The Nuttall Encyclopedia

1. Friends, Society of

   a community of Christians popularly known as Quakers, founded in 1648 by George Fox (q. v.), distinguished for their plainness of speech and manners, and differing from other sects chiefly in the exclusive deference they pay to the "inner light," and their rejection of both clergy and sacrament as media of grace; they refuse to take oath, are averse to war, and have always been opposed to slavery.