THE MAN IN LEATHER BREECHES

George Fox and the Early Quakers

Leonard S. Kenworthy

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Quaker Publications Box 726 Kennett Square, PA 19348 Some Background on This Pamphlet and Its Author

This essay is being printed in order to on Quakerism are Volumes I and II of Liv­ provide a brief, popularly-written account ing in the Light: Some Quaker Pioneers of of George Fox and the early Quakers as the 20th Century, A Quaker Inside Nazi' there is very little material available on that Germany: Another Dimension of the important aspect of Quakerism. Holocaust, Quaker Quotations on Faith A short list of readings is included for and Practice, and Quakerism: A Study those who wish to pursue their study of the Guide on the Religious Society ofFriends. beginning of Quakerism further, and a few questions are attached to encourage discus­ sion of this pamphlet by interested groups. Nearly all of the material in this essay has appeared elsewhere. Some of it was used in a Pennsbury Leaflet many years ago on George Fox-Seeker. Most of it is taken from Chapter I of the writer's book on Quakerism: A Study Guide on the Religious Society of Friends.

The author is a birthright and convinced Friend who was educated at Westtown School and Earlham College, both Quaker institutions, as well as at Columbia Univer­ sity, from which he received his master's and doctoral degrees. He has taught at Friends Select and Friends Central Schools and served on the boards of Oakwood, Friends Seminary, and Brooklyn Friends School. Vocationally, he has spent much of his life in teacher education in the social sciences at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. In addition, he has travelled widely abroad (88 countries), worked in Germany for the American Friends Service Committee, helping per­ sons designated as "Jewish" by the Nazi government, to emigrate; and served as Director of the Division of Education for International Understanding of UNESCO. He has written widely for children, teach­ ers, and Quakers. Among his recent books The I m porta nee of Fox 17th Century England

In an arresting statement Thomas In order to understand individuals and Carlyle, the Scottish essayist and historian, movements, they need to be seen against once wrote: the background of their times and their localities. That is certainly true of George Perhaps the most remarkable incident in modern history is not the Diet of Worms, Fox and the early Quaker movement. For still less the Battle of Austerlitz, Waterloo, them the time was the 17th century; the or any other battle, but an incident passed place-England. over carelessly by most historians - name­ That was a boisterous era; a time of ten­ ly, George Fox's making himself a coat of sions and turmoil; an age of argumenta­ leather. tion; a century of colonization, conflicts, In a similar vein, G.M. Trevelyan, the and changes. British historian, claimed that of all the England then was a small and sparsely Englishmen, George Fox made the most settled country, with a population of ap­ original contribution to the history of proximately five million persons. But Lon­ religion. don was already the largest city in the And Emil Fuchs, a German theologian world, with a half million inhabitants. and historian of Christianity, maintained Travel was difficult and limited largely to that George Fox rather than Martin Luther walking and horseback riding; stage should be called The Prophet of the Refor­ coaches were just beginning to appear. mation. In their youth, Fuchs claimed, It was also a period of social stratifica­ both had remarkable visions of the revival tion. England was like a giant pyramid, of Christianity. But Luther lost that vision, with the royal family at the top and the he said, by his compromises with the mass of common people at the bottom, political potentates of his day, whereas Fox with a few small groups in between. Each never lost his. part of the populace had its assigned place Such are a few of the tributes to a sim­ and there was little social mobility. And ple sheep-herder in 17th century England those at the top were accorded special named George Fox, the founder of the honors. For example, the common people Religious Society of Friends. removed their hats in the presence of the What was that remarkable man like? elite and addressed them with special terms What was his message to the people of his of respect. day-and to us today? What was the Because of the excesses of the 16th cen­ unique form of religious democracy he tury Elizabethan period in dress, art, and introduced-and why did he establish it? music, a large part of the English popula­ These and other questions form the basis tion in the 17th century espoused Puri­ of this brief account of George Fox­ tanism. Seeker and Finder. The most revolutionary aspect of that century in England, however, was the fact that for the first time in history the Bible, in the King James version, was available to people who could read. Consequently doubtedly he meditated upon the world religion was a major topic of conversa­ around him and the people who lived in tion-and often of confrontation. Reli­ Fenny Drayton and the surrounding coun­ gious tracts were published profusely and tryside. distributed widely. And that keen interest He seemed to enjoy that solitude, for in religion led to the formation of many even as a child, "he appeared of another sects, such as the Anabaptists, the Fifth frame of mind than the rest of his brethren, Monarchy Men, the Muggletonians, the being more religious, inward, still, solid, Ranters, and the Seekers. In fact, two of and observing beyond his years." It dis­ the chief characteristics of that century in turbed him to see how "lightly and wan­ England were the conflicts over religious tonly" many older people behaved and he beliefs and the clashes over control of the resolved not to be like them when he grew government by various religious groups­ to manhood. At the age of II, according the