The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life and Labors of Elias Hicks, by
Henry Watson Wilbur
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
Title: The Life and Labors of Elias Hicks
Author: Henry Watson Wilbur
Contributor: Elizabeth Powell Bond
Release Date: November 3, 2015 [EBook #50374]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE AND LABORS OF ELIAS HICKS ***
Produced by Emmanuel Ackerman, Library of Congress and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
(This file was produced from images generously made
available by The Internet Archive)
THE LIFE AND LABORS
OF
ELIAS HICKS
BY
Henry W. Wilbur
Introduction by
ELIZABETH POWELL BOND
PHILADELPHIA
Published by Friends' General Conference Advancement Committee
1910
COPYRIGHTED 1910 BY
HENRY W. WILBUR
CONTENTS.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 5
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 7
INTRODUCTION 11
CHAPTER I, Ancestry and Boyhood 17
CHAPTER II, His Young Manhood 22
CHAPTER III, First Appearance in the Ministry 28
CHAPTER IV, Early Labors in the Ministry 32
CHAPTER V, Later Ministerial Labors 38
CHAPTER VI, Religious Journeys in 1828 46
CHAPTER VII, Ideas About the Ministry 57
CHAPTER VIII, The Home at Jericho 66
CHAPTER IX, The Hicks Family 71
CHAPTER X, Letters to His Wife 76
CHAPTER XI, The Slavery Question 84
CHAPTER XII, Various Opinions 95
CHAPTER XIII, Some Points of Doctrine 107
CHAPTER XIV, Before the Division 121
CHAPTER XV, First Trouble in Philadelphia 126
CHAPTER XVI, The Time of Unsettlement 139
CHAPTER XVII, Three Sermons Reviewed 152
CHAPTER XVIII, The Braithwaite Controversy 161
CHAPTER XIX, Ann Jones in Dutchess County 171
CHAPTER XX, The Experience with T. Shillitoe 181
CHAPTER XXI, Disownment and Doctrine 188
CHAPTER XXII, After the "Separation" 195
CHAPTER XXIII, Friendly and Unfriendly Critics 202
CHAPTER XXIV, Recollections, Reminiscences and Testimonies 211
CHAPTER XXV, Putting off the Harness 218
APPENDIX 226
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
ELIAS HICKS (from bust, by Partridge) Frontispiece
HICKS HOUSE AND JERICHO MEETING HOUSE, facing 57
CHILDREN OF ELIAS HICKS, facing 97
FACSIMILE OF LETTER, facing 105
ELIAS HICKS (from painting, by Ketcham), facing 121
SURVEYOR'S PLOTTING, BY ELIAS HICKS, facing 144
BURYING GROUND AT JERICHO, facing 216
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
Elias Hicks was a much misunderstood man in his own time, and the
lapse of eighty years since his death has done but little to make him
known to the passing generations. His warm personal friends, and of
them there were many, considered him little less than a saint; his
enemies, some of whom were intensely bitter in their personal feeling,
whatever may have been the basis of their judgment, believed him to be
a man whose influence was malevolent and mischievous. It is no part
of the purpose of this book to attempt to reconcile the conflicting
estimates touching the life and character of this remarkable man.
On the contrary, our hope is to present him as he was, in his own
environment, and not at all as he might have been had he lived in our
time, or as his admirers would have him, to make him conform to their
own estimate. In this biographical task, Elias Hicks becomes largely
his own interpreter. As he measured himself in private correspondence
and in public utterance, so this book will endeavor to measure him.
We believe that it is not too much to say that he carried the
fundamental idea of the Society of Friends, as delivered by George Fox,
to its logical conclusion, as applied to thought and life, more clearly
and forcibly than any of his predecessors or contemporaries. Not a few
of those who violently opposed him, discounted the position of Fox
and Barclay touching the Inner Light, and gave exaggerated importance
to the claims of evangelical theology. Whatever others may have
thought, Elias Hicks believed that he preached Christianity of the pure
apostolic type, and Quakerism as it was delivered by the founders. It
should be remembered that the conformist and non-conformist disputants
of the seventeenth century talked as savagely about Fox as the early
nineteenth century critics did about Hicks. In fact, to accept the
theory of Fox about the nature and office of the indwelling spirit,
necessarily develops either indifference or opposition to the plans and
theories of what was in the time of Elias Hicks, if it is not now, the
popularly accepted theology.
No attempt has been made to write a comprehensive and detailed history
of the so-called "separation." So far, however, as the trouble related
to Elias Hicks, it has been considered, and as much light as possible
has been thrown on the case. Necessarily this does not admit of very
much reference to the setting up of separate meetings, which followed
the open rupture of 1827-28, or the contests over property which
occurred after the death of Elias Hicks. Even the causes of the trouble
in the Society only appear as they seem necessary to make plain the
feeling of Elias Hicks in the case, and the attitude of his opponents
toward him.
In dealing with the doctrines of Elias Hicks, or his views about
various subjects, we have endeavored to avoid the one-sided policy,
and to discriminate between the matters which would be accepted by the
majority of those Friends to-day who are erroneously made to bear the
name of Elias Hicks, and the theories which they now repudiate. On the
other hand, his most conservative and peculiar ideas are given equal
prominence with those which more nearly conform to present-day thought.
In stating cases of antagonism, especially where it appeared in public
meetings, we have endeavored rather to give samples, than to repeat and
amplify occurrences where the same purpose and spirit were exhibited.
The citations in the book should, therefore, be taken as types, and not
as mere isolated or extraordinary occurrences.
References to the descendants of Elias Hicks, and other matters
relating to his life, which do not seem to naturally belong in the
coherent and detailed story, will be found in the appendix. This is
also true of the usual acknowledgment of assistance, and the reference
to the published sources of information consulted by the author in
writing the book.
INTRODUCTION.
Now and again a human life is lived in such obedience to the "heavenly
vision" that it becomes an authority in other lives. The unswerving
rectitude; whence is its divine directness? the world has to ask. Its
clear-sightedness; how comes it that the eye is single to the true
course? Its strength to endure; from what fountain flows unfailing
strength? Its quickening sympathy; what is the sweet secret?
The thought of the world fixes itself into stereotyped and imprisoning
forms from which only the white heat of the impassioned seer and
prophet can slowly liberate it. At last the world ceases to persecute
or to crucify its liberator, and lo! an acknowledged revelation of God!
This came to pass in the seventeenth century, when it was given George
Fox to see and to proclaim that "there was an anointing within man to
teach him, and that the Lord would teach him, himself."
The eighteenth century developed another teacher in the religious
society of Friends, whose message has been a distinctly leavening
influence in the thought of the world. It is not easy to account for
Elias Hicks. He was not the "son of a prophet." Nor was he a gift from
the _schools_ of the time in which he lived. In the "Journal of His
Life and Religious Labours," published in 1832 by Isaac T. Hopper,
there is no reference to school days.
There is one clue to this man that may explain much to us. Of his
ancestry he says in the restrained language characteristic of his
writings, "My parents were descended from reputable families, and
sustained a good character among their friends and those who knew
them." Here, then, is the rock-foundation upon which he builded, the
factor which could not be spared from the life which he lived--that in
his veins was the blood of those who had "sustained a good character
among those who knew them." Some of the leisure of his youth had been
given to fishing and fowling, which he looked back to as wholesome
recreation, since he mostly preferred going alone. While he waited
in stillness for the coming of the fowl, 'his mind was at times so
taken up in divine meditations, that the opportunities were seasons
of instruction and comfort to him.' Out of these meditations grew
the conviction in his tendered soul that it was wanton diversion for
himself and his companions to destroy the small birds that could be of
no use to them.
Recalling his youth, he writes: "Some of my leisure hours were occupied
in reading the Scriptures, in which I took considerable delight, and
it tended to my real profit and religious improvement." It may be that
this great classic in English, as well as library of ancient history,
and book of spiritual revelation, was not only the food that stimulated
his spiritual growth, but also took the place to him, in some measure,
of the schools as a means of culture. It is plain to see that he had
what is the first requisite for a student--a hungering mind. The
alphabet opened to him the ways and means, which he used as far as he
could, for the satisfying of this divine hunger. A new book possessed
for him such charm, it is said, that his friends who invited him for
a social visit, knowing this, were careful to put the new books out
of sight, lest he should become absorbed in them, and they lose his
ever-welcome and very entertaining conversation. He even had experience
as a teacher; and the testimony is given by an aged Friend, once
his pupil: "The manners of Elias Hicks were so mild, his deportment
so dignified, and his conversation so instructive, that it left an
impression for good on many of his pupils' minds that time never
effaced."
That he had not the teaching of the schools narrowed his own resources,
and, doubtless, restricted his field of vision. But such a life as
his, that garnered wisdom more than knowledge of books, is a great
encouragement to those who have not had the opportunities of the
schools. We might not know without being told that he had missed from
his equipment a college degree; but we do know that his endowment of
sound mind was supplemented with incorruptible character; we do know
that his life was founded upon belief in everlasting truth and an
unchanging integrity. The record of his unfolding spiritual life shows
that
"So nigh is grandeur to our dust,
So near is God to man,
When Duty whispers low, 'Thou must,'
The youth replies, 'I can.'"
There is evidence that Elias Hicks had not only a hungering mind, but
that he had in marked degree the open mind, and that he accorded to
others liberty of opinion. It is said that he was unwilling that his
discourses be printed, lest they become a bondage to other minds. He
wrote to his friend, William Poole: "Therefore every generation must
have more light than the preceding one; otherwise, they must sit down
in ease in the labour and works of their predecessors." And he left a
word of caution to approaching age, when he said in a meeting in New
York: "The old folks think they have got far enough, they are settling
on the lees, they are blocking up the way." It does not disturb my
thought of him that my own mother remembered a mild rebuke from him
for the modest flower-bed that brightened the door-yard of her country
home. For I discover in him rudiments of the love for beauty. A
minister among Friends was once his guest during the harvest season
on Long Island, and recalled long after that, when the hour arrived
for the mid-week meeting, he came in from the harvest field, and not
only exchanged his working for his meeting garments, but added his
gloves, although it was hot, midsummer weather. There was certainly
the rudimentary love for beauty in this scrupulous regard for the
proprieties; but it was kept in such severe check that he could not
justify the spending of time upon a flower-border. The poet had not
then expressed for us the sweet garden prayer that might have brought
to his sensitive mind a new view of the purpose and value of the
flower-border:
"That we were earthlings and of earth must live,
Thou knowest, Allah, and did'st give us bread;
Yea, and remembering of our souls, didst give
Us food of flowers; thy name be hallowed!"
From the days in which he preferred his hours of solitude in fishing
as opportunities for "divine meditations" we can trace his steady
spiritual growth. While his business life was henceforth subordinated
to his labors among men to promote the life of the spirit, he was never
indifferent to the exact discharge of his own financial obligations;
nor was he indifferent to the needs of others. One incident surely
marks him as belonging to the School of Christ: "Once when harvests
were light and provisions scarce and high, his own wheat fields yielded
abundantly. Foreseeing the scarcity and consequent rise in prices,
speculators sought early to buy his wheat. He declined to sell.
They offered him large prices, and renewed their visits repeatedly,
increasing the price each time. Still he refused to sell, even for the
unprecedented sum of three dollars a bushel. But by and by, when his
poorer neighbors, whose crops were light, began to need, he invited
them to come and get as much wheat as they required for use, at the
usual price of one dollar a bushel."
He entered into the life of his community and of his times,
anticipating by nearly a century the work of Friends' Philanthropic
Committees of the present day. It is related that he was much opposed
to an attempt to establish a liquor-selling tavern in the Jericho
neighborhood--that when he saw strangers approaching he would invite
them to accept his own hospitality, thus making unnecessary the
tavern-keeping business in the sparsely settled country town.
We would expect that, with his sense of justice and his appreciation of
values, Elias Hicks would place men and women side by side, not only
in the home, but also in the larger household of faith, and in the
affairs of the world. It is remembered that his face was set in this
direction--that, strict Society-disciplinarian as he was, he advocated
a change in the Discipline to allow women a consulting voice in making
and amending the Discipline.
It must be borne in mind that he lived through the Revolutionary period
of 1776, and through the War of 1812. So true was he to his convictions
against war that he would not allow himself to benefit by the advanced
prices in foodstuffs; and we are told that the records of his monthly
meeting show that he sacrificed much of his property by adherence to
his peace principles.
Neither can we forget the testing that came to him in the institution
of slavery. For, according to the custom of the times, his own father
was the owner of slaves. His open mind responded to the labors of a
committee of the New York Yearly Meeting; and upon the freeing of his
father's slaves, he ever after considered their welfare, making such
restitution as he could for past injustice.
To his daughter, Martha Hicks, he wrote: "My dear love to thee, to thy
dear mother, who next to the Divine Blesser has been the joy of my
youth, and who, I trust and hope, will be the comfort of my declining
years. O dear child, cherish and help her, for she hath done abundance
for thee."
These fruits of the religious faith of Elias Hicks are offered as the
test given us by the Great Teacher himself, by which to know the life
of a man. They mark a life rooted in the life of God. Imperishable
as the root whence they grew, may they feed the souls of men from
generation to generation, satisfying the hungry, strengthening the
weak, and making all glad in the joy of each! Thus it is permitted to
be "still praising Him."
ELIZABETH POWELL BOND.
CHAPTER I.
Ancestry and Boyhood.
The Hicks family is English in its origin, authentic history tracing
it clearly back to the fourteenth century. By a sort of genealogical
paradox, a far-away ancestor of the apostle of peace in the eighteenth
century was a man of war, for we are told that Sir Ellis Hicks was
knighted on the battlefield of Poitiers in 1356, nearly four hundred
years before the birth of his distinguished descendant on Long Island,
in America.
From the best available data, it is believed that the progenitor of
the Hicks family on Long Island arrived in America in 1638, and came
over from the New England mainland about 1645, settling in the town
of Hempstead. A relative, Robert by name, came over with the body of
Pilgrims arriving in Massachusetts in 1621.
John Hicks, the pioneer, was undoubtedly a man of affairs, with that
strong character which qualifies men for leadership. In the concerns of
the new community he was often drafted for important public service. In
Seventh month, 1647, it became necessary to reach a final settlement
with the Indians for land purchased from them by the colonists the
year before. The adjustment of this transaction was committed to John
Hicks by his neighbors. When, in 1663, the English towns on the island
and the New York mainland created a council whose aim it was to secure
aid from the General Court at Hartford against the Dutch, John Hicks
was made a delegate from Long Island. In 1665 Governor Nicoll, of New
York, called a convention to be composed of two delegates from each
town in Westchester County and on Long Island, "to make additions and
alterations to existing laws." John Hicks was chosen delegate from the
town of Hempstead.
Thomas, the great grandfather of Elias, was in 1691 appointed the first
judge of Queens County, by Governor Andross, which office he held for
a number of years, with credit to himself and satisfaction to his
constituents.
The town of Hempstead is on the north side of Long Island, and borders
on the Sound. There Elias Hicks, the fifth in line of descent from
the pioneer John, was born on the 19th of Third month, 1748. He was
the fourth child of John and Martha Smith Hicks. Of the ancestry of
the mother of Elias little is known. There is no evidence that the
ancestors of Elias on either side were members of the Society of
Friends, still they seem to have had much in common with Friends,
and, at any rate, were willing to assist the peculiar people when the
heavy hand of persecution fell upon them. In this connection we may
quote the words of Elias himself. He says: "My father was a grandson
of Thomas Hicks, of whom our worthy friend Samuel Bownas[1] makes
honorable mention in his Journal, and by whom he was much comforted
and strengthened when imprisoned through the envy of George Keith,[2]
at Jamaica, on Long Island."[3]
[1] Samuel Bownas was a minister among Friends, and was born in
Westmoreland, England, about 1667. He secured a minute to make a
religious visit to America the latter part of 1701. Ninth month 30,
1702, he was bound over to the Queens County Grand Jury, the charge
against him being that in a sermon he had spoken disparagingly of the
Church of England. The jury really failed to indict him, which greatly
exasperated the presiding judge, who threatened to deport him to London
chained to the man-of-war's deck. It was at this point that Thomas
Hicks, whom Bownas erroneously concluded was Chief Justice of the
Province, appeared to comfort and assure him that he could not thus be
deported to England. Bownas continued in jail for about a year, during
which time he learned the shoemaker's trade. He was finally liberated
by proclamation.
[2] George Keith, born near Aberdeen, 1639, became connected with
the Society of Friends about 1662. He came to America in 1684, but
finally separated from Friends, and endeavored to organize a new sect
to be called Christian, or Baptist Quakers. This effort failed, and
about 1700 he entered the Church of England. After this he violently
criticised Friends, and repeatedly sought controversy with them. He had
quite an experience of this sort with Samuel Bownas, and was considered
the real instigator of the complaint on which Bownas was lodged in
jail. Keith looms up large in all that body of history and biography
unfriendly to the Society of Friends.
[3] Journal of Elias Hicks, p. 7.
We are told in the Journal, "Neither of my parents were members in
strict fellowship with any religious society, until some little time
before my birth."[4] It is certain that the father of Elias was a
member among Friends at the time of his birth, and his mother must
also have enjoyed such membership. Elias must have been a birthright
member, as he nowhere mentions having been received into the Society by
convincement. It is evident that his older brothers and sisters were
not connected with Friends.
[4] Journal of Elias Hicks, p. 7.
When Elias was eight years of age his father removed from Hempstead to
the south shore of Long Island, the new home being near the seashore.
Both before and after that time he bewails the fact that his associates
were not Friends, and what he confessed was worse--they were persons
with no religious inclinations or connections whatever.
The new home afforded added opportunities for pleasure. Game was
plentiful in the wild fowl that mated in the marshes and meadows, while
the bays and inlets abounded in fish. Hunting and fishing, therefore,
became his principal diversion. While he severely condemned this form
of amusement in later life, he brought to the whole matter a rational
philosophy. He considered that at the time hunting and fishing were
profitable to him, because in his exposed condition "they had a
tendency to keep me more at and about home, and often prevented my
joining with loose company, which I had frequent opportunities of doing
without my father's knowledge."
Three years after moving to the new home, when Elias was eleven years
of age, his mother was removed by death. The father, thus left with six
children, two younger than Elias, finally found it necessary to divide
the family. Two years after the death of his mother he went to reside
with one of his elder brothers who was married, and lived some distance
from his father's. It is probable that this brother's house was his
home most of the time until he was seventeen. Much regret is expressed
by him that he was thus removed from parental restraint.
The Journal makes possibly unnecessarily sad confession of what he
considered waywardness during this period. He says that he wandered far
from "the salutary path of true religion, learning to sing vain songs,
and to take delight in running horses."[5] Just what the songs were,
and the exact character of the horse racing must be mainly a matter of
conjecture. Manifestly "running horses" did not mean at all the type of
racetrack gambling with which twentieth-century Long Island is familiar.
[5] Journal of Elias Hicks, p. 8.
In the midst of self-accusation, he declares that he did not "give way
to anything which was commonly accounted disreputable, having always a
regard to strict honesty, and to such a line of conduct as comported
with politeness and good breeding."[6] One can scarcely think of Elias
Hicks as a juvenile Chesterfield. From the most unfavorable things
he says about himself, the conclusion is easily reached that he was
really a serious-minded youth, and what has always been considered a
"good boy." It must be remembered, however, that he set for himself a
high standard, which was often violated, as he became what he called
"hardened in vanity." Speaking of his youthful sports, and possible
waywardness, his maturer judgment confessed, that but "for the
providential care of my Heavenly Father, my life would have fallen a
sacrifice to my folly and indiscretion."[7]
[6] Journal, p. 8.
[7] Journal of Elias Hicks, p. 9.
There is practically no reference to the matter of schools or schooling
in the Journal. There is every reason for the belief that he was
self-educated. He may have had a brief experience at schools of a
rather primary character. At all events he must have had a considerable
acquaintance with mathematics, and evidently he at an early age
contracted the reading habit. Books were few, and of periodical
literature there was none. Friendly literature itself was confined to
Sewell's History, probably Ellwood's edition of George Fox's Journal,
while he may have had access to some of the controversial pamphlets
of the seventeenth century period. The Journals of various "ancient"
Friends were to be had, but how rich the mine of this literature
which he explored we shall never know. Evidently from his youth he
was a careful and intelligent reader of the Bible, and regarding its
passages, its ethics and its theology, he became his own interpreter.
CHAPTER II.
His Young Manhood.
At the age of seventeen Elias became an apprentice, and set about
learning the carpenter's trade. His mechanical experience during
this period receives practically no attention in the Journal. We
know, however, that in those days none of the trades were divided
into sectional parts as now. In short, he learned a whole trade, and
not part of one. It was the day of hand-made doors, and not a few
carpenters took the timber standing in the forest, and superintended
or personally carried on all of the processes of transforming it into
lumber and from it producing the finished product. The carpenter of
a century and a half ago had to be able to wield the broad-ax, and
literally know how to "hew to the line."
It is not known exactly how long this apprenticeship lasted, but
probably about four years. As a matter of course, there was much moving
from neighborhood to neighborhood, as the building necessities demanded
the presence of the carpenters. The life was more or less irregular,
and Elias says that he received neither serious advice nor restraint at
the hands of his "master." He was brought in contact with frivolously
minded young people, and was unduly carried away with the love of
amusement. During this period he learned to dance, and enjoyed the
experience. But he considered dancing a most mischievous pastime, and
evil to a marked degree. For this indulgence he repeatedly upbraided
himself in the Journal. In his opinion, dancing was "an unnatural and
unchristian practice," never receiving the approval "of the divine
light in the secret of the heart."
He passed through various experiences in the endeavor to break away
from the dancing habit, with many backslidings, overthrowing what he
considered his good resolutions. But finally he separated from all
those companions of his youth who beset him with temptation. He says:
"I was deeply tried, but the Lord was graciously near; and as my cry
was secretly to him for strength, he enabled me to covenant with him,
that if he would be pleased in mercy to empower me, I would forever
cease from this vain and sinful amusement."[8]
[8] Journal of Elias Hicks, p. 10.
His first intimation touching the eternally lost condition of the
wicked is in connection with his experience at this time. We cannot do
better than to quote his own words:
"In looking back to this season of deep probation, my soul has been
deeply humbled; for I had cause to believe that if I had withstood at
this time the merciful interposition of divine love, and had rebelled
against this clear manifestation of the Lord's will, he would have
withdrawn his light from me, and my portion would have been among the
wicked, cast out forever from the favorable presence of my judge.
I should also forever have been obliged to acknowledge his mercy
and justice, and acquit the Lord, my redeemer, who had done so much
for me; for with long-suffering and much abused mercy he had waited
patiently for my return, and would have gathered me before that time,
as I well knew, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but
I would not."[9]
[9] Journal, p. 11.
His second diversion, and probably practiced after he had given up
dancing, was hunting. While not considered in itself reprehensible,
when the sport led to wantonness, and the taking of life of bird
or beast simply for amusement, it was vigorously condemned. He says
that he was finally "led to consider conduct like this to be a great
breach of trust, and an infringement of the divine prerogative." "It
therefore became a settled principle with me not to take the life of
any creature, unless it was really useful and necessary when dead, or
very noxious and hurtful when living."[10]
[10] Journal, p. 13.
When the settled conviction came to him touching the dance and the
sportsman's practice, he was probably not out of his teens. This
conviction resulted in victory over the propensity, probably before he
reached his majority. The whole experience was an early illustration
of the strength of will and purpose which was characteristic of this
remarkable man throughout his entire life.
Marriage is always a turning-point in a man's life. In the case of
Elias Hicks, it was so in a marked degree. Having become adept in his
trade, at the age of twenty-two, he was married to Jemima Seaman. This
important event cannot be better stated than in the simple, quaint
language of the bridegroom himself. He says:
"My affection being drawn toward her in that relation, I communicated
my views to her, and received from her a corresponding expression;
and having the full unity and concurrence of our parents and friends,
we, after some time, accomplished our marriage at a solemn meeting
of Friends, at Westbury, on the 2d of First month, 1771. On this
important occasion we felt the clear and consoling evidence of
divine truth, and it remained with us as a seal upon our spirits,
strengthening us mutually to bear, with becoming fortitude, the
vicissitudes and trials which fell to our lot, and of which we had a
large share while passing through this probationary state."[11]
[11] Journal, p. 13.
The records of Westbury Monthly Meeting contain the official evidence
of this marriage, which was evidently conducted strictly in accordance
with discipline. From the minutes of that meeting we extract the
following:
"At a monthly meeting held in the meeting house, ye 29th day of ye
Eleventh month, 1770.
"Elias Hicks son of John Hicks, of Rockaway, and Jemima Seaman,
daughter of Jonathan Seaman, of Jericho, presented themselves and
declared their intentions of marriage with each, and this meeting
appoints John Mott and Micajah Mott to make enquiry into Elias Hicks,
his clearness in relation of marriage with other women, and to make
report at the next monthly meeting.
"At a monthly meeting in the meeting house at Westbury ye 26th day
of ye Twelfth month, 1770, Elias Hicks and Jemima Seaman appeared
the second time, and Elias Hicks signified they continued their
intentions of marriage and desired an answer to their former
proposals of marriage, and the Friends who were appointed to make
enquiry into Elias' clearness reported that they had made enquiry,
and find nothing but that he is clear of marriage engagements to
other women, and they having consent of parents and nothing appearing
to obstruct their proceedings in marriage, this meeting leaves them
to solemnize their marriage according to the good order used amongst
Friends, and appoints Robert Seaman and John Mott to attend their
said marriage, and to make report to the next monthly meeting it was
consumated.
"On ye 30th day of ye First month, 1771, Robert Seaman reported that
they had attended the marriage of Elias Hicks and Jemima Seaman, and
was with them both at Jericho and at Rockaway, and John Mott also
reported that he accompanied them at Rockaway and that the marriage
was consummated orderly."
In more ways than one the marriage of Elias was the important event of
his life. Jemima Seaman was an only child, and naturally her parents
desired that she should be near them. A few months after their marriage
Elias and Jemima were urged to take up their residence at the Seaman
homestead, Elias to manage the farm of his father-in-law. The result
was that the farm in Jericho became the home of Elias Hicks the
remainder of his life. Here he lived and labored for nearly sixty years.
The Seamans were concerned Friends, and the farm was near the Friends'
meeting house in Jericho. From this dates his constant attendance at
the meetings for worship and discipline of the Society. Besides the
family influence, some of his neighbors, strong men and women, and
deeply attached to the principles and testimonies of Friends, made for
the young people an ideal and inspiring environment. The Friends at
Jericho could not have been unmindful of the native ability and taking
qualities of this young man, whose fortunes were to be linked with
their own, and whose future labors were to be so singularly devoted to
their religious Society.
Jemima, the wife of Elias Hicks, was the daughter of Jonathan and
Elizabeth Seaman. The father of Jemima was the fifth generation from
Captain John Seaman, who came to Long Island from the Connecticut
mainland about 1660. For his time, he seems to have been a man of
affairs, and is recorded as one of the patentees of the town of
Hempstead, on the Sound side of the island. There was a John Seaman
who came to Massachusetts in the Winthrop fleet of ten vessels and 900
immigrants in 1630. That form of biography which shades into tradition
is not agreed as to whether Captain John, of Hempstead, was the Puritan
John or his son.
Running the family history back to England, we find Lazarus Seaman,
known as a Puritan divine, a native of Leicester. He died in 1667. He
is described as a learned theologian, versed in the art of controversy,
and stout in defense of his position in religious matters.
The history of heraldry, and the story of the efforts to capture
the holy sepulcher, tell us that John de Seaman was one of the first
crusaders. To this line the Seaman lineage in America is believed to be
attached.
At some time, whether in his early manhood is not known, Elias Hicks
took up surveying. How steadily or extensively he followed that
business it is impossible to say. It is not hard, however, to find
samples of his surveying and plotting among the papers of Long Island
conveyancers.[12] His compass, and the home-made pine case in which he
kept the instrument and the tripod, are in existence.[13] The compass
is a simple affair, without a telescope, of course. It folds into a
flat shape, the box not being more than two inches thick, over all.
[12] See cut facing page 145.
[13] They are in possession of the great-grandson of Elias Hicks,
William Seaman, of Glen Cove, L. I.
CHAPTER III.
First Appearance in the Ministry.
There are many evidences in the Journal that Elias Hicks appreciated
the moral and spiritual advantages of his environment after he took up
his residence at Jericho. He confesses, however, that as he had entered
quite extensively into business, he was much diverted from spiritual
things for a number of years after his marriage. During this period he
says:
"I was again brought, by the operative influence of divine grace,
under deep concern of mind; and was led, through adorable mercy,
to see that although I had ceased from many sins and vanities of
my youth, yet there were many remaining that I was still guilty
of, which were not yet atoned for, and for which I now felt the
judgments of God to rest upon me. This caused me to cry earnestly
to the Most High for pardon and redemption, and he graciously
condescended to hear my cry, and to open a way before me, wherein I
must walk, in order to experience reconciliation with him; and as I
abode in watchfulness and deep humiliation before him, light broke
forth out of obscurity, and my darkness became as the noonday. I had
many deep openings in the visions of light, greatly strengthening
and establishing to my exercised mind. My spirit was brought under
a close and weighty labour in meetings for discipline, and my
understanding much enlarged therein; and I felt a concern to speak to
some of the subjects engaging the meeting's attention, which often
brought unspeakable comfort to my mind. About this time I began to
have openings leading to the ministry, which brought me under close
exercise and deep travail of spirit; for although I had for some time
spoken on subjects of business in monthly and preparative meetings,
yet the prospect of opening my mouth in public meetings was a close
trial; but I endeavored to keep my mind quiet and resigned to the
heavenly call, if it should be made clear to me to be my duty.
Nevertheless, as I was, soon after, sitting in a meeting, in much
weightiness of spirit, a secret, though clear, intimation accompanied
me to speak a few words, which were then given to me to utter, yet
fear so prevailed that I did not yield to the intimation. For this
omission I felt close rebuke, and judgment seemed, for some time,
to cover my mind; but as I humbled myself under the Lord's mighty
hand, he again lifted up the light of his countenance upon me, and
enabled me to renew covenant with him, that if he would pass by this
offense, I would, in the future, be faithful, if he should again
require such a service of me. And it was not long before I felt
an impressive concern to utter a few words, which I yielded to in
great fear and dread; but oh, the joy and sweet consolation that my
soul experienced, as a reward for this act of faithfulness; and as
I continued persevering in duty and watchfulness, I witnessed an
increase in divine knowledge, and an enlargement of my gift. I was
also deeply engaged for the right administration of discipline and
order in the church, and that all might be kept sweet and clean,
consistent with the nature and purity of the holy profession we
were making; so that all stumbling-blocks might be removed out of
the way of honest inquirers, and that truth's testimony might be
exalted, and the Lord's name magnified, 'who is over all, God blessed
forever.'"[14]
[14] Journal, p. 15.
Still it appears that his concern for the maintenance of the discipline
was more than a slavish allegiance to the letter of the law. More
than once he spoke a warning word as to the danger of allowing the
administration of the written rule to lead to mere formalism. Once
begun, his development in public service was rapid, and his recognition
by Friends cordial and appreciative to a marked degree.
Just how long Elias Hicks spoke in the meetings for worship, before
his "acknowledgment," is not known. The records of Westbury Monthly
Meeting, however, give detailed information as to this event. From
them we make the following extract:
"At a monthly meeting held at Westbury ye 29th of Fourth month, 1778,
William Seaman and William Valentine report that they have made
inquiry concerning Elias Hicks, and find nothing to hinder his being
recommended to the meeting of Ministers and Elders, whom this meeting
recommends to that meeting as a minister, and directs the clerk to
forward a copy of this minute to said meeting."
