2014 Faith in action

Photo: Elizabeth Coleman, Eccles. A vision in pink

On 9 August Yearly Meeting Gathering will be drawing to a close but a vision in pink will be blossoming. The day marks the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945. The Wool Against Weapons campaign, in a direct action protest against nuclear weapons, will be unfurling a seven-mile-long pink peace scarf between the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) sites of Aldermaston and Burghfield. Eight milestones will line the route, with faith groups gathering at the red marker towards the Burghfield end of the route. Friends from around the country have been supporting the campaign and contributing their creations to the epic scarf. Pictured pieces include the efforts of Meetings in Eccles, Hartshill, Wandsworth and Milton Keynes. Photo courtesy of Hartshill Meeting. Photo courtesy of Wandsworth LM. Wandsworth Photo courtesy of Photo: Rae Ritchie, Hartshill. Ritchie, Photo: Rae Photo: Elizabeth Coleman, Eccles. Photo: Margaret Cook, Milton Keynes.

the Friend, 1 August 2014 17 History 1899 Peace Conference

Penelope Cummins reflects on an historic call for ‘a lasting peace and a truce in armaments’

n 6 December last year, Bruce Kent wrote in a Some of these events were held in Friends’ Meeting letter to the Friend that he had learned of three houses, others in the premises of Adult Schools that packed public meetings in Britain, supporting Friends ran or helped to run, and some in public halls. Othe proposal in 1898 by czar Nicholas II for a Peace The Friend of 7 April 1899 reported that the meetings Conference to consider the possibility of halting, or at were generally ‘crowded and enthusiastic’ gatherings of any rate slowing down, the arms race which eventually ‘men and women of all shades of political opinion and culminated in the first world war. He asked whether any of religious faith’ who ‘demonstrated an earnest desire Quakers had responded to the vision of Nicholas II? in this country that our government shall enter upon Did they ever respond! The Quaker response was a the Hague Conference with the determination to make pattern and example to those of us today who feel that it work’. the Religious Society of Friends may be disengaged The speakers at these meetings repeatedly referred to from public life or unable to influence national or the huge cost of weaponry and of military preparedness international policy. for war; the increasing national debt of most of the Both Russia and the Peace Question were dear to Great Powers due to the arms race; and the shocking Friends, who felt that they had a right and a duty to try effect of all this on the national economy. The speakers to affect the British government’s response to Nicholas and their audiences were all too aware that stockpiling II’s proposal. Friends had a long history with the of weapons on the scale indulged in could only lead, Russian royal family, dating from 1697 when Peter the sooner or later, to war: Great came to Meeting for Worship at Deptford. ‘The cost is increasing year by year; in money, and the people’s savings go in taxes for destructive war Call for a lasting peace instead of in home comforts and productive trade; in men, the greater number and the better part of the Many Friends, and many members of the Adult Schools men, taken from their trades or professions in the very led by Friends, belonged to the interdenominational best part of their lives to become soldiers. Hundreds Peace Society founded in 1816 by a group including a of millions of pounds are spent on terrible engines of Quaker, William Allen. Friends also remembered that destruction which, though today regarded as the last in the Crimean war Joseph Sturge had led a Quaker word of science, tomorrow lose all value in consequence delegation to czar Nicholas I to plead for peace. of some fresh discovery.’ Almost as soon as the czar’s Peace Manifesto was published, in the September of 1898, the Friends’ Peace Preparing for war Committee prepared ‘a form of memorial for signature’ that was eventually delivered, with 150,000 signatures Speakers noted that most of the Great Powers had and a message of support, to the Russian ambassador doubled or trebled their national debt over the thirty on the eve of the Hague Conference in May 1899. years since the Crimean war, investing in armaments Many members of the Adult Schools had helped to and military might. It was stated: ‘A third of the British gather these signatures, and had attended lectures and national revenue went to pay for past wars, a third for meetings on the topic. future wars, and only one third was left with which In the months leading up to the Hague Conference to run the country’. Munitions workers, the army and Friends and other members of local peace societies navy, their reserves and auxiliaries together comprised organised more than 200 meetings around Britain ‘well over a million of men trained to bear arms or in support of the Peace Manifesto, which could be engaged constantly in the manufacture of armaments. summarised as a call for ‘a lasting peace and a truce in And that figure didn’t include the Indian, Egyptian and armaments’. Colonial armies and militias. All this was done: ‘So