Catholics, the Church of England, and to his account, "I knew pureness and the Puritans. righteousness, for while a child I was The drama of that century included in taught to walk to be kept pure. The Lord its star-studded cast such persons as John taught me to be faithful in all things and Milton, the poet; William Shakespeare, the to act faithfully in two ways . . . inwardly playwright; Oliver Cromwell, the Protes­ to God and outwardly to man.'' tant political leader; Sir Walter Raleigh, the Such characteristics were unusual for a adventurer and colonizer; and George Fox, young man in his teens and he was sub­ the founder of Quakerism. jected to ridicule. Probably that drove him deeper into solitude and developed further his sensitiveness, although he said in his Journal that he merely left his critics alone His Birth and went his way. To such a sensitive youth the world was and Early Years baffling and in all of his attempts to bring George Fox was born in July of 1624 in order out of the chaos in his mind, he was the small town of Fenny Drayton in unsuccessful. Some of his friends advised Leicestershire, England, in the central part him to marry as a solution to his problems, of that nation. His father was a weaver but he told them that he was "but a whose only outstanding characteristic lad . . . and must get wisdom." Others seems to have been his honesty; we know recommended tobacco and psalm singing, that he was called "Righteous Christer." to which he replied that tobacco "was a The mother was a good woman, "accom­ thing he did not love" and psalms he was plished above most of her degree." Con­ "not in a state to sing." The professors to sequently there was apparently no reason whom he turned for help "did not possess to pay any attention to the birth of a son what they professed" and the ministers he to such a poor, simple, hardworking consulted were "empty, hollow casks." couple. He was a lonely, troubled young man, Years passed and this unknown lad ac­ almost hopeless of finding an answer to the quired a little education and became ap­ riddle of life. Physically he was so "dried prenticed to a shoemaker who also kept up with sorrows, grief, and troubles," that sheep and cattle. Often George Fox was left he wished he had "never been born" or alone in the fields with the animals and un- that "he had been born blind." His Great Discovery All things were new and all the creation gave another smell unto me, beyond what Then something happened in 1648, when words can utter . . . Great things did the he was 24. He described that "something" Lord lead me into and wonderful depths in unforgettable language: were opened unto me, beyond what can by words be declared. And when all my hopes in them (the preachers) and in all men were gone, so that Spiritually his wanderings in many direc­ I had nothing outwardly to help me, nor tions were over. He had found The Trail. could I tell what to do, then, oh then, I heard Throughout the rest of his life his eyes were a voice which said, "There is one, even fixed on that path and his feet did not fail· Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condi­ to follow it. tion," and when I heard it, my heart did leap And his spiritual integration aided his for joy. physical integration. Heretofore he had For years he had wandered in a spiritual been a fragmented individual; now he was desert without any showers of manna to integrated, complete, whole. Gradually he feed his hunger. Now he feasted on man­ was transformed from a shy, depressed, na. For years he had travelled in that desert physically debilitated young man into a without sufficient water to slake his thirst. robust adult, able to endure years of ar­ Now he had found a spiritual oasis with a duous travels, physical assaults, and perpetual source of water. As the heart imprisonments. panteth after the brook, he had panted He knew, too, that this remarkable after God. And, like the psalmist, he could discovery was something that should not now say: "All Thy waves and Thy billows be hoarded; it needed to be shared. He felt are gone over me." impelled to tell others, that his joy might Fox had made a great discovery-that be their joy, too. God lives and talks directly to people to­ day. He is not one who revealed Himself solely to a few prophets in the past; He Setting Out On a Series reveals Himself to anyone, anywhere, and at any time when they are ready to take of Journeys part in a dialogue with the Divine. He is So he set out on a life of travel to share a Living Presence, a Continuing Illumina­ The Good News with others. Those jour­ tion. neys led him into many parts of the British As Elton Trueblood has phrased it: Isles; across the Atlantic to the Barbados, "George Fox . . . had grasped a great to Jamaica, and to the American colonies; idea, the idea that Christian experience and to what is now The Netherlands and could be couched in the present tense." Germany. It was for those journeys that Fox made his coat and breeches of leather to which Some Results Carlyle referred so strikingly. That suit was of His Discovery not made to attract attention or to make Fox seem bizarre. It was made as a prac­ That striking experience had a profound tical measure, providing him with some­ effect upon Fox. Here is how he described thing warm and durable for the days of what had happened: walking and riding and the many nights he would spent sleeping against the haystacks or hedges, or in the open fields. Fox had many words and phrases to At that time of life he was in his mid­ describe this incredible phenomenon-The twenties-a strong, burly individual with Indwelling Spirit, The Light Within, The long hair, piercing eyes, and a powerful Light of Christ, The Seed. voice. Elizabeth Gray Vining has described · We can deny this divinity within us as him as "a tall, squarely-built, fair-haired well as outside us. We can ignore it. We man, serene and forthright, a man of great can minimize it. But it is always there, magnetism who drew people