The acknowledgment of the ministry of Elias Hicks took place a little
over seven years after his marriage. From various references in the
Journal the inference is warranted that he did not begin to speak
in the meeting for worship until a considerable time after this
event. It is, therefore, probable that his service in this line had
not been going on, at the most, more than three or four years when
his acknowledgment took place. He had only been a recorded minister
something over a year when his first considerable visit was undertaken.
Unfortunately, the preserved personal correspondence of Elias Hicks
does not cover this period in his life, so that we are confined to what
he chose to put in his Journal, as the only self-interpretation of this
interesting period.
It appears that the New York Yearly Meeting was held at the regularly
appointed times all through the period of the Revolutionary War.
Previous to 1777 the meeting met annually at Flushing, but in that year
the sessions were removed to Westbury. In 1793 it was concluded to hold
future meetings in New York.
During the war the British controlled Long Island, and for some time
the meeting house in Flushing was occupied as a barracks by the king's
troops, which probably accounts for moving the yearly meeting further
out on the island to Westbury.
In attending the yearly meeting, and in performing religious visits
to the particular meetings, passing the lines of both armies was a
frequent necessity. This privilege was freely granted Friends. Touching
this matter, Elias makes this reference:
"This was a favor which the parties would not grant to their best
friends, who were of a warlike disposition; which shows what great
advantages would redound to mankind were they all of this pacific
spirit. I passed myself through the lines of both armies six times
during the war without molestation, both parties generally receiving
me with openness and civility; and although I had to pass over a
tract of country, between the two armies, sometimes more than thirty
miles in extent, and which was much frequented by robbers, a set,
in general, of cruel, unprincipled banditti, issuing out from both
parties, yet, excepting once, I met with no interruption even from
them. But although Friends in general experienced many favors and
deliverances, yet those scenes of war and confusion occasioned many
trials and provings in various ways to the faithful."[15]
[15] Journal, p. 15.
CHAPTER IV.
Early Labors in the Ministry.
Probably the first official public service to which Elias Hicks was
ever assigned by the Society related to a matter growing out of the
Revolutionary War. Under the new meeting-house in New York was a large
room, usually rented for commercial purposes. During the British
occupation this room was appropriated as a storehouse for military
goods. The rent was finally tendered by the military commissioner to
some representative Friends, and by them accepted. This caused great
concern to many members of the meeting, who felt that the Society of
Friends could not consistently be the recipient of money from such
a source. The matter came before the Yearly Meeting in 1779. The
peace party felt that the rent money was blood money, and should be
returned, but a vigorous minority sustained the recipients of this
warlike revenue. It was finally decided to refer the matter to the
Yearly Meeting of Pennsylvania for determination. A committee to carry
the matter to Philadelphia was appointed, of which Elias Hicks, then a
young man of thirty-one, was a member.
He made this service the occasion for some religious visits, which
he, in company with his friend, John Willis, proceeded to make _en
route_. The two Friends left home Ninth month 9, 1779, but took a
roundabout route in order to visit the meetings involved in the concern
of Elias. Instead of crossing over into New Jersey and going directly
to Philadelphia, they went up the Hudson valley to a point above
Newburgh, visiting meetings on both sides of the river. Their most
northern point was the meeting at Marlborough, in Ulster County, New
York. They then turned to the southwest, and visited the meetings at
Hardwick[16] and Kingwood, arriving at Philadelphia, Ninth month 25th.
Elias attended all the sittings of the yearly meeting until Fourth-day,
when he was taken ill, and was not able to be in attendance after that
time. He was not present when the matter which called the committee
to Philadelphia was considered. The decision, however, was that the
money received by the New York meeting for rent paid by the British
army should be returned. This was done by direction of New York Yearly
Meeting in 1780. It may be interesting to note that in 1779 the Yearly
Meeting of Pennsylvania began with the Meeting of Ministers and Elders;
Seventh-day, the 25th of Ninth month, and continued until Second-day,
the 4th of Tenth month, having practically been in session a week and
two days.[17]
[16] Hardwick was in Sussex County, New Jersey. It was the home meeting
of Benjamin Lundy, the abolitionist.
[17] From 1755 to 1798, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting was held in Ninth
month.
Following the Yearly Meeting in Philadelphia, the meeting at Byberry
was visited, as were those at Wrightstown, Plumstead and Buckingham,
in Bucks County, Pa. On the return trip he was again at Hardwick,
after which he passed to the eastern shore of the Hudson, and was at
Nine Partners, Oswego and Oblong. Turning southward, the meetings at
Peach Pond, Amawalk and Purchase were visited. From the latter point he
journeyed homeward.
This first religious journey of Elias Hicks lasted nine weeks, and in
making it he traveled 860 miles. Forty years later, many of the places
visited at this time became centers of the troublesome controversy
which divided the Society in 1827 and 1828.
Four years after the concern and service which took Elias Hicks to
Philadelphia in 1779, he undertook his second recorded religious visit.
It was a comparatively short one, and took him to the Nine Partners
neighborhood. He was absent from home on this trip eleven days, and
traveled 170 miles.
In 1784 Elias had a concern to visit neighborhoods in Long Island not
Friendly in their character. He made one trip, and not feeling free of
the obligations resting upon him, he made a second tour. During the two
visits he rode about 200 miles.
He seems to have had a period of quiet home service for about six
years, or until 1790, when two somewhat extended concerns were
followed. The first took him to the meetings in the western part of
Long Island, to New York City and Staten Island. This trip caused him
to travel 150 miles. The next visiting tour covered a wide extent of
territory, and took him to eastern New York and Vermont. On this trip
he was gone from home about four weeks, and traveled 591 miles.
The year 1791 was more than usually active. Besides another visit to
those not Friends on Long Island, he made a general visit to Friends
in New York Yearly Meeting. This visit took him to New Jersey,
Connecticut, Massachusetts and up the Hudson valley as far as Easton
and Saratoga. The Long Island visit consumed two weeks' time, and
involved traveling 115 miles. On the general visit he was absent from
home four months and eleven days, and traveled 1500 miles.
In 1792 a committee, of which Elias was a member, was appointed by the
Yearly Meeting of Ministers and Elders to visit subordinate meetings
of that branch of the Society. In company with these Friends every
meeting of Ministers and Elders was visited, and a number of meetings
for worship were attended. On this trip he was at Claremont, in
Massachusetts, and desired to have an appointed meeting. It seemed
that the person, not a Friend, who was to arrange for this meeting did
not advertise it, for fear it would turn out a silent meeting, and he
would be laughed to scorn. The attendance was very small, but otherwise
satisfactory, so that the fearful person was very penitent, and desired
that another meeting might be held. Elias says: "But we let him know
that we were not at our own disposal; and, as no way appeared open in
our minds for such an appointment at present, we could not comply with
his desire."
An appointed meeting was also held near Dartmouth College, but the
students were hilarious, and the occasion very much disturbed. Still,
the visitor hoped "the season was profitable to some present."
In the following year, 1793, he had a concern to visit Friends in
New England, during which he attended meetings in Rhode Island,
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine and the Massachusetts islands. On
this trip he traveled by land or on water 2283 miles, and was absent
about five months. It may be interesting to note that the traveling
companion of Elias Hicks on the New England visit was James Mott, of
Mamaroneck, N. Y., the maternal grandfather of James Mott,[18] the
husband of Lucretia.
[18] Adam Mott, the father of Lucretia's husband, married Anne,
daughter of James Mott.
The New England Yearly Meeting was attended at Newport. The meeting
was pronounced a "dull time" by the visitor. This was occasioned in
part, he thought, because a very small number took upon "them the whole
management of the business, and thereby shutting up the way to others,
and preventing the free circulation and spreading of the concern, in a
proper manner, on the minds of Friends; which I have very often found
to be a very hurtful tendency."
It seems that in those days the Meeting of Ministers and Elders
exercised the functions of a visiting committee. Accordingly, the
Yearly Meeting of Ministers and Elders in 1795 appointed a committee
to visit the quarterly and preparative meetings within the bounds of
the Yearly Meeting. As a member of this committee, Elias performed
his share of this round of service. On this visit a large number of
families were visited.
The visits were made seasons of counsel and advice, especially in the
"select meetings." In these, he says, "My mind was led to communicate
some things in a plain way, with a view of stirring them up to more
diligence and circumspection in their families, the better ordering and
disciplining of their children and household, and keeping things sweet
and clean, agreeably to the simplicity of our holy profession; and I
had peace in my labor."[19]
[19] Journal, p. 57.
Possibly his most extended visit up to that time was made in 1798. The
trip was really begun Twelfth month 12, 1797. It included meeting's in
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. On this trip
he was from home five and one-half months, traveled 1600 miles, and
attended 143 meetings, nearly an average of one meeting a day.
It was on this journey that he seriously began his public opposition to
the institution of slavery. On the 12th of Third month, at a meeting at
Elk Ridge, Md., he says:
"Truth rose into dominion, and some present who were slaveholders
were made sensible of their condition, and were much affected. I felt
a hope to arise that the opportunity would prove profitable to some,
and I left them with peace of mind. Since then I have been informed
that a woman present at that session, who possessed a number of
slaves, was so fully convinced, as to set them free, and not long
afterwards joined in membership with Friends; which is indeed cause
of gratitude and thankfulness of heart, to the great and blessed
Author of every mercy vouchsafed to the children of men."[20]
[20] Journal, p. 67.
His personal correspondence on this trip yields some interesting
description of experiences, from which we make the following extract,
from a letter written to his wife from "Near Easton, Talbot County,
Maryland, Second month 12, 1798":
"Mary Berry, an ancient ministering Friend, that Job Scott makes
mention of, was with us at the meeting. On Seventh-day we attended
a meeting with the black people at Easton, which we had appointed
some days before. There was a pretty large number attended, and the
opportunity favoured. Mary Berry observed she thought it was the most
so, of any that had ever been with them. They were generally very
solid, and many of them very tender. The white people complained much
of some of them for their bad conduct, but according to my feeling,
many of them appeared much higher in the kingdom than a great many of
the whites.
"Some days past we were with the people called Nicolites. They dress
very plain, many of them mostly in white. The women wore white
bonnets as large as thine, and in form like thy old-fashioned bonnet,
straight and smooth on the top. In some of their meetings three or
four of the foremost seats would be filled with those who mostly had
on these white bonnets. They have no backs to their seats, nor no
rising seats in their meeting-houses. All sat on a level. They appear
like a pretty honest, simple people. Profess our principles, and most
of them, by their request, have of late been joined to Friends, and I
think many of them are likely to become worthy members of Society, if
the example of the backsliders among us do not stumble or turn them
out of the right way. There was about 100 received by Friends here at
their last monthly meeting, and are like for the first time to attend
here next Fifth-day, which made it the more pressing on my mind to
tarry over that day."
CHAPTER V.
Later Ministerial Labors.
In the fall of 1799 a concern to visit meetings in Connecticut was
followed. The trip also took in most of the meetings on the east bank
of the Hudson as far north as Dutchess County. He was absent six weeks,
and attended thirty meetings.
Fourth month 11, 1801, Elias and his traveling companion, Edmund
Willis, started, on a visit to "Friends in some parts of Jersey,
Pennsylvania, and some places adjacent thereto." A number of meetings
in New Jersey were visited on the way, the travelers arriving in
Philadelphia in time for the Yearly Meeting of Ministers and Elders.
All of the sessions of the yearly meeting were also attended. It does
not appear that Elias Hicks had attended this yearly meeting since
1779. Practically all of the meetings in New Jersey and Pennsylvania
were visited on this trip. It lasted three months and eighteen days,
during which time the visitors traveled 1630 miles.
The personal correspondence of Elias Hicks yields one interesting
letter written on this trip. It was written to his wife, and was dated
"Exeter, 4th of Seventh month, 1801." We quote as follows:
"We did not get to Lampeter so soon as I expected, as mentioned in my
last, for when we left Yorktown last Fourth-day evening, being late
before we set out, detained in part by a shower of rain. It was night
by the time we got over the river. We landed in a little town called
Columbia, where dwelt a few friends. Although being anxious to get
forward, I had previous to coming there intended to pass them without
a meeting, but found when there I could not safely do it. Therefore
we appointed a meeting there the next day, after which we rode to
Lampeter, to William Brinton's, of whom, when I went westward, I
got a fresh horse, and I left mine in his care. I have now my own
again, but she has a very bad sore on her withers, somewhat like is
called a 'thistlelon,' but is better than she has been. It is now
just six weeks and four days since we went from this place, which
is about 48 miles from Philadelphia, since which time we have rode
813 miles and attended 35 meetings. Much of the way in this tour has
been rugged, mountainous and rocky, and had it not been for the best
attendant companion, peace of mind flowing from a compliance with and
performance of manifested duty, the journey would have been tedious
and irksome. But we passed pretty cheerfully on, viewing with an
attentive eye the wonderful works of that boundless wisdom and power
(by which the worlds were framed) and which are only circumscribed
within the limits of their own innate excellency. Here we beheld all
nature almost with its varied and almost endless diversifications.
"Tremendous precipices, rocks and mountains, creeks and rivers,
intersecting each other, all clothed in their natural productions;
the tall pines and sturdy oaks towering their exalted heads above the
clouds, interspersed with beautiful lawns and glades; together with
the almost innumerable vegetable inhabitants, all blooming forth the
beauties of the spring; the fields arable, clothed in rich pastures
of varied kinds, wafted over the highways their balmy sweets, and the
fallow grounds overspread with rich grain, mostly in golden wheat, to
a profusion beyond anything of the kind my eyes ever before beheld,
insomuch that the sensible traveler, look which way he would, could
scarcely help feeling his mind continually inflamed and inspired with
humble gratitude and reverent thankfulness to the great and bountiful
author of all those multiplied blessings."
This letter constitutes one of the few instances where Elias Hicks
referred to experiences on the road, not directly connected with his
ministerial duty. The reference to Columbia, and his original intention
to pass by without a meeting, with its statement he "could not safely
do it," is characteristic. Manifestly, he uses the word "safely" in a
spiritual sense. The call to minister there was too certain to be put
aside for mere personal inclination and comfort.
The reference to his horse contains more than a passing interest.
Probably many other cases occurred during his visits when "borrowing"
a horse was necessary, while his own was recuperating. It was a slow
way to travel, from our standpoint, yet it had its advantages. New
acquaintances, if not friendships, were made as the travelers journeyed
and were entertained on the road.
On the 20th of Ninth month, 1803, Elias Hicks, with Daniel Titus as a
traveling companion, started on a visit to Friends in Upper Canada, and
those resident in the part of the New York Yearly Meeting located in
the Hudson and Mohawk valleys. When the travelers had been from home
a little less than a month, Elias wrote to his wife, from Kingston,
a letter of more than ordinary interest, because of its descriptive
quality. It describes some of the difficulties, not to say dangers, of
the traveling Friend before the days of railroads. We quote the bulk of
the letter, which was dated Tenth month, 16, 1803:
"We arrived here the 3d instant at the house of Joseph Ferris about 3
o'clock at night, having rode the preceding day from Samuel Brown's
at Black River, where I dated my last. We traveled by land and water
in this day's journey about forty-five miles. Very bad traveling
over logs and mudholes, crossing two ferries on our way, each four
or five miles wide, with an island between called Long Island. About
six miles across we were in the middle thereof, the darkest time
in the night, when we were under the necessity of getting off our
horses several times to feel for the horses' tracks in order to know
whether we were in the path or not, as we were not able to see the
path, nor one another at times, if more than five or six feet apart.
Some of our company began to fear we should be under the necessity of
lying in the woods all night. However, we were favored to get well
through, and crossed the last ferry about midnight and after. Landed
safely on Kingston shore about 2 o'clock, all well. Since which we
have attended ten meetings, three of them preparative meetings, the
rest mostly among other people. We just now, this evening, returned
from the last held at the house of John Everit, about four miles
west of Kingston. We held one yesterday in the town of Kingston in
their Court House. It was the first Friends' meeting ever held in
that place. The principal inhabitants generally attended, and we have
thankfully to acknowledge that the shepherd of Israel in whom was our
trust, made bare his arm for our help, setting home the testimony he
gave us to the states of the people, thereby manifesting that he had
not left himself without a witness in their hearts, as all appeared
to yield their assent to the truths delivered, which has generally
been the case, in every place where our lots have been cast.
"We expect to-morrow to return on our way to Adolphustown, taking
some meetings in our way thither, among those not of our Society, but
so as to be there ready to attend Friends' monthly that is held next
Fifth-day, after which we have some prospect of being at liberty to
return on our way back, into our own State.
"Having thus given thee a short account of our journey, I may salute
thee in the fresh feelings of endeared affection, and strength of
gospel love, in which fervent desires are felt for thy preservation,
and that of our dear children, and that you may all so act and so
walk, as to be a comfort and strength to each other, and feel an
evidence in yourselves that the Lord is your friend; for you are my
friend (said the blessed redeemer) if you do whatever I command you."
For the three following years there is no record of special activity,
but in 1806 a somewhat extended visit was made to Friends in the State
of New York. He was absent from home nearly two months, traveled over
1000 miles, attended three quarterly, seventeen monthly, sixteen
preparative, and forty meetings for worship.
The years following, including 1812, were spent either at home or
in short, semi-occasional visits, mostly within the bounds of his
own yearly meeting. During this period a visit to Canada Half-Yearly
Meeting was made.
The first half of 1813 he was busy in his business and domestic
concerns, really preparing for a religious journey, which he began
on the 8th of Fifth month. He passed through New Jersey on the way,
attending meetings in that State, either regular or by appointment,
arriving in Philadelphia in about two weeks. Several meetings in the
vicinity of that city were attended, whence he passed into Delaware
and Maryland. His steps were retraced through New Jersey, when he was
homeward bound.
From 1813 to 1816 we find the gospel labors of Elias Hicks almost
entirely confined to his own yearly meeting. This round of service did
not take him farther from home than Dutchess County. During this period
we find him repeatedly confessing indisposition and bodily ailment,
which may have accounted for the fewness and moderateness of his
religious visits.
In First month, 1816, we find him under a concern to visit Friends
in New England. He had as his traveling companion on this journey
his friend and kinsman, Isaac Hicks, of Westbury. During this trip
practically all of the meetings in New England were visited. It kept
him from home about three months, and caused him to travel upward of
1000 miles. He attended fifty-nine particular, three monthly and two
quarterly meetings.
During the balance of 1816 and part of the year 1817, service was
principally confined to the limits of Westbury Quarterly Meeting.
But it was in no sense a period of idleness. Many visits were made
to meetings. In Eighth month of the latter year, in company with his
son-in-law, Valentine Hicks, a visit was made to some of the meetings
attached to Philadelphia and Baltimore Yearly Meetings. Many meetings
in New Jersey and Pennsylvania received a visit at this time. He went
as far south as Loudon County, Va., taking meetings _en route_, both
going and coming. He must have traveled not less than 1000 miles on
this trip.
Visits near at home, and one to some parts of New York Yearly Meeting,
occupied all his time during the year 1818.
In 1819 a general visit to Friends in his own yearly meeting engaged
his attention. He went to the Canadian border. This trip was a season
of extended service and deep exercise. On this journey he traveled 1084
miles, was absent from home fourteen weeks, and attended seventy-three
meetings for worship, three quarterly meetings and four monthly
meetings.
The years from 1819 to 1823, inclusive, were particularly active. Elias
Hicks was seventy-one in the former year. The real stormy period of his
life was approaching in the shape of the unfortunate misunderstanding
and bitterness which divided the Society. It scarcely demands more than
passing mention here, as later on we shall give deserved prominence to
the "separation" period.
He started on the Ohio trip Eighth month 17, 1819, taking northern and
central Pennsylvania on his route. He arrived in Mt. Pleasant in time
for Ohio Yearly Meeting, which seems to have been a most satisfactory
occasion, with no signs of the storm that broke over the same meeting
a few years later. Elias himself says: "It was thought, I believe, by
Friends, to have been the most favored yearly meeting they had had
since its institution, and was worthy of grateful remembrance."[21]
During this visit many appointed meetings were held, besides regular
meetings for worship. On the homeward journey, Friends in the
Shenandoah Valley, in Virginia, and in parts of Maryland were visited.
On this trip he journeyed 1200 miles, was from home three months, and
attended eighty-seven meetings.
[21] Journal, p. 377.
In 1820 a visit was made to Farmington and Duanesburg Quarterly
Meetings, and in the summer of 1822 he visited Friends in some parts of
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. On this trip the Baltimore Yearly Meeting
was also visited, as were some of the particular meetings in Maryland.
He did not reach Philadelphia on the return journey until the early
part of Twelfth month. While his Journal is singularly silent about the
matter, it must have been on this visit that he encountered his first
public opposition as a minister. But, with few exceptions, the Journal
ignores the whole unpleasantness.
In 1824 he again attended Baltimore Yearly Meeting. The only comment on
this trip is the following: "I think it was, in its several sittings,
one of the most satisfactory yearly meetings I have ever attended, and
the business was conducted in much harmony and brotherly love."[22]
[22] Journal, p. 396.
On the homeward trip he stopped in Philadelphia. Here he suffered a
severe illness. Of this detention at that time he says: "I lodged at
the house of my kind friend, Samuel R. Fisher, who, with his worthy
children, extended to me the most affectionate care and attention;
and I had also the kind sympathy of a large portion of Friends in
that city."[23] The exception contained in this sentence is the only
intimation that all was not unity and harmony among Friends in the
"City of Brotherly Love."
[23] Journal, p. 396.
His visits in 1825 were confined to the meetings on Long Island and
those in central New York.
In the latter part of the following year he secured a minute to visit
meetings composing Concord and Southern Quarterly Meetings, within the
bounds of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. In passing through Philadelphia
he attended Green Street and Mulberry Street Meetings. This was within
a few months of the division of 1827 in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting,
but the matter is not mentioned in the Journal.
CHAPTER VI.
Religious Journeys in 1828.
On the 20th of Third month, 1828, Elias Hicks laid before Jericho
Monthly Meeting a concern he had to make "a religious visit in the love
of the gospel, to Friends and others in some parts of our own yearly
meeting, and in the compass of the Yearly Meetings of Philadelphia,
Baltimore, Ohio, Indiana, and a few meetings in Virginia." A minute
embodying this concern was granted him, the same receiving the
indorsement of Westbury Quarterly Meeting, Fourth month 24th. Between
this period and the middle of Sixth month he made a visit to Dutchess
County, where the experience with Ann Jones and her husband took place,
which will be dealt with in a separate chapter. He also attended New
York Yearly Meeting, when he saw and was a part of the "separation"
trouble which culminated at that time. The Journal, however, makes
no reference either to the Dutchess County matter or to the division
in the yearly meeting. These silences in the Journal are hard to
understand. Undoubtedly, the troubles of the period were not pleasant
matters of record, yet one wishes that a fuller and more detailed
statement regarding the whole matter might be had from Elias Hicks than
is contained in the meager references in his personal correspondence,
or his published Journal.
On the 14th of Sixth month he started on the western and southern
journey, with his friend, Jesse Merritt, as his traveling companion.
Elias was then a few months past eighty.
The two Friends halted at points in New Jersey and Pennsylvania,
holding meetings as the way opened. Service continued in Pennsylvania,
considerably in the western part, passing from Pittsburg into Ohio.
At Westland Monthly Meeting, in Pennsylvania, his first acknowledgment
of opposition is observed. He says: "A Friend from abroad attended
this meeting, and after I sat down he rose and made opposition, which
greatly disturbed the meeting."[24]
[24] Thomas Shillitoe.
When he arrived at Brownsville, his fame had preceded him. He makes
this reference to the experience there:
"Here we put up again with our kind friends Jesse and Edith Townsend,
where we had the company of many Friends, and many of the inhabitants
of the town not members of our Society, also came in to see us; as
the unfounded reports of those who style themselves Orthodox, having
been generally spread over the country, it created such a great
excitement in the minds of the people at large, that multitudes
flocked to the meetings where we were, to hear for themselves; and
many came to see us, and acknowledged their satisfaction.
"At this place we again fell in with the Friend from abroad, who
attended the meeting with us; he rose in the early part of the
meeting, and continued his communication so long that a number left
the meeting, by which it became very much unsettled: however, when he
sat down I felt an opening to stand up; and the people returned and
crowded into the house, and those that could not get in stood about
the doors and windows, and a precious solemnity soon spread over the
meeting, which has been the case in every meeting, where our opposers
did not make disturbance by their disorderly conduct. The meeting
closed in a quiet and orderly manner, and I was very thankful for the
favour."[25]
[25] Journal, p. 404.
Following his experience at Brownsville, Elias returned to Westland,
attending the meeting of ministers and elders, and the meeting
for worship. The person before mentioned, who may be called the
"disturbing Friend," was again in evidence, this time reinforced by a
"companion." At the instigation of Friends, the elders and overseers
had "an opportunity" with the disturbers, but with small success. The
same trouble was repeated on First-day. On this occasion the opposition
was vigorous and virulent. In the midst of the second opportunity of
the opposing Friend the audience melted away, leaving him literally
without hearers.
From Westland the journey was continued to Pittsburg, where an
appointed meeting was held. Salem, Ohio, was the next point visited,
where the quarterly meeting was attended. On First-day a large company,
estimated at two thousand, gathered. The occasion was in every way
satisfactory. Visits to different meetings continued. There was
manifest opposition at New Garden, Springfield, Goshen and Marlborough.
At Smithfield the venerable preacher was quite indisposed. The
meeting-house was closed against him, by "those called Orthodox," as
Elias defined them.
One of the objective points on this trip was Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, where
the yearly meeting of 1828 was held. He arrived in time to attend the
mid-week meeting at that place, a week preceding the yearly meeting. A
large attendance was reported, many being present who were not members
of the Society. The signs of trouble had preceded the distinguished
visitor, the "world's people" having a phenomenal curiosity regarding
a possible war among the peaceable Quakers. There was pronounced
antagonism manifested in this mid-week meeting, described as "a long,
tedious communication from a minister among those called Orthodox, who,
after I sat down, publicly opposed and endeavored to lay waste what I
had said."[26]
[26] Journal, p. 411.
During the following days meetings were attended at Short Creek,
Harrisville, West Grove, Concord, St. Clairsville, Plainfield,
Wrightstown and Stillwater. There was no recorded disturbance until
he returned to Mt. Pleasant the 6th of Ninth month, the date of the
gathering of the Yearly Meeting of Ministers and Elders. When the
meeting-house was reached the gate to the yard was guarded, "by a
number of men of the opposing party," who refused entrance to those who
were in sympathy with Elias Hicks. They proceeded to hold their meeting
in the open air. Subsequent meetings were held in a school-house and in
a private house, the home of Israel French.
First-day, Ninth month 7th, Mt. Pleasant Meeting was attended in the
forenoon, and Short Creek Meeting in the afternoon. The meeting at
Mt. Pleasant was what might be called stormy. Elisha Bates and Ann
Braithwaite spoke in opposition, after Elias Hicks had spoken. In a
letter dated Ninth month 10th, written to his son-in-law, Valentine
Hicks, Elias says that these Friends "detained the meeting two hours or
more, opposing and railing against what I had said, until the people
were wearied and much disgusted." No trouble was experienced at Short
Creek, although experiences similar to those of the morning occurred at
Mt. Pleasant in the afternoon. Amos Peaslee, of Woodbury, N. J., was
the center of opposition at that time. He was opposed while on his feet
addressing the multitude.
In connection with this yearly meeting a number of Friends were
arrested on charges of trespass and inducing a riot, and taken to
court. All were members of Ohio Yearly Meeting, except Halliday
Jackson,[27] of Darby, Pa. For some reason Elias escaped arrest,
although in the letter referred to he said: "I have been expecting
for several days past to have a writ of trespass served against me by
the sheriff, for going on their meeting-house grounds, by which I may
be taken twenty miles or more to appear before the judge, as a number
of Friends already have been, although my mind is quiet regarding the
event."
[27] Halliday Jackson was father of John Jackson, the well-known
educator, principal of Sharon Hill School. Halliday was with the Seneca
Indians in New York State for two years, as a teacher under the care of
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.
While at Mt. Pleasant the small monthly meeting of Orthodox Friends
at his home sent a letter "officially" commanding Elias to cease his
religious visits. In regard to this matter, and the general situation
in Ohio, Elias wrote to Valentine Hicks: "The Orthodox in this yearly
meeting are, if possible, tenfold more violent than in any other
part of the Society. Gideon Seaman, and his associates in the little
upstart Monthly Meeting of Westbury and Jericho,[28] have sent a very
peremptory order for me to return immediately home, and not proceed any
further on my religious visit, by which they trample the authority of
our quarterly and monthly meeting under foot."
[28] The Monthly Meeting of Westbury and Jericho was made up of a small
number of Orthodox Friends, representing only a small minority of the
meeting of which Elias Hicks was a member.
Following the Ohio Yearly Meeting, Flushing,[29] in that State, was
visited, and the First-day meeting attended. Elias was met before he
reached the meeting-house by Orthodox Friends, who insisted that he
should not interrupt the meeting. He entered the house, but before
the meeting was fairly settled, Charles Osborn, an Orthodox Friend,
appeared in prayer, and continued for an hour; and then preached for
another hour. Elias thus refers to this occurrence:
[29] Flushing is about 18 miles from Mt. Pleasant. A Wilburite meeting
is the only Friendly gathering now in the place.
"However, when he sat down, although the meeting was much wearied
with his long and tedious communications, I felt the necessity of
standing up and addressing the people, which brought a precious
solemnity over the meeting; but as soon as I sat down, he rose again
to contradict, and tried to lay waste my communication, by asserting
that I had not the unity of my friends at home; which being untrue,
I therefore informed the meeting that I had certificates with me to
prove the incorrectness of his assertions, which I then produced, but
he and his party would not stay to hear them, but in a disorderly
manner arose and left the meeting; but the people generally stayed
and heard them read, to their general satisfaction."[30]
[30] Journal, p. 414.
Meetings were subsequently attended at different points in Ohio,
generally without disturbance, until Springfield was reached the 22d of
Ninth month. Here the Orthodox shut the meeting-house and guarded the
doors. Elias held his meeting under some trees nearby. He says: "It was
a precious season, wherein the Lord's power and love were exalted over
all opposition."[31]
[31] Journal, p. 416.
Preceding Indiana Yearly Meeting, he was twice at Wilmington, Ohio,
and attended monthly meeting at Center, the first held since the
"separation." The attendance was large, many more than the house
would accommodate. Elias says: "The Lord, our never-failing helper,
manifested his presence, solemnizing the assembly and opening the
minds of the people to receive the word preached; breaking down all
opposition, and humbling and contriting the assembly in a very general
manner."[32]
[32] Journal, p. 415.
Ninth month 27th, Indiana Yearly Meeting convened at Waynesville,
Ohio. It should be noted that the "separation" in most of the meetings
comprising this yearly meeting had been accomplished in 1827, so that
the gathering in 1828 was in substantial unity with the Friends
in sympathy with Elias Hicks. A letter written to Valentine and
Abigail Hicks, dated Waynesville, Tenth month 3, 1828, contains some
interesting information concerning the experience of the venerable
preacher. He says:
"The Yearly Meeting here would have been very large, had there not
been a failure of the information of the conclusion for holding it
here, reaching divers of the Quarterly Meetings, by which they were
prevented from attending. The meeting was very orderly conducted, and
the business managed in much harmony and condescension. The public
meetings have been very large, favoured seasons, and all the meetings
we have attended in our passing along have been generally very large.