18 the Friend, 1 August 2014 Photo: Gordon Mcleod © and courtesy of the Imperial War Museum. War Photo: Gordon Mcleod © and courtesy of the Imperial

much without conscription, and in time of peace’. powers; but it was only voluntary, not prescriptive. Friends on the international Peace Crusade Committee Nonetheless, Friends were pleased, saying optimis- helped draft a proposal, which the Hague Conference tically of the tribunal: ‘That was the very point upon eventually endorsed, that an international tribunal for which the desires of the Society of Friends and the the purposes of arbitration and reconciliation should friends of peace generally had been fixed for years past. be established. The question of disarmament had always had the second A Quaker delegation attended the Hague Conference, place, and that of an arbitration tribunal first place, for and had audiences with the Russian, French, British the one once established, the other would settle itself.’ and American ambassadors, each of whom courteously Well, the other, of course, didn’t; and there was no heard the Quaker opinions. They also met with a diminution in the rate at which the major powers monsieur de Bloch, who had been on the commissariat were developing and stockpiling new weapons. And the of the Russian army during the Turko-Russian war, resolutions against the use of poison gas, and projectiles when the army consisted of 500,000 men. Russia now and explosives dropped from balloons ‘or other new had three million soldiers, ‘and the arms of that day analogous methods’ were all ignored in forthcoming were mere toys to those of this’. wars, as was the resolution against the use of bullets that flattened or changed their shape once in the human body. The question of disarmament Interestingly, Friends had not devoted much energy to these propositions for rendering war less terrible. The Friends apologetically declined an invitation to a They took the view that if you were going to have a war birthday party for queen Wilhelmina, as they preferred at all, it should be recognised that ‘War must always to return to London and to report about the Peace be brutal in its character; it cannot be conducted on Conference to the Yearly Meeting, which was in session. Christian principles’. They reported to the Yearly Meeting that: ‘There had There was a second Peace Conference at The Hague been a great deal of decrying of the conference as a in 1907, but the third, due to take place in 1914, and mere whim of the emperor of Russia; but now there was rescheduled to 1915, was overtaken by the ‘War to End a real hope that something might come out of it.’ All Wars’ – world war one. Something did, though not as much as Friends, or the czar, had hoped. Yes, a permanent tribunal, a court of arbitration, was established, endorsed by all the major Penelope is a member of Thaxted Area Meeting.

