Time and the physician : the autobiography of Lewellys F. Barker.

  • Barker, Lewellys F. (Lewellys Franklin), 1867-1943.
Date:
1942
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Time and the physician : the autobiography of Lewellys F. Barker. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    permitted to attend our meetings, and I recall very well listen¬ ing to one colored Quaker preacher—a man called William Allan. We youngsters heard much concerning the Journals of George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends, the Afology of Robert Barclay, and the writings of William Penn. We learned, too, the ideas of these men about the fundamental doctrines of Christianity and of the Quaker philosophy of life. Though we were taught to believe in the Trinity and in the Bible as a guide to conduct, we were warned against too rigid definitions regarding the Trinity and the inspiration of the Scriptures. At home, my father read to us a chapter of the Bible every day 5 I have heard the whole of the Bible not once but several times. As orthodox Quakers we deplored what we regarded as the false doctrines of certain heterodox groups— the Hicksites (who were more Unitarian in belief) and the Wilburites. I remember reacting almost with horror, as a boy, when I was told that Elias Hicks had said that “the blood of Christ availed no more than the blood of bulls or of goats”! Though the Friends were a peaceful people, some serious conflicts arose between Conservative Friends and Progressive Friends, particularly on matters of “discipline.” To promote a progressive program of religious work, a committee was ap¬ pointed in 1878 (to be known later as a “Pastoral Committee”) “to visit meetings and families and to appoint meetings as they believe the Holy Spirit shall direct.” Among the mem¬ bers of this committee were my father and mother, William Wetherald (father of the poetess Ethelwyn Wetherald), Herbert Nicholson, Martha Rogers, and others well known to our family. A new discipline was adopted in 1880, and this