irresistibly to - ready to be released. Hence each of us can him." The people of his day said he make direct contact with God, at any time "gleamed," he "glistened." Today we and in any place, without intermediaries. would say he had charisma. To Fox creation continued and revela­ He travelled by foot, by horseback, and tion had never ceased. Thus God's gui­ eventually by boat,-meeting and talking dance was available in the 17th century as with people wherever he could find them­ well as it had been in the first. It was by the roadside, in market places and at available to women and children as well as fairs, and even in churches-where he to men. And it was not reserved for the sometimes stood on a bench rather than in prophets, the apostles, and the saints. It the pulpit, to preach. was available to the common as well as the That was a time of religious turmoil and uncommon, to the inconspicuous as well seeking for a more satisfying way of life. as the conspicuous, and to the uneducated Many people were restless and disillusioned as well as the educated. with existing creeds and contemporary re­ Fox's messages were also filled with hope ligious practices, finding little that was because of the transforming love of God. satisfying in the churches of their day. Con­ He believed in the possibility of human sequently word often spread that the man perfection or what many of us today would in leather breeches was coming, and peo­ call completeness, wholeness, or integra­ ple turned out to see and to hear him. tion. Sometimes the groups were small. But Fox was an optimist. But he was also a often people came by the hundreds and on realist. Many of his messages were punc­ occasions by the thousands. tuated with references to suffering and sin. He knew about the imperfections of human beings. Yet he believed such shortcomings His Messages could, with God's help, be overcome. In At such gatherings George Fox would one of his most famous passages in his sometimes sit in silence for a long time, Journal, he wrote: waiting for the leadings of the Spirit. I saw also that there was an ocean of But the messages came-mighty mes­ darkness and death, but an ocean of light sages, moving messages, life-sustaining and love which flowed over the ocean of messages, life-transforming messages,­ darkness. and sometimes life-disturbing messages. Such was the invincible spirit of this man At the core was Fox:s certainty that God in leather breeches and his overwhelming does not dwell in temples made by human belief in the power of love. hands, but in people's hearts. It was ap­ His convictions, however, were not the parent to him that we are all created in the result of biblical scholarship, even though image of God and that something of the he knew the Bible extremely well. His con- Divine is implanted at birth in each of us. victions and his certainty came from ex­ Be patterns, be examples, in all countries, periences. If one word were sought to sum­ places, islands, nations, wherever you come, marize his teachings, that word might well that your carriage and life may preach be "experience." Over and over he testified among all sorts of people, and to them; then that "I came to know God experimental­ you will come to walk cheerfully over the ly. And (it) was as one who hath a key and world, answering that of God in every­ doth open," or "This I knew experimen­ one ... tally." Today we would probably substi­ Thus, while working on their own tute the word "experientially." transformation, people would simulta­ Such were some of his thoughts about neously be working on the transformation the relationship of people to God. But of society. Taken seriously, the belief of religion to him was much more than that. "that of God in every individual" would It involved, also, the relationship of peo­ have· far-reaching consequences. You ple with other human beings. Once indi­ would not kill because in so doing you viduals discovered the sources of spiritual would be destroying something of God in power, they would be transformed. They other persons. You would accord equal would become new beings. They would be rights to women and children because they, living witnesses to God's truth. And they too, were endowed with something of the could, by example, indicate to others The Divine. You would be concerned with the Way. plight of prisoners and the handicapped To Fox religion was not a creed, not an because they were also Children of the organization, but a life. In such a life one Light. And you would treat people of other receives power from God and translates it races with respect because they, too, were into love for others-caring, compassion. endowed with the Divine. In modern language, God is a mighty So the implications of this deceivingly torrent of water and people are generating simple doctrine could be extended. Thus plants. Only when the channels are open Fox and the early Friends became social can this flood of water pour through. Peo­ reformers as well as spiritual regenerators. ple are so equipped that they can change And remember, this was in the 17th this torrent of water into power and pass century! it on to others. Fox often phrased this idea in biblical terms: "I told them this was the word of George Fox and Prayer the Lord God unto them, that they lived Fox was powerful as a preacher, sen­ in words, but God Almighty looked for sitively attuned to the leadings of the Spirit. fruits among them." Or, "I saw how peo­ But he was even more powerful in public ple read the Scriptures without a right sense prayer. As William Penn testified, ''the of them, and without duly applying them most awful (awe-inspiring), reverent frame to others, but did not turn to find the truth I ever felt or beheld . . . was his in of these things in themselves." prayer." Religion to Fox was therefore a twofold relationship-a vertical relationship to God and a horizontal relationship to other peo­ ple. Often he referred to those two dimen­ sions as the inward and the outward states. Therefore