the Friend, 1 August 2014 19 Ad pages 1 Aug 29/7/14 14:11 Page 2

Friends&Meetings Calls for contributions Deaths Memorial meetings CORRECTION Katharine DOLEY 24 July. Member Ruth WRIGLEY (née Comber) Bernard Sidney ALLOWAY of Nether Edge Meeting, Sheffield, A Thanksgiving Meeting to (d. 8 February 2014). Please note formerly of Edgbaston Meeting. celebrate Ruth's life to be held at the correct telephone number for Funeral and thanksgiving 11.45am, Friends Meeting House, Priory Mike Glover is 01924 492169. Our Tuesday 5 August at Grenoside Road, Chichester PO19 1NX at apologies for any inconvenience. Crematorium, Sheffield. Memorial 11am Saturday 9 August, followed Meeting to be arranged. Enquiries, by shared lunch. Allow time for Jenny Coleman: 0114 230 5474. parking. Details: 07816 756636. Diary [email protected] Changes to meeting DOLOBRAN SUMMER Desmond SMITH 27 July. Member GATHERING Sunday 7 September. of Poole and Wimborne Meetings, LUDLOW MEETING HOUSE Bring picnic to eat from 1pm. Meeting formerly Dunblane and Glasgow. will be closed from 11 to 22 August for Worship 2.30pm, followed by tea Aged 77. Funeral Meeting for inclusive for urgent work on the provided by Dolobran and Mont- Worship and celebration of his life drains. There will therefore be no gomery Friends. Details/ directions: 3.30pm Friday 15 August Poole Meeting for Worship on Sunday, 17 Simon and Sophie 01938 500746 or Crematorium. Enquiries: Richard August. Enquiries: John Nurse John and Felicity 01686 668478. and Ruth Bush 01202 882697, [email protected] [email protected] QUAKER MANCHESTER PRIDE WELWYN GARDEN CITY LM Outdoor Meeting for Worship During our Meeting House refurbish- 16 August 12 noon Albert Square Stay in touch... ment, 27 July 2014 - March 2015, (outside Town Hall). LGBT multi- Put all your family and Meeting Meeting for Worship will be held faith event 22 August 7pm Mount notices in the Friend. For details of nearby in the Backhouse Room, Street Meeting. Pride Parade placing a notice on this page please 116 Handside Lane AL8 6SZ. Please 23 August; meet 12 noon Mount call 01535 630230. ring 01707 328402 for directions. Street Meeting. All welcome.

Give Peace a Chance Trust and The Peace Museum The Peace Museum tells the stories of peacemakers. But it’s more than a museum. It does ground-breaking educational work in presenting young and old with the dilemmas facing those affected by conflict. It promotes commu- nity cohesion, social inclusion and equality by challenging people to consider how they might respond to conflict, inequality and extremism. All with the support of Give Peace a Chance Trust. Both charities need your support. Visit our table at the Groups Fair at Yearly Meeting Gathering on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Or seek out Jonathan Fox (Peace Museum trustee) at YMG. Further details: www.peacemuseum.org.uk

Changing lives, a letter at a time Human Writes is an internationally respected humanitarian organ- isation befriending prisoners on Death Row in the USA through letter writing. Letters from penfriends are often the prisoners' only contact with the world in their final years. A Death Row prisoner recently wrote "What does Human Writes mean to me? It's an outlet for so many who have fading voices. We feel support and warmth of friendships that a lot of us have never had. You are an outlet to Death Row's solitude for which I will be forever grateful". If you’d like to know more about joining Human Writes or becoming a penfriend, please send an SAE to Human Writes, 4 Lacey Grove, Wetherby, West Yorks, LS22 6RL, e-mail [email protected] or visit our website at www.humanwrites.org

20 the Friend, 1 August 2014 Ad pages 1 Aug 29/7/14 14:11 Page 3

Friends Historical Society in Bath Presidential address by David Rubenstein Friends and War 1899–1945 Monday 4th August, 7.30pm. Chancellor’s Building, Room CB 1.10 All are welcome to attend. To be followed by FHS AGM. 'DROP-IN Meet us at the Groups Fair on Wednesday evening, too. CLINIC'

Welcome Friends A warm welcome to everyone in Bath for Yearly Meeting Gathering this week. We hope you have a rich and rewarding experience. To learn more about the huge variety of work under- taken by Quakers in Britain, please come and visit the Britain Yearly Meeting stand in the Gathering Tent. We are looking forward to meeting you. Drop-in and find out how Quaker Housing For those not able to attend Yearly Meeting Gathering, Trust could help social we ask you to uphold us prayerfully in your thoughts. housing projects you Everyone interested in learning more about Quaker support, run or want to work is welcome to come on a develop. one-day visit of Friends House, Tuesday 5 Aug 2014 along with other Friends 12.00 – 2.00 from your Area Meeting. Pendle Hill 1 For information on Quaker And see us at our stall work or details of the in the Groups Fair on one-day visits please Tuesday and contact Eudora Pascall: Wednesday evenings. [email protected] 020 7663 1036 You can call her on [email protected] 020 7663 1019 www.qht.org.uk after 19 August.