Seldom any houses were found large enough to contain the people.
Often hundreds were under the necessity of standing out doors. Many
of the people without came a great way to be at our meeting. Some
ten, some twenty, and some thirty miles, and I have been informed
since I have been here that the people in a town 120 miles below
Cincinnati have given it in charge to Friends of that place to
inform them when we came there, as a steam boat plies between the
two places. The excitement is so great among the people by the false
rumors circulated by the Orthodox, that they spare no pains to get an
opportunity to be with us, and those who have attended from distant
parts, informing the people the satisfaction they have had in being
with us, in which they have found that the reports spread among them
were generally false, it has increased the excitement in others to
see for themselves."
The yearly meeting over, Elias attended meetings _en route_ to
Richmond, Ind., and was at the mid-week meeting in that place, Tenth
month 8th. Several other meetings were attended, the only disturbance
reported being at Orange, where the Orthodox "hurt the meeting very
considerably." On the 19th he was in Cincinnati, and attended the
regular meeting in the morning, and a large appointed meeting in the
court-house in the afternoon. Both were pronounced "highly favored
seasons."
First-day, the 26th, he was at Fairfield, where the Orthodox revived
the story that he was traveling without a minute. While Elias was
speaking, the Orthodox left the meeting in a body. He remarks: "But
Friends and others kept their seats, and we had a very solemn close,
and great brokenness and contrition were manifest among the people;
and to do away with the false report spread by the Orthodox, I had my
certificates read, which gave full satisfaction to the assembly."[33]
[33] Journal, p. 419.
Elias then journeyed to Wheeling, his face being turned homeward.
He held an appointed meeting in that city. It is suggestive that,
notwithstanding the theological odium under which he was supposed to
rest, the meeting was held in the Methodist church, which had been
kindly offered for the purpose. This would seem to indicate that the
Methodists had not yet taken any sides in the quarrel which had divided
the Society of Friends.
After visiting Redstone Quarterly Meeting, in western Pennsylvania, he
visited the meetings in the Shenandoah and Loudon valleys, in Virginia.
He was at Alexandria and Washington, and on First-day, Eleventh month
16th, was at Sandy Spring, Md. The meetings about Baltimore and in
Harford and Cecil counties were visited. He reached West Grove in
Pennsylvania, Twelfth month 1st, and encountered some trouble, as he
found that the meeting-house had been closed against him. A large crowd
assembled, better councils prevailed, and the house was opened. The
audience was beyond the capacity of the house, and the meeting in every
way satisfactory.
Upon his arrival at West Grove, Twelfth month 1st, he sent a letter to
his son-in-law and daughter, Royal and Martha Aldrich. In this letter
he gives a brief account of his experiences in Maryland and Lancaster
County. He says: "The aforesaid meetings were very large and highly
favored, generally made up of every description of people, high and
low, rich and poor, Romanists, and generally some of every profession
of Protestants known in our country. Generally all went away fully
satisfied as to those evil reports that have been spread over the
country concerning me, and many announced the abhorrence they had of
those false and slanderous reports."
It appears from this letter that the traveling companion of Elias,
Jesse Merritt, was homesick, and hoped that some other Friend would
come from Long Island to take his place for the rest of the trip. In
case such a shift was made, Elias requested that whoever came "might
bring with him my best winter tight-bodied coat, and two thicker
neck-cloths, as those I have are rather thin. I got a new great-coat in
Alexandria, and shall not need any other."
From a letter written to his wife from West Chester, Twelfth month
7th, we learn that John Hicks had arrived to take the place of Jesse
Merritt, and he seized that opportunity to send a letter home. As
the two Friends had been away from home nearly six months, it is not
strange that the companion on this journey desired to return. He could
scarcely have been under the deep and absorbing religious concern
which was felt by his elder brother in the truth. The nature of this
obligation is revealed in the letter last noted. In this epistle to his
wife, Elias says:
"Abigail's letter informs of the infirm state of V. and Caroline,
which excites near-feeling and sympathy with them, and which would
induce me to return home immediately if I was set at liberty from
my religious obligations, but as that is not the case, I can only
recommend them to the preserving care and compassionate regard of
our Heavenly Father, whose mercy is over all his works and does
not suffer a sparrow to fall without his notice. And as we become
resigned to his heavenly disposals, he will cause all things to work
together for good, to his truly devoted children. Therefore, let all
trust in him, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength."
The meetings in Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey were
pretty generally attended, and with no reported disturbance. First-day,
the 21st of Twelfth month, Elias attended the meeting at Cherry Street
in the morning and Green Street in the afternoon, and on the 28th he
repeated that experience. On both occasions "hundreds more assembled
than the houses could contain."[34] In the suburban meetings in
Delaware and Bucks Counties, "the houses were generally too small to
contain the people; many had to stand out-of-doors for want of room;
nevertheless, the people behaved orderly and the Lord was felt to
preside, solemnizing those crowded assemblies, in all of which my mind
was opened, and ability afforded, to preach the gospel to the people in
the demonstration of the spirit and with power, and many hearts were
broken and contrited and went away rejoicing, under thankful sense of
the unmerited favor."[35]
[34] Journal, p. 423.
[35] Journal, p. 423.
The great crowds which flocked to hear Elias Hicks after the
"separation" were probably called together partly because of curiosity
on their part, and to a considerable extent because of his continued
popularity as a minister, in spite of the trouble which had come to
the Society. That he was appreciative of what we would now call the
advertising quality of those who antagonized him, and became his
theological and personal enemies, is well attested. In summing up
his conclusions regarding the long religious visit now under review,
he said: "My opposing brethren had, by their public opposition and
erroneous reports, created such excitement in the minds of the people
generally of every profession, that it induced multitudes to assemble
to hear for themselves, and they generally went away satisfied and
comforted."[36] Undoubtedly, the multitudes who heard Elias Hicks
preach in 1828 went away wondering what all the trouble was about.
[36] Journal, p. 423.
Elias and his traveling companion reached home about the middle of
First month, 1829. This was one of the longest and most extended
religious journeys ever made by him, and was completed within two
months of his eighty-first year. On the journey he traveled nearly 2400
miles, and was absent seven months and ten days.
Going carefully over the various journeys of this well-known minister,
a conservative estimate will show that he traveled in the aggregate not
less than forty thousand miles during his long life of public service.
He was probably the best-known minister in the Society of Friends in
his time. His circle of personal friends was large, and extended over
all the yearly meetings. It is necessary to keep these facts in mind,
in order to understand how the major portion of Friends at that time
made his cause their own when the rupture came.
The majority of Friends at that time were content as to preaching, with
words that seemed to be full of spirit and life, and this undoubtedly
was characteristic of the preaching of Elias Hicks. To attempt to
destroy the standing in the Society of a man of such character and
equipment was certain to break something other than the man attacked.
This will become more apparent as we consider more closely the relation
of Elias Hicks to the controversy with which his name and person were
linked, and with the trouble in the Society of Friends, for which,
either justly or otherwise, he was made the scapegoat.
CHAPTER VII.
Ideas About the Ministry.
To construct from the published deliverances, and personal
correspondence of Elias Hicks, a statement of his theory and practice
touching the ministry is desirable if not easy. That he considered
public religious exercise an exalted function, if of the right sort,
and emanating from the Divine source, is abundantly evidenced in all
he said and wrote. The call to particular and general service, whether
in his home meeting for worship, or in connection with his extended
religious journeys, he believed came directly from the Divine Spirit.
One instance is related, which possibly as clearly as anything,
illustrates his feeling regarding the ministry, and the relationship
of the Infinite to the minister. In the fall of 1781, when his service
in the ministry had been acknowledged about three years, he was very
ill with a fever, which lasted for several months. In the most severe
period of this indisposition he tells us that "a prospect opened to
my mind to pay a religious visit to some parts of our island where no
Friends lived, and among a people, who, from acquaintance I had with
them, were more likely to mock than receive me." He opposed the call,
and argued against it, only to see the disease daily reducing his
bodily and mental strength. He became convinced that in yielding to
this call lay his only hope of recovery, and had he not done so his
life would have gone out. Having fully recovered, the intimated service
was performed the following summer.
He seemed to treat his ministry as something in a measure apart from
his personality. He repeatedly referred to his own ministerial labors
in a way not unlike that indulged in by his most ardent admirers.
Yet this was always accompanied with acknowledgment of the Divine
enlightening and assistance. On the 22d of Tenth month, 1779, he held
an appointed meeting in Hartford, Conn., a thousand persons being
present. Of this meeting he said: "The Lord, in whom we trust, was
graciously near, and furnished us with ability to conduct the meeting
to the satisfaction and peace of our own minds; and to the edification
of many present, and general satisfaction to the assembly."[37]
[37] Journal, p. 85.
Speaking of a meeting at Market Street, Philadelphia, in Fourth month,
1801, he remarked: "My spirit was set at liberty, and ability afforded
to divide the word among them, according to their varied conditions, in
a large, searching and effectual testimony; whereby a holy solemnity
was witnessed to spread over the meeting, to the great rejoicing of the
honest-hearted."[38]
[38] Journal, p. 89.
At a meeting at Goose Creek, Virginia, the 22d of Third month, 1797,
he tells us: "After a considerable time of silent labor, in deep
baptism with the suffering seed, my mouth was opened in a clear, full
testimony, directed to the states of those present. And many were
brought under the influence of that power which 'cut Rahab, and wounded
the dragon.'"[39]
[39] Journal, p. 69.
In the acknowledgment of the Divine influence and favor, Elias Hicks
had a collection of phrases which he repeatedly used. "It was the
Lord's doings, and marvelous in our eyes," was a common expression. He
repeatedly said: "Our sufficiency was not of ourselves, but of God;
and that the Lord was our strength from day to day, who is over all
blessed forever." One of his favorite expressions was: "To the Lord be
all the praise, nothing due to man."
Trite and pointed Scripture quotations were always at command, and
they were effectively employed, both in speaking and writing. It will
be noted by the reader that not a few of the expressions used by Elias
Hicks sound like the phrases coined by George Fox.
That Elias Hicks believed in the plenary inspiration of the preacher is
well attested. His testimony was constantly against the "letter," with
little recognition that the letter could ever contain the spirit. Here
is a sample exhortation to ministers:
"And it is a great thing when ministers keep in remembrance that
necessary caution of the divine Master, not to premediate what they
shall say; but carefully to wait in the nothingness and emptiness of
self, that what they speak may be only what the Holy Spirit speaketh
in them; then will they not only speak the truth, but the truth,
accompanied with power, and thereby profit the hearers."[40]
[40] Journal, p. 296.
He admonished Friends in meeting, and especially ministers, to "get
inward, and wait in their proper gifts." The evident theory was that by
waiting, and possibly wrestling with the manifestation it was possible
to tell whether it was from below or above.
Still, there was not an entire absence of the human and even the
rational in Elias Hicks' theory of the ministry as it worked out in
practice. He had evidently discovered the psychological side of public
speaking to the extent of recognizing that even the preacher was
influenced by his audience.
When he was in Philadelphia in 1816, before the troubled times had
arrived, he tells us that "it proved a hard trying season: one of
them [ministers] was exercised in public testimony, and although she
appeared to labor fervently, yet but little life was felt to arise
during the meeting. This makes the work hard for the poor exercised
ministers, who feel the necessity publicly to advocate the cause of
truth and righteousness, and yet obtain but little relief, by reason
of the deadness and indifference of those to whom they are constrained
to minister. I found it my place to sit silent and suffer with the
seed."[41]
[41] Journal, p. 271.
In a personal letter, while on one of his visits, Elias Hicks gave the
following impression of the meeting and the ministry:
"To-day was the quarterly meeting of discipline. It was large, and I
think in the main a favored instructive season, although considerably
hurt by a pretty long, tedious communication, not sufficiently
clothed with life to make it either comfortable or useful. So it
is, the Society is in such a mixed and unstable state, and many
who presume to be teachers in it, are so far from keeping on the
original foundation, the light and spirit of truth, and so built up
in mere tradition, that I fear a very great portion of the ministry
among us, is doing more harm than good, and leading back to the weak
and beggarly elements, to which they seem desirous to be again in
bondage."[42]
[42] Letter to his wife, dated Purchase, N. Y., Tenth month 29, 1823.
This is not the only case of his measuring the general effect of the
ministry. In Seventh month, 1815, he attended Westbury Quarterly
Meeting, and of its experiences he wrote as follows:
"Was the parting meeting held for public worship. It was a large
crowded meeting, but was somewhat hurt in the forepart, by the
appearance of one young in the ministry standing too long, and
manifesting too much animation: Yet, I believed, he was under
the preparing hand, fitting for service in the Church, if he only
keeps low and humble, and does not aspire above his gift, into the
animation of the creature. For there is great danger, if such are
not deeply watchful, of the transformer getting in and raising the
mind into too much creaturely zeal, and warmth of the animal spirit,
whereby they may be deceived, and attribute that to the divine power,
which only arises from a heated imagination, and the natural warmth
of their own spirits; and so mar the work of the divine spirit on
their minds, run before their gift and lose it, or have it taken away
from them. They thereby fall into the condition of some formerly, as
mentioned by the prophet, who, in their creaturely zeal, kindle a
fire of their own, and walk in the light thereof; but these, in the
end, have to lie down in sorrow."[43]
[43] Journal, p. 234.
Of the same quarterly meeting, held in Fourth month in the following
year, in New York, Elias wrote: "It was for the most part a favored
season, but would have been more so, had not some in the ministry quite
exceeded the mark by unnecessary communication. For very great care
ought to rest on the minds of ministers, lest they become burthensome,
and take away the life from the meeting, and bring over it a gloom of
death and darkness, that may be sensibly felt."[44]
[44] Journal, p. 268.
His feeling regarding his own particular labor in the ministry is
almost pathetically expressed as follows:
"Meetings are generally large and well-attended, although in the
midst of harvest. I have continual cause for deep humility and
thankfulness of heart under a daily sense of the continued mercy of
the Shepherd of Israel, who when he puts his servants forth, goes
before them, and points out the way, when to them all seems shut
up in darkness. This has been abundantly my lot from day to day,
insomuch that the saying of the prophet has been verified in my
experience, that none are so blind as the Lord's servants, nor deaf
as his messengers. As generally when I first enter meetings I feel
like one, both dumb and deaf, and see nothing but my own impotence.
Nevertheless as my whole trust and confidence is in the never-failing
arm of divine sufficiency, although I am thus emptied, I am not cast
down, neither has a murmuring thought been permitted to enter, but
in faith and patience, have had to inherit the promise, as made to
Israel formerly by the prophet. 'I will never leave thee, nor forsake
thee.' This my dear, I trust will be the happy lot of all those who
sincerely trust in the Lord, and do not cast away their confidence,
nor lean to their own understanding."[45]
[45] Letter to his wife, written from East Caln, Pa., Seventh month 22,
1813.
Occasionally in his ministry Elias Hicks did what in our time would be
called sensational things. In this matter he shall be his own witness.
Fourth-day, the 6th of Twelfth month, 1815, at Pearl Street meeting in
New York, there was a marriage during the meeting, on which account the
attendance was large. After remarking that his mind was "exercised in
an unusual manner," he says:
"For the subject which first presented, after my mind had become
silenced, was the remembrance of the manner in which the temporal
courts among men are called to order; and it became so impressive,
as to apprehend it right to make use of it as a simile, much in the
way the prophet was led to make use of some of the Rechabites, to
convict Israel of their disobedience and want of attention to their
law and law-giver. I accordingly was led to cry audibly three times,
'O yes! O yes! O yes! silence all persons, under the pain and penalty
of the displeasure of the court.' This unusual address had a powerful
tendency to arrest the attention of all present, and from which I
took occasion, as truth opened the way, to reason with the assembly,
that if such a confused mass of people as are generally collected
together on such occasions, and from very different motives, and
many from mere curiosity to hear and see the transactions of the
court, should all in an instant so honor and respect the court,
as immediately to be still and silent at the simple call of the
crier: How much more reasonable is it, for a collection of people,
promiscuously gathered to the place appointed in a religious way, to
wait upon, and worship the Judge of heaven and earth, to be still,
and strive to silence every selfish and creaturely thought and
cogitation of the mind. For such thoughts and cogitations would as
certainly prevent our hearing the inward divine voice of the King
of heaven, and as effectually hinder our worshipping him in spirit
and in truth, as the talking of the multitude at a court of moral
law, would interrupt the business thereof. As I proceeded with this
simile, the subject enlarged and spread, accompanied with gospel
power and the evident demonstration of the spirit, whereby truth was
raised into victory, and ran as oil over all. The meeting closed with
solemn supplication and thanksgiving to the Lord our gracious Helper,
to whom all the honor and glory belong, both now and forever."[46]
[46] Journal, p. 248.
Whatever may have been the opinion of Elias Hicks as to the inspiration
of the minister, he evidently did not consider that it was so
impersonal and accidental, or so entirely outside the preacher, as to
demand no care on his own part. The following advisory statement almost
provides for what might be called "preparation:"
"In those large meetings, where Friends are collected from various
parts, the weak and the strong together, and especially in those
for worship, it is essentially necessary that Friends get inward,
and wait in their proper gifts, keeping in view their standing and
place in society, especially those in the ministry. For otherwise
there is danger even from a desire to do good, of being caught with
the enemies' transformations, particularly with those that are
young, and inexperienced; for we seldom sit in meetings but some
prospect presents, which has a likeness, in its first impression,
to the right thing; and as these feel naturally fearful of speaking
in large meetings, and in the presence of their elderly friends,
and apprehending they are likely to have something to offer, they
are suddenly struck with the fear of man, and thereby prevented
from centering down to their gifts, so as to discover whether it
is a right motion or not; and the accuser of the brethren, who is
always ready with his transformations to deceive, charges with
unfaithfulness and disobedience, by which they are driven to act
without any clear prospect, and find little to say, except making
an apology for them thus standing; by which they often disturb the
meeting, and prevent others, who are rightly called to the work, and
thereby wound the minds of the living baptized members."[47]
[47] Journal, p. 230.
The responsibility which Elias Hicks felt for the meeting of which
he was a member, and in which he felt called to minister, is well
illustrated in the following quotation:
"I was under considerable bodily indisposition most of this week. On
Fifth-day, so much so, as almost to give up the prospect of getting
to meeting; but I put on my usual resolution and went, and was glad
in so doing, as there I met with that peace of God that passeth all
understanding, which is only known by being felt. I had to declare to
my friends how good it is to trust in the Lord with all the heart,
and lean not to our own understandings, lest they fail us."[48]
[48] Journal, p. 230.
This records no uncommon occurrence. He was often indisposed, but the
illness had to be severe if it kept him away from meeting.
During his later life he was frequently indisposed, and sometimes
under such bodily pain when speaking that he was forced to stop in
the midst of a discourse. This happened in Green Street Meeting
House, Philadelphia, Eleventh month 12, 1826. On this occasion the
stenographer says that after "leaving his place for a few minutes, he
resumed." During this particular sermon Elias sat down twice, beside
the time mentioned, evidently to recover physical strength.
Elias Hicks was not one of those ministers who always spoke if he
attended meeting. Many times he was silent; this being especially true
when in his home meeting. When on a religious visit he generally spoke,
but not always. That his willingness to "famish the people from words,"
tended to his local popularity, is quite certain.
The printed sermons of Elias Hicks would indicate that at times he
was quite lengthy, and seldom preached what is known now as a short,
ten-minute sermon. Estimating a number of sermons, we find that they
averaged about 6500 words, so that his sermons must have generally
occupied from thirty to forty-five minutes in delivery. Occasionally a
sermon contained over 8000 words, while sometimes less than 4000 words.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Home at Jericho.
The village of Jericho, Long Island, is about 25 miles east of New York
City, in the town of Oyster Bay. It has had no considerable growth
since the days of Elias Hicks, and now contains only about a score and
a half of houses. Hicksville, less than two miles away, the railroad
station for the older hamlet, contains a population of a couple of
thousand. It was named for Valentine Hicks, the son-in-law of Elias.
Running through Jericho is the main-traveled road from the eastern
part of Long Island to New York, called Jericho Pike. In our time it
is a famous thoroughfare for automobiles, is thoroughly modern, and as
smooth and hard as a barn floor. In former days it was a toll-road, and
over it Elias Hicks often traveled. A cross-country road runs through
Jericho nearly north and south, leading to Oyster Bay. On this road,
a few rods to the north from the turn in the Jericho Pike stands the
house which was originally the Seaman homestead, where Elias Hicks
lived from soon after his marriage till his death.
The house was large and commodious for its time, but has been
remodeled, so that only part of the building now standing is as it
was eighty years ago. The house ends to the road, with entrance from
the south side. It was of the popular Long Island and New England
construction, shingled from cellar wall to ridge-pole. Four rooms on
the east end of the house, two upstairs and two down, are practically
as they were in the days of Elias Hicks. In one of these he had his
paralytic stroke, and in another he passed away. The comparatively wide
hall which runs across the house, with the exception of the stairway,
is as it was in the time of its distinguished occupant. A new stairway
of modern construction now occupies the opposite side of the hall from
the one of the older time. This hall-way, it is said, Elias Hicks loved
to promenade, sometimes with his visitors, and here with characteristic
warmth of feeling he sped his parting guests, when the time for their
departure came.
Like the most of his neighbors, Elias Hicks was a farmer. The home
place probably contained about seventy-five acres, but he possessed
detached pieces of land, part of it in timber. Several years before
his death he sold forty acres of the farm to his son-in-law, Valentine
Hicks, thus considerably reducing the care which advancing years and
increased religious labor made advisable.
Jericho still retains its agricultural character more than some of
the other sections of neighboring Long Island. The multi-millionaire
and the real estate exploiter have absorbed many of the old Friendly
homes toward the Westbury neighborhood, and are pushing their ambitious
intent at land-grabbing down the Jericho road.
If Elias were to return and make a visit from Jericho to the meeting
at Westbury, as he often did in his time, three or four miles away,
he would pass more whizzing automobiles en route than he would teams,
and would see the landscape beautifully adorned with lawns and walks,
with parks and drives on the hillsides, not to mention the costly Roman
garden of one of Pittsburg's captains of industry. Should he so elect,
he could be whirled in a gasoline car in a few minutes over a distance
which it probably took him the better part of an hour to make in his
day. As he went along he could muse over snatches of Goldsmiths'
"Deserted Village," like the following, which would be approximately,
if not literally, true:
"Hoards, e'en beyond the miser's wish abound,
And rich men flock from all the world around.
Yet count our gains: this wealth is but a name
That leaves our useful products just the same.
And so the loss: the man of wealth and pride
Takes up the place that many poor supplied;
Space for his lake, his parks extending bounds,
Space for his horses, equipage and hounds,
The robe that wraps his limbs in silken sloth,
Has robbed the neighboring fields of half their growth."
But there are some compensations in the modern scene, and however
emotionally sad the change, the helpfully suggestive side is not in
lamentation over the inevitable, but in considering the growing demands
which the situation makes upon the practical spiritual religion which
Elias Hicks preached, and in which his successors still profess to
believe.
A hundred years ago, wheat was a regular and staple farm product on
Long Island, especially in and around Jericho, and on the Hicks farm.
But no wheat is raised in this section now. The farmer finds it more
profitable to raise the more perishable vegetables to feed the hungry
hordes of the great city, which has crowded itself nearer and nearer to
the farmers' domain.
Less than a quarter of a mile up the road from the Hicks home is the
Friends' Meeting House, which Elias Hicks helped to build, if he did
not design it. The timbers and rafters, which were large, and are
still sound to the core, were hewed by hand of course. Like most of
the neighboring buildings, its sides were shingled, and probably the
original shingles have not been replaced since the house was built,
a hundred and twenty-two years ago. The "public gallery" contained
benches sloping steeply one above the other, making the view of
the preacher's gallery easy from these elevated positions. Over
the preacher's gallery, and facing the one just described, is room
for a row of seats behind a railing. Whether this was a sort of a
"watch-tower" from which the elders might observe the deportment of the
young people in the seats opposite, or whether it was simply used for
overflow purposes, tradition does not tell us.
The fact probably is that what is known as the Hicks property at
Jericho came to Elias by his wife Jemima. There is every reason to
believe that at the time of his marriage he was a poor man, and as
the young folks took up their residence at the Seaman home soon after
their marriage, there was no time for an accumulation of property on
the part of the head of the new family. The economic situation involved
in the matter under consideration had a most important bearing on the
religious service of Elias Hicks. Taking the Seaman farm brought him
economic certainty, if not independence. It is hardly conceivable that
he could have given the large attention to the "free gospel ministry"
which he did, had there been a struggle with debt and difficulty which
was so incidental in laying the foundations of even a moderate success
a century and a quarter ago. It is by no means to be inferred, however,
that Elias Hicks was ever a wealthy man, or possessed the means of
luxury, for which of course he had no desire, and against which he
bore a life-long testimony. The real point to be gratefully remembered
is that he was not overburdened with the care and worry which a less
desirable economic condition would have enforced.
In the main, Elias Hicks saw his married children settle around him.
Royal Aldrich, who married his oldest daughter, had a tannery, and
lived on the opposite side of the road not far away. Valentine Hicks,
who married another daughter, had a somewhat pretentious house for the
time, at the foot of the little hill approaching the meeting house, and
just beyond the house of Elias, Robert Seaman, who married the youngest
daughter, lived only a few steps away. Joshua Willets, who married the
third daughter, resided on the south side of the island, some miles
distant. The time of scattering families, lured by business outlook and
economic advantage, had not yet arrived.
CHAPTER IX.
The Hicks Family.
In the home at Jericho the children of Elias Hicks were born. Touching
his family we have this bit of interesting information from Elias Hicks
himself:
"My wife, although not of a very strong constitution, lived to be the
mother of eleven children, four sons and seven daughters. Our second
daughter, a very lovely promising child, died when young with the
small pox, and the youngest was not living at its birth. The rest
all arrived to years of discretion, and afforded us considerable
comfort, as they proved to be in a good degree dutiful children. All
our sons, however, were of weak constitutions, and were not able to
take care of themselves, being so enfeebled as not to be able to
walk after the ninth year of their age. The two eldest died in the
fifteenth year of their age, the third in his seventeenth year, and
the youngest was nearly nineteen when he died. But, although thus
helpless, the innocency of their lives, and the resigned cheerfulness
of their dispositions to their allotments, made the labour and toil
of taking care of them agreeable and pleasant; and I trust we were
preserved from murmuring or repining, believing the dispensation to
be in wisdom, and according to the will and gracious disposing of an
all-wise providence, for purposes best known to himself. And when I
have observed the great anxiety and affliction, which many parents
have with undutiful children who are favoured with health, especially
their sons, I could perceive very few whose troubles and exercises,
on that account, did not far exceed ours. The weakness and bodily
infirmity of our sons tended to keep them much out of the way of the
troubles and temptations of the world; and we believed that in their
death they were happy, and admitted into the realms of peace and joy;
a reflection, the most comfortable and joyous that parents can have
in regard to their tender offspring."[49]
[49] Journal, p. 14.
The children thus referred to by their father were the following:
Martha, born in 1771. She married Royal Aldrich, and died in 1862, at
the advanced age of ninety-one. She was a widow for about twenty years.
David was born in 1773, and died in 1787. Elias, the second son, was
born in 1774, and died the same year as his brother David. Elizabeth
was born in 1777, and died in 1779. This is the daughter who had the
small pox. There are no records telling whether the other members of
the family had the disease, or how this child of two years became a
victim of the contagion.
Phebe, the third daughter, was born in 1779. She married Joshua
Willets, as noted in the last chapter.
Abigail, who married Valentine Hicks, a nephew of Elias, was born in
1782. She died Second month 26, 1850, while her husband passed away the
5th of Third month of the same year, just one week after the death of
his wife.
Jonathan, the third son, was born in 1784, and passed away in 1802. His
brother, John, was born in 1789, and died in 1805.
Elizabeth, evidently named for her little sister, was born in 1791,
and lived to a good old age. She passed away in 1871. She was never
married, and occasionally accompanied her father on his religious
visits. She was known in the neighborhood, in her later years at least,
as "Aunt Elizabeth," and is the best-remembered of any of the children
of Elias Hicks. As the Friends remember her she was a spare woman,
never weighing over ninety pounds.
The youngest child of the family, Sarah, was born in 1793. She married
Robert Seaman, her kinsman, and died in 1835. Robert, her husband, died
in 1860.
It will be seen that the home at Jericho was a house acquainted with
grief. Of the ten children, Martha, David, Elias and little Elizabeth
made up the juvenile members of the household, up to the time of the
death of the latter. Phebe came the same year, while Abigail was born
three years later, so that there were at least four or five children
always gathered around the family board. Before the passing away
of Elias and David, the family had been increased by the birth of
Jonathan, making the children living at one time six. After the death
of the three older boys, and the birth of Elizabeth and Sarah, until
the death of John in 1805, living children were still six in number.
The five daughters, Martha, Phebe, Abigail, Elizabeth and Sarah all
outlived their parents.
Elias Hicks was undoubtedly a most affectionate father, as the
letters to his wife and children show. How much this was diluted by
the apparent sternness of his religious concerns is a matter for the
imagination to determine. What were the amusements of this large family
is an interesting question in this "age of the child," with its surfeit
of toys and games. What were the tasks of the girls it is not so hard
to answer. Of course they worked "samplers," pieced quilts, learned to
spin and knit, and possibly to weave, and to prepare the wool or flax
for the loom. If we read between the lines in the description of their
father, we can easily infer that the physically afflicted sons were
nevertheless not without the joys of boyhood.
At all events, if it was an afflicted family, it was also a united
one. It was a home where the parents were reverenced by the children,
and where there was a feeling of love, and a sense of loyalty. This
feeling is still characteristic of the descendants of Elias Hicks. It
is a sample of the persistence of the qualities of a strong man, in the
generations that come after him.
Of the four daughters of Elias Hicks who were married, but two had
children, so that the lineal descendants of the celebrated Jericho
preacher are either descendants of Martha Hicks, wife of Valentine,
or of Sarah Hicks Seaman. These two branches of the family are quite
numerous.[50]
[50] The descendants referred to will be given in their proper place in
the Appendix.
Of Jemima, the wife of Elias Hicks, little is known apart from the
correspondence of her husband, and that is considerable. That he
considered her his real help-meet, and had for her a lover's affection
to the end is abundantly attested by all of the facts. Dame Rumor, in
the region of Jericho, claims that she was her husband's intellectual
inferior, but that is an indefinite comparison worth very little. That
she was at some points his superior is undoubtedly true, and it must be
remembered that Elias himself, with all of his great natural ability,
lacked intellectual culture and literary training. Jemima was evidently
a good housekeeper, and manager of affairs. Before she had sons-in-law
with whom to advise, and even after that, the business side of the
family was a considerable part of the time in her hands. It is no small
matter to throw upon a woman, never robust, the responsibility of both
the mother and father of a family during the prolonged absence of the
husband.
The first long religious visit of Elias Hicks lasted ten weeks. At
that time there were four little people in the Hicks home, from
eight-year-old Martha to two-year-old Elizabeth, who died that
year, while Phebe was born after the return of her father from his
Philadelphia trip. Several of the other extended journeys were made
while the children of the family were of an age requiring care. Of
course this laid labor and responsibility on the wife and mother.
These she bore without complaining and, we may be sure, with executive
ability of no mean order.
It was a time when women were not expected to be either the
intellectual peers or companions of their husbands, and we cannot
justly apply the measurements and standards of to-day, to the women of
a century ago. Men of the Elias Hicks type, meeting their fellows in
public assemblies and ministering to them, traveling widely and forming
many friendships, whether in the Society of Friends or out of it, are
likely to be praised, if not petted, while their wives, less known,
labor on unappreciated. Such a woman was Jemima Hicks. To her, and all
like her, the lasting gratitude of the sons of men is due.