he admonished his listeners to: The Centrality of Caring Communities, Meetings for Worship Fellowships of Friends George Fox had found God in the silence Fox also thought of Christianity in terms of his soul. He had communed constantly of group fellowship. Small groups of in­ directly with the Divine. He was able to do dividuals and families, bound together in so whenever he was outwardly and inward­ their search for God's guidance in their ly prepared to do so. lives, should be fellowships, caring com­ Fox believed such experiences were avail­ munities, religious societies of friends. able to everyone. God equips each person Therefore people should come together so that he or she can hear The Eternal for more than worship. They should come Voice~ In modern language, God is like the together to carry on the business of the radio waves which are always there when group. They should come together to cele­ the human instruments are properly tuned brate the marriages of their fellow-worship­ to pick them up. Each of us is a spiritual pers and friends. They should come to­ receiving set. gether for the burials of their co-religion­ He believed, also, that people can hear ists. And their children-boys and girls­ God best in silence. They can do this in­ should be educated together, under the care dividually and in groups. In fact, a of the group. heightened sense of God's Presence is Because of the persecution of many possible when people worship together. Friends and the imprisonment of others, Sermons, music:;, a beautiful altar, Meetings for Sufferings were organized­ stained glass windows, candles, and incense the first of many social concerns of can become hindrances rather than helps Quakers over the centuries. Then they to worship. They can distract people from worked together for improved prison ·con­ hearing God's Voice; they can substitute ditions, for their rights in the courts, for form for substance. the peaceful settlement of disputes and the From these and other related beliefs eradication of war, and for other causes emerged the Quaker meeting for worship­ and movements. not of silent meetings, but of meetings held Part of this was for the protection of on the basis of silence, of openness, of members of their own fellowship. But their searching, of listening, and of expectancy concern was not limited to their own; it in­ in Divine Guidance. That was a radical cluded hundreds and thousands (and later departure in 17th century England-and it millions) of others. Thus Quakers became still is. socially-conscious individuals, reformers, In such meetings ministers were not · pioneers of a better world-based on their abolished; it was the laity that were done taking seriously the part of the Lord's away with. Hence everyone became a po­ Prayer which says: "Thy kingdom come, tential minister; when anyone felt moved on earth, as it is in heaven. Those early by the Lord, that individual would speak Quakers took that injunction seriously; it or pray, expressing what he or she felt had changed them and through them it helped been given by God. That, too, was a revo­ to change the world. lutionary idea. Primitive Christianity Where they declared the doctrine of human depravity, Revived Early Friends proclaimed the possibility of Such ideas were not the sole discovery human perfection. of George Fox. Many of them were not Where they declared the doctrine of the even new. In a sense George Fox was not elect, a religious revolutionary; he was a religious Early Friends declared that all men, reviver, struggling to rediscover or reclaim women, and children are elect. the authenticity, simplicity, power, and vitality of first century Christianity. Where they believed that revelations were Many of those early Christians knew limited to a few individuals and had God directly. He was a power in their lives. stopped hundreds of years ago, They were filled with His love, willing to Early Friends believed that revelations were sacrifice and undergo horrendous persecu­ still occurring and that everyone could tion to testify to His all-pervading, all­ have such revelations from God. satisfying Presence. And their lives were Where they believed in the supremacy of often testimony to their faith. the Bible, Fox burned with a desire to recapture Early Friends believed in the supremacy of and revive that kind of Christianity. And the Inner Light. his message was Christian. It was not a thin Where they upheld the sacraments as essen­ humanism or a vague mysticism, although tial aspects of Christianity, it was both humane and mystical. In the Early Friends considered them as substi­ words of William Penn, it was "primitive tutes for the one and only sacrament, a Christianity revived." In the words of Fox: Christian life. "Christ is come and doth dwell in the hearts of His people ... "Or, "I declared Where they relied on the preaching of a God's everlasting truth-that they might all single individual (a man), in their ser­ come to know Christ to be their teacher to vices, instruct them, their counsellor to direct Early Friends maintained that all worship­ . them, their shepherd to feed them, their pers are potential ministers, including bishop to oversee them.'' women and children. Where they utilized stained glass windows, an altar, and music to promote worship, Clashes with the Early Friends considered them deterrents Church Authorities to true worship. Even though Fox considered himself a Where they depended upon a few church religious reviver, most church leaders of his officials to make decisions for the con­ day in England considered him a revolu­ gregation, tionist. He was a challenge to their authori­ Early Friends stressed the inclusion of all ty, a disbeliever, a rebel, a renegade in their members of their groups in making deci­ ranks. And that was true of all who joined sions, including women and children. with Fox. The contrasts in belief between the Was it any wonder, then, that so many church officials and early Friends were of the church leaders