the Friend, 1 August 2014 21 Ad pages 1 Aug 29/7/14 14:12 Page 4

For details of advertising rates please Classified advertisements contact George Penaluna, details below. George Penaluna, Advertisement Manager, 54a Main Street, Cononley, Keighley BD20 8LL. T&F: 01535 630230 E: [email protected]

SWALEDALE, YORKSHIRE. Superb jobs selection of gorgeous cottages amid accommodation stunning scenery. Details, photos, virtual WORKING HOLIDAY WITH JAN? tours. www.catholecottages.com WANTED I need Support Workers because I’m 01748 886366. disabled. 1 – 14 September, Derbyshire. NORTH LONDON Honest, reliable, mature, £300 per week payment. Please see: WEST CORNWALL STUDIO, sleeps 2/3, professional woman (acupuncturist) seeks workforjan.wordpress.com on small farm, lovely location close to studio or one bedroom flat in quiet house. coast, garden, walks from door, dogs Reasonable access Northern Line. Felicity: welcome. [email protected] 07818 205776. where to stay 01736 762491. SOUTH EAST LONDON Quiet Monday- GUESTHOUSES, HOTELS, B&BS OVERSEAS HOLIDAYS Friday room sought by female psychologist. Attender (Canterbury). Please contact CAUTLEY, SEDBERGH, 1652 COUNTRY Danuta: [email protected] AUTUMN IN VIENNA. Culture, cafés, Cross Keys Temperance Inn (formerly home of early Quaker Gervase Benson). outdoor delights. Comfortable garden Quality en-suite B&B £42.50pppn. apartment. Sleeps 4. Short breaks or ymg events Evening meals available. Friendly Quaker longer. 01904 416840. hosts. 015396 20284. [email protected] [email protected] www.cautleyspout.co.uk www.holidayapartmentinvienna.co.uk NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES, significant psychic and spiritual events? Many people have them, but few feel able to talk about EDINBURGH. City centre accommodation HALKI ISLAND, NEAR RHODES. Antique villa with fabulous views. Tranquil island. them. Come to the Quaker Fellowship for at Emmaus House. Tel. 0131 228 1066. Afterlife Studies workshop on Friday www.emmaushouse-edinburgh.co.uk Sleeps 6 (3 bedrooms). Modern kitchen. £300 - £500pw dependent on season/ 8 August, 1-2pm, Brigflatts 1. QFAS - a Email: [email protected] safe place to share. Scottish charity SC042957. length of booking. 01835 822264 [email protected] www.quakerfellowshipforafterlifestudies Contact Angela Howard, Webb’s Cottage, ISLE OF MULL. Spacious, comfortable Woolpits Road, Saling, Braintree CM7 5DZ. house offering warm welcome. 4 minutes’ SOUTHERN FRANCE Centre Quaker walk to Iona/Staffa ferries. Solar hot Congénies. Walk, cycle, lovely valley. Share water. Local/organic/Fairtrade products. camaraderie/worship with Friends. Relax grants Vegetarians most welcome. 01681 700677. in our pleasant garden. S/C Kitchen. www.staffahouse.co.uk www.centre-quaker-congenies.org or call +33 466 71 46 41, +33 466 35 27 16. THE PERCY BARTLETT TRUST NEWCASTLE, WARM, FRIENDLY B&B Supporting Independence in Older Age Jesmond. Quiet, adjacent Metro/city. ACTIVITY HOLIDAYS Veggies welcome. 0191 285 4155. For Members and Attenders of the ART COURSES/RESIDENCIES IN FRANCE Religious Society of Friends Reflective, creative experiences in peace- in their later years. COTTAGES & SELF-CATERING ful, supportive atmosphere. Beautiful old Examples of grants given for: farmhouse/studio with Woodburner/ garden in Loire Valley. Beginners to • meeting shortfalls in local authority ATTRACTIVE COUNTRY COTTAGES funding for residential care near Ludlow. Green tourism awards. experienced artists welcome. • helping those in their own home Walking, wildlife. Short breaks. Pets. www.StudioBerryFrance.com meet costs of extra help Ffriends' discount. 01547 540441. [email protected] www.mocktreeholidays.co.uk Anna Deregowska 0131 553 3337. • help with certain travel costs • specialist equipment PEMBROKESHIRE NEAR TENBY. • respite for carers Golden sands. Castles. Coast Path. house swap • physiotherapy Two comfortable flats attached to 16th Applications are made by the individual HOUSE SWAP SOUGHT. Century farmhouse each sleeping five. April - June with the support of their local Overseer Peaceful surroundings. 01834 845868. 2015. Two bedroom home, Bega NSW [email protected] Australia for similar in Northern England. Enquiries to Clerk to Trustees [email protected] [email protected] SUFFOLK COAST WALBERSWICK Self- contained annexe. Very close to beach. & Beautiful, varied walks. Sleeps 2/3. £150– for sale to let personal £275pw; £50/night. Tel: 01502 723914 email: [email protected] GIGGLESWICK. Large 4 bedroom terraced QUAKER LESBIAN & GAY FELLOWSHIP house for sale near Settle FMH. Until A welcoming, supportive national net- recently, a secondhand bookshop with SW LAKE DISTRICT. HOLIDAY COTTAGE, work with local groups for Ffriends of all living quarters on upper floors. Excellent sexualities/identities. Roy Vickery, lovely views, sleeps 5 max. Let on un- views. Suitable for family, separate serviced basis, daily rates. Good local 9 Terrapin Court, Terrapin Road, London granny-flat, homeworking or business SW17 8QW. E-mail: [email protected] walks. Kirkby Furness station approx. 1km. use (subject to necessary approvals). 01524 732336 or [email protected] Reduced to £232,500. Details on http://tinyurl.com/nq4f4wk and/or from agent on 01729 825219. Make time for the Friend!