CHAPTER X.
Letters to his Wife.
In the long absences from home, which the religious visits of Elias
Hicks involved, as a matter of course many of the domestic burdens fell
heavily upon his wife. In so far as he could atone for his absence
by sending epistles home he did so. In fact, for the times, he was a
voluminous letter writer.
It was not a time of rapid transit. Distances now spanned in a few
hours demanded days and weeks when Elias Hicks was active in the
ministry. At the best, but a few letters could reach home from the
traveler absent for several months.
In the main the letters which Elias sent to his beloved Jemima were
of the ardent lover-like sort. It seemed impossible, however, for
him to avoid the preacherly function in even his most tender and
domestic missives. Exhortations to practical righteousness, and to
the maintenance of what he considered the Friendly fundamentals, were
plentifully mixed with his most private and personal concerns.
In going over this correspondence one wishes for more description,
relating to the human side of the traveler's experiences. A man who
several times traversed what was really the width of habitable America,
and mostly either in a wagon or on horseback, must have seen much that
was interesting, and many times humorous and even pathetic. But few of
these things moved Elias Hicks, or diverted him from what he considered
the purely gospel character of his mission.
Still there is much worth while in this domestic correspondence. From
it we compile and annotate such extracts as seem to help reveal the
character of the man who wrote them.
On the 13th of Eighth month, 1788, Elias was at Creek, now Clinton
Corners, in Dutchess county, New York. From a letter written to his
wife that day, we quote:
"My heart glows at this time with much love and affection for thee
and our dear children, with breathing desires for your preservation,
and that thou, my dear, may be kept in a state of due watchfulness
over thyself, and those dear lambs under thy care, that nothing may
interrupt the current of pure love among you in my absence."
A letter dated "Lynn, Massachusetts, ye 24th of Eighth month, 1793,"
and written to his wife, is of peculiar interest. We quote the first
sentences:
"I received last evening, at my return to this place from the East,
thy very acceptable letter of the 16th instant.... The contents,
except the account of the pain in thy side, were truly comfortable.
That part wherein thou expresseth a resignation to the Divine Will,
was particularly satisfactory, for in this, my dear, consists our
chiefest happiness and consolation."
He sometimes expressed a sense of loneliness in his travels, but was
certain of the nearness of the Divine Spirit. In the letter mentioned
above he said:
"Thou hast cause to believe with me, my dear, that it was He that
first united our hearts together in the bonds of an endeared love
and affection. So it is He that has kept and preserved us all our
life long, and hath caused us to witness an increase of that unfading
love, which as thou expresseth is ever new."
Evidently his beloved Jemima, like Martha of old, was unduly troubled
about many things, for we find Elias in his letter indulging in the
following warning: "And let me again hint to thee a care over thyself,
for I fear thou wilt expose thyself by too much bodily exercise in the
care of thy business."
It is seldom that we find even a tinge of complaining in any of his
letters. It seems, however, that his women folks were not industrious
correspondents. In closing the letter noted he thus expressed himself:
"My companion receives his packet of letters, frequently four, five
or six at a time, which makes me feel as if I was forgotten by my
friends, having received but two small letters from home since I left
you. And thou writest, my dear, as if paper was scarce, on very small
pieces."
On the 3d of Ninth month, of the same year, a letter was written to his
wife, much like the foregoing. It is interesting to note that Elias was
at this time the guest of Moses Brown (in Providence), the founder of
the Moses Brown School. The small pieces of paper mentioned are hints
of a wifely economy, not altogether approved by her very economical
husband. There is a gentle tinge of rebuke in the following, written
from Nine Partners, Eleventh month 19, 1818. The temptation is strong
to read into these lines, a grain of humor touching the much-talked-of
persistence of a woman's will:
"Inasmuch as I have often felt concerned when thus absent, least thou
should worry thyself, with too much care and labor in regard to our
temporal concerns, and have often desired thee to be careful in that
respect, but mostly without effect, by reason that thou art so choice
of thy own free agency as to be afraid to take the advice of thy
best friend, lest it might mar that great privilege; I therefore now
propose to leave thee at full liberty to use it in thine own pleasure
with the addition of this desire, that thou use it in that way as
will produce to thee the most true comfort and joy, and then I trust
I shall be comforted, my dear, in thy comfort, and joyful in thy joy."
A letter dated West Jersey, near Salem, the 6th of First month, 1798,
mentions a singular concern about apparel. He exhorts his wife to guard
the tender minds of their children from "foolish and worldly vanities,"
and then drops into a personal and general statement regarding what he
considered simplicity and plainness as follows:
"Great is the apparent departure from primitive purity and plainness
among many professors of the truth, where our lots have been cast.
Foreseeing that I may often be led in a line of close doctrine to
such it has brought me under close self-examination, knowing for
certain that those who have to deal out to others ought to look well
to their own going. In this time of scrutiny nothing turned up as
bringing reproof to my mind concerning our children, but the manner
of wearing their gown sleeves long and pinned at the wrist. This I
found to strike at the pure life, and wounded my mind. I clearly saw
my deficiency that I had not more endeavored to have it done away
with before I left home, for I felt it as a burden then. But seeing
our dear daughters had manifested so much condescension in other
things, and this being like one of the least, I endeavored to be easy
under it. But feeling it with assurance not to be a plant of our
Heavenly Father's right-hand planting, think it ought to be plucked
up. Let our dear daughters read these lines, and tell them their dear
father prays they may wisely consider the matter, and if they can be
willing so far to condescend to my desire while absent as to have
these things removed, it will be as balsam to my wounded spirit, and
they will not go without their reward. But their father's God will
bless them and become their God, as they are faithful to his reproofs
in their hearts, and walk fearfully before Him. He will redeem them,
out of all adversity to the praise and glory of His grace, who is
over all, God, blessed forever."
During a visit to Nine Partners, Twelfth month 15, 1803, Elias wrote
to Jemima. Evidently she had repelled the inference, if not the
implication, that she had been negligent in her correspondence, for we
find the letter in question beginning in this fashion:
"Although I wrote thee pretty fully last evening, yet having since
that received a precious, refreshing letter from thee, by Isaac
Frost (it being the first I have received from thee since I left
home), but finding from thy last that thou hast written several. It
affords a singular satisfaction in finding thou hast been mindful of
me. But I have not complained, my dear, nor let in, nor indulged a
thought that thou hadst forgotten me, nor do I believe thou couldst.
There is nothing while we continue in our right minds that can
dissolve that firm and precious bond of love and endeared affection,
which from our first acquaintance united us together, and in which,
while writing these lines my spirit greets thee with endeared
embraces."
It surely seems strange that a man who was the father of eleven
children, that his only source of personal "reproof" concerning them,
was this little matter of the sleeves and the pins. This probably is a
fair illustration of what may be called the conservatism of Elias Hicks
touching all of the peculiarities of the Society of Friends.
The postscript to a letter written to Jemima from Shrewsbury, New
Jersey, Twelfth month 17, 1797, reads as follows: "As thou writes but
poorly, if thou should get Hallet or Royal to write superscriptions on
the letters, it would make them more plain for conveyance."
It was only seldom that business affairs at home were referred to in
his epistles to his wife. But occasionally a departure was made from
this practice. Where these lapses do occur, it would seem that they
should be noted. In the fall of 1822 Elias was in the vicinity of
Philadelphia, and was stopping with his friend and kinsman, Edward
Hicks, at Newtown, in Bucks county.
In this letter he says: "My health is much the same as when I left
home. I was disappointed in not meeting any letters here, as I feel
very anxious how you all do." We copy the balance of the letter, with
its tender admonition to Jemima:
"I will just remind thee that before I left home I put two old ewes
in the green rye on the plains. If they should improve as to be fit
to kill, I should be willing thou would let Josiah have one of them,
as he agreed to split up some of the timber that was blown down in
the woods by him, into rails and board himself. The other thou might
sell or otherwise at thy pleasure.
"Now, my dear, let me remind thee of thy increasing bodily
infirmities, and the necessity it lays thee under to spare thyself of
the burthen and care of much bodily and mental labour and exercise,
by which thou will experience more quiet rest, both to body and
mind, and that it may be, my dear, our united care to endeavor that
our last days may be our best days, that so we may witness a state
and qualification to pass gently and quietly out of time, into the
mansions of eternal blessedness, where all sighing and sorrow, will
be at an end."
While in Pennsylvania, and at what is now York, Fourth month 3, 1798,
he sent a tender missive home. Part of it referred to business matters.
He gave directions for preparing the ground, and planting potatoes, and
also for oats and flax, the latter being a crop practically unknown
to present-day Long Island. He then gives the following direction
regarding a financial obligation:
"And as James Carhartt has a bond of sixty pounds against me, of
money belonging to a Dutchman, should be glad if thou hast not money
enough by thee to pay the interest thereof, thou would call upon
Royal or brother Joseph and get some, and pay it the first of Fifth
month."
While at Rahway, New Jersey, Eleventh month 6, 1801, on his visit
to Friends in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, he wrote one of his most
expressive letters to Jemima. A postscript was attached directed to
his daughters. To his oldest daughter, Martha, he sent an exhortation
in which he said: "My desires for thee, my dear, are that thou may be
preserved innocent and chaste to the Lord, for I can have no greater
joy than to find my children walking in the truth."
That a large part of his concern was for the comfort of his wife
in the long absences from home is abundantly shown in his entire
correspondence. The last postscript to the Rahway letter is as follows:
"And, dear Phebe and Abigail, remember your Creator, who made you not
to spend your time in play and vanity, but to be sober and to live
in his fear, that he may bless you. Be obedient to your dear mother,
it is my charge to you. Love and help her whatever you can; it will
comfort your dear father."
The 2d of Eleventh month, 1820, Elias arrived at Hudson, and learning
that the steamboat to New York was to pass that day, he prepared and
sent a letter to his wife. In this letter he says:
"It may be that some of my friends may think me so far worth
noticing, as to meet me with a line or two at Nine Partners, as I
have often felt very desirous of hearing how you fare at home, but
this desire hath mostly failed of being gratified. I suppose the many
things so absorb the minds of my friends at home, that they have no
time to think of so poor a thing as I am. But never mind it, as all
things, it is said, will work together for good to those that love
and fear [God]."
While at Saratoga, in 1793, Elias wrote to Jemima, Tenth month 15th.
This is one of his most ardent epistles. "Oh, my dear," he says, "may
we ever keep in remembrance the day of our espousal and gladness of our
hearts, as I believe it was a measure of the Divine Image that united
our hearts together in the beginning. It is the same that I believe
has, and still doth strengthen the sweet, influential and reciprocal
bond, that nothing, I trust, as we dwell under a sense of Divine love
and in the pure fear, will ever be able to obliterate or deface."
Third month 15, 1798, a letter was written from Alexandria, Va., from
which we make this extract:
"We came here this morning from Sandy Spring, which is upwards of
twenty miles distant. Got in timely so as to attend their meeting
which began at the tenth hour. Crossed the river Potomac on our way.
We got on horseback about break of day, and not being very well I
thought I felt the most fatigued before I got in, I was ever sensible
of before. When I came to the meeting, a poor little one it was, and
wherein I had to suffer silence through the meeting for worship, but
in their Preparative which followed, I found my way open in a measure
to ease my mind."
CHAPTER XI.
The Slavery Question.
John Woolman was the mouth-piece of the best Quaker conscience of the
eighteenth century on the slavery question. For twenty-five years
before his death, in 1772, he was pleading with the tenderness of a
woman that his beloved religious society should clear itself from
complicity with the system which held human beings in bondage. His
mantel apparently fell on Warner Mifflin, a young man residing in Kent
county, Delaware, near the little hamlet of Camden. In 1775 Mifflin
manumitted his slaves, and was followed by like conduct on the part of
his father, Daniel Mifflin, a resident of Accomac County, in Virginia.
Warner Mifflin is said to have been the first man in America to
voluntarily give freedom to his bondmen, and to make restitution to
such of them as were past twenty-one, for the unrequited service which
they had rendered him. Be that as it may, from 1775, until his death
in 1799, Warner Mifflin, with tireless zeal labored with Friends
personally, and with meetings in their official capacity, to drive the
last remnant of slavery from the Quaker fold. His efforts appeared in
various monthly meeting minutes throughout Philadelphia Yearly Meeting,
and he was not backward in laying his concern before the Yearly Meeting
itself. In 1783, on the initiative of Mifflin, the Yearly Meeting for
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and the Western Parts of Maryland
and Virginia, memorialized the infant United States Congress in regard
to slavery. The document was a striking one for the time, was signed in
person by 535 Friends, and was presented to the Congress by a strong
committee headed by Warner Mifflin.
These efforts at internal deliverance from connection and complicity
with slavery produced speedy results, and before the close of the
century not a Quaker slave holder remained in the Society, unless in
some obscure cases that continued "under care." Having cleared its own
skirts of slavery, the members of the Society became divided into two
classes--the one anxious that the Quaker conscience should make its
appeal to the general conscience for the entire abolition of the "great
iniquity." The other class, satisfied with their own sinlessness in
this particular, wished the Society to remain passive, and in no way
mix with a public agitation of the mooted question. These two opposing
views distracted the Society down to the very verge of the final issue
in the slaveholders' rebellion.
Elias Hicks was three years Warner Mifflin's junior. He probably saw
the Delaware abolitionist during his visits to Philadelphia Yearly
Meeting before the death of Mifflin. Whether either ever saw or heard
John Woolman cannot be positively stated. Mifflin was twenty-seven when
the great New Jersey preacher and reformer passed away, and must have
fallen under the spell of Woolman's inspiring leadership. Elias Hicks
could hardly have escaped being influenced by this "elder brother,"
although he may never have seen him.
The subject of this biography was among those who believed that the
Society of Friends had a message to the world along the line of its
internal testimony against slavery, and he did not hesitate to deliver
the message, though it disturbed the superficial ease in Zion. Still he
had no definite plan apart from the appeal to conscience for settling
the problem.
It must be remembered, however, that Elias Hicks passed away before
the real abolition movement, as represented by Garrison and Phillips
and their compeers, had begun its vigorous agitation, or organized
its widely applied propaganda. What the attitude of Elias would have
been toward Friends becoming members of the abolition societies, which
after his death played such an important part, and touching which many
Friends were either in doubt or in opposition we cannot even surmise.
Benjamin Lundy[51] commenced his literary warfare against slavery, with
the ponderously named "Genius of Universal Emancipation," in 1821.
Elias Hicks was one of Lundy's most concerned and faithful patrons, in
some of his undertakings,[52] as appears in his personal correspondence.
[51] Benjamin Lundy was born of Quaker parents, First month 4, 1789, in
Sussex County, New Jersey. He learned the trade of harness maker and
saddler, and went to Ohio, where he became very much interested in the
slavery question. In 1816 he issued an "Address" touching the evils of
slavery. Of this Address, Horace Greeley says, it contained the germ
of the whole anti-slavery movement. In First month, 1821, he issued
the first number of _The Genius of Universal Emancipation_. Lundy was
interested in various schemes for colonization, and assisted many
emancipated negroes to go to Hayti, and contemplated the establishment
of a colony of colored people in Mexico. He died at Lowell, Illinois,
Eighth month 22, 1839, and was buried in the Friends' burying ground at
Clear Creek.
[52] Please inform Benjamin Lundy that I have procured fifty-two
subscribers, or subscribers for fifty-two books, entitled, "Letters,"
etc.--Extract from letter to his son-in-law, Valentine Hicks, dated
Jericho, Eleventh month 6, 1827.
The state of New York provided for the gradual emancipation of its
slaves in 1799, so that Elias Hicks had to go away from home after that
period to get into real slave territory. As has been seen he began
bearing his testimony in meetings for worship against the institution
in Maryland, where slave holding was the law of the land until the end.
There are statements more or less legendary to the effect that Elias
was the owner of one slave, but of that there is no authentic evidence,
while the probabilities are all against it. If he ever held a slave or
slaves, he undoubtedly manumitted them. An act of such importance would
hardly have escaped record in the Journal, and no reference to it
exists.
The controversies and disownments in the Society of Friends on account
of the slavery question really came after the death of Elias. The
trouble in New York resulting in the disownment of Isaac T. Hopper,
James S. Gibbons and Charles Marriott came on more than a decade after
his death. This entire controversy has been wrongly estimated by
most of the biographers and historians, representing the pronounced
abolitionists of the period. It was not simply a contest between
anti-slavery Friends and pro-slavery Friends. In fact the moving
spirits against Isaac T. Hopper were not advocates or defenders of
slavery as an institution. George F. White, who was probably the head
and front of the movement to disown Isaac T. Hopper, was not in favor
of slavery. After his death his monthly meeting memorialized him, and
among other things stated that he had for years refrained from using
commodities made by slave labor.
The conservative wing of the Society was opposed to Friends becoming
identified with any organization for any purpose outside of the
Society. George F. White attacked temperance organizations, as he did
abolition societies.
It was a common inference, if not a claim, of the Garrisonian
abolitionists, that there were no real anti-slavery men outside of
their organization. In Fifth month, 1840, there was a debate involving
the abolition attitude of the Society of Friends in the town of
Lynn, Massachusetts. In this debate William Lloyd Garrison said of
the Society: "If it were an abolition society, its efforts would be
identified with ours."[53]
[53] The "Liberator," May 1, 1841, p. 3.
In the same debate Oliver Johnson disputed the abolition claims of the
Society of Friends, saying: "They have asserted for themselves the
claim of being an abolition society. But we never could get into their
meeting house."[54] Thus was the test of abolitionism made to hinge
upon housing the Abolition Society.
[54] The "Liberator," May 1, 1841, p. 3.
That the attitude of the conservatives was ill-advised and
reprehensible may be true. It is also true that this body of Friends
were not in favor of any effort to overthrow slavery by popular
agitation. They held that all other Christians should do what Friends
had done, cease to hold slaves, and that would settle the whole
question. However shortsighted this attitude may have been, very few,
if any, of the Friends holding it, believed in holding black men in
bondage. In fact it is pretty safe to assert that at no time after the
Society had freed itself from direct complicity with slavery was there
any considerable number of strictly pro-slavery Friends in this country.
In the disownments in the Society growing out of the slavery
controversy there was never a direct charge of abolitionism brought
against the accused. In Kennett Monthly Meeting in Chester County,
Pa., where in about seven years thirty-four Friends were disowned, the
charge was that the persons had "associated with others in forming,
sustaining and supporting a professedly religious organization[55]
distinct from and not owned by Friends, and have wholly declined
attending our religious meetings."[56]
[55] The "Progressive Friends."
[56] Records of Kennett Monthly Meeting, First month 6, 1857.
Of course, it is true that the Friends who took part in the Progressive
Friends' movement were probably led to do so because the way did not
open for them to be aggressively anti-slavery in the parent meeting.
The colonization scheme, that is a plan to colonize emancipated negroes
either in Africa, or in Hayti, or elsewhere, was prominently urged
during the time of Elias Hicks. Benjamin Lundy had a plan of this
character which he attempted to make practical. Evan Lewis,[57] of New
York, in 1820, was interested in an effort of this sort, and sought the
advice of Elias Hicks in the matter.
[57] Evan Lewis, a New York Friend and business man. He corresponded
with King Henry, of San Domingo. Was a warm friend of Elias Hicks, and
after the "separation" wrote a pamphlet in defense of Elias.
We have not been able to find any reply to this particular letter, and
are thus not warranted in saying whether Elias Hicks sympathized with
such a scheme or not.
The attitude of Elias Hicks on the slavery question is only minutely
referred to in his Journal. His private correspondence gives his
feeling and conduct in the case, in not a few instances. From his
general disposition one would expect to find his objections to slavery
based entirely on moral and religious grounds. Still, evidence abounds
that he had also considered the economic phases of the question, as
note the following:
"I may further add that from forty years of observation that in all
cases where opportunity has opened the way fairly to contrast the
subject, it has afforded indubitable evidence to my mind, that free
labor is cheaper and more profitable than that done by slaves."[58]
[58] From letter written to James Cropper, of England, dated Baltimore,
Eleventh month 2, 1822.
It seems to have been laid upon him to present the claims of the truth
as he saw it, in slave-holding communities. He makes the following
statement touching service of this kind in Virginia:
"I have passed through some proving seasons since I left Baltimore,
in meetings where many negro masters attended, some of whom held
fifty, some an hundred, and some it was thought one hundred and fifty
of these poor people in slavery. Was led to treat on the subject in
divers meetings, in such a manner and so fully to expose the iniquity
and unrighteousness thereof, that some who had stouted[59] it out
hitherto against all conviction, were much humbled and brought to a
state of contrition, and not one individual had power to make any
opposition. But truth reigned triumphantly over all, to the rejoicing
of many hearts."[60]
[59] "Stouted" seems to have been a favorite word with Elias. He
habitually uses it as representing an aggravated resistance to the
truth.
[60] From letter written to his wife from Alexandria, Va., Third month
15, 1798.
Elias Hicks wrote a number of articles on the slavery question, and
some of them were printed and publicly circulated. A letter written
at Manchester, England, Seventh month 5, 1812, by Martha Routh, and
addressed to Elias Hicks, says: "I have not forgot that I am debtor to
thee this way, for two very acceptable and instructive epistles, the
latter with a pamphlet setting forth the deep exercise of thy mind, and
endeavors for the more full relief of our fellow-brethren, the African
race." This letter informs Elias that the author sent his pamphlet to
Thomas Clarkson.
Considerable was written by Elias Hicks on the slave trade, some of it
existing as unpublished manuscript. An article, filling four closely
written pages of foolscap, is among his literary effects. A very long
letter was written to James Cropper, of England, on the same subject.
Both of these documents were written while the slave-trade bill was
pending in the British Parliament. Elias considered the measure
entirely inadequate, holding that the domestic production of slaves was
as inhuman and abhorrent, if not more so, as their importation from
Africa. In the letter to Cropper this strong statement is found: "It
ought ever to be remembered that it is one of the most necessary and
essential duties both towards God and man, for individuals and nations
to exert all the power and influence they are possessed of, in every
righteous and consistent way, to put an entire stop to all oppression,
robbery and murder without partiality, as it respects nations or
individuals."
Many times, in his published sermons, Elias Hicks dealt with the
iniquity of slavery. Without doubt he expressed himself in like manner
in sermons preached before interest in the man and his utterances
caused his sermons to be stenographically reported and published.
"Oh! that our eyes might be opened, to see more deeply into the
mystery of iniquity and godliness; that we might become conversant
in godliness and so reject iniquity. For all this wicked oppression
of the African race is of the mystery of iniquity. The man of sin
and son of perdition does these works, and nothing else does them.
Justice is fallen in the streets, and in the councils of the nation.
How much justice there is; for they have it in their power to do
justice to these poor oppressed creatures, but they are waiting till
all their selfish notions are gratified."[61]
[61] From sermon preached at Newtown, Pa., Twelfth month 18, 1826. The
"Quaker," Vol. 4, p. 183.
Elias Hicks was as strongly opposed to the lines of interest and
economic conduct which indirectly supported slavery as he was to the
institution itself. We quote:
"And for want of a sight of this oppression, how many there are
who, though they seem not willing to put their hands upon a
fellow creature to bind him in chains of bondage, yet they will
do everything to help along by purchasing the labor of those poor
creatures, which is like eating flesh and drinking blood of our poor
fellow-creatures. Is it like coming home to justice? For the thief
and oppressor are just alike; the one is as bad as the other."[62]
[62] From sermon preached at Abington, Pa., Twelfth month 15, 1826. The
"Quaker," Vol. 4, p. 155.
In dealing with slavery and slaveholders, his language often bordered
on what would now be called bitterness. Here is a case in point:
"Can slaveholders, mercenaries and hirelings, who look for their gain
from this quarter, can they promote the religion of Jesus Christ? No,
they are the cause of its reproach, for they are the cause of making
unbelievers."[63]
[63] A series of extemporaneous discourses by Elias Hicks. Joseph and
Edward Parker, p. 24.
His concern touching slavery was largely based on considerations of
justice, and regard for the opportunity which he believed ought to be
the right of all men. In one of his sermons he said:
"Thousands and tens of thousands have been forbidden the enjoyment
of every good thing on earth, even of common school-learning; and
must it still be so? God forbid it. But this would be a trifle, if
they had the privilege of rational beings on the earth; that liberty
which is the greatest of all blessings--the exercise of free agency.
And here we are glutting ourselves with the toils of their labor!...
But this noble testimony, of refusing to partake of the spoils of
oppression, lies with the dearly beloved young people of this day. We
can look for but little from the aged, who have been accustomed to
these things."[64]
[64] From sermon preached in Philadelphia, Twelfth month 1, 1824.
Parker's "Discourses by Elias Hicks," p. 60-61.
In the sermon "just referred to," we find the following:
"We are on a level with all the rest of God's creatures. We are not
better for being white than others for being black; and we have no
more right to oppress the blacks because they are black than they
have to oppress us because we are white. Therefore, every one who
oppresses his colored brother or sister is a tyrant upon the earth;
and every one who strengthens the hand of an oppressor is a tyrant
upon earth. They have turned from God, and have not that powerful
love, which does away all distinction and prejudice of education, and
sets upon equal grounds all those that have equal rights."[65]
[65] The same, p. 79.
Of the "essays" on the slavery question written by Elias Hicks, one has
survived, and is bound in the volume, "Letters of Elias Hicks." The
pamphlet in question, though small, like many "ancient" productions,
had a very large title, viz.: "Observations on the Slavery of the
Africans and Their Descendants, and the Use of the Produce of Their
Labor."[66] It was originally published in 1811, having been approved
by the Meeting for Sufferings of New York Yearly Meeting. Nearly half
of the "essay" is made up of a series of questions and answers. When
printed it made six leaves the size of this page. On the subject of the
product of slave labor, decided ground was taken, the claim being that
all such produce was "prize goods." The reason for this claim was that
the slaves originally were captives, practically the victims of a war
of capture if not conquest. Among other things the essay argues the
rightfulness and justice of any State to pass laws abolishing slavery
within its borders.
[66] "Letters of Elias Hicks," p. 9.
While the arguments presented in this document are of general value, it
is probable that the pamphlet was in the main intended for circulation
among Friends, with a view to stimulating them to such action as would
forward the cause of freedom. This essay by Elias Hicks antedated by
five years the address by Benjamin Lundy, already referred to, and
was probably one of the first publications in the nineteenth century
actually advocating the abolition of slavery.
In studying the slavery question it is necessary to remember that
before the invention of the cotton gin, about 1793, a considerable
but unorganized and ineffective anti-slavery sentiment existed in the
country. But after that invention, which rendered slave labor very
remunerative, sentiment of this sort subsided so that the Friends, who,
like Elias Hicks, advocated abolition during the first quarter of the
nineteenth century, were really pioneers in the attempt which resulted
in the freedom of a race.
At one time church organizations, even in the South, especially the
Baptists, passed resolutions favorable to the abolition of slavery.
Churches North and South in the decade between 1780 and 1790 were well
abreast of Friends in this particular. Touching this matter Horace
Greeley remarked: "But no similar declaration has been made by any
Southern Baptist Convention since field-hands rose to $1,000 each, and
black infants at birth were accounted worth $100."[67]
[67] "The American Conflict," by Horace Greeley, Vol. I, p. 120.
We could make copious extracts from the anti-slavery utterances of
Elias Hicks, but our object is simply to give the scope of his thinking
and purpose in regard to this matter. Few men at certain points were
more altruistic than he, and as an altruist he could not do other
than oppose the great social and economic iniquity of his time. From
his standpoint slavery was utterly and irretrievably bad, and to bear
testimony constant and consistent against it was part of the high
calling of the Christian.
CHAPTER XII.
Various Opinions.
Elias Hicks had very definite ideas on a great many subjects. While
in many respects he was in advance of his time, at other points he
was conservative. At any rate he was not in unity with some of the
prevalent social and economic arrangements. On the question of property
he entertained some startling convictions. Just how much public
expression he gave to these views may not be positively determined.
That he believed that there were grave spiritual dangers involved in
getting and holding great wealth, is abundantly attested in his public
utterances, but we must look to his private correspondence for some of
his advanced views on the property question.
In a letter addressed to "Dear Alsop," dated Jericho, Fifth month 14,
1826, he deals quite definitely with the matter of property. After
claiming that the early Christians wandered from the pure gospel of
Jesus after they ceased to rely on the inward teacher, he makes a
declaration on the subject as follows:
"But did we all as individuals take the spirit of truth, or light
within, as our only rule and guide in all things, we should all then
be willing, and thereby enabled, to do justly, love mercy, and walk
humbly with God. Then we should hold all things in common, and call
nothing our own, but consider all our blessings as only lent to us,
to be used and distributed by us in such manner and way as his holy
spirit, or this inward teacher, may from time to time direct. Hence
we should be made all equal, accountable to none but God alone, for
the right use or the abuse of his blessings. Then all mankind would
be but one community, have but one head, but one father, and the
saying of Jesus would be verified. We should no longer call any man
master, for one only has a right to be our Master, even God, and all
mankind become brethren. This is the kind of community that I have
been labouring for more than forty years to introduce mankind into,
that so we might all have but one head, and one instructor and he
(God) come to rule whose only right it is, and which would always
have been the case, had not man rebelled against his maker, and
disobeyed his salutary instruction and commands."
Touching the "cares and deceitfulness of riches," he had much to say.
He tells us that on a certain day he attended the meeting of ministers
and elders in Westbury, and sat through it "under great depression
and poverty of spirit." There was evidently some confession and not
a little complaining, as there is now, regarding the possession
and exercise of spiritual gifts on the part of Friends. But Elias
affirmed that the "cloud" over the meeting was not "in consequence of
a deficiency of ministers, as it respects their ministerial gifts, nor
from a want of care in elders in watching over them; but from a much
more deep and melancholy cause, viz.: the love and cares of this world
and the deceitfulness of riches; which, springing up and gaining the
ascendency in the mind, choke the good seed like the briars and thorns,
and render it fruitless; and produce such great dearth and barrenness
in our meetings."[68]
[68] Journal of Elias Hicks, p. 233.
Elias Hicks apparently believed that labor had in itself a vital
spiritual quality. In fact he held that the famous injunction in
Genesis "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread" "was not a
penalty, but it was a divine counsel--a counsel of perfect wisdom and
perfect love."[69] It was his opinion that all oppression, slavery and
injustice, had their origin in the disposition of men to shirk the
obligation to labor, thus placing burdens on their fellows, which
they should bear themselves.
[69] Sermon preached at Abington, Pa., Twelfth month 15, 1826. The
"Quaker," p. 155.
Every exhortation touching labor he religiously followed himself. He
records that at the age of sixty he labored hard in his harvest field,
and remarks with evident pride and satisfaction as follows:
"I found I could wield the scythe nearly as in the days of my youth.
It was a day of thankful and delightful contemplation. My heart
was filled with thankfulness and gratitude to the blessed Author
of my existence, in a consideration of his providential care over
me, in preserving me in health, and in the possession of my bodily
powers, the exercise of which were still affording me both profit
and delight; and I was doubly thankful for the continued exercise
of my mental faculties, not only in instructing me how to exert and
rightly employ my bodily powers, in the most useful and advantageous
manner, but also in contemplating the works of nature and Providence,
in the blessings and beauties of the field--a volume containing more
delightful and profitable instruction than all the volumes of mere
learning and science in the world.