and their adherents often stark. For example: clashed with Fox and his co-workers? Clashes with the Persecution Political Authorities In I 7th century England the Quakers were obviously not only a nuisance; they Fox and his followers were also in dis­ were a threat to the status quo, religiously agreement with the poiitical as well as with and politically. Consequently they were at­ the religious authorities. Among the areas tacked verbally and physically, beaten and on which these two groups differed were stoned. Laws were passed against them and the following: they were often imprisoned. Where the political leaders demanded that For example, the Conventicle Act in all witnesses take an oath on the Bible I 664 made it a crime for more than five to insure truthfulness, persons to meet for worship in any type of Early Friends refused to take such an oath, service other than that of the Church of believing it contrary to the injunction England. Because of that act and other not to swear, letting their yeas be yeas stern measures, over 2000 Friends were in and their nays, nays. prison within a year of its passage. In I68I there were at least IOOO Quakers in prison, Where they required people to remove their and in I685, approximately I400. And the hats in courts and before the Royalty as prisons in which they were incarcerated a sign of respect, were filthy, dank, cold places, unfit for Early Friends maintained that hats should human habitation. be removed only in the presence of the Yet most Friends were able to endure Ultimate Authority. such persecutions and some even deepened Where they relied upon war as a major their faith because of those tests of their means of settling disputes, and required convictions. Those in prison held services all able-bodied men to enlist, and preached to the other inmates. And Early Friends refused to take part in some of those outside the prisons peti­ fighting. tioned the government to allow them to Where they severely limited the civil liber­ replace their fellow-sufferers in jails, ties of citizens, although their requests were never granted. Early Friends worked strenuously to de­ There is even an account of the children of fend and extend civil liberties. Reading holding meetings for worship while their parents were imprisoned. In the light of such challenges by To assist the Quaker prisoners a Meeting Quakers to the existing political order, it for Sufferings was established-a term is understandable that so many government which continues today as the name for the officials condemned Fox and his followers executive body of London Yearly Meeting. and sought in various ways to curb their As the leader of the new movement, activities. George Fox did not escape incarceration.· Eight times he was sent to prison, spending six years in jails and prisons, under almost unbearable conditions. Some Shortcomings The Valiant Sixty, even though there were at least 66 of them-and possibly more. of Early Friends They were from many walks in life, a ma­ Seventeenth century England was not jority of them farmers and small shop­ marked by toleration or tact and early keepers. A dozen of them were women, in­ Friends did not always escape the spirit of cluding Elizabeth Hooton, the first convert that age. Despite their message of love and to Quakerism and its first minister. They forgiveness, they could be uncompromis­ were also young men and women, most of ing and unforgiving. What they considered them in their 20s or 30s; a few in their late certainty and conviction, others considered teens. prejudice and fanaticism. In their fervor as Often they travelled in pairs, to aid each new converts, they sometimes provoked other in times of trouble; to provide com­ opposition and encouraged persecution by panionship on their lonely, difficult jour­ their words and deeds. neys; and to assist each other in the public Nor was Fox without fault in this re­ ministry. spect. As Rufus Jones pointed out in his Fox once stated that "one man, raised book on The Life and Message of George by God's power to stand and live in the Fox: same spirit the prophets and apostles were in, can shake the countryside for ten miles Though usually humble and tender, he yet around." Those itinerant ministers shook sometimes was overconscious of his impor­ the countryside for far more than that tance and he occasionally shared the tenden­ cy of his age to speak with an air of infal­ distance. libility and finality. He felt undue satisfac­ In fact, they were so important that one tion in the calamities which overtook his chronicler of Quaker history, Sidney persecutors, though we should all admit that Lucas, has maintained that "The Quaker it is a very human trait. movement was primarily one of leaders." And Fox had a special gift, it appears, in encouraging and inspiring those co­ Fox and workers who often possessed gifts he his Co-Workers lacked. Without doubt Fox was the dominant figure in that new movement. Despite his The Fells humble background and lack of education, he was a religious genius. of Swarthmore Hall Dependent as the new movement was Also of great importance to that upon him for its messages and its organiza­ burgeoning movement were the Fells of tion, the Religious Society of Friends Swarthmore Hall. That was a wealthy and would not have grown without a large well-educated family who lived in a large group of conspicuous and able co-work­ and comfortable manor, the largest in the ers-ministers, missionaries, evangelists-, county of Ulverston, with 13 fireplaces and who travelled far and wide in England and many servants. overseas, spreading the new gospel, or the Margaret Fell was an early convert to old gospel revived. Quakerism. Her husb.and, Thomas Fell, Eventually those individuals became never became an adherent, but he used his known as The First Publishers of Truth or considerable influence as a judge and political leader to protect the Quakers. paid preachers, and recognized women as Perhaps he can best be characterized as a