22 the Friend, 1 August 2014 Ad pages 1 Aug 29/7/14 14:12 Page 5

books Share this issue with Peace Studies

INNER LIGHT BOOKS your at YMG Editions concerning traditional Meeting! Quaker Faith & Practice Caroline Hughes, QPST-funded Extra copies For a list of publications or for more professor of conflict resolution information on particular titles visit available at just £1 a copy at the University of Bradford: www.innerlightbooks.com for 5 or more copies. Send a or write 'Inequality and Conflict' Editor, Inner Light Books cheque payable to The Friend to: 7.30pm Wednesday 6 August 54 Lapidge Street Penny Dunn, The Friend, San Francisco CA 94110, USA 173 Euston Rd, London NW1 2BJ. Chancellor’s Building Room CB 1.12. All welcome. miscellaneous the Friends The Friend 1914-18 ALL YOUR PIANO REQUIREMENTS Restoration/removals/sales/part-exchange. Quarterly Digital Archive www.cambridgepianolacompany.co.uk Tom Poole 01223 861507. Britain Yearly Meeting [email protected] We wish to warmly thank all Gathering 2014 those who have contributed to Revising Quaker our appeal to create this digital ACCOUNTING SERVICES Faith & Practice archive. The launch will be held Charity Accounts prepared. at Yearly Meeting Gathering: Independent Examinations carried out. “This is FQ at its best Bookkeeping Services. and just right for YMG...” 1–2pm, Sunday 3 August Contact David Stephens FCCA Chancellors Building on 07843 766685. The issue includes an interview with Room CB 5.12. Email: [email protected] recording clerk Paul Parker, a history of Quaker Faith & Practice by David Olver, the process of creating an ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT & CONSULTANCY antholgy of Quaker writings by Friends in Wales and a questioning Bookkeeping, Wardening Cover, Lettings, piece by Simon Best and Stuart Visually Outreach & Project Management for Masters, ‘What can we say today?’ Quaker Meetings & small businesses. Price £5 or buy together with impaired? Wendrie Heywood 07881 220829 Friends Quarterly Issue two, [email protected] ‘Who are Quakers today?’ Get the audio version of www.mindfulbusinessservices.com at just £7.50 for both. the Friend and other Pick up from a dispenser at Yearly Meeting Gathering and pay at Quaker publications from MEDIATION AND CONFLICT COACHING the Friend stall at the Groups Fair www.talkingfriends.org.uk on Tuesday or Wednesday In responding to conflict evening, or subscribe using the or call Alan Johnson and stress at work. leaflet in the centre of this issue. 0121 476 0217 Contact Michael Bartlet for a free initial discussion of your needs. [email protected] or telephone 01727 869 654. www.mediation-resources.co.uk QPSW Sustainability and

