Democracy anfc IReltQion. 93

principle of solidarity, as the present day's gener-ation longs for though going astray to find it, it istime to revive the community ideals and the co-operative spirit which is our best inheritance fromthe Middle Ages . It is time to complete the" Reform of the Reformation " which found itsfirst expression in the communities of the EarlyBaptists. The Quakers, practical idealists andnot satisfied with fine words, try to experiencefellowship first of all in the small groups of theirown society.

The Quakers believe that they approach thisgoal in their meetings for worship. By turningtheir back on the run and rush of the city, bygathering themselves together, they seek todiscover the unity in the spirit from above or, asthe early Quakers said, the unity in the mysticalbody of Christ. Thus George Keith reports in1670 of a Quaker meeting for worship which heattended : " After centreing down, they feel acorporate sense of communion with God and thebrethren." If the Quakers attribute sacramentalsignificance to their meetings for worship, thewell-known theologian Otto confirmed this in thefollowing words : " The Silent Worship of theQuakers is in fact a realisation of Communion inboth senses of the word—inward oneness andfellowship of the individual with invisible presentReality and the mystical union of many individ-uals with one another. In this regard there isthe plainest inward kinship between the twoforms of worship which, viewed externally,seem to stand at the opposite poles of religious