well as men as ministers. Still others were champion of tolerance in an age of in- from the Seekers, who no longer recog- tolerance....:..the first "friend of the nized the sacraments and believed that God Friends." revealed himself to people directly. Soon Swarthmore Hall became the unof- After carefully examining nearly all of ficial headquarters of the new movement, the private Journals of early Friends, and with the travelling ministers often stopping 1 many other documents from that period, there for physical and spiritual renewal. In '-./ Howard Brinton reported in a Pendle Hill addition, Margaret Fell became the treas- pamphlet on How They Became Friends, urer of the Quaker group. that: Then, after the death of Judge Fell, . . . a careful scrutiny of early Margaret became the wife of George Fox. Quakerism shows that spectacular events did That was in 1669, when Fox was 45. Often not constitute the heart and core of the Margaret Fell Fox is called The Mother of movement. Its real strength lay in the quiet, Quakerism. inconspicuous growth of small meetings in Thus Swarthmore Hall became the hub many homes where sometimes as few as three of the Quaker world in the late 17th or four waited upon God in silence until one of those present felt moved to speak . . . century-the first Quaker Center-the These small home-meetings constituted the forerunner of Woodbrooke in England, seed-bed out of which the Quaker movement and Pendle Hill, Quaker Hill, and Powell grew. House in the United States today. One of Quakerism's most learned and gifted leaders, Robert Barclay, described The Importance of his own attraction to the movement in this way: the Rank and File ... I, myself, in part, am a true witness, who not by -strength of arguments, or by a of Early Quakers particular disquisition of each doctrine, and Any movement depends in part on the convincement of my understanding thereby, caliber of its prominent leaders. But any came to receive and bear witness of the truth, movement also depends upon its lesser­ but by being secretly reached by this life; for known adherents. So it was with the early when I came into the silent assemblies of God's people, I felt a secret power among Quaker movement. Much of its vitality them which touched my heart, and as I gave came from its common as well as its un­ way unto it, I found the evil weakening in common members, its inconspicuous as me, and the goOd raised up, and so I became well as its conspicuous adherents, its thus knit and united unto them, hungering private as well as its public Friends. more and more for this power and life . . . Many of those lesser-known individuals Often there was extraordinary power in discovered that they had been Friends long seemingly ordinary people, a power re­ before they had heard of this new group. leased by their new faith. and, as Fox For example, some of them belonged to the recorded in his Journal, "The lives and Familists, who practiced silence in their conversations of Friends did preach." worship, rejected oaths and wars, and used Membership was not instituted for 75 only "the plain language." Others were years, but it is estimated that there were associated with the Particular Baptists who around 30,000 Quakers in England a were opposed to compulsory tithing and decade after the movement began. The Quaker Movement The Dangers in Overseas Unchecked Inspiration Soon the Publishers of Truth extended But there were dangers lurking inside as their visits to other parts of the world. Two well as outside the early Quaker movement women went to the Barbados and thence which threatened its existence. How does to Boston. Three men and three women one control the excesses of ecstatic con­ even set out to visit the Sultan of Turkey, verts? How does one handle the uninhi­ although only one of them, Mary Fisher, bited and supposed "leadings" of the In­ was able to complete the journey and to be dwelling Spirit? How does one strike a received by the young ruler. balance between freedom and responsi­ Eventually George Fox and his compan­ bility? ions journeyed to Jamaica, the Barbados, Some of those difficulties were brought several of the American colonies, and to to a dramatic and almost disastrous climax what is now The Netherlands and Ger­ by a situation involving James Nayler, one many. of the youngest, most able, and most ar­ Such trips were often long, difficult, and ticulate of the early Publishers of Truth. hazardous. Several of them resulted in Exhausted by his imprisonments and by the persecution for those undertaking them. A demands upon him by his leadership of the few even resulted in deaths. The four best­ movement in London, Nayler succumbed known of those are the hanging of three to adulation of some of his disciples who English Friends and a Friend from the Bar­ suggested that he recreate the scene of Jesus bados, in Boston. riding through the streets of Jerusalem It was in large part because of George while His followers hailed Him. Yielding Fox's travels in the American colonies that to that idea, Nayler rode through the streets William Penn became interested in that of Bristol in a kind of modern miracle play part of the world and eventually founded while his followers flung their coats in his Pennsylvania as a haven for the oppressed path and chanted, "Holy, holy, holy." and as a Holy Experiment in government. Quakers as well as non-Quakers were In more recent times some Friends have shocked by that incident. Nayler was ar­ been opposed to mission programs abroad rested, imprisoned, and pilloried for but some English and American Friends blasphemy and the seduction of the peo­ have established missions in several parts ple. He escaped the death penalty by a vote of the world-the most illustrious being in of Parliament of 96 to 82. But his forehead East Africa where there are now three year­ was branded with the letter B, he was ly meetings and possibly 100,000 Quak­ whipped publicly in London and Bristol, ers-the largest group in the world today and