QUAKER MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES, New Economy Grants Partnerships, commitments, notices and other calligraphy. Liz Barrow 01223 369776. Does your meeting have a particular concern around sustainability? Do you have a project idea for building the New Economy? WRITING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY? Grants of between £100 and £2,000 are available. Books typeset for your family’s pleasure. Applications close: 1 December. 2014. Photos and other graphics can be included. Contact Trish on 01223 363435. [email protected] Information/application forms are available at Other printed material also prepared. www.quaker.org.uk/sustainability-grants or call Maya Williams on 020 7663 1056.

the Friend, 1 August 2014 23 Ad pages 1 Aug 29/7/14 14:13 Page 6

Quaker Life QUAKERS Working to strengthen and sustain the fabric of Quaker life within our Yearly Meeting

We provide training, advice and support and welcome comment Outreach Pastoral care and information about best Raising public awareness of Offering support to meetings practice in meetings. We have Friends nationally and locally, responding to specific issues a Network of Friends to support encouraging and supporting including support for Eldership our work and help Friends learn Friends and meetings in speaking and Oversight, Diversity and from each others experience. confidently about their Quaker Inclusion and Safeguarding faith and sharing it with others, (Child Protection) and the being more visible in the com- Quaker business method. Quaker Centre at munities around them and deep- 020 7663 1023 Friends House ening the spiritual life of meetings. [email protected] Including a café, bookshop, 020 7663 1017 www.quaker.org.uk/ Worship Space and information [email protected] pastoral-care point. We stock a wide range of www.quaker.org.uk/outreach Quaker and non-Quaker books, distribute outreach materials and Quaker Marriages supply book boxes for events. Children and young Support on marrying in Quaker We also provide opportunities Meetings and specifically to for volunteering and the people's work Quaker Registering Officers Worship Space is open to all. Providing resources, training and 020 7663 1023 020 7663 1030/1031 advice to support local/regional [email protected] [email protected] meetings in their engagement www.quaker.org.uk/ro www.quaker.org.uk/ with children and young people. quakercentre Offering a range of events for children and young people, as well as opportunities for young Quaker Life Network Quaker Voices people to participate in the Quaker Life Network connects A bi-monthly publication for the running of these events. Friends who have time, energy, spiritual nurture of individuals 020 7663 1013 skills and experience to share and meetings. Bringing together [email protected] with other Quakers. It helps to thought-provoking articles, poems www.quaker.org.uk/cyp support Quaker Life in develop- and pictures, plus the best from ing and sharing good practice. Area and Local Meeting 020 7663 1007 newsletters. Subscriptions: [email protected] 020 7663 1143 Library of the www.quaker.org.uk/qlnetwork [email protected] Religious Society www.quaker.org.uk/ quaker-voices of Friends The largest library of Quakerism Chaplaincy in Britain, established in 1673. Offering support and resources, Employment and An exceptionally rich resource networking opportunities and including printed materials, conferences for all Quaker Wardenship archives, pictures, photographs chaplains. Support and advice for Quaker and museum objects. Staff can 020 7663 1017 employers & their employees also provide advice on how to [email protected] and with all aspects of running run a meeting library or look www.quaker.org.uk/chaplaincy a Quaker Meeting House. after the meeting's records. 020 7663 1143 020 7663 1096 020 7663 1135 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] (for prison chaplains) www.quaker.org.uk/employers www.quaker.org.uk/library www.quaker.org.uk/qpc

Quaker Life, Friends House, 173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ 020 7663 1143 [email protected] www.quaker.org.uk