"What a vast portion of the joys and comforts of life do the idle and
slothful deprive themselves of, by running into cities and towns,
to avoid labouring in the field; not considering that this is one
of the principal sources that the gracious Creator of the universe
has appointed to his creature, man, from whence he may derive
great temporal happiness and delight. It also opens the largest
and best field of exercise to the contemplative mind, by which it
may be prepared to meet, when this mortal puts on immortality,
those immortal joys that will ever be the lot of the faithful and
industrious."[70]
[70] Journal of Elias Hicks, p. 185.
It will probably be disputed in our time, that those who labor and
attempt to live in cities enjoy lives of greater ease than those who
till the soil.
While Elias recognized the obligation to labor, and believed it was a
blessed privilege, he had learned in the school of experience that an
over-worked body and an over-worried mind tended to spiritual poverty.
We quote:
"The rest of this week was spent in my ordinary vocations. My farming
business was very pressing, and it being difficult to procure
suitable assistance, my mind was overburdened with care, which
seldom fails of producing leanness of spirit in a lesser or greater
degree."[71]
[71] Journal, p. 151.
As offset to this we quote the following:
"What a favor it is for such an active creature as man, possessed of
such powers of body and mind, always to have some employment, and
something for those powers to act upon; for otherwise they would be
useless and dormant, and afford neither profit nor delight."[72]
[72] Journal, p. 184.
The building of railroads in this country had fairly begun when Elias
Hicks passed away in 1830. Projects had been under way for some time,
and certain Friends in Baltimore, then the center of railroad activity,
had become interested in the enterprise. In a letter to Deborah and
James P. Stabler,[73] written in New York, Sixth month 28, 1829, Elias
expresses himself quite freely regarding the matter. He says: "It was a
cause of sorrow rather than joy when last in Baltimore to find my dear
friend P. E. Thomas[74] so fully engaged in that troublesome business
of the railroad,[75] as I consider his calling to be of a more noble
and exalted nature than to enlist in such low and groveling concerns.
For it is a great truth that no man can serve two masters, for he
will either love the one, and hate the other, or hold to the one, and
despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. The railroad in this
case I consider mammon."
[73] Deborah Stabler was the widow of Dr. William Stabler, the latter
being a brother of Edward Stabler, of Alexandria, the well-known
preacher, and close friend of Elias Hicks. Deborah was a recorded
minister. James P. was her son. He was chief engineer of the Baltimore
and Susquehanna Railroad in its early construction, and was the
first general superintendent and chief engineer of the Baltimore and
Ohio, and built part of the line from Baltimore to Frederick. He was
the author of a small pamphlet entitled, "The Certain Evidences of
Practical Religion," published in 1884. He resided at Sandy Spring, Md.
[74] Philip E. Thomas, for many years sat at the head of the Baltimore
meeting. He was the son of Evan Thomas, of Sandy Spring, who was a
recorded minister. Philip E. was an importing hardware merchant, a
most successful business man, and the first president of the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad. In the construction and operation of that line of
railroad, he was associated with the leading business men of Baltimore.
He was for many years an elder of Baltimore meeting.
[75] The railroad thus referred to by Elias Hicks was undoubtedly
the section of the Baltimore and Ohio which ran from Baltimore to
Ellicott's Mills, a distance of 15 miles. It was begun in 1828, and
opened in Fifth month, 1830. Horses were at first used as motive power.
This was the first railroad built in the United States.
The following is an extract from the same letter:
"It afforded me very pleasing sensations to be informed of dear
James' improvement in health, but it excited some different feeling
when informed that he had taken the place of Assistant Superintendent
of the railroad company, a business I conceive that principally
belongs to the men of this world, but not to the children of light,
whose kingdom is not of this world; for when we consider that there
are thousands and tens of thousands who are voluntarily enlisted in
works that relate to the accommodation of flesh and blood which can
never inherit the kingdom of heaven."
The objection to railroads is one of those unaccountable but
interesting contradictions which appear in the lives of some
progressive men. By a sort of irony of fate, Valentine Hicks, the
son-in-law of Elias, a few years after the death of the latter, became
very much interested in the railroad business. The charter of the Long
Island Railroad Company was granted Fourth month 24, 1834. In this
document Valentine Hicks was named one of the commissioners to secure
the capital stock, and appoint the first Board of Directors. While not
the first president of that company, he was elected president Sixth
month 7, 1837, and served in that capacity until Fifth month 21, 1838.
Elias Hicks at points anticipated the present theory of suggestion
touching bodily ailment, if he did not forestall some of the ideas
regarding mental healing, and Christian Science. Writing to his
son-in-law, Valentine Hicks, from Easton, Pa., Eighth month 15, 1819,
he thus expressed himself:
"And indeed, in a strict sense, the mind or immortal spirit of man
cannot be affected with disease or sickness, being endued with
immortal powers; therefore all its apparent weakness lies in mere
imagination, giving the mind a wrong bias and a wrong direction,
but it loses more of its real strength, as to acting and doing.
For instance, if at any time it admits those false surmises and
imaginations, and by them is led to believe that its outward
tabernacle is out of health and drawing towards a dissolution, and
not being ready and willing to part with it, although little or
nothing may be the disorder of the body, yet so powerfully strong is
the mind under the influence of these wrong surmises that there seems
at times to be no power in heaven or earth sufficient to arrest its
progress, or stop its career, until it brings on actual disease, and
death to the body, which, however, had its beginning principally in
mere imagination and surmise. Hence we see the absolute necessity
of thinking less about our mere bodily health, and much more about
the mind, for if the mind is kept in a line of right direction, as
it is that in which all its right health and strength consisteth, we
need not fear any suffering to the body. For, if while the mind is
under right direction, the body is permitted to fall under or into
a state of affliction or disease, and the mind is kept in a state
of due arrangement, it will prove a blessing and be sanctified to
us as such, and in which we shall learn by certain experience that
all things work together for good to those whose minds are preserved
under the regulating influence of the love of God, which love casteth
out all fear."
Elias Hicks was a firm opponent of the public school system, and
especially the law which supported such schools by general taxation.
His views regarding this matter are quite fully stated in a letter
written Fifth month 24, 1820. It was written to Sylvanus Smith, and
answered certain inquiries which had evidently been directed to Elias
by this Friend. His objection to public schools, however, was partly
based on what he considered moral and religious grounds. He said he had
refrained from sending his children to any schools which were not under
the immediate care of the Society of Friends. Observation, he said, led
him to believe that his "children would receive more harm than good by
attending schools taught by persons of no religious principles, and
among children whose parents were of different sects, and many very
loose and unconcerned and vulgar in their lives and conduct." He also
assumed that in the public schools his children would be demoralized
"by the vicious conduct of many of the children, and sometimes even
the teachers, which would be very degrading to their morals, and
wounding to their tender minds." From his standpoint Friends could not
consistently "take any part in those district schools, nor receive any
part of the bounty given by the legislature of the state for their use."
Touching the question of parental authority and individual freedom,
Elias Hicks also had opinions prejudicial to the public schools. In the
letter under review he said:
"Believing the law that has established them to be arbitrary and
inconsistent with the liberty of conscience guaranteed by the
Constitution of the United States, and derogatory to right parental
authority; as no doubt it is the right and duty of every parent to
bring up and educate his children in that way he thinks is right,
independent of the control of any authority under heaven (so long
as he keeps them within the bounds of civil order). As the bringing
up and right education of our children is a religious duty, and
for which we are accountable to none but God only, therefore for
the magistrate to interfere therewith by coercive means is an
infringement upon the divine prerogative."
The observance of Thanksgiving Day, outside of New England, had not
become a common thing in the time of Elias Hicks. Evidently about 1825,
the Governor of New York issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation, which
caused Elias to write an article. It was addressed to _The Christian
Inquirer_,[76] and bore heavily against the whole thanksgiving scheme,
especially when supported by the civil government. In his opinion
wherever the magistrate recommended an observance of Thanksgiving Day,
he was simply playing into the hands of the ecclesiastical power. We
quote:
[76] The _Christian Inquirer_ was a weekly newspaper in New York,
started in 1824. It was of pronounced liberal tendencies. A good deal
of its space was devoted to Friends, especially during the "separation"
period.
"Therefore the Governor's recommendation carries the same coercion
and force in it, to every citizen, as the recommendation of the
Episcopal Bishop would to the members of his own church. In this view
we have the reason why the clergymen in our state call upon the civil
magistrate to recommend one of their superstitious ceremonies. It is
in order to coerce the citizens at large to a compliance with their
dogmas, and little by little inure them to the yoke of ecclesiastical
domination. I therefore conceive there is scarcely a subject that
comes under our notice that lies more justly open to rebuke and
ridicule than the thanksgiving days and fast days that are observed
in our country, for there is nothing to be found in the writings of
the New Testament to warrant such formality and superstition, and I
fully believe in the way they are conducted they are altogether an
abomination in the sight of the Lord, and tend more abundantly to
bring a curse upon our nation than a blessing, as they too often end
with many in festivity and drunkenness."
In closing his communication Elias says that in issuing his
proclamation the Governor was simply "doing a piece of drudgery"
for the clergy. The following, being the last paragraph in the
communication referred to, sounds very much like the statements put
forward by the extreme secularists in our own time:
"And has he not by recommending a religious act united the civil and
ecclesiastical authorities, and broken the line of partition between
them, so wisely established by our enlightened Constitution, which
in the most positive terms forbids any alliance between church and
state, and is the only barrier for the support of our liberty and
independence. For if that is broken down all is lost, and we become
the vassals of priestcraft, and designing men, who are reaching after
power by every subtle contrivance to domineer over the consciences of
their fellow citizens."
It is not at all surprising that Elias Hicks was opposed to Free
Masonry. On this subject he expressed himself vigorously. This
opposition was based upon the secret character of the oath, and
especially a solemn promise not to divulge the "secrets of Masonry,
before he knows what the secrets are."
The anti-masonic movement, being the outcome of the mysterious
disappearance of William Morgan from Batavia, New York, was at its
height during the last years of Elias Hicks. It was claimed that Morgan
was probably murdered because of a book published by him in 1826,
exposing the secrets of Masonry. Some of the rumors connected with
this disappearance account for statements made by Elias Hicks in his
criticism of the organization.
Touching the matter of exclusiveness on the part of Friends, Elias
Hicks was a conservative of the conservatives. To keep aloof from
things not connected with the Society he considered a virtue in itself.
In referring to a meeting he attended in Goshen, Pa., he said:
"Had to caution Friends against mixing with the people in their human
policies, and outward forms of government; showing that, in all ages,
those who were called to be the Lord's people had been ruined, or
suffered great loss, by such associations; and manifesting clearly
by Scripture testimony, and other records, that our strength and
preservation consisted in standing alone, and not to be counted
among the people or nations, who were setting up party, and partial
interest, one against another, which is the ground of war and
bloodshed. These are actuated by the spirit of pride and wrath, which
is always opposed to the true Christian spirit, which breathes 'peace
on earth, and good will to all men.' Those, therefore, who are in the
true Christian spirit cannot use any coercive force or compulsion by
any means whatever; not being overcome with evil, but overcoming evil
with good."[77]
[77] Journal, p. 76-77.
In the article in which he condemned Masonry, Elias Hicks spoke
vigorously in criticism of the camp meetings held by some of the
churches. He called them "night revels," and considered them "a very
great nuisance to civil society." He thought they were promoters of
"licentiousness, immorality and drunkenness," and were more or less
reproachful to the Christian name, "giving much occasion for infidels
to scoff."
While at Elizabeth, in New Jersey, Elias wrote a letter[78] to a young
man named Samuel Cox. It seems that this person contemplated studying
for the ministry; that his grandmother was a Friend, and Elias labored
with the grandson on her account. He said that "human study or human
science" could not qualify a minister. In fact to suppose such a thing
was to cast "the greatest possible indignity on the Divine Being, and
on the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." Of course it was asserted that
ministry came only by the power of the Spirit, and much Scripture was
quoted to prove it. There is little in the writings of Elias Hicks to
show that he considered that equipping the natural powers was helpful
in making the spiritual inspiration effective.
[78] Letter was dated, Fifth month 12, 1813.
It is evident, however, that Elias was not indifferent to his own
intellectual equipment. He was fond of quoting from books the things
which fortified his own position. The following shows how he stored his
mind with facts, from which he drew certain conclusions:
"Indisposition of body prevented my attending meeting. I therefore
spent the day quietly at home, and in reading a portion of Mosheim's
Ecclesiastical History of the Fifth Century, and which is indeed
enough to astonish any sensible, considerate man, to think how the
professors of that day could be hardy enough to call themselves
Christians, while using every artifice that their human wisdom could
invent to raise themselves to power and opulence, and endeavoring to
crush down their opposers by almost every cruelty that power, envy
and malice could inflict, to the entire scandal of the Christian
name; and changing the pure, meek, merciful and undefiled religion
of Jesus into an impure, unmerciful, cruel, bloody and persecuting
religion. For each of those varied sects of professed Christians, in
their turn, as they got the power of the civil magistrate on their
side, would endeavor, by the sword, and severe edicts, followed
by banishment, to reduce and destroy all those who dissented from
them, although their opinions were not a whit more friendly to real,
genuine Christianity than the tenets of their opposers; for all were,
in great measure, if not entirely, adulterated and apostatized from
the true spirit of Christianity, which breathes peace on earth, and
good will to men."[79]
[79] Journal, p. 224.
Elias Hicks believed that there was a sure way of determining conduct,
whether it was from "one's own will," or whether it proceeded from the
divine leading. In regard to this matter, he said:
"But the great error of the generality of professed Christians lies
in not making a right distinction between the works that men do in
their own will, and by the leadings of their own carnal wisdom, and
those works that the true believer does, in the will and wisdom of
God. For although the former, let them consist in what they will,
whether in prayers, or preaching, or any other devotional exercises,
are altogether evil; so on the contrary those of the latter, let
them consist in what they may, whether in ploughing, in reaping,
or in any handicraft labor, or in any other service, temporal or
spiritual, as they will in all be accompanied with the peace and
presence of their heavenly Father, so all they do will be righteous,
and will be imputed to them as such."[80]
[80] Journal, p. 218.
His contention regarding this matter is possibly more clearly stated in
the following paragraph:
"The meeting was large, wherein I had to expose the danger of
self-righteousness, or a trust in natural religion, or mere morality;
showing that it was no more than the religion of Atheists, and was
generally the product of pride and self-will; and, however good
it may appear to the natural unregenerate man, is as offensive in
the divine sight as those more open evils which appear so very
reproachful to the eyes of men. I was favored by the spirit of truth,
in a large, searching testimony, to the convicting and humbling many
hearts, and comfort of the faithful."[81]
[81] Meeting at Uwchlan, Pa., Tenth month 22, 1798. Journal, p. 76.
This is not unlike statements often made in modern revivals, touching
the absolute uselessness of good works, without the operation of divine
grace, in bringing salvation.
A broader view of goodness and its sources seems to have been taken by
Clement, of Alexandria[82] who said: "For God is the cause of all good
things; but of some primarily, as of the Old and New Testament; and of
others by consequence, as philosophy. Perchance, too, philosophy was
given to the Greeks directly and primarily, till the Lord should call
the Greeks. For this was a schoolmaster to bring 'the Hellenic mind,'
as the law, the Hebrews 'to Christ.'"[83]
[82] Titus Flavius Clemens, called sometimes St. Clement, and Clement
of Alexandria in Church history, was born either at Athens or
Alexandria about A. D. 153, and died about A. D. 220. He early embraced
Christianity, and was among the most learned and philosophical of the
Christian fathers.
[83] "Ante-Nicene Fathers," Vol. II, p. 305.
CHAPTER XIII.
Some Points of Doctrine.
Elias Hicks had ideas of the future life, salvation, rewards and
punishments, sometimes original, and in some respects borrowed or
adapted from prevalent opinions. But in all conclusions reached he
seems to have thought his own way out, and was probably unconscious
of having been a borrower at all. He believed unfalteringly in the
immortality of the soul, and held that the soul of man is immortal,
because it had its origin in an immortal God. Every sin committed "is
a transgression against his immutable and unchangeable law, and is an
immortal sin, as it pollutes and brings death on the immortal soul
of man, which nothing in heaven nor in the earth but God alone can
extinguish or forgive, and this he will never do, but upon his own
righteous and merciful conditions, which consist in nothing more nor
less than sincere repentance and amendment of life."[84]
[84] From letter addressed to "A Friend," name not given, written at
Jericho, Second month 22, 1828.
It will be noted that this statement was made near the close of
his career, and has been purposely selected because it undoubtedly
expressed his final judgment in the matter. In all probability the
words used were not meant to be taken literally, such for instance as
those referring to the "death" of the soul. There is little, if any
reason to think that Elias Hicks believed in the annihilation of the
sinner.
Touching sin he further explained his position. Whatever God creates
is "immutably good." "Therefore if there is any such thing as sin and
iniquity in the world, then God has neither willed it nor ordained
it."[85] His position regarding this point caused him to antagonize
and repudiate the doctrine of foreordination. From his standpoint
this involved the creation of evil by the Almighty, a thoroughly
preposterous supposition. Again, he held that if God had, "previous
to man's creation, willed and determined all of his actions, then
certainly every man stands in the same state of acceptance with
him, and a universal salvation must take place: which I conceive
the favorers of foreordination would be as unwilling as myself to
believe."[86]
[85] Journal, p. 161.
[86] From funeral sermon delivered in 1814. Journal, p. 161.
Three years after the declaration quoted above, Elias Hicks wrote
a letter[87] to a person known as "J. N.," who was a believer
in universal salvation. In this letter he revives his idea that
foreordination and universal salvation are twin heresies, both equally
mischievous. This letter is very long, containing nearly 4,000 words.
The bulk of it deals with the theory of predestination, while some of
it relates to the matter of sin and penalty. At one point the letter is
censorious, nearly borders on the dogmatic, and is scarcely kind. We
quote:
[87] Letter dated Baltimore, Tenth month, 1817.
"Hadst thou, in thy researches after knowledge, been concerned to
know the first step of wisdom--the right knowledge of thyself--such
an humbling view of thy own insufficiency and entire ignorance
of the Divine Being, and all his glorious attributes, would, I
trust, have preserved thee from falling into thy present errors.
Errors great indeed, and fatal in their consequences; for if men
were capable of believing with confidence thy opinions, either as
regards the doctrine of unconditional predestination and election,
or the doctrine of universal salvation, both of which certainly and
necessarily resolve in one, who could any longer call any thing he
has his own? for all would fall a prey to the villains and sturdy
rogues of this belief. And, indeed, a belief of these opinions
would most assuredly make thousands more of that description than
there already are; as every temptation to evil, to gratify the
carnal desires, would be yielded to, as that which was ordained to
be; and of course would be considered as something agreeable to
God's good pleasure; and therefore not only our goods and chattels
would become a prey to every ruffian of this belief, but even our
wives and daughters would fall victims to the superior force of the
abandoned and profligate, as believing they could do nothing but
what God had ordained to be. But we are thankful in the sentiment
that no rational, intelligent being can possibly embrace, in full
faith, these inconsistent doctrines; as they are founded on nothing
but supposition; and supposition can never produce real belief, or a
faith that any rational creature can rely upon."[88]
[88] "Letters of Elias Hicks," p. 28.
We make no attempt to clear up the logical connection between the
doctrine of foreordination and the theory of universal salvation, for
it is by no means clear that the two necessarily belong together.
From the reasoning of Elias Hicks it would seem that he considered
salvation a transaction which made a fixed and final condition for the
soul at death, whereas the Universalist theory simply provides for a
future turning of all souls toward God. Surely the supposition that
the holding of the views of "J. N." would bring the moral disorder
and disaster outlined by his critic had not then been borne out by
the facts, and has not since. Neither the believers in foreordination
or universal salvation have been shown worse than other men, or more
socially dangerous.
"Sin," he says, "arises entirely out of the corrupt independent will
of man; and which will is not of God's creating, but springs up and
has its origin in man's disobedience and transgression, by making
a wrong use of his liberty."[89] As the sin is of man's voluntary
commission, the penalty is also to be charged to the sinner, and not to
God. On this point Elias Hicks was clear in his reasoning and in his
conclusions:
[89] "Letters of Elias Hicks," p. 30.
"Hence those who make their election to good, and choose to follow
the teachings of the inward law of the spirit of God, are of course
leavened into the true nature of God, and consequently into the
happiness of God. For nothing but that which is of the nature of God
can enjoy the happiness of God. But he who makes his election, or
choice, to turn away from God's law and spirit, and govern himself
or is governed by his own will and spirit, becomes a corrupt tree
and although the same justice, wisdom, power, mercy and love are
dispensed to this man as to the other, yet by his contrary nature,
which has become fleshly, by following his fleshly inclinations, he
brings forth corrupt fruit."[90]
[90] "Letters of Elias Hicks," p. 33.
Manifestly the idea that the Almighty punishes men for his own glory
had no place in the thinking of the Jericho preacher.
The theory of sin and penalty held by Elias Hicks necessarily led him
to hold opinions regarding rewards and punishments, and the place
and manner of their application, at variance with commonly accepted
notions. In fact, the apparent irregularity of his thinking in this
particular was one of the causes of concern on his behalf on the part
of his captious critics and some of his friends. One of the latter had
evidently written him regarding this matter, and his reply is before
us.[91] From it we quote:
[91] Letter dated Jericho, Third month 14, 1808.
"As to the subject relative to heaven and hell, I suppose what gave
rise to that part of my communication (although I have now forgotten
the particulars) was a concern that at that time as well as many
other times has sorrowfully impressed my mind, in observing the
great ignorance and carnality that was not only prevailing among
mankind at large, but more especially in finding it to be the
case with many professing with us in relation to those things. An
ignorance and carnality that, in my opinion, has been one great
cause of the prevailing Atheism and Deism that now abounds among
the children of men. For what reason or argument could a professed
Christian bring forward to convince an Atheist or Deist that there is
such a place as heaven as described and circumscribed in some certain
limits and place in some distant and unknown region as is the carnal
idea of too many professing Christianity, and even of many, I fear,
of us? Or such a place as hell, or a gulf located in some interior
part of this little terraqueous globe? But when the Christian brings
forward to the Atheist or Deist reasons and arguments founded on
indubitable certainty, things that he knows in his own experience
every day through the powerful evidence of the divine law-giver in
his own heart, he cannot fail of yielding his assent, for he feels as
he goes on in unbelief and hardness of heart he is plunging himself
every day deeper and deeper into that place of torment, and let him
go whithersoever he will, his hell goes with him. He can no more
be rid of it than he can be rid of himself. And although he flies
to the rocks and mountains to fall on him, to deliver him from his
tremendous condition, yet he finds all is in vain, for where God is,
there hell is always to the sinner; according to that true saying of
our dear Lord, 'this is the condemnation of the world that light is
come into the world, but men love darkness rather than the light,
because their deeds are evil.' Now God, or Christ (who are one in
a spiritual sense), is this light that continually condemns the
transgressor. Therefore, where God or Christ is, there is hell always
to the sinner, and God, according to Scripture and the everyday
experience of every rational creature, is everywhere present, for he
fills all things, and by him all things consist. And as the sinner
finds in himself and knows in his own experience that there is a
hell, and one that he cannot possibly escape while he remains a
sinner, so likewise the righteous know, and that by experience, that
there is a heaven, but they know of none above the outward clouds
and outward atmosphere. They have no experience of any such, but
they know a heaven where God dwells, and know a sitting with him at
seasons in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
It will be remembered that Elias based salvation on repentance and
amendment of life, but the bulk of his expression would seem to
indicate that he held to the idea that repentance must come during this
life. In fact, an early remark of his gives clear warrant for this
conclusion.[92] He does not seem to have ever adopted the theory that
continuity of life carried with it continuation of opportunity touching
repentance and restoration of the soul.
[92] See page 23 of this book.
From the twentieth century standpoint views like the foregoing would
scarcely cause a ripple of protest in any well-informed religious
circles. But eighty years ago the case was different. A material place
for excessively material punishment of the soul, on account of moral
sin and spiritual turpitude, was essential to orthodox standing in
practically every branch of the Christian church, with possibly two or
three exceptions. Elias Hicks practically admits that in the Society
of Friends not a few persons held to the gross and materialistic
conceptions which he criticised and repudiated.
The question of personal immortality was more than once submitted to
him for consideration. After certain Friends began to pick flaws with
his ideas and theories, he was charged with being a doubter regarding
nearly all the common Christian affirmations, immortality included.
There was little reason for misunderstanding or misrepresenting him
in this particular, for, however he failed to make himself understood
touching other points of doctrine, he was perfectly clear on this
point. In a letter to Charles Stokes, of Rancocas, N. J., written
Fourth month 3, 1829, he said:
"Can it be possibly necessary for me to add anything further, to
manifest my full and entire belief of the immortality of the soul of
man? Surely, what an ignorant creature must that man be that hath
not come to the clear and full knowledge of that in himself. Does not
every man feel a desire fixed in his very nature after happiness,
that urges him on in a steady pursuit after something to satisfy
this desire, and does he not find that all the riches and honor
and glory of this world, together with every thing that is mortal,
falls infinitely short of satisfying this desire? which proves it to
be immortal; and can any thing, or being, that is not immortal in
itself, receive the impress of an immortal desire upon it? Surely
not. Therefore, this immortal desire of the soul of man never can
be fully satisfied until it comes to be established in a state of
immortality and eternal life, beyond the grave."[93]
[93] "Letters of Elias Hicks," p. 218.
There are not many direct references to immortality in the published
sermons, although inferences in that direction are numerous. In a
sermon at Darby, Pa., Twelfth month 7, 1826, he declared: "We see
then that the great business of our lives is 'to lay up treasure in
heaven.'"[94] In this case and others like it he evidently means
treasure in the spiritual world. In his discourses he frequently
referred to "our immortal souls" in a way to leave no doubt as to his
belief in a continuity of life. His reference to the death of his young
sons leave no room for doubt in the matter.[95]
[94] "The Quaker," Vol. IV, p. 127.
[95] See page 61 of this book.
In speaking of the death of his wife, both in his Journal and in his
private correspondence, his references all point to the future life.
"Her precious spirit," he said, "I trust and believe has landed safely
on the angelic shore." Again, "being preserved together fifty-eight
years in one unbroken bond of endeared affection, which seemed if
possible to increase with time to the last moment of her life; and
which neither time nor distance can lessen or dissolve; but in the
spiritual relation I trust it will endure forever."[96]
[96] Journal, p. 425.
During the last ten years of the life of Elias Hicks he was simply
overburdened answering questions and explaining his position touching
a multitude of views charged against him by his critics and defamers.
Among the matters thus brought to his attention was the miraculous
conception of Jesus, and the various beliefs growing out of that
doctrine. In an undated manuscript found among his papers and letters,
and manifestly not belonging to a date earlier than 1826 or 1827, he
pretty clearly states his theory touching this delicate subject. In
this document he is more definite than he is in some of his published
statements relating to the same matter. He asserts that there is a
difference between "begetting and creating." He scouts as revolting the
conception that the Almighty begat Jesus, as is the case in the animal
function of procreation. On the other hand, he said: "But, as in the
beginning of creation, he spake the word and it was done, so by his
almighty power he spake the word and by it created the seed of man in
the fleshly womb of Mary." In other words, the miraculous conception
was a creation and not the act of begetting.
In his correspondence he repeatedly asserted that he had believed in
the miraculous conception from his youth up. To Thomas Willis, who was
one of his earliest accusers, he said that "although there appeared
to me as much, or more, letter testimony in the account of the four
Evangelists against as for the support of that miracle, yet it had
not altered my belief therein."[97] It has to be admitted that the
miraculous conception held by Elias Hicks was scarcely the doctrine of
the creeds, or that held by evangelical Christians in the early part
of the nineteenth century. His theory may be more rational than the
popular conception and may be equally miraculous, but it was not the
same proposition.
[97] "Letters of Elias Hicks," p. 179.
Whether Elias considered this a distinction without a difference we
know not, but it is very certain that he did not consider the miracle
or the dogma growing out of it a vital matter. He declared that a
"belief therein was not an essential to salvation."[98] His reason
for this opinion was that "whatever is essential to the salvation of
the souls of men is dispensed by a common creator to every rational
creature under heaven."[99] No hint of a miraculous conception, he
held, had been revealed to the souls of men.
[98] "Letters of Elias Hicks," p. 178.
[99] "Letters of Elias Hicks," p. 178.
It is possible that in the minds of the ultra Orthodox, to deny the
saving value of a belief in the miraculous conception, although
admitting it as a fact, or recasting it as a theory, was a more
reprehensible act of heresy than denying the dogma entirely. Manifestly
Elias Hicks was altogether too original in his thinking to secure his
own peace and comfort in the world of nineteenth-century theology.
When we consider the theory of the divinity of Christ, and the theory
of the incarnation, we find Elias Hicks taking the affirmative side,
but even here it is questionable if he was affirming the popular
conception. Touching these matters he put himself definitely on record
in 1827 in a letter written to an unnamed Friend. In this letter he
says:
"As to the divinity of Christ, the son of the virgin--when he had
arrived to a full state of sonship in the spiritual generation, he
was wholly swallowed up into the divinity of his heavenly Father,
and was one with his Father, with only this difference: his Father's
divinity was underived, being self-existent, but the son's divinity
was altogether derived from the Father; for otherwise he could not
be the son of God, as in the moral relation, to be a son of man,
the son must be begotten by one father, and he must be in the same
nature, spirit and likeness of his father, so as to say, I and my
father are one in all those respects. But this was not the case with
Jesus in the spiritual relation, until he had gone through the last
institute of the law dispensation, viz., John's watery baptism, and
had received additional power from on high, by the descending of
the holy ghost upon him, as he came up out of the water. He then
witnessed the fulness of the second birth, being now born into the
nature, spirit and likeness of the heavenly Father, and God gave
witness of it to John, saying, 'This is my beloved son, in whom I
am well pleased.' And this agrees with Paul's testimony, where he
assures us that as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the
sons of God."[100]
[100] "The Quaker," Vol. IV, p. 284.
Just as he repudiated material localized places of reward and
punishment, Elias Hicks disputed the presence in the world of a
personal evil spirit, roaming around seeking whom he might ensnare and
devour. In fact, in his theology there was no tinge of the Persian
dualism. Satan, from his standpoint, had no existence outside man. He
was simply a figure to illustrate the evil propensity in men. In the
estimation of the ultra Orthodox to claim that there was no personal
devil, who tempted our first parents in Eden, was second only in point
of heresy to denying the existence of God himself--the two persons
both being essential parts in the theological system to which they
tenaciously held.
Touching this matter he thus expressed himself: "And as to what is
called a devil or satan, it is something within us, that tempts us to
go counter to the commands of God, and our duty to him and our fellow
creatures; and the Scriptures tell us there are many of them, and that
Jesus cast seven out of one woman."[101]
[101] From letter to Charles Stokes, Fourth month 3, 1829. "Letters of
Elias Hicks," p. 217.
He was charged with being a Deist, and an infidel of the Thomas Paine
stripe, yet from his own standpoint there was no shadow of truth in any
of these charges. His references to Atheism and Deism already cited in
these pages afford evidence on this point. In 1798 he was at Gap in
Pennsylvania, and in referring to his experience there he said:
"Whilst in this neighborhood my mind was brought into a state of
deep exercise and travail, from a sense of the great turning away
of many of us, from the law and the testimony, and the prevailing
of a spirit of great infidelity and deism among the people, and
darkness spreading over the minds of many as a thick veil. It was a
time in which Thomas Paine's Age of Reason (falsely so called) was
much attended to in those parts; and some, who were members in our
Society, as I was informed, were captivated by his dark insinuating
address, and were ready almost to make shipwreck of faith and a good
conscience. Under a sense thereof my spirit was deeply humbled before
the majesty of heaven, and in the anguish of my soul I said, 'spare
thy people, O Lord, and give not thy heritage to reproach,' and
suffer not thy truth to fall in the streets."[102]
[102] Journal, p. 70.