his tongue bored with a hot iron. and nearly half of the entire membership When Nayler was eventually released, he in the Religious Society of Friends. went to Fox and asked his forgiveness, which was grudgingly given. According to one of the most eminent of Quaker his­ torians, Neave Brayshaw, that was "the only act of his (Fox's) about which we are seriously grieved." One of the legacies from Nayler is the prayer he wrote shortly before his death. Quaker historian, asserted that Fox thereby It reads in part: relinquished the leadership of the Quaker There is a spirit which I feel that delights movement and thus probably saved the to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but Religious Society from extinction. She delights to endure all things in hope to en­ believed that that was a remarkable act of joy its own in the end. Its hope is to outlive renunciation and contrition on his part, all wrath and contention and to weary out thereby atoning for his earlier reluctance all exaltation and cruelty or whatever is of to accord full forgiveness to James Nayler. a nature contrary to itself. It sees to the end In her words: of all temptations. As it bears no evil in itself, so it conceives none in thoughts to any other. To a very considerable extent Fox gave up If it be betrayed, it bears it; for its ground being the man of power, and in so doing and spring is the mercies and forgiveness of saved Quakerism from the fate which God; its crown is meekness . . . threatens so many groups, namely: "Who can carry on the program when the original Soon thereafter Nayler died. In his ac­ strong man is gone?" count of The Valiant Sixty, Ernest Taylor To George Fox it became clear that a calls Nayler "gifted, mistaken, repentant­ new and radical form of religious organiza­ one of the most beautiful spirits who ever tion should be developed. In it everyone lived." would take part-men, women, and even children. Coming together in a spirit of worship, they would seek Divine Guidance Fox's Organization of in the decisions they made. It would be the Religious Society based on the belief that God can speak to human beings on temporal as well as on of Friends spiritual matters. Such groups gatherings The effect of the Nayler incident on Fox would be Meetings for Worship to do busi­ was far-reaching. For a time it looked as ness. if all he had worked for had been undone In such sessions there would be no mo­ by this episode. Unchecked, the new move­ tions and no votes, which tend to produce ment could be strangled by such events. gloating majorities and disgruntled minori­ Fox saw clearly that a way must be ties. Instead, the group, under God's gui­ found to curb individual excesses. Conse­ dance, would seek unity or the sense of the quently, in an extraordinary revelation or meeting. There would be no presiding of­ a stroke of genius, he decided to strengthen ficer with a gavel to maintain order and the organizational aspects of the movement count votes. Instead there would be a clerk and to temper individual leadings with who would listen attentively and sensitive­ group leadings. ly to the comments of the group and at­ Hence much of his attention in the com­ tempt to record the sense of the meeting, ing years was devoted to the organizational equipped with a quill pen and paper. structure of the society, stressing the power That was a radical and a remarkable ap­ of local groups or Monthly Meetings as proach to religious organization, the Christian cells, caring communities, re­ nearest any group has ever come to a ligious societies of Friends. religious democracy. It attempted, and for In her Pendle Hill pamphlet on The the most part was successful, in replacing Atonement of George Fox, Emilia the hierarchy of the church with a new Fogelklou Norlind, a Swedish author and form of participatory democracy. Then, to the monthly meetings were widely in the ministry, became the gover­ added quarterly meetings for groups in a nor of the American colony of East Jersey larger geographical area, and a yearly meet­ (although he ruled through a resident depu­ ing-called London Yearly Meeting. ty), and the chief expositor of Quaker Most of the sects in England in the 17th theology. Despite his abhorrence of Cal­ century eventually disappeared. But the vinist beliefs, he was a staunch defender of Quaker movement survived because it had religious freedom for everyone. an organizational structure as well as a Of all the early Quakers William Penn spiritual message. is the best known. He was a many-sided man, far ahead of his times. He was a champion of civil liberties (as in the famous Other Outstanding Leaders Penn-Meade trial in England), the formu­ lator of a plan for A Federation of Europe, Join the Quaker Movement a friend of the Indians and other miPority Within a few years of the emergence of groups, an educator, a city planner, and the the Quaker movement in England, several founder of the famed Holy Experiment in other outstanding persons had joined its Pennsylvania. He was also a writer and in­ ranks, adding greatly to its power and its terpreter of religion as in his Fruits of effectiveness. Particularly outstanding were Solitude; No Cross, No Crown; and other Isaac Penington, Robert Barclay, and publications. William Penn. Each of those men was enriched by asso­ Their personalities, their interests, and ciation with the Religious Society of this talents differed, but all of them came Friends and each, in turn, enriched that from prominent families and were men of group. unusual ability. They were all more sophis­ ticated, more educated, and more reason­ able than most of the people in their times, including Quakers. They were less aggres­ The End of an Era sive and less given to confrontation than By the end of the 17th century the many of the other leaders of that group. Quaker movement had come to the close Isaac Penington's father had been Lord of its first half-century and possibly the end Mayor of London and a friend of John 9f an era. Howard