Friends
SOCIETY OF, the organization commonly called Quakers, founded in the middle of the 17th century by George Fox. They are distinguished from FRIEZE other Christian bodies by the special stress they lay on the immediate teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and their belief that no one should be paid or appointed by human authority for the exercise of the gift of the ministry.
In obedience to this belief they hold their meetings without any prearranged service or sermon, and sometimes in total silence. The Friends believe that the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper are to be taken spiritually, and not in an outward form. Their protests against the use of oaths and against the exaction of tithes and church rates cost them much suffering and frequent imprisonment during the first 50 years of their existence. The simplified dress which Friends adopted from conviction 200 years ago became stereotyped into a uniform. This dress has generally been given up, as have the "testimony" against music and singing in its rigid application, and the peculiarities of speech, such as the use of "thee" and "thou" instead of "you" (though many Friends still retain this custom among themselves), and the avoidance of all titles of courtesy. Of late years there has been a very decided evangelical movement among Friends, under the influence of which the old quietism is dying out.
As a result of this change the influence of the Society beyond its own borders, through home and foreign missions and adult First Day (Sunday) Schools has developed to a remarkable extent. There of Friends called Hicksites (from their FRISIANS called metopes, being filled with sculptured figures in alto-relievo, or with the skulls of oxen and wreaths alternately; while in the Corinthian and Composite orders it was ornamented with figures or scroll work in low relief, extending along its entire length. The term frieze was also applied to a broad band of sculpture, in low relief, that was frequently placed round the cella of a Grecian temple, immediately under the ceiling of the portico, and completely surrounding the exterior.
In modern domestic architecture a frieze is frequently introduced immediately below the cornice of an apartment.