Touching his supposed Unitarianism, there are no direct references to
that theory in his published works. A letter written by Elias Hicks
to William B. Irish,[103] Second month 11, 1821, is about the only
reference to the matter. In this letter he says:
[103] William B. Irish lived in Pittsburg, and was a disciple of Elias
Hicks, as he confessed to his spiritual profit. In a letter written
to Elias from Philadelphia, Eleventh month 21, 1823, he said: "I tell
you, you are the first man that ever put my mind in search of heavenly
food." Whether he ever united with the Society we are not informed,
although Elias expressed the hope that he might see his way clear to do
so.
"In regard to the Unitarian doctrine, I am too much a stranger to
their general tenets to give a decided sentiment, but according to
the definition given of them by Dyche in his dictionary, I think it
is more consistent and rational than the doctrine of the trinity,
which I think fairly makes out three Gods. But as I have lately
spent some time in perusing the ancient history of the church, in
which I find that Trinitarians, Unitarians, Arians, Nestorians and
a number of other sects that sprung up in the night of apostacy, as
each got into power they cruelly persecuted each other, by which
they evidenced that they had all apostatized from the primitive
faith and practice, and the genuine spirit of Christianity, hence
I conceive there is no safety in joining with any of those sects,
as their leaders I believe are generally each looking to their own
quarter for gain. Therefore our safety consists in standing alone
(waiting at Jerusalem) that is in a quiet retired state, similar to
the disciples formerly, until we receive power from on high, or until
by the opening of that divine spirit (or comforter, a manifestation
of which is given to every man and woman to profit withal) we are led
into the knowledge of the truth agreeably to the doctrine of Jesus to
his disciples."
In regard to the death and resurrection of Jesus, Elias Hicks
considered himself logically and scripturally sound, although his
ideas may not have squared with any prevalent theological doctrines.
In reply to the query, "By what means did Jesus suffer?" he answered
unhesitatingly, "By the hands of wicked men." A second query was to the
effect, "Did God send him into the world purposely to suffer death?"
Here is the answer:
"By no means: but to live a righteous and godly life (which was
the design and end of God's creating man in the beginning), and
thereby be a perfect example to such of mankind as should come to
the knowledge of him and of his perfect life. For if it was the
purpose and will of God that he should die by the hands of wicked
men, then the Jews, by crucifying him, would have done God's will,
and of course would all have stood justified in his sight, which
could not be." ... "But the shedding of his blood by the wicked
scribes and Pharisees, and people of Israel, had a particular effect
on the Jewish nation, as by this the topstone and worst of all their
crimes, was filled up the measure of their iniquities, and which put
an end to that dispensation, together with its law and covenant.
That as John's baptism summed up in one, all the previous water
baptisms of that dispensation, and put an end to them, which he
sealed with his blood, so this sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ,
summed up in one all the outward atoning sacrifices of the shadowy
dispensation and put an end to them all, thereby abolishing the law
having previously fulfilled all its righteousness, and, as saith the
apostle, 'He blotted out the handwriting of ordinances, nailing them
to his cross;' having put an end to the law that commanded them,
with all its legal sins, and abolished all its legal penalties, so
that all the Israelites that believed on him after he exclaimed on
the cross 'It is finished,' might abstain from all the rituals of
their law, such as circumcision, water baptisms, outward sacrifices,
Seventh-day Sabbaths, and all their other holy days, etc."[104]
[104] All of the extracts above are from a letter to Dr. Nathan
Shoemaker, of Philadelphia, written Third month 31, 1823. See "Foster's
Report," pp. 422-23.
Continuing, he says: "Now all this life, power and will of man, must
be slain and die on the cross spiritually, as Jesus died on the cross
outwardly, and this is the true atonement, of which that outward
atonement was a clear and full type." For the scriptural proof of
his contention he quotes Romans VI, 3:4. He claimed that the baptism
referred to by Paul was spiritual, and the newness of life to follow
must also be spiritual.
The resurrection was also spiritualized, and given an internal, rather
than an external, significance. Its intent was to awaken in "the
believer a belief in the sufficiency of an invisible power, that was
able to do any thing and every thing that is consistent with justice,
mercy and truth, and that would conduce to the exaltation and good of
his creature man."
"Therefore the resurrection of the dead body of Jesus that could not
possibly of itself create in itself a power to loose the bonds of
death, and which must consequently have been the work of an invisible
power, points to and is a shadow of the resurrection of the soul that
is dead in trespasses and sins, and that hath no capacity to quicken
itself, but depends wholly on the renewed influence and quickening
power of the spirit of God. For a soul dead in trespasses and sins
can no more raise a desire of itself for a renewed quickening of
the divine life in itself than a dead body can raise a desire of
itself for a renewal of natural life; but both equally depend on the
omnipotent presiding power of the spirit of God, as is clearly set
forth by the prophet under the similitude of the resurrection of dry
bones." Ezekiel, 37:1.[105]
[105] "The Quaker," Vol. IV, p. 286. Letter of Elias Hicks to an
unknown friend.
"Hence the resurrection of the outward fleshly body of Jesus and some
few others under the law dispensation, as manifested to the external
senses of man, gives full evidence as a shadow, pointing to the
sufficiency of the divine invisible power of God to raise the soul
from a state of spiritual death into newness of life and into the
enjoyment of the spiritual substance of all the previous shadows of
the law state. And by the arising of this Sun of Righteousness in the
soul all shadows flee away and come to an end, and the soul presses
forward, under its divine influence, into that that is within the
veil, where our forerunner, even Jesus, has entered for us, showing
us the way into the holiest of holies."[106]
[106] "The Quaker," Vol. IV, pp. 286-287. Letter of Elias Hicks to an
unknown friend.
We have endeavored to give such a view of the doctrinal points covered
as will give a fair idea of what Elias Hicks believed. Whether they
were unsound opinions, such as should have disrupted the Society of
Friends, and nearly shipwreck it on a sea of bitterness, we leave for
the reader to decide. It should be stated, however, that the opinions
herein set forth did not, by any means, constitute the subject matter
of all, or possibly a considerable portion of the sermons he preached.
There is room for the inquiry in our time whether a large amount of
doctrinal opinion presented in our meetings for worship, even though it
be of the kind in which the majority apparently believe, would not have
a dividing and scattering effect.
CHAPTER XIV.
Before the Division.
No biography of Elias Hicks could be even approximately adequate which
ignored the division in the Society of Friends in 1827-1828, commonly,
but erroneously, called "the separation." While his part in the trouble
has been greatly exaggerated, inasmuch as he was made the storm-center
of the controversy by his opponents, to consider the causes and
influences which led to the difficulty, especially as they were either
rightly or wrongly made to apply to Elias Hicks, is vital to a study of
his life, and an appreciation of his labors.
We shall not be able to understand the matter at all, unless we can in
a measure take ourselves back to the first quarter of the nineteenth
century, and as far as possible appreciate the thought and life of that
time. We must remember that a system of dogmatic theology, unqualified
and untempered by any of the findings of modern scholarship, was the
central and dominating influence in the religious world. Authority
of some sort was the source of religious belief, and uniformity of
doctrine the basis of religious fellowship.
The aftermath of the French Revolution appeared in a period of
religious negation. Destructive, rather than constructive criticism was
the ruling passion of the unchurched world. The conservative mind was
burdened with apprehension, and the fear of a chaos of faith possessed
the minds of the preachers, the theologians and the communicants of the
so-called Orthodox Christian churches. The Unitarian uprising in New
England had hopelessly divided the historic church of the Puritans,
and the conservative Friends saw in every advance in thought the
breaking up of what they considered the foundations of religion, and
fear possessed them accordingly.
But more important than this is the fact that Friends had largely lost
the historic perspective, touching their own origin. They had forgotten
that their foundations were laid in a revolt against a prevalent
theology, and the evil of external authority in religion. From being
persecuted they had grown popular and prosperous. They therefore
shrank from change in Zion, and from the opposition and ostracism
which always had been the fate of those who broke with approved and
established religious standards. Without doubt they honored the heroism
and respected the sacrifices of the fathers as the "first spreaders
of truth." But they had neither the temper nor the taste to be alike
heroic, in making Quakerism a progressive spirit, rather than a final
refuge of a traditional religion.
An effort was made by the opponents of Elias Hicks to make it appear
that what they were pleased to call his "unsoundness in doctrine,"
came late in life, and somewhat suddenly. But for this claim there is
little if any valid evidence. His preaching probably underwent little
vital change throughout his entire ministry. Turner, the English
historian, says: "But the facts remain that until near the close of his
long life Hicks was in general esteem, that there is no sign anywhere
in his writings of a change of opinions, or new departure in his
teaching."[107]
[107] "The Quakers," Frederick Storrs Turner, p. 293.
There is unpublished correspondence which confirms the opinion of
Turner. This is true touching what might be called his theological as
well as his sociological notions.
In a letter written to Elias Hicks in 1805, by James Mott, Sr.,[108]
reference is made to Elias having denied the absolutely saving
character of the Scriptures. In this connection the letter remarks:
"I conceive it is no matter how highly people value the Scriptures,
provided they can only be convinced that the spirit that gave them
forth is superior to them, and to be their rule and guide instead of
them."
[108] This James Mott was the father of Anne, who married Adam, the
father of James, the husband of Lucretia. James Mott, Sr. died in 1823.
In 1806, in a sermon at Nine Partners, in Dutchess County, New York,
as reported by himself, he declared that men can only by "faithful
attention and adherence to the aforesaid divine principle, the light
within, come to know and believe the certainty of those excellent
Scripture doctrines, of the coming, life, righteous works, sufferings,
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our blessed pattern; and that
_it is by obedience to this inward light only_ that we are prepared for
admittance into the heavenly kingdom."[109]
[109] Journal, p. 122.
It seems, however, that Stephen Grellet,[110] if we may take the
authority of his biographers, Hodgson[111] and Guest,[112] as early
as 1808, was fearful of the orthodoxy of Elias Hicks, and probably
based his fear on extracts like the passage cited above. Whatever may
be imagined to the contrary, it is pretty certain that at no time for
forty years before his death did Elias Hicks preach doctrine that
would have been satisfactory to the orthodox theologians of his time,
although he did not always antagonize the dogmas of the churches.
[110] Stephen Grellet, born in Limoges, France, Eleventh month 2,
1773. A scion of the French nobility. Became interested in the Society
of Friends when about twenty years of age. Came to America in 1795,
and was recorded a minister in Philadelphia, in 1798. Became a New
York business man in 1799. Made extensive religious visits in various
countries in Europe, and in many American states. Was also active in
philanthropic work. He died at Burlington, N. J., in 1855. In his
theology he was entirely evangelical.
[111] "Life of Stephen Grellet," Hodgson, p. 142.
[112] "Stephen Grellet," by William Guest, p. 73.
If Stephen Grellet ever had any personal interview with Elias Hicks
regarding his "unsoundness," the matter was ignored by the latter. In
Eighth month, 1808, some months after it is claimed the discovery was
made by Grellet, the two men, with other Friends, were on a religious
visit in parts of New England. In a letter to his wife, dated Danby,
Vt., Eighth month 26, 1808, Elias says: "Stephen Grellet, Gideon
Seaman, Esther Griffin and Ann Mott we left yesterday morning at a town
called Middlebury, about eighteen miles short of this place, Stephen
feeling a concern to appoint a meeting among the town's people of that
place." Evidently no very great barrier existed between the two men at
that time.
In any event no disposition seemed to exist to inaugurate a theological
controversy in the Society of Friends, or to erect a standard of
fellowship other than spiritual unity, until a decade after the claimed
concern of Stephen Grellet. It appears that in 1818, Phebe Willis, wife
of Thomas Willis, a recorded minister of Jericho Monthly Meeting, had a
written communication with Elias, touching his doctrinal "soundness,"
Phebe being an elder. That the opposition began in Jericho, and that it
was confined to the Willis family and one other in that meeting, seems
to be a fairly well attested fact. In 1829, after the division in the
Society had been accomplished, Elias Hicks wrote a letter to a friend
giving a short history of the beginning of the trouble in Jericho, from
which we make the following extract:
"The beginning of the rupture in our yearly meeting had its rise
in our particular monthly meeting, and I have full evidence before
me of both its rise and progress. The first shadow of complaint
against me as to my doctrines was made by Thomas Willis, a member and
minister of our own preparative meeting. He manifested his first
uneasiness at the close of one of our own meetings nearly in these
words, between him and myself alone. 'That he apprehended that I,
in my public communication, lowered down the character of Jesus and
the Scriptures of truth.' My reply to him was that I had placed them
both upon the very foundation they each had placed themselves, and
that I dare not place them any higher or lower. At the same time the
whole monthly meeting, except he and his wife, as far as I knew, were
in full unity with me, both as to my ministry and otherwise, but as
they were both members of the meeting of ministers and elders they
made the first public disclosure of their uneasiness. Thomas had an
ancient mother, likewise a minister, that lived in the house with
them; they so far overcame her better judgment as to induce her to
take a part with them, although she was a very amiable and useful
member, and one that I had always a great esteem for, and we had been
nearly united together in gospel fellowship, both in public meetings
and those for discipline, for forty years and upward."[113]
[113] Letter to Johnson Legg, dated Jericho, Twelfth month 15, 1829.
The meeting, through a judicious committee, tried to quiet the fears
of Thomas Willis and wife, and bring them in unity with the vastly
major portion of the meeting, but without success. These Friends being
persistent in their opposition, they were suspended from the meeting of
ministers and elders, but were permitted to retain their membership in
the Society.
CHAPTER XV.
First Trouble in Philadelphia.
Transferring the story of the opposition to the ministry of Elias Hicks
to Philadelphia, it would appear that its first public manifestation
occurred in 1819. During this year he made his fifth somewhat extended
religious visit to the meetings within the bounds of Philadelphia
Yearly Meeting. Elias was attending the monthly meeting then held
in the Pine Street meeting-house, and obtained liberty to visit the
women's meeting. While absent on this concern, the men's meeting did
the unprecedented thing of adjourning, the breaking up of the meeting
being accomplished by a few influential members. For a co-ordinate
branch of a meeting for discipline to close while service was being
performed in the allied branch in accord with regular procedure was
considered irregular, if not unwarranted. The real inspiring cause for
this conduct has been stated as follows by a contemporary writer:
"An influential member of this meeting who had abstained from the
produce of slave labor came to the conclusion that this action was
the result of his own will. He therefore became very sensitive and
irritable touching references to the slavery question, and very
bitter against the testimony of Elias Hicks. It is believed that this
was one of the causes which led to the affront of Elias Hicks in the
Pine Street Meeting aforesaid."[114]
[114] "A review of the general and particular causes which have
produced the late disorders and divisions in the Yearly Meeting of
Friends, held in Philadelphia," James Cockburn, 1829, p. 60.
It was claimed in the famous New Jersey chancery case[115] by the
Orthodox Friends, that there was precedent for adjourning a meeting
while a visiting minister in proper order was performing service in a
co-ordinate branch of the Society. Be that as it may, the weight of
evidence warrants the conclusion that the incident at Pine Street was
intended as an affront to Elias Hicks. The conservative elements in
Philadelphia had evidently made up their minds that the time had come
to visit their displeasure upon the Long Island preacher.
[115] Foster's report, many times referred to in these pages, is a
two-volume work, containing the evidence and the exhibits in a case in
the New Jersey Court of Chancery. The examinations began Sixth month
2, 1830, in Camden, N. J., before J. J. Foster, Master and Examiner in
Chancery, and continued from time to time, closing Fourth month 13,
1831. The case was brought to determine who should possess the school
fund, of the Friends' School, at Crosswick, N. J. The decision awarded
the fund to the Orthodox.
The incident referred to above must have occurred in the latter part
of Tenth month. Elias says in his Journal, after mentioning his
arrival in Philadelphia: "We were at two of their monthly meetings and
their quarterly meeting."[116] He makes no mention of the unpleasant
occurrence.
[116] Journal, p. 382.
There seems to have been no further appearance of trouble in the
latitude of Philadelphia until Eighth month, 1822. This time opposition
appeared in what was evidently an irregular gathering of part of the
Meeting for Sufferings. At this meeting Jonathan Evans is reported to
have said: "I understand that Elias Hicks is coming on here on his way
to Baltimore Yearly Meeting. Friends know that he preaches doctrines
contrary to the doctrines of our Society; that he has given uneasiness
to his friends at home, and they can't stop him, and unless we can stop
him here he must go on."[117] This statement was only partially true,
to say the most possible for it. But a small minority of Elias' home
meeting were in any way "uneasy" about him, whatever may have been the
character of his preaching. It stands to reason that had there been a
general and united opposition to the ministry of Elias Hicks in his
monthly meeting or in the New York Yearly Meeting at any time before
the "separation," he could not have performed the service involved
in his religious visits. It will also appear from the foregoing that
the few opponents of Elias Hicks on Long Island had evidently planned
to invoke every possible and conceivable influence, at the center of
Quakerism in Philadelphia, to silence this popular and well-known
preacher. At what point the influence so disposed became of general
effect in the polity of the Society only incidentally belongs to the
purpose of this book.
[117] "Foster's Report," pp. 355-356.
Out of the unofficial body[118] above mentioned, about a dozen in
number, a small and "select" committee was appointed. The object was
apparently to deal with Elias for remarks said to have been made by him
at New York Yearly Meeting in Fifth month of that year, and reported by
Joseph Whitall.
[118] "Foster's Report," 1831, Vol. I. See testimony of Joseph Whitall,
p. 247. Also testimony of Abraham Lower, pp. 355-356.
The minute under which Elias performed the visit referred to above
was granted by his monthly meeting in Seventh month, and he promptly
set out on his visit with David Seaman as his traveling companion. He
spent nearly three months visiting meetings in New Jersey and in Bucks,
Montgomery, Delaware and Chester Counties, Pennsylvania, reaching
Baltimore the 25th of Tenth month, where he attended the Yearly
Meeting. This appearance and service in Philadelphia, he states very
briefly, and with no hint of the developing trouble, as follows:
"We arrived in Philadelphia in the early part of Twelfth month, and I
immediately entered on the arduous concern which I had in prospect
and which I was favored soon comfortably to accomplish. We visited
the families composing Green Street Monthly Meeting, being in number
one hundred and forty, and we also attended that monthly meeting and
the monthly meeting for the Northern District. This closed my visit
here, and set me at liberty to turn my face homeward."[119]
[119] Journal, p. 394.
It will thus be seen that the charge of unsoundness was entered in
Philadelphia Meeting for Sufferings soon after Elias started on his
southern visit, but the matter was held practically in suspense for
four months. In the meantime Elias was waited upon by a few elders,
presumably in accordance with the action of the Meeting for Sufferings
held in Eighth month. This opportunity was had when the visitor passed
through Philadelphia en route to Baltimore. There is reason for
believing that Elias succeeded in measurably satisfying this small
committee. But there was evidently an element in Philadelphia that did
not propose to be satisfied.
In Twelfth month, when Elias arrived in Philadelphia from his southern
trip, and began his visits among the families of Green Street Monthly
Meeting, a meeting of the elders of all the monthly meetings in the
city was hastily called. A deputation from the elders sought an
"opportunity" with Elias, and insisted that it be _private_.[120]
His position was that he was not accountable to them for anything he
had said while traveling with a minute as a minister. Elias finally
consented, out of regard to some particular Friends, to meet the elders
in Green Street meeting-house, provided witnesses other than the
opposing elders could be present. Among those who accompanied Elias
were John Comly, Robert Moore, John Moore and John Hunt. When the
meeting was held, however, the elders who opposed Elias said they could
not proceed, their reason being that the gathering was not "select." In
connection with this controversy letters passed between the opposing
parties. One was signed by ten elders of Philadelphia, and is as
follows:
[120] "Foster's Report," pp. 359-360. "Cockburn's Review," p. 66.
"TO ELIAS HICKS:
"Friends in Philadelphia having for a considerable time past heard of
thy holding and promulgating doctrines different from and repugnant
to those held by our religious society, it was cause of uneasiness
and deep concern to them, as their sincere regard and engagement for
the promotion of the cause of Truth made it very desirable that all
the members of our religious society should move in true harmony
under the leading and direction of our blessed Redeemer. Upon being
informed of thy sentiments expressed by Joseph Whitall--that Jesus
Christ was not the son of God until after the baptism of John and the
descent of the Holy Ghost, and that he was no more than a man; that
the same power that made Christ a Christian must make us Christians;
and that the same power that saved Him must save us--many friends
were affected therewith, and some time afterward, several Friends
being together in the city on subjects relating to our religious
society, they received an account from Ezra Comfort of some of thy
expressions in the public general meeting immediately succeeding the
Southern Quarterly Meeting lately held in the state of Delaware,
which was also confirmed by his companion, Isaiah Bell, that Jesus
Christ was the first man who introduced the gospel dispensation,
the Jews being under the outward or ceremonial law or dispensation,
it was necessary that there should be some outward miracle, as the
healing of the outward infirmities of the flesh and raising the
outward dead bodies in order to introduce the gospel dispensation; He
had no more power given Him than man, for He was no more than man;
He had nothing to do with the healing of the soul, for that belongs
to God only; Elisha had the same power to raise the dead; that man
being obedient to the spirit of God in him could arrive at as great,
or a greater, degree of righteousness than Jesus Christ; that 'Jesus
Christ thought it not robbery to be equal with God; neither do I
think it robbery for man to be equal with God'; then endeavored
to show that by attending to that stone cut out of the mountain
without hands, or the seed in man, it would make man equal with God,
saying: for that stone in man was the entire God. On hearing which it
appeared to Friends a subject of such great importance and of such
deep welfare to the interest of our religious society as to require
an extension of care, in order that if any incorrect statement had
been made it should as soon as possible be rectified, or, if true,
thou might be possessed of the painful concerns of Friends and their
sense and judgment thereon. Two of the elders accordingly waited
on thee on the evening of the day of thy arriving in the city,
and although thou denied the statement, yet thy declining to meet
these two elders in company with those who made it left the minds
of Friends without relief. One of the elders who had called on thee
repeated his visit on the next day but one, and again requested thee
to see the two elders and the Friends who made the above statements
which thou again declined. The elders from the different Monthly
Meetings of the city were then convened and requested a private
opportunity with thee, which thou also refused, yet the next day
consented to meet them at a time and place of thy own fixing; but,
when assembled, a mixed company being collected, the elders could
not in this manner enter into business which they considered of a
nature not to be investigated in any other way than in a select,
private opportunity. They, therefore, considered that meeting a clear
indication of thy continuing to decline to meet the elders as by them
proposed. Under these circumstances, it appearing that thou art not
willing to hear and disprove the charges brought against thee, we
feel it a duty to declare that we cannot have religious unity with
thy conduct nor with the doctrines thou art charged with promulgating.
"Signed, Twelfth month 19, 1822.
"CALEB PIERCE,
"LEONARD SNOWDEN,
"JOSEPH SCATTERGOOD,
"S. P. GRIFFITHS,
"T. STEWARDSON,
"EDWARD RANDOLPH,
"ISRAEL MAULE,
"ELLIS YARNALL,
"RICHARD HUMPHRIES,
"THOMAS WISTAR."
To this epistle Elias Hicks made the following reply, two days having
intervened:
"TO CALEB PIERCE AND OTHER FRIENDS:
"Having been charged by you with unsoundness of principle and
doctrine, founded on reports spread among the people in an unfriendly
manner, and contrary to the order of our Discipline, by Joseph
Whitall, as charged in the letter from you dated the 19th instant,
and as these charges are not literally true, being founded on his
own forced and improper construction of my words, I deny them, and I
do not consider myself amenable to him, nor to any other, for crimes
laid to my charge as being committed in the course of the sittings
of our last Yearly Meeting, as not any of my fellow-members of that
meeting discovered or noticed any such thing--which I presume to
be the case, as not an individual has mentioned any such things to
me, but contrary thereto. Many of our most valued Friends (who had
heard some of those foul reports first promulgated by a citizen
of our city) acknowledged the great satisfaction they had with my
services and exercise in the course of that meeting, and were fully
convinced that all those reports were false; and this view is fully
confirmed by a certificate granted me by the Monthly and Quarterly
Meetings of which I am a member, in which they expressed their full
unity with me--and which meetings were held a considerable time
after our Yearly Meeting, in the course of which Joseph Whitall has
presumed to charge me with unsoundness of doctrine, contrary to the
sense of the Monthly, Quarterly and Yearly Meetings of which I am a
member, and to whom only do I hold myself amenable for all conduct
transacted within their limits. The other charges made against
me by Ezra Comfort, as expressed in your letter, are in general
incorrect, as is proved by the annexed certificate; and, moreover,
as Ezra Comfort has departed from gospel order in not mentioning his
uneasiness to me when present with me, and when I could have appealed
to Friends of that meeting to justify me; therefore, I consider Ezra
Comfort to have acted disorderly and contrary to the discipline, and
these are the reasons which induce me to refuse a compliance with
your requisitions--considering them arbitrary and contrary to the
established order of our Society.
"ELIAS HICKS.
"PHILADELPHIA, Twelfth month 21, 1822."
As already noted the charges in the letter of the ten elders were based
on statements made by Joseph Whitall, supplemented by allegations
by Ezra Comfort, as to what Elias had said in two sermons, neither
of which was delivered within the bounds of Philadelphia Quarterly
Meeting. The matters complained of are mostly subject to variable
interpretation, and scarcely afford a basis for a religious quarrel,
especially considering that the alleged statements were at the best
garbled from quite lengthy discourses.
On the same day that Elias replied to the ten elders, three members
of Southern Quarterly Meeting issued a signed statement regarding the
charges of Ezra Comfort. It is as follows:
"We, the undersigned, being occasionally in the city of Philadelphia,
when a letter was produced and handed us, signed by ten of its
citizens, Elders of the Society of Friends, and directed to Elias
Hicks, after perusing and deliberately considering the charges
therein against him, for holding and propagating doctrines
inconsistent with our religious testimonies, and more especially
those said by Ezra Comfort and Isaiah Bell, to be held forth at a
meeting immediately succeeding the late Southern Quarterly Meeting,
and we being members of the Southern Quarter, and present at the
said meeting, we are free to state, for the satisfaction of the
first-mentioned Friends and all others whom it may concern, that we
apprehend the charges exhibited by the two Friends named are without
substantial foundation; and in order to give a clear view we think
it best and proper here to transcribe the said charges exhibited
and our own understanding of the several, viz., 'That Jesus Christ
was the first man that introduced the Gospel Dispensation, the Jews
being under the outward and ceremonial law or dispensation, it was
necessary there should be some outward miracles, as healing the
outward infirmities of the flesh and raising the outward dead bodies
in order to introduce the gospel dispensation;' this in substance
is correct. 'That he had no more power given him than man,' this
sentence is incorrect; and also, 'That he had nothing to do with
the healing of the soul, for that belongs to God only,' is likewise
incorrect; and the next sentence, 'That Elisha also had the same
power to raise the dead' should be transposed thus to give Elias's
expressions. 'By the same power it was that Elisha raised the dead.'
'That man being obedient to the spirit of God in him could arrive at
as great or greater degree of righteousness than Jesus Christ,' this
is incorrect; 'That Jesus Christ thought it not robbery to be equal
with God,' with annexing the other part of the paragraph mentioned by
the holy apostle would be correct. 'Neither do I think it robbery for
man to be equal with God' is incorrect. 'Then endeavouring to show
that by attending to that stone cut out of the mountain without hands
or the seed in man it would make men equal with God' is incorrect;
the sentence for that stone in man should stand thus: 'That this
stone or seed in man had all the attributes of the divine nature that
was in Christ and God.' This statement and a few necessary remarks
we make without comment, save only that we were then of opinion and
still are that the sentiments and doctrines held forth by our said
friend, Elias Hicks, are agreeable to the opinions and doctrines held
by George Fox and other worthy Friends of his time.
"ROBERT MOORE,
"THOMAS TURNER,
"JOSEPH G. ROWLAND.[121]
"12 mo., 21, 1822."
[121] "Cockburn's Review," p. 73.
First month 4, 1823, the ten elders sent a final communication to Elias
Hicks, which we give in full:
"On the perusal of thy letter of the 21st of last month, it was not a
little affecting to observe the same disposition still prevalent that
avoided a select meeting with the elders, which meeting consistently
with the station we are placed in and with the sense of duty
impressive upon us, we were engaged to propose and urge to thee as a
means wherein the cause of uneasiness might have been investigated,
the Friends who exhibited the complaint fully examined, and the whole
business placed in a clear point of view.
"On a subject of such importance the most explicit candour and
ingenuousness, with a readiness to hear and give complete
satisfaction ought ever to be maintained; this the Gospel teaches,
and the nature of the case imperiously demanded it. As to the
certificate which accompanied thy letter, made several weeks after
the circumstances occurred, it is in several respects not only
vague and ambiguous, but in others (though in different terms) it
corroborates the statement at first made. When we take a view of
the whole subject, the doctrines and sentiments which have been
promulgated by thee, though under some caution while in this city,
and the opinions which thou expressed in an interview between Ezra
Comfort and thee, on the 19th ult., we are fully and sorrowfully
confirmed in the conclusion that thou holds and art disseminating
principles very different from those which are held and maintained by
our religious society.
"As thou hast on thy part closed the door against the brotherly
care and endeavours of the elders here for thy benefit, and for
the clearing our religious profession, this matter appears of
such serious magnitude, so interesting to the peace, harmony, and
well-being of society, that we think it ought to claim the weighty
attention of thy Friends at home."[122]
[122] "Cockburn's Review," p. 76. As the signatures are the same as in
the previous letter, repeating them seems unnecessary.
One other communication closed the epistolary part of the controversy
for the time being. It was a letter issued by twenty-two members of
Southern Quarterly Meeting, concerning the ministerial service of Elias
Hicks, during the meetings referred to in the charge of Ezra Comfort:
"We, the subscribers, being informed that certain reports have
been circulated by Ezra Comfort and Isaiah Bell that Elias Hicks
had propagated unsound doctrine, at our general meeting on the
day succeeding our quarterly meeting in the 11th month last, and
a certificate signed by Robert Moore, Joseph Turner and Joseph G.
Rowland being read contradicting said reports, the subject has
claimed our weighty and deliberate attention, and it is our united
judgment that the doctrines preached by our said Friend on the day
alluded to were the Truths of the Gospel, and that his labours of
love amongst us at our particular meetings as well as at our said
quarterly meeting were united with by all our members for aught that
appears.
"And we believe that the certificate signed by the three Friends
above named is in substance a correct statement of facts.
"ELISHA DAWSON,
"WILLIAM DOLBY,
"WALTER MIFFLIN,
"DANIEL BOWERS,
"WILLIAM LEVICK,
"ELIAS JANELL,
"JACOB PENNINGTON,
"JONATHAN TWIBOND,
"HENRY SWIGGITT,
"MICHAEL OFFLEY,
"JAMES BROWN,
"GEORGE MESSECK,
"WILLIAM W. MOORE,
"JOHN COGWILL,
"SAMUEL PRICE,
"ROBERT KEMP,
"JOHN TURNER,
"HARTFIELD WRIGHT,
"DAVID WILSON,
"MICHAEL LOWBER,
"JACOB LIVENTON,
"JOHN COWGILL, JUNR.