Brinton, an outstanding Locke and John Milton. Isaac Penington chronicler of Quakerism, referred to that became an expert on inward experience and period as the heroic or apostolic age. mysticism whose greatest contributions Isaac Penington had died in 1679. came through his public ministry, his Robert Barclay in 1690. And George Fox remarkable letters, and his many publica­ in 1691, at the age of 67,-a long life in tions. He was the literary, mystical inter­ those days, especially in view of the preter of the movement. demands upon his body occasioned by his Robert Barclay was born in Scotland and arduous travels, his years of imprisonment, was educated by both Calvinists and and the many other types of persecution. Catholics. His contacts with Quakers im­ By the end of that century the movement pressed him with their rare combination of had grown to perhaps 50,000 adherents, inwardness and outwardness and he deter­ some of them in the American colonies. It mined to devote himself to the furtherance had survived despite much suffering and of that unique way of life. He travelled some dissensions. But it had done much Rationality + Social + Simplicity + The Historic + Equality + The + Evangelism and Concern Christ and Bible and Education The Inner Mission Christ more than that; it had added a new dimen­ philosophers have commented favorably, sion to the Christian movement and helped and at times fulsomely, on the place of the to purify the church of its day. Quaker movement in history. For example, Various names had been given to those William James, the American philosopher, early Friends, including The Children of wrote: the Light and The Publishers of Truth. But The religion which he (George Fox) the official name had become the Religious founded is something which it is impossible Society of Friends. However members of to overpraise. In a day of sham, it was a that group were increasingly called Quak­ religion of veracity, rooted in spiritual in­ ers, a term originally used as one of deri­ wardness, and a return to something more sion, but one which came to represent like the original gospel truth than men had respect. ever known in England. In a remarkable way that early move­ In his English Social History, G.M. ment combined a number of strands as in­ Trevelyan, the British historian, com­ dicated in the chart above. mented that: As has already been pointed out, there were roles for a variety of leaders, in­ The Puritan pot had boiled over with cluding women, and a special role for the much heat and fury (and) when it had cooled and been poured away, this precious sedi­ rank and file. ment (the Religious Society of Friends) was But it was George Fox who was the cen­ left at the bottom. tral figure. When he died, he uttered these words: "I am clear, I am fully clear." And Ralph Waldo Emerson, the What a magnificent statement from that American essayist and philosopher, wrote: spiritual giant. . . . the sect of Quakers in their best Writing about Fox, William Penn said: representatives appear to me to come nearer "He was an original, being no man's to the sublime history and genius of Christ copy." Or, again, "Many sons have done than any other sect. They have kept the tradi­ virtuously in this day, dear George, but tions perhaps for a longer time, kept the early thou excellest them all . . . '' purity . . . and . . . I think I find in the Fox was the prophet and the organizer language of that sect in all its history . . . a certain fidelity to the Christian character. of this remarkable Quaker movement. But he does not belong just to Quakers; he is Those are humbling comments. Perhaps one of the great Christian leaders and in­ they need to be coupled with the words of terpreters of all times. Many of his insights Rufus M. Jones, a remarkable Quaker and messages are timeless and therefore nearer our own time, who remarked: timely. He belongs to all those, anywhere If we want to prove that Fox really struck and at any time, who seek God directly. a jet of living water, we ourselves must tap Various non-Quaker historians and that same fountain. 0 Some Questions Some Suggested Readings for Thought to Supplement This Essay and/or Discussion 1. Boulding, Kenneth There Is A Spirit: 1. What idea or ideas presented in this essay Sonnets on the Nayler Prayer. Nyack, N.Y., Fellowship of Recon­ struck you most forcefully? Why? ciliation, 1945. 26 pp. 2. Which of the quotations cited in this 2. Brinton, Howard Friends for 300 Years. essay speak best to your condition? N.Y., Harper, 1952. 239 pp. General Why? background. 3. How do you think an adviser today 3. Brinton, Howard The Religion of would have coped with the problems of George Fox. Wallingford, Pa., 1968. Fox as an adolescent? 32 pp. Available only as a photostatic 4. Are there any statements in the italicized copy. material on pages 13 and 14 which you 4. Kenworthy, Lednard S. George Fox would find difficult to support? Why? Speaks. Kennett Square, Pa., Quaker 5. In what respect (or respects) does the Publications, 1960. 8 pp. Largely Religious Society of Friends today re­ quotations. semble the movement in the 17th 5. Lampen, John Wait in the Light: The century? Spirituality of George Fox. London 6. In what respect (or respects) does the Quaker Home Service, 1981. 118 pp. Religious Society of Friends today dif­ Selections from the writings of Fox fer from the 17th century movement? and comments on them. An excellent What gains would you mention? What source. losses would you record? 6. Nichalls (Editor). Journal of George 7. What dreams do you have for Quaker­ Fox. London, London Yearly Meet­ ism in the 21st century? ing, 1975. 789 pp. 8. What do you feel is your role in carry­ 7. ·Norlind, Emilia Fogelklou The Atone­ ing out those dreams? ment of George Fox. Wallingford, . Pa. Pendle Hill Publications, 1963. 31 pp. On the relationship between Fox and Nayler. 8. Vipont, Elfrida George Fox and the Valiant Sixty. London, Hamish Hamilton, 1975. 141 pp. On the ministry of the Valiant Sixty.