"LITTLE CREEK, 2 mo. 26th, 1823."
"I hereby certify that I was at the Southern Quarterly Meeting in
the 11th month last, but owing to indisposition I did not attend
the general meeting on the day succeeding, and having been present
at several meetings with Elias Hicks, as well as at the Quarterly
Meeting aforesaid, I can testify my entire unity with the doctrines I
have heard him deliver.
"ANTHONY WHITELY."[123]
[123] "Cockburn's Review," p. 78.
All of these communications, both pro and con, are presented simply
for what they are worth. When it comes to determining what is or is
not "unsound doctrine," we are simply dealing with personal opinion,
and not with matters of absolute fact. This is especially true of
a religious body that had never attempted to define or limit its
doctrines in a written creed.
The attempt of the Philadelphia elders to deal in a disciplinary way
with Elias Hicks on the score of the manner or matter of his preaching
was pronounced by his friends a usurpation of authority. It was held
that the elders in question had no jurisdiction in the case, in proof
of which the following paragraph in the Discipline of the Philadelphia
Yearly Meeting was cited:
"And our advice to all our ministers is that they be frequent in
reading the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments; and if any
in the course of their ministry shall misapply or draw unsound
inferences or wrong conclusions from the text, or shall misbehave
themselves in point of conduct or conversation, let them be
admonished in love and tenderness by the elders or overseers where
they live."[124]
[124] Rules of Discipline of the Yearly Meeting of Friends, held in
Philadelphia, 1806, p. 62.
It is undoubtedly true that a certain amount of encouragement came to
the opponents of Elias Hicks in Philadelphia from some Friends on Long
Island, and from three or four residents of Jericho, but they did not
at that time at least officially represent any meeting of Friends at
Jericho, either real or pretended. This far in the controversy the
aggressors were confined to those who at that time were considered the
"weight of the meeting," and who at best represented only the so-called
"select" meeting and not the Society at large. At the beginning at
least the trouble was an affair of the ministers and elders. It later
affected the whole Society, by the efforts of the leaders on both sides.
Incidents are not wanting to show that up to the very end of the
controversy the rank and file of Friends had little vital interest in
the matters involved in the trouble. It is related on good authority
that two prominent members of Nine Partners Quarterly Meeting in
Dutchess County, New York, husband and wife, made a compact before
attending the meeting in Eighth month, 1828, feeling that the issue
would reach its climax at that time. They agreed that whichever side
retained control of the organization and the meeting-house would be
considered by them the meeting, and receive their support. We mention
this as undoubtedly representing the feeling in more than one case. The
fact that it took practically a decade of excitement and manipulation,
to create the antagonisms, personal and otherwise, which resulted in an
open rupture, shows how little disposed the majority of Friends were to
disrupt the Society.
CHAPTER XVI.
The Time of Unsettlement.
Between the trouble related in the last chapter and the culmination
of the disturbance in the Society of Friends, in 1827-1828, there was
an interval of four or five years. This period was by no means one of
quiet. On the other hand it was one of confusion, in the midst of which
the forces were at work, and the plans perfected which led up logically
to the end.
It will be remembered that the last communication of the Philadelphia
elders sent to Elias Hicks was dated First month 4, 1823. They had
manifestly failed to silence the preacher from Jericho, or to greatly
alarm him with their charges of heresy. Just eleven days after the
epistle in question was written, the Meeting for Sufferings of
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting assembled. This meeting issued a singular
document,[125] said by the friends of Elias Hicks to have been intended
as a sort of "Quaker Creed," but this was vigorously denied by those
responsible for its existence. The statement of doctrine, which was as
follows, was duly signed by Jonathan Evans, clerk, "on behalf of the
meeting:"
[125] The title of the production was as follows: Extracts from the
Writings of Primitive Friends, concerning the Divinity of Our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ. Published by the direction of the Meeting for
Sufferings, held in Philadelphia. Solomon W. Conrad, printer.
"At a Meeting for Sufferings held in Philadelphia the 17th of the
First month, 1823, an essay containing a few brief extracts from the
writings of our primitive Friends on several of the doctrines of the
Christian religion, which have been always held, and are most surely
believed by us, being produced and read; on solid consideration they
appeared so likely to be productive of benefit, if a publication
thereof was made and spread among our members generally, that the
committee appointed on the printing and distribution of religious
books are directed to have a sufficient number of them struck off and
distributed accordingly, being as follows:
"We have always believed that the Holy Scriptures were written by
divine inspiration, that they are able to make wise unto salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus, for, as holy men of God
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, they are therefore
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto all good works. But they are not or cannot be
subjected to the fallen, corrupt reason of man. We have always
asserted our willingness that all our doctrines be tried by them,
and admit it as a positive maxim that whatsoever any do (pretending
to the Spirit) which is contrary to the Scriptures be accounted and
judged a delusion of the devil.
"We receive and believe in the testimony of the Scriptures simply as
it stands in the text. 'There are three that bear record in heaven,
the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.'
"We believe in the only wise, omnipotent and everlasting God, the
creator of all things in heaven and earth, and the preserver of all
that he hath made, who is God over all blessed forever.
"The infinite and most wise God, who is the foundation, root and
spring of all operation, hath wrought all things by his eternal Word
and Son. This is that Word that was in the beginning with God and was
God, by whom all things were made, and without whom was not anything
made that was made. Jesus Christ is the beloved and only begotten
Son of God, who, in the fulness of time, through the Holy Ghost, was
conceived and born of the Virgin Mary; in him we have redemption
through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. We believe that he
was made a sacrifice for sin, who knew no sin; that he was crucified
for us in the flesh, was buried and rose again the third day by the
power of his Father for our justification, ascended up into heaven
and now sitteth at the right hand of God.
"As then that infinite and incomprehensible Fountain of life and
motion operateth in the creatures by his own eternal word and power,
so no creature has access again unto him but in and by the Son
according to his own blessed declaration, 'No man knoweth the Father
but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.' Again, 'I am
the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but
by me.' Hence he is the only Mediator between God and man for having
been with God from all eternity, being himself God, and also in time
partaking of the nature of man; through him is the goodness and
love of God conveyed to mankind, and by him again man receiveth and
partaketh of these mercies.
"We acknowledge that of ourselves we are not able to do anything that
is good, neither can we procure remission of sins or justification
by any act of our own, but acknowledge all to be of and from his
love, which is the original and fundamental cause of our acceptance.
'For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life.'
"We firmly believe it was necessary that Christ should come, that by
his death and sufferings he might offer up himself a sacrifice to
God for our sins, who his own self bear our sins in his own body on
the tree; so we believe that the remission of sins which any partake
of is only in and by virtue of that most satisfactory sacrifice and
not otherwise. For it is by the obedience of that one that the free
gift is come upon all to justification. Thus Christ by his death and
sufferings hath reconciled us to God even while we are enemies; that
is, he offers reconciliation to us, and we are thereby put into a
capacity of being reconciled. God is willing to be reconciled unto us
and ready to remit the sins that are past if we repent.
"Jesus Christ is the intercessor and advocate with the Father in
heaven, appearing in the presence of God for us, being touched with
a feeling of our infirmities, sufferings, and sorrows; and also by
his spirit in our hearts he maketh intercession according to the will
of God, crying abba, Father. He tasted death for every man, shed his
blood for all men, and is the propitiation for our sins; and not for
ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. He alone is our
Redeemer and Saviour, the captain of our salvation, the promised
seed, who bruises the serpent's head; the alpha and omega, the first
and the last. He is our wisdom, righteousness, justification and
redemption; neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no
other name under heaven given among men whereby we may be saved.
"As he ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things,
his fulness cannot be comprehended or contained in any finite
creature, but in some measure known and experienced in us, as we are
prepared to receive the same, as of his fulness we have received
grace for grace. He is both the word of faith and a quickening spirit
in us, whereby he is the immediate cause, author, object and strength
of our living faith in his name and power, and of the work of our
salvation from sin and bondage of corruption.
"The Son of God cannot be divided from the least or lowest appearance
of his own divine light or life in us, no more than the sun from
its own light; nor is the sufficiency of his light within set up
or mentioned in opposition to him, or to his fulness considered as
in himself or without us; nor can any measure or degree of light
received from Christ be properly called the fulness of Christ;
or Christ as in fulness, nor exclude him from being our complete
Saviour. And where the least degree or measure of this light and life
of Christ within is sincerely waited in, followed and obeyed there is
a blessed increase of light and grace known and felt; as the path of
the just it shines more and more until the perfect day, and thereby
a growing in grace and in the knowledge of God and of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ hath been and is truly experienced.
"Wherefore we say that whatever Christ then did, both living and
dying, was of great benefit to the salvation of all that have
believed and now do and that hereafter shall believe in him unto
justification and acceptance with God; but the way to come to that
faith is to receive and obey the manifestation of his divine light
and grace in the conscience, which leads men to believe and value
and not to disown or undervalue Christ as the common sacrifice and
mediator. For we do affirm that to follow this holy light in the
conscience and to turn our minds and bring all our deeds and thoughts
to it is the readiest, nay, the only right way, to have true, living
and sanctifying faith in Christ as he appeared in the flesh; and
to discern the Lord's body, coming and sufferings aright, and to
receive any real benefit by him as our only sacrifice and mediator,
according to the beloved disciple's emphatical testimony, 'If we walk
in the light as he (God) is in the light we have fellowship one with
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all
sin.'
"By the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ without us we, truly
repenting and believing, as through the mercy of God, justified from
the imputation of sins and transgressions that are past, as though
they had never been committed; and by the mighty work of Christ
within us the power, nature and habits of sin are destroyed; that
as sin once reigned unto death even so now grace reigneth through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."[126]
[126] "The Friend, or Advocate of Truth," Vol. I, pp. 152-154.
This deliverance is almost as theological and dogmatic as the
Westminster Confession. It scarcely contains a reference to the
fundamental doctrine of George Fox. It is not too much to say that if
it was the belief of the "primitive" Friends, there was little reason,
touching points of doctrine, for the preaching of Fox, or the first
gathering of the Society. All the ground covered by this doctrinal
statement was amply treated in the Articles of Religion of the Church
of England, and the Confession of the Presbyterians.
The above document was issued without quotation marks, or any
indication as to what "primitive" Friends were responsible for the
sentiments contained in its various parts. By careful examination it
will be seen that one sentence, at least, is from Barclay's Apology,
"but it proves to be a garbled quotation." We refer to the following
sentence in the second paragraph in the above article, relating to the
Scriptures: "But they are not or cannot be subjected to the fallen,
corrupt reason of man." Barclay's complete statement is here given:
"Yet, as the proposition itself concludeth, to the last part of
which I now come, it will not from thence follow that these divine
revelations are to be subjected to the examination either of the
outward testimony of Scripture or of the human or natural reason of
man, as to a more noble and certain rule or touchstone; for the
divine revelation and inward illumination is that which is evident
by itself, forcing the well-disposed understanding and irresistibly
moving it to assent by its own evidence and clearness, even as the
common principles of natural truths to bend the mind to a natural
assent."[127]
[127] "Barclay's Apology." Edition of Friends' Book Store, 304 Arch
Street, Philadelphia, 1877, p. 68.
It will be seen clearly that the reference in the document issued by
the Meeting for Sufferings was not only a misquotation from Barclay,
but also misrepresented his meaning. The latter is particularly true if
we refer to the top of the same page that contains the above extract,
where he says: "So would I not have any reject or doubt the certainty
of that unerring Spirit which God hath given his children as that
which can alone guide them into all truth, because some have falsely
pretended to it."[128] It will thus appear clear that Elias Hicks, and
not the Meeting for Sufferings, was supported by Barclay.
[128] "Barclay's Apology." Edition of 1877, p. 68.
The reference in the third paragraph in the foregoing "declaration" to
the "three that bear record in heaven" is a quotation from 1 John 5:7.
It is entirely omitted from the Revised Version, and thorough scholars
in the early years of the nineteenth century were convinced that the
passage was an interpolation.
The statement of belief prepared by the Meeting for Sufferings was not
approved by the Yearly Meeting, so nothing was really accomplished by
the compilation, if such it was.
Considering the order of the events recorded, it is hard not to
conceive that the attempt to promulgate a "declaration of faith" by the
Yearly Meeting was really intended for personal application to Elias
Hicks. Had the plan succeeded, the elders could easily have attempted
to silence the Jericho preacher in Philadelphia, on the ground
that he was "unsound" touching the doctrine promulgated by the Yearly
Meeting.
The task of detailing all of the doings of this period would be too
difficult and distasteful to be fully recorded in this book. That the
unfriendly conduct was by no means all on one side is painfully true.
Still, as the determination of the Philadelphia elders to deal with
Elias Hicks, and stop his ministry if possible, was continued, the
effort cannot be ignored.
In First month, 1825, the elders presented a charge of unsoundness
against Elias Hicks in the Preparative Meeting of Ministers and Elders,
the intent being to have the charge forwarded to the monthly meeting,
but this action was not taken. With phenomenal persistence one of the
elders introduced the subject in the monthly meeting, and secured the
appointment of a committee to investigate the merits of the case. This
committee made a report unfavorable to Elias Hicks, which report, his
friends claimed was improperly entered on the minutes. A vigorous,
but by no means a united effort was made to get this report forwarded
to Jericho Monthly Meeting, but this failed. One of the incidents of
this attempt against Elias Hicks was the disownment of a member of the
Northern District Monthly Meeting, for remarks made in Western District
Monthly Meeting. The report of the committee against Elias was under
consideration, when the visitor arose and said: "If it be understood
by the report--if it set forth and declare, that Elias Hicks, the
last time he was in this house, preached doctrines contrary to the
Holy Scriptures, or contrary to our first or primitive Friends, being
present at that time, I stand here as a witness that it is utterly
false."[129] Although this Friend was disowned by his monthly meeting
he was reinstated by the Quarterly Meeting. It should be said that the
report of unsoundness referred to, contained this specific charge: "We
apprehend that Elias Hicks expressed sentiments inconsistent with the
Holy Scriptures, and the religious principles our Society has held from
its first rise."
[129] "Cockburn's Review," p. 95.
The trouble in Philadelphia was renewed in an aggravated form in First
month, 1827, when Elias Hicks appeared in the city on another religious
visit. Of course the atmosphere had been charged with all sorts of
attacks regarding the venerable preacher. Under such conditions no
special advertising was necessary to get a crowd. The populace was
curious, not a few wanted to hear and see, for themselves, this man
about whom so many charges had been made. As a matter of course the
meeting-houses were crowded beyond their capacity. It was alleged by
Orthodox Friends that the meetings were disorderly, which may have
been literally true. But the tumult was increased by injecting an
element of controversy, into the First-day afternoon meeting in Western
meeting-house, on the part of an Orthodox elder. All the evidence goes
to show that Elias attempted to quiet the tumult. He seems to have
been willing to accord liberty of expression to his opponents. The
matter was taken into Western Monthly Meeting, a committee entering the
following charge: "That a large and disorderly concourse of people were
brought together, at an unseasonable hour, and under circumstances that
strongly indicated a design to preoccupy the house to the exclusion
of most of the members of our meeting, and to suppress in a riotous
manner any attempt that might be made to maintain the doctrine and
principles of our religious society, in opposition to the views of
Elias Hicks."[130]
[130] "Cockburn's Review," p. 100.
The literal truthfulness of this charge in every particular may be at
least mildly questioned. It must be remembered that of the Friends in
Philadelphia at that time, the Orthodox were a minority of about one
to three. The majority of Friends felt that much of the trouble was
personal, and they undoubtedly flocked to hear the traduced preacher.
The outside crowd that came could not rightfully or wisely have been
kept from attending public meetings. Both parties had been sowing
to the wind, and neither could validly object to the whirlwind that
inevitably came. Still Western Monthly Meeting proposed to deal with a
visiting minister from another yearly meeting, on points of doctrine,
and there can be little doubt that arbitrary proceedings of this sort
had quite as much, if not more, to do with kindling the fires of
"separation," as the preaching of Elias Hicks.
Rapidly the trouble ran back to the opposition raised by the elders
in 1822. Eventually Green Street Monthly Meeting became the center of
Society difficulty. It will be remembered that in the year last written
that monthly meeting had enjoyed a family visitation from Elias Hicks,
and had subsequently given him a minute of approval. After this one of
the elders, who acquiesced in this action, joined the other nine in
written disapproval of Elias Hicks. The major portion of the monthly
meeting proposed to take the inconsistent conduct of this elder under
care, and the matter was handed over to the overseers. In thus hastily
invoking the discipline, Green Street Monthly Meeting made an apparent
error of judgment, even admitting that the spirit of the transaction
was not censurable. This brought the Quarterly Meeting of Ministers
and Elders precipitously into the case. Finally Green Street Monthly
Meeting released the Friend in question from his station as elder. A
question arose on which there was a sharp discussion as to whether
elders were independent of the overseers in the exercise of their
official duties. A long line of conduct followed, finally resulting
in the Quarterly Meeting of Ministers and Elders sending a report to
the general quarterly meeting, amounting to a remonstrance against
Green Street Monthly Meeting. This appeared to be a violation of
Discipline, which said: "None of the said meetings of ministers and
elders are in anywise to interfere with the business of any meeting for
discipline."[131] These matters, with the remonstrance of the released
Green Street elder, would therefore seem to have been irregularly
brought before the quarterly meeting. It was claimed by the friends of
Elias Hicks that he had broken no rule of discipline; that the charge,
that he held "sentiments inconsistent with the Scriptures, and the
principles of Friends," was vague as to its matter, and purely personal
as to the manner of its circulation. Up to this point it should be
remembered, the controversy was almost entirely centered on Elias Hicks.
[131] Rules of Discipline of the Yearly Meeting of Friends, held in
Philadelphia, 1806, p. 67.
This matter dragged along, a source of constant disturbance, appearing
in perhaps a new form in the Quarterly Meeting of Ministers and Elders
in Eighth month, 1826. The immediate action involved appointing a
committee to assist the Preparative Meeting of Ministers and Elders
of Green Street Monthly Meeting, the assumed necessity in the case
being the reported unsoundness of a Green Street minister, a charge to
this effect having been preferred by one member only. The situation,
however, caused an abatement in answering the query relating to love
and unity. While these transactions were going on among the ministers
and elders, Green Street Monthly Meeting took action which removed
two of its elders from that station in the Society. The two deposed
elders took their grievances to the general quarterly meeting. While
the quarterly meeting would not listen to a statement of grievances,
yet a committee to go over the whole case was appointed. The committee
thus appointed, without waiting any action by the quarterly meeting,
transformed the removal of the aggrieved elders into an appeal, and
then demanded that Green Street Monthly Meeting turn over to that
committee all the minutes relating to the case of the two elders.
This the Green Street Meeting refused to do. Although the case had
never been before the quarterly meeting, the committee of inquiry
reported to the full meeting, that all of the action of Green Street
Monthly Meeting relating to the two elders should be annulled. It was
claimed that, by virtue of the leadership which the Orthodox had in
the quarterly meeting, a precedent had been established which gave
committees the right to exceed the power conferred upon them by the
meeting which appointed them. The committee had not been appointed to
decide a case, but to investigate a complaint.
Following this experience, after much wrangling, and in the midst of
manifest disunity, and against what it was claimed was the manifest
opposition of the major portion of the meeting, the quarterly meeting
in Eleventh month, 1826, appointed a committee to visit the monthly
meetings. This committee was manifestly one-sided, but could have
no possible disciplinary service from extending brotherly care.
Nevertheless at the quarterly meeting in Fifth month, 1827, this
committee, for presumed gospel labor, reported that the large Green
Street Monthly Meeting should be laid down, and its members attached
to the Northern District Monthly Meeting. It is not necessary to enter
into any argument as to the right of a quarterly meeting, under our
system, to lay down an active monthly meeting, without that meeting's
consent. The laying down of Green Street Monthly Meeting followed, the
"separation" in the yearly meeting. It should be said that in Second
month, 1827, Green Street Monthly Meeting, attempted to secure consent
from the quarterly meeting to transfer itself to Abington Quarterly
Meeting, and subsequently this was done.
The claim was made, and with some show of reason, that the various
lines of conduct taken against Green Street Monthly Meeting, were
incited by a desire to punish this meeting for its friendly interest in
Elias Hicks.
We are rapidly approaching the point where the Society troubles in
Philadelphia ceased to directly relate to Elias Hicks. It will be
remembered that there was trouble touching the preaching of Elias
coming by way of Southern Quarterly Meeting in 1822. The facts indicate
that a majority of that meeting was quite content to let matters rest.
It seems, however, that two members of the Meeting for Sufferings
from that quarter had misrepresented their constituency in the Hicks
controversy. Therefore in 1826 that quarterly meeting discontinued the
service of the two members of the Meeting for Sufferings, supplying
their places with new appointments. This action was objected to by the
full meeting, the majority holding that members could not have their
service discontinued by the constituent bodies which appointed them.
An attempt was made to convince Southern Quarterly Meeting that it
was improper and illegal to appoint new representatives, if the old
ones were willing to serve. It was also claimed that it was "never
intended to release the representatives from a quarterly meeting to the
Meeting for Sufferings, except at their own request."[132] Surely the
Discipline then operative gave no warrant for such an inference.[133]
Assuming that the above contention was valid, the Meeting for
Sufferings would simply have become a small hierarchy in the Society,
never to be dissolved, except at its own request.
[132] "Cockburn's Review," p. 170.
[133] Rules of Discipline of the Yearly Meeting of Friends, held in
Philadelphia, 1806, p. 54-55.
It would seem, however, that the rules governing the Meeting for
Sufferings were especially made to guard against just such an exercise
of power as has been mentioned. The Discipline under the heading,
"Meeting for Sufferings," contained this provision: "The said meeting
is not to meddle with any matter of faith or discipline, which has not
been determined by the yearly meeting."[134] This will make it plain
why there was such an anxiety that the statement of doctrine issued
in 1823,[135] should be endorsed by the yearly meeting, and when that
failed, how utterly the statement was without authority or binding
force on the Society in general or its members in particular.
[134] The same, p. 55.
[135] See page 139 of this book.
CHAPTER XVII.
Three Sermons Reviewed.
We have reached the point where it would seem in order to consider the
matter contained in some of the sermons preached by Elias Hicks, in
order to determine, if we can, what there was about the matter or the
manner of his ministry, which contributed to the controversy, personal
and theological, which for several years disturbed the Society of
Friends.
The trouble was initiated, and for some time agitated, by comparatively
few people. Two or three Friends began talking about what Elias said,
from memory. Later they took long-hand notes of his sermons, in either
case using isolated and disconnected sentences and expressions. Taken
from their association with the balance of the sermon, and passed from
mouth to mouth by critics, they assumed an exaggerated importance, and
stood out boldly as centers of controversy.
All of the evidence goes to show that little attempt was made to give
printed publicity to these discourses, until the preacher had been made
famous by the warmth and extent of the controversy over the character
of his preaching.
A volume of twelve sermons preached by Elias Hicks at various points in
Pennsylvania in 1824 was published the following year in Philadelphia
by Joseph and Edward Parker. These discourses were taken in short-hand
by Marcus T. C. Gould. Two years later, in 1827, Gould began the
publication of "The Quaker," which contained sermons by Elias, and a
few other ministers in the Society. In his advertisement of the first
volume of this publication, after stating the fact of the controversy
which was rapidly dividing the Society of Friends in two contending
parties, Gould says:
"At this important crisis, the reporter and proprietor of the
following work was employed by the joint consent of both parties, to
record in meeting the speeches of the individual whose doctrines were
by some pronounced sound, and by others unsound. Since that period he
has continued to record the language of the same speaker, and others
who stand high as ministers in the Society, and the members have
continued to read his reports, as the only way of arriving at the
truth, in relation to discourses which were variously represented."
It is not our purpose in this chapter to give sermons or parts of
sermons in detail. On the other hand, to simply review a few of these
discourses as samples, because at the time of their delivery they
called out opposition from Orthodox Friends. It may be fairly inferred
that they contained in whole or in part the points of doctrinal
offending in the estimation of the critics of Elias Hicks.
The first of the series of sermons especially under review, was
delivered in the Pine Street meeting house, Philadelphia, Twelfth month
10, 1826. At the conclusion of this sermon Jonathan Evans arose, and
spoke substantially as follows:
"I believe it to be right for me to say, that our Society has always
believed in the atonement, mediation, and intercession of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ--that by him all things were created, in
heaven and in earth, both visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones, principalities, or powers.
"We believe that all things were created by him, and for him; and
that he was before all things, and that by him all things consist.
And any doctrine which goes to invalidate these fundamental doctrines
of the Christian religion we cannot admit, nor do we hold ourselves
accountable for.
"Great efforts are making to make the people believe that Jesus
Christ was no more than a man, but we do not believe any such thing,
nor can we receive any such doctrine, or any thing which goes to
inculcate such an idea.
"We believe him to be King of kings, and Lord of lords, before whose
judgment seat every soul shall be arraigned and judged by him. We
do not conceive him to be a mere man; and we therefore desire, that
people may not suppose that we hold any such doctrines, or that we
have any unity with them."
Isaac Lloyd said: "I unite with Jonathan Evans--we never have
believed that our blessed Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, came to the
Jews only; for he was given for God's salvation, to the ends of the
earth."[136]
[136] "The Quaker," Vol. I, p. 72.
To these doctrinal statements Elias Hicks added: "I have spoken; and I
leave it for the people to judge--I do not assume the judgment seat."
It may be informing in this connection to examine this sermon
somewhat in detail, to see if we can find the definite doctrine which
aroused the public opposition. The text was, "Let love be without
dissimulation." Having declared that there could be no agreement
between hatred and love; and that love could not promote discord, he
indulged in what may be called a spiritual figure of speech, declaring
that a Christian must be in the same life, and live with the same blood
that Christ did, making the following explanation: "As the support of
the animal life is the blood; so it is with the soul: the breath of
life which God breathed into it is the blood of the soul; the life of
the soul; and in this sense we are to understand it, and in no other
sense."
He referred to the reprover of our sins, said that it is God who
reproves us. "Now, here is the great business of our lives," he
remarked, "not only to know this reprover, but to know that it is a
gift from God, a manifestation of His own pure life, that was in his
son Jesus Christ." Continuing he said:
"As the apostle testifies: 'In him was life, and the life was the
light of men; and that was the true light, which lighteth every man
that cometh into the world.' Now can we hesitate a single moment, in
regard to the truth of this declaration? No sensible, reflecting mind
can possibly do it."[137]
[137] "The Quaker," Vol. I, p. 51.
Touching the outward and written as compared with the inner law of
life, he affirmed:
"Here is a law more comprehensive than the law of Moses, and it is
clear to every individual of us, as the law was to the Israelites.
For I dare not suppose that the Almighty would by any means make
it a doubtful or mysterious one. It would not become God at all to
suppose this the case--it would be casting a deep reflection upon
his goodness and wisdom. Therefore I conceive that the law written
in the heart, if we attend to it and do not turn from it to build up
traditions, or depend on anything that arises from self, or that is
in our own power, but come to be regulated by this law, we shall see
that it is the easiest thing to be understood that can be, and that
all our benefits depend on our complying with this law.
"Here now we see what tradition is. It is a departure from this law;
and it has the same effect now that tradition had upon the followers
of the outward law; as a belief in tradition was produced they were
bound by it, and trusted in it. And so people, nowadays, seem to be
compelled to believe in tradition, and thus they turn away from the
gospel dispensation, or otherwise the light and life of God's Spirit
in the soul, which is the law of the new covenant; for the law is
light and the commandment a lamp to show us the way to life."[138]
[138] "The Quaker," Vol. I, p. 51.
Using the term, "washed clean in the blood of the lamb," he proceeded
to explain himself as follows:
"And what is the blood of the lamb? It was his life, my friends; for
as outward, material blood was made use of to express the animal
life, inspired men used it as a simile. Outward blood is the life of
the animal, but it has nothing to do with the soul; for the soul has
no animal blood, no material blood. The life of God in the soul is
the blood of the soul, and the life of God is the blood of God; and
so it was the life and blood of Jesus Christ his son. For he was born
of the spirit of his heavenly Father, _and swallowed up fully and
completely in his divine nature, so that he was completely divine_.
It was this that operated, in that twofold state, and governed the
whole animal man which was the son of Abraham and David--a tabernacle
for his blessed soul. Here now we see that flesh and blood are not
capable of being in reality divine; for are they not altogether
under the direction and guidance of the soul? Thus the animal body
of Jesus did nothing but what the divine power in the soul told it
to do. Here he was swallowed up in the divinity of his Father while
here on earth, and it was this that was the active thing, the active
principle, that governed the animate earth. For it corresponds, and
cannot do otherwise, with Almighty goodness, that the soul should
have power to command the animal body to do good or evil; because
he has placed us in this probationary state, and in his wisdom has
set evil and good before us--light and darkness. He has made us free
agents, and given us opportunity to make our own election.
"Here now we shall see what is meant by election, the election of
God. We see that those who choose the Lord for their portion and
the God of Jacob for the lot of their inheritance, these are the
elect. And nothing ever did or can elect a soul to God, but in this
choice."[139]
[139] "The Quaker," Vol. I, p. 62.
It is not easy to see how any one can impartially consider the
foregoing, especially the words printed in _italics_, and continue to
claim that Elias Hicks denied the divinity of Christ. Near the end of
this sermon we find the following paragraph:
"I say, dearly beloved, my soul craves it for us, that we may sink
down and examine ourselves; according to the declaration of the
apostle: 'Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith; prove your
own selves; know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in
you except ye be reprobates?' Now we cannot suppose that the apostle
meant that outward man that walked about the streets of Jerusalem;
because he is not in any of us. But what is this Jesus Christ? He
came to be a Saviour to that nation, and was limited to that nation.
He came to gather up, and look up the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. But as he was a Saviour in the outward sense, so he was an
outward shadow of good things to come; and so the work of the man,
Jesus Christ, was a figure. He healed the sick of their outward
calamities--he cleansed the leprosy--all of which was external and
affected only their bodies--as sickness does not affect the souls of
the children of men, though they may labour under all these things.
But as he was considered a Saviour, he meant by what he said, a
Saviour is within you, the anointing of the spirit of God is within
you; for this made the ways of Jesus so wonderful in his day that
the Psalmist in his prophecy concerning him exclaims: 'Thou hast
loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.' He
had loved righteousness, you perceive, and therefore was prepared
to receive the fullness of the spirit, the fullness of that divine
anointing; for there was no germ of evil in him or about him; both
his soul and body were pure. He was anointed above all his fellows,
to be the head of the church, the top stone, the chief corner stone,
elect and precious. And what was it that was a Saviour? Not that
which was outward; it was not flesh and blood; for 'flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven'; it must go to the earth from
whence it was taken. It was that life, that same life that I have
already mentioned, that was in him, and which is the light and life
of men, and which lighteth every man, and consequently every woman,
that cometh into the world. And we have this light and life in us;
which is what the apostle meant by Jesus Christ; and if we have not
this ruling in us we are dead, because we are not under the law
of the spirit of life. For the 'law is light and the reproofs of
instruction the way to life.'"[140]
[140] "The Quaker," Vol. I, p. 68.
Unless the so-called heterodox doctrine can be found in the foregoing
extracts, it does not exist in the sermon under discussion.
Two other sermons were evidently both considered offensive and
objectionable by the orthodox. One was preached at the Twelfth Street
meeting, Twelfth month 10, 1826, and the other the 12th of the same
month at Key's Alley, both in Philadelphia. At the Twelfth Street
meeting, amid much confusion, Thomas Wistar attempted to controvert
what Elias Hicks had said in certain particulars. While this Friend was
talking, Elias tried to persuade the audience to be quiet.
At Key's Alley, when Elias had finished, Philadelphia Pemberton, in
the midst of a disturbance that nearly drowned his voice, gave an
exhortation in support of the outward and vicarious atonement. When
Friend Pemberton ceased, Elias Hicks expressed his ideas regarding
gospel order and variety in the ministry, for which Friends had always
stood, in which he said:
"My dear friends, God is a God of order--and it will do me great
pleasure to see this meeting sit quiet till it closes. We have, and
claim gospel privileges, and that every one may be persuaded in his
own mind; and as we have gifts differing, so ought every one to have
an opportunity to speak, one by one, but not two at once, that all
may be comforted. If any thing be revealed (and we are not to speak
except this is the case), if any thing be revealed to one, let others
hold their peace--this is according to order. And I desire it, once
for all, my dear friends, if you love me, that you will keep strictly
to this order: it will be a great comfort to my spirit."[141]
[141] "The Quaker," Vol. I, p. 125.
Speaking of the fear of God, he said that he did not mean "a fear that
arises from the dread of torment, or of chastisement, or anything of
this kind; for that may be no more than the fear of devils, for they,
we read, believe and tremble." His theory was that fear must be based
on knowledge, and the fear to displease God is not because of what he
may do to us, but what, for want of this knowledge, we lose.
Again, he practically repeated what was evidently considered a truism:
"My friends, we are not to look for a law in our neighbor's heart, nor
in our neighbor's book; but we are to look for that law which is to be
our rule and guide, in our consciences, in our souls; for the law is
whole and perfect." Continuing he remarked:
"Now, how concordant this is with the testimony of Jesus, when he
queried with his disciples in this wise: 'Whom do men say that I the
son of man am?' They enumerated several characters, according to the
views of the people in that day. But until we come to this inward,
divine law, we shall know nothing rightly of that manifestation;
for none of us have seen him, nor any of his works which he acted
outwardly. But here we find some are guessing, one way, and some
another way, till they become cruel respecting different opinions
about him, insomuch that they will kill and destroy each other for
their opinions. This is the effect of men's turning away from the
true light, the witness for God in their own souls; it throws them
into anarchy and confusion."[142]
[142] "The Quaker," Vol. I, p. 94.
In the opinion of Elias Hicks, it was not the man Peter that was to
constitute the rock upon which the church was to be built, but rather
the inner revelation, which enabled the disciple to know that the
Master was the Christ. "When a true Christian comes to this rock, he
comes to know it, as before pointed out; and here every one must see,
when they build on this divine rock, this revealed will of our Heavenly
Father, there is no fear."
Touching the vital matters of salvation, we make the following extracts
from this sermon:
"Nothing but that which is begotten in every soul can manifest God
to the soul. You must know this for yourselves, as nothing which
you read in the Scriptures can give you a sense of his saving and
almighty power. Now, the only begotten is what the power of God
begets in the soul, by the soul uniting with the visitations of
divine love. It becomes like a union--the soul submits and yields
itself up to God and the revelation of his power, and thus it becomes
wedded to him as its heavenly husband. Here, now, is a birth of the
Son of God; and this must be begotten in every soul, as God can be
manifested by nothing else.
"Now, what was this Holy Ghost and spirit of truth, and where are we
to find it? He did not leave his disciples in the dark--'He dwelleth
with you, and shall be in you.' Mind it, my friends. What a blessed
sovereign God this is to be to the children of men--a God who has
placed a portion of himself in every rational soul--a measure of his
grace sufficient for every purpose, for the redemption of the souls
of men from sin and transgression, and to lead them to the kingdom
of heaven. And there is no other way. Then do not put it off any
longer; do not procrastinate any longer; do not say to-morrow, but
immediately turn inward, for the day calls aloud for it--everything
around us calls for us to turn inward, to that which will help us to
do the great work of our salvation."[143]
[143] "The Quaker," Vol. I, p. 97-98.
There seems to have been little, if any, public demonstration against
the preaching of Elias Hicks in meetings where he was present, except
in Philadelphia. That is especially true before the coming of the
English preachers, and the strained conditions that existed just
preceding and during the various acts of separation. It will thus be
seen that the concern and purpose of the ten men elders of Philadelphia
remained persistent until the end.
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Braithwaite Controversy.
One of the marked incidents during the "separation" period was the
controversy between Elias Hicks and Anna Braithwaite,[144] and the
still more pointed discussion indulged in by the friends and partisans
of these two Friends. From our viewpoint there seems to have been a
certain amount of unnecessary sensitiveness, which led both these
Friends to exalt to the dignity of an insult, and positive impeachment
of integrity, matters which probably belonged in the domain of
misunderstanding. It was apparently impossible for either to think in
the terms of the other, and so the contest went on and ended.
[144] Anna Braithwaite, daughter of Charles and Mary Lloyd, of
Birmingham, England, was born Twelfth month, 1788. She was married
to Isaac Braithwaite, Third month 26, 1809, and removed to Kendal
immediately after. She sailed for America on her first visit, Seventh
month 7th, 1823. She attended three meetings in New York, and then the
Quarterly Meeting at Burlington, at which place she seems to have been
the guest of Stephen Grellet. She made two other visits to America, one
in 1825 and the other in 1827. She returned to England after her first
visit to America in the autumn of 1824. The last two visits she made
to America she was accompanied by her husband. Anna Braithwaite was a
woman of commanding presence, and was unusually cultured for one of her
sex at that time. She was something of a linguist, speaking several
languages. Her visits in America were quite extensive, taking her as
far south as North Carolina. She died Twelfth month 18th, 1859.
We shall let her friends state the beginning and progress of Anna
Braithwaite's religious labor in America, and quote as follows: "She
arrived in New York in Eighth month, 1823. For seven months she met
with no opposition. True, she always preached orthodox doctrines, but
she had made no pointed allusions to the reputed sentiments of Elias
Hicks."[145]
[145] "Calumny Refuted; or, Plain Facts _versus_ Misrepresentations."
Being reply to Pamphlet entitled, "The Misrepresentations of Anna
Braithwaite in Relation to the Doctrines Preached by Elias Hicks,"
etc., p. 2.
It is interesting to note that the positive preaching of "orthodox
doctrine," on its merits, caused no opposition, even from the friends
of Elias Hicks, the trouble only coming when a personal application was
made, amounting to personal criticism. This is a fine testimony to the
ministerial liberty in the Society, and really a confirmation of the
claim that spiritual unity, and not doctrinal uniformity, was the true
basis of fellowship among Friends. We quote again:
"She visited Long Island in the spring, and had some opportunities
of conversing with Elias Hicks on religious subjects, and also of
hearing him preach. They differed widely in sentiment, upon important
doctrines, and she soon had to conclude that his were at variance
with the hitherto well-established principles of the Society. With
these views, she returned to New York, and, subsequently, about the
time of the Yearly Meeting, in May, she considered it an act of duty
to warn her hearers against certain specious doctrines, which were
gradually spreading, and undermining what she believed to be the
'true faith.'"[146]
[146] The same, p. 6.
It seems that Anna Braithwaite was twice the guest of Elias Hicks in
Jericho, dining at his house both times. The first visit was in First
month, 1824, and the other in Third month of the same year. They were
both good talkers, and apparently expressed themselves with commendable
frankness. The subject-matter of these two conversations, however,
became material around which a prolonged controversy was waged. Before
Anna Braithwaite sailed for England, she wrote a letter to an unnamed
Friend in Flushing relative to the interviews with Elias Hicks. The
letter was dated Seventh month 16, 1824.
After Anna Braithwaite's departure from this country, the letter
referred to, with "Remarks in Reply to Assertions of Elias Hicks," was
published and extensively circulated. It bore the following imprint:
"Philadelphia: Printed for the Reader, 1824."[147] In this collection
was a letter from Ann Shipley, of New York, dated Tenth month 15,
1824, in which she declares she was present "during the conversation
between her [Anna Braithwaite] and Elias Hicks. The statement she
left was correct." While Ann Shipley's letter was published without
her consent, it seemed to fortify the Braithwaite statement, and both
were extensively used in an attempt to cast theological odium on
the venerable preacher. The possibility that both women might have
misunderstood or misinterpreted Elias Hicks does not seem to have
entered the minds of the Anti-Hicks partisans.
[147] Most of the controversial pamphlets and articles of the
"separation" period were anonymous. Except when the articles were
printed in regular periodicals, their publishers were as unknown as
their authors.
This particular epistle of Anna Braithwaite does not contain much
material not to be found in a subsequent letter with "notes," which
will receive later treatment. In her letter she habitually speaks of
herself in the third person, and makes this observation: "When at
Jericho in the Third month A. B. took tea with E. H. in a social way.
She had not been long in the house, when he began to speak on the
subject of the trinity, which A. B. considers a word so grossly abused
as to render it undesirable even to make use of it."[148] One cannot
well suppress the remark that if a like tenacity of purpose regarding
other theological terms had been held and followed by all parties to
the controversy, the history of the Society of Friends would have been
entirely different from the way it now has to be written.
[148] "Remarks in Reply to Assertions of Elias Hicks," p. 7.
Touching the two visits to Elias Hicks, we have direct testimony from
the visitor. We quote:
"I thought on first entering the house, my heart and flesh would
fail, but after a time of inexpressible conflict, I felt a consoling
belief that best help would be near, and I think that every opposing
thing was in a great measure kept down.... He listened to my views,
which I was enabled to give with calmness. He was many times brought
into close quarters; but when he could not answer me directly, he
turned to something else. My mind is sorrowfully affected on this
subject, and the widespread mischief arising from the propagation of
such sentiments."[149]
[149] "Memoirs of Anna Braithwaite," by her son, J. Bevan Braithwaite,
p. 129-130.
In another letter, written to her family, she thus referred to her
interview with Elias Hicks:
"I have reason to think that, notwithstanding the firm and honest
manner in which my sentiments were expressed, an open door is left
for further communication. We met in love and we parted in love. He
wept like a child for some time before we separated; so that it was
altogether a most affecting opportunity."[150]
[150] The same, p. 140.
While these two Friends undoubtedly were present in the same meeting
during the subsequent visits of Anna Braithwaite to this country, their
relations became so strained that they never met on common Friendly
ground after the two occasions mentioned.
After the publication of the communication and comments referred to,
Elias Hicks wrote a long letter to his friend, Dr. Edwin A. Atlee, of
Philadelphia.[151] This letter became the subject of a good deal of
controversy, and may have been the exciting cause of a letter which
Anna Braithwaite wrote Elias Hicks on the 13th of Eleventh month,
1824, from Lodge Lane, near Liverpool. This letter, with elaborate
"notes," was published and widely circulated on this side of the
ocean. The letter itself would have caused very little excitement, but
the "notes" were vigorous causes of irritation and antagonism. The
authorship of the "notes" was a matter of dispute. It was claimed that
they were not written by Anna Braithwaite, and the internal evidence
gave color to that conclusion. They were not, in whole or in part,
entirely in her spirit, and the temper of them was rather masculine.
There were persons who believed, but, of course, without positive
evidence, that Joseph John Gurney was their author.
[151] The text of this letter will be found listed as Appendix B in
this book.
The letter of Anna Braithwaite contains few points not covered by the
"notes." She charges that Elias had denied that the Scriptures were a
rule of faith and practice, and it was also claimed that he repudiated
"the propitiatory sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."
This, she affirmed, was infidelity of a most pronounced type.
The "notes" attached to this letter constitute a stinging arraignment
of the supposed sentiments of Elias Hicks. They were considered by his
friends such an unwarranted attack as to call for vigorous treatment,
and in numerous ways they became points of controversy. They were mild
at first, but personal and almost bitter at the last. The first "note"
in the collection briefly, but fully, lays the foundation for arbitrary
authority in religion. It says:
"It is a regulation indispensably necessary to the peace of society,
and to the preservation of order, consistency and harmony among
Christians, that the members of every religious body, and especially
those who assume the office of teachers or ministers, should be
responsible to the authorities established in the church, for the
doctrines which they hold and promulgate."[152]
[152] A letter from Anna Braithwaite to Elias Hicks, on the Nature of
His Doctrines, etc., p. 9.
There is critical reference to a statement which Anna Braithwaite said
Elias Hicks made in the Meeting of Ministers and Elders in Jericho,
touching spiritual guidance in appointing people to service in the
Society. She says that Elias declared that "if each Friend attended to
his or her proper gift, as this spirit is endued with prescience, that
no Friend would be named for any appointment, but such as would attend,
and during my long course of experience, I have never appointed any one
who was prevented from attending either by illness or otherwise."[153]
[153] The same, p. 4.
In his letter to Dr. Atlee, Elias states his expression at the meeting
as differing from Anna Braithwaite's in a material way. This is what
he declares he said: "That I thought there was something wrong in
the present instance, for, as we profess to believe in the guidance
of the Spirit of Truth as an unerring Spirit, was it not reasonable
to expect, especially in a meeting of ministers and elders, that
if each Friend attended to their proper gifts, as this Spirit is
endued with prescience, that it would be much more likely, under its
divine influence, we should be led to appoint such as would attend on
particular and necessary occasions, than to appoint those who would not
attend?"
We make these quotations not only to show the difference in the two
statements, but to also make it plain what small faggots were used to
build the fires of controversy regarding the opinions of Elias Hicks.
It looks in this particular citation like a case of criticism gone mad.
The following extracts are from the "notes":
"We shall now notice the comparatively modern work of that
arch-infidel, Thomas Paine, called "The Age of Reason," many of the
sentiments of which are so exactly similar to those of Elias Hicks,
as almost to induce us to suspect plagiarism."[154]
[154] The same, p. 23-24.
"We could adduce large quotations from authors of the same school
with Paine, showing in the most conclusive manner that the dogmas
of Elias Hicks, so far from being further revelations of Christian
doctrines, are merely the stale objections to the religion of the
Bible, which have been so frequently routed and driven from the
field, to the utter shame and confusion of their promulgators."[155]
[155] The same, p. 26.
Those who defended Elias Hicks saw in these criticisms an act of
persecution, and a veiled attempt to undermine his reputation as a
man and a minister. The latter effort was read into the following
paragraph, which was presented as an effort at justifying the criticism
of the Jericho preacher. We quote:
"It was both Friendly and Christian to warn them of the danger of
listening with credulity to one whose high profession, reputed
morality, and popular eloquence, had given him considerable
influence; and if his opinions had been correct, the promulgation of
them would not have proved prejudicial to him."[156]
[156] The same, p. 21-22.
The references to Thomas Paine will sound singularly overdrawn if
read in connection with the reference of Elias Hicks to the same
person.[157] It may be asserted with some degree of safety that it is
doubtful if either Elias Hicks or his critics ever read enough of the
writings of Thomas Paine to be really qualified to judicially criticise
them.
[157] See page 117 of this book.
When Anna Braithwaite visited this country the second time, in 1825,
she found matters much more unsettled than on her first visit. Her
own part in the controversy had been fully, if not fairly, discussed.
As showing her own feeling touching the second visit, we quote the
following from a sermon preached by her:
"I have thought many times, while surrounded by my family and my
friends, and when I have bowed before the throne of grace, how very
near and how very dear were my fellow-believers, on this side of
the Atlantic, made unto my soul. It seemed to me, as if in a very
remarkable manner, their everlasting welfare was brought before me,
as if my fellow-professors of the same religious principles with
myself were in a very peculiar manner the objects of much solicitude.
How have I had to pour out my soul in secret unto the Lord, that he
would turn them more and more, and so let their light shine before
men, that all being believers in a crucified Saviour, they may be
brought to know for themselves that though 'Christ Crucified was to
the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto
them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God
and the wisdom of God.' I say my soul hath been poured out before
the Lord, that their light might shine in a still more conspicuous
manner, through their hearts being brought into deep prostration of
soul, that so their works might glorify their Father which is in
heaven. My heart was enlarged toward every religious denomination;
for surely, the world over, those who are believers in Christ have
one common bond of union--they are the salt of the earth--the little
flock to whom the Father in his good pleasure will give the Kingdom.
I have often greatly desired to be with you, while I am well aware
that to many it must appear a strange thing, that a female should
leave her home, her family, and her friends, and should thus expose
herself to the public, to preach the glad tidings of salvation
through Jesus Christ; yet I have thought, my beloved friends, that
though all may not see into these things, yet surely there is no
other way for any of us, but to yield up our thoughts unto the
Lord."[158]
[158] Sermon and prayer by Anna Braithwaite, delivered in Friends'
Meeting, Arch Street, Philadelphia, October 26, 1825. Taken in
short-hand by M. T. C. Gould, stenographer, p. 4-5.
There seem to have been some Friends desirous of producing a meeting
between Anna Braithwaite and Elias Hicks during this visit. In Tenth
month, 1825, she wrote him from Kipp's Bay, Long Island. She informed
him of her arrival, and then stated "that if he wishes to have any
communication with her, she is willing to meet him in the presence of
their mutual friends, or to answer any letter he may write to her;"
then she adds these remarkable words: "Having written to thee sometime
ago, what I thought was right, I do not ask an interview."[159]
[159] "Christian Inquirer," new series, Vol. I, 1826, p. 57.
To this communication Elias Hicks made a somewhat full reply. He says
that her notes of the conversation, "divers of which were without
foundation," led him to wonder why she should even think of having any
future communication with him. He then says:
"That I have no desire for any further communication with thee,
either directly or indirectly, until thou makest a suitable
acknowledgment for thy breach of friendship, as is required by the
salutary discipline of our Society; but as it respects myself, I
freely forgive thee, and leave thee to pursue thy own way as long as
thou canst find true peace and quiet therein."[160]
[160] The same, p. 57.
It has to be said regretfully that during Anna Braithwaite's second
visit to this country, she met with both personal and Society rebuffs.
In some meetings her minute was read, but with no expression of
approbation in the case. The Meeting of Ministers and Elders at Jericho
appointed a committee,[161] to advise her not to appoint any more
meetings in that neighborhood during her stay. A good many Friends
objected to her family visits, and, taken altogether, her stay must
have been one of trial.
[161] The same, p. 59.
She came again in the early part of the year 1827, and was here when
the climax came in that year and the year following.
The English Friends, who were so much in evidence in our troubles, went
home to face the Beacon controversy,[162] then gathering in England.
The Beaconite movement caused several hundred Friends to sever their
connection with the Society. But it did not reach the dignity of a
division or a separation. Whether the English Friends profited by the
experiences suffered by the Society in America is not certain. At any
rate, they seem to have been able to endure their differences without a
rupture.
[162] This controversy took its name from a periodical called the
"Beacon," edited by Isaac Crewdson. In this evangelical doctrines
and methods were advocated. The Beaconites were strong in advocating
the doctrine of justification by faith, and practically rejected
the fundamental Quaker theory of the Inner Light. From the American
standpoint, the Beaconite position seems to have been the logical
development of the doctrines preached by the English and American
opponents of Elias Hicks.
After the English trouble had practically subsided, in 1841, Anna
Braithwaite made the following suggestive admission, which may well
close this chapter:
"Calm reflection and observation of passing events, and of persons,
have convinced me that I took an exaggerated view of the state of
society with reference to Hicksism.... We have as great a horror of
Hicksism as ever, but we think Friends generally are becoming more
alive to its dangers, and that the trials of the last few years have
been blessed to the instruction of many."[163]
[163] "J. Bevan Braithwaite; a Friend of the Nineteenth Century," by
his children, p. 59-60.
CHAPTER XIX.
Ann Jones in Dutchess County.
In Fifth month, 1828, a year after the division had been accomplished
in Philadelphia, a most remarkable round of experiences took place
within the bounds of Nine Partners and Stanford Quarterly Meetings, in
Dutchess County, New York. Elias Hicks was past eighty years of age,
but he attended the series of meetings in the neighborhood mentioned.
George and Ann Jones, English Friends, much in evidence in "separation"
matters, were also in attendance, the result being a series of
controversial exhortations, mingled with personal allusions, sometimes
gently veiled, but containing what would now pass for bitterness and
railing. The "sermons" of this series were stenographically reported,
and form a small book of ninety-eight pages.
The first meeting was held at Nine Partners, First-day, Fifth month
4th. Elias Hicks had the first service in the meeting. After he had
closed, Ann Jones made the following remarks:
"We have heard considerable said, and we have heard, under a
specious pretence of preaching, the Gospel, the Saviour of the world
denied, who is God and equal with the Father. And we have heard
that the Scriptures had done more hurt than good. We have also
heard the existence of a devil denied, except what arises from our
propensities, desires, &c."[164]
[164] "Sermons" by Elias Hicks, Ann Jones and others of the Society of
Friends, at the Quarterly Meeting of Nine Partners and Stanford, and
first day preceding in Fifth month, 1828. Taken in short-hand by Henry
Hoag, p. 20.
After this deliverance, Elias Hicks again arose and said:
"I will just observe that my friends are acquainted with me in these
parts, and know me very well when I speak to them. I came not here as
a judge, but as a counsellor: I leave it for the people to judge. And
I would hope to turn them to nothing but a firm and solid conviction
in their minds. We may speak one by one, for that becometh order.
I thought I would add a word or two more. When I was young, I read
the Scriptures, and I thought that they were not the power, nor the
spirit, and that there was but very little in them for me; but I was
vain. But when I had once seen the sin in my heart, then I found that
this book pointed to the Spirit, but never convicted me of sin.
"I believe that this was the doctrine of ancient Friends; for George
Fox declared that his Saviour never could be slain by the hands of
wicked men. I believe the Scriptures concerning Jesus Christ, and
David, too, and a host of others, who learned righteousness and were
united one with another. I believe that Jesus Christ took upon him
flesh made under the law, for all people are made under the law, and
Christ is this Light which enlighteneth every man that comes into the
world. And now, my friends, I would not have you believe one word of
what I say, unless by solid conviction."[165]
[165] The same.
It will be in order to find out what was said by Elias Hicks which
called for the personal allusion made by Ann Jones. We are not able
to find in the remarks of Elias Hicks on this occasion anything that
would justify the strong language of his critic, especially as to the
Scriptures having done more hurt than good. It would seem that the
supplementary statement quoted must be accepted as containing his
estimate of the book which he was charged with repudiating, rather than
the critical assertion of his doctrinal opponent.
There are various statements in the Hicks sermon which denied some of
the material claims of popular theology, but they did not class him
with those who denied the existence or spiritual office of Christ. In
the meetings under review, and at other times, the evidence is abundant
that his critics either did not want to or could not understand him. He
dealt with the spirit of the gospel, and with the inner manifestation
of that spirit in the heart. They stood for scriptural literalness,
and for the outward appearance of Christ. It is not for us to condemn
either side in the controversy, but to state the case.
We produce a few sentences and expressions from the sermon by Elias
Hicks, which might have created antagonism at the time. Speaking of the
"Comforter" which was to come, he said:
"And what was this Comforter? Not an external one--not Jesus Christ
outward, to whom there was brought diseased persons and he delivered
them from their various diseases.... Here, now, he told them how to
do: he previously made mention that when the Comforter had come,
he would reprove the world of sin--now the world is every rational
soul under heaven. And he has come and reproved them. I dare appeal
to the wickedest man present, that will acknowledge the truth, that
this Light has come into the world; but men love darkness better than
light, because their deeds are evil; yet they know the light by an
evidence in their hearts."[166]
[166] The same, p. 9.
Near the end of this discourse he elaborated his idea as to the
ineffectual character of all outward and formal soul cleansing, in the
following language:
"Now can any man of common sense suppose that it can be outward blood
that was shed by the carnal Jews that will cleanse us from our sins?
The blood of Christ that is immortal, never can be seen by mortal
eyes. And to be Christians, we must come to see an immortal view.
After Christ had recapitulated the precepts of the law, 'Is it not
written in your law, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
but I say unto you, if a man smite thee on one cheek turn to him the
other also: and if a man take thy coat from thee, give him thy cloak
also.' Don't we see how different the precepts of the law of God are?
He tells us how we should do--we should take no advantage at all. The
Almighty visits us, to get us willing to observe his law; and if all
were concerned to maintain his law, all lawyers would be banished;
we should have no need of them; as well as of hireling Priests. We
should have no need of them to teach us, nor no need of the laws of
men, for each one would have a law in his own mind."[167]
[167] The same, p. 17.
The other points in Dutchess County visited, and involved in the
reports of sermons under consideration, were Chestnut Ridge, Stanford
and Oblong. At some of these meetings the preachers spoke more than
once. It does not appear that in the brief communications of George
Jones he either directly or indirectly referred to statements made by
Elias Hicks, or particularly sought to antagonize them. Ann Jones,
however, was not similarly considerate and cautious. Either directly
or by inference, she quite generally attempted to furnish the antidote
for what she considered the pernicious doctrine of her fellow-minister.
Speaking at Nine Partners Quarterly Meeting, Fifth month 7th, she said:
"I believe it to be right for me to caution the present company
without respect of persons--how they deny the Lord that bought
them--how they set at nought the outward coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ who died for them: they will have to answer it at the awful
tribunal bar of God, where it will be altogether unavailing to say
that such a one taught me to believe that there was nothing in this.
Oh! my friends! God hath not left us without a witness; Oh, then it
is unto the faithful and true witness, 'the testimony of Jesus, which
is the spirit of prophecy.' I am engaged in gospel love to recommend,
and to hold out unto you, that you meddle not with the things of God;
and that you cry unto him for help. For what hope can they have of
present or future good, or of everlasting happiness, if they reject
the only means appointed of God to come unto the Father through Jesus
Christ, the messenger of God, and of the new covenant?"[168]
[168] The same, p. 60.
At this meeting Elias Hicks followed Ann Jones in vocal communication.
He made no direct reference to what she said, the short sermon being
largely a reiteration touching the inner revelation to the souls of
men, as the reprover of sin, and the power which kept from sinning,
as against the outward, sacrificial form of salvation. In closing his
remarks, Elias Hicks made this statement:
"I do not wish to detain this assembly much longer, but I want
that we should cast away things that are mysterious, for we cannot
comprehend mystery. 'Secret things belong to God, but those that are
revealed (that are understood), to us and our children.' And those
that are secret can never be found out by the prying of mortals. Do
we suppose for a moment--for it would cast an indignity upon God to
suppose that he had laid down any name except his own by which we can
have communion with him. It is a plain way, a simple way which all
can understand, and not be under the necessity to go to a neighbor,
and to say, 'Know thou the Lord? for all shall know me, from the
least of them unto the greatest of them,' as said Jeremy the prophet.
It is bowing down to an ignorant state of mind, to suppose that there
is no other power whereby we can come unto God, but by one of the
offspring of Abraham, and that we have need to go back to the law
which was given to the Israelites, and to no other people. He has
never made any covenant with any other people, but that which he made
with our first parents. That is the covenant that has been made with
all the nations of the earth.
"He justifies for good and condemns for evil. And although every
action is to be from the operation of his power, yet he has given us
the privilege to obey or disobey; here now is a self-evident truth;
as they have the liberty to choose, so if they do that which is
contrary to his will, and so slay the Divine life in the soul: and
thus they have slain the innocent Lamb of God in the soul, which is
the same thing. All that we want, is to return to the inward light
in the soul. The Lord had declared beforehand unto them in plain
characters, that none need to say, 'Know ye the Lord? for I will be
merciful to them, I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember
their sin no more.' This was equally the case until the law was
abolished: until he blotted out the handwriting of the law, and put
an end to outward ordinances. The law was fulfilled when they had
crucified him, then it was that that law was abolished that consisted
in making their atonements which all had to make.
"The people could not understand the doctrine delivered in the sermon
on the mount, although plainly preached to them. Jesus, when about
to take leave of his disciples, left this charge with them: 'Tarry
at Jerusalem until the Holy Ghost come upon you'; and then, and not
till then, were they to bear witness unto him. He told them that it
would bring everything to their remembrance: everything which is by
the preaching of the gospel brought to your remembrance; therefore he
says: 'All things shall be brought to your remembrance.' They would
not then be looking to anything outward, because he had filled them
with the Spirit of truth. What is this, but this Comforter which
reproves the world of sin? All that will obey the voice of this
reprover in the soul are in the way of redemption and salvation.
'By disobedience, sin entered into the world and death by sin:
but life and immortality is brought to light by the gospel.' I am
willing to leave you, and I recommend you to God, and the power of
his grace, which is able to build you up, as you are faithful to its
operation."[169]
[169] The same, p. 71.
The last meeting of the series was held in connection with Nine
Partners Quarterly Meeting, Fifth month 9th. This was evidently the
closing session of the Quarterly Meeting. From these published sermons
it would seem that Elias Hicks and George Jones were the only Friends
who engaged in vocal ministry that day. There was nothing specially
relevant to the controversy going on in the Society in either of these
short discourses.
In reading this collection of sermons one cannot avoid the conclusion
that, apart from dissimilarity in phraseology, and the matters involved
in interpreting Scripture, these Friends had much in common. Had they
been minded to seek for the common ground, it is quite probable that
they would have found that they were really quarreling over the minor,
rather than the major, propositions.
In Eighth month, 1828, Elias Hicks was on his last religious visit to
the Western Yearly Meetings. The "separation" in the New York Yearly
Meeting had taken place in Fifth month, the trouble then passing to
the Quarterly and particular meetings. It reached Nine Partners at the
Quarterly Meeting held as above. Ann Jones attended this meeting, the
last sermon in the little volume from which the extracts given in this
chapter are taken having been preached by this Friend. There was little
new matter in this sermon. Much, by inuendo, was laid at the door of
those who were pronounced unorthodox, and who constituted a majority of
the meeting.
So far as the charge of persecution is concerned, it was repeatedly
employed by Elias Hicks and his sympathizers in describing the spirit
and conduct of the orthodox party. In this particular, at least, the
disputants on both sides were very much alike. Ann Jones' reference
to throwing down "his elders and prophets" contains more touching the
animus of the controversy than the few words really indicate. As will
be somewhat clearly shown in these pages, the trouble in the Society
quite largely had reference to authority in the church, and its
arbitrary exercise by a select few, constituting a sort of spiritual
and social hierarchy in the monthly meetings. It was this authoritative
class which had been "thrown down," or was likely to be so repudiated.
We would by no means claim that with the "separation" an accomplished
fact, the body of Friends not of the orthodox party thus gathered by
themselves became at once and continuously relieved of the arbitrary
spirit. The history of this branch of the Society from 1827 to 1875,
and in places down to date, would entirely disprove any such claim.
It would seem that wherever the Society lost ground numerically, and
wherever its spiritual life dwindled, it was due largely because some
sort of arbitrary authority ignored the necessity for real spiritual
unity, and discounted the spiritual democracy upon which the Society of
Friends was based.
The "separation" in the Quarterly Meetings in Dutchess County was
perfected in Eighth month, 1828. Both Anna Braithwaite and Ann Jones
were in attendance, and evidently took part in the developments at
that time. Elias Hicks was on his last religious visit to the "far
west." Informing partnership letters were sent to Elias, then in Mt.
Pleasant, Ohio, by Jacob and Deborah Willetts,[170] under date of
Eighth month 18, 1828. Jacob gave brief but explicit information as
to the division in the several meetings. For instance, he says that
in Oswego Monthly Meeting one-sixth of the members went orthodox. At
Creek, about one-fourth left to form an orthodox meeting, about the
same proportion existing at Stanford. Nine Partners seems to have
been the center of the difficulty, the orthodox leadership apparently
having been more vigorous at that point. Still, about three-fourths of
the members refused to join the orthodox. A very brief appreciation
of the transatlantic visitors is given in Jacob's letter. He says:
"The English Friends are very industrious, but I do not find that it
amounts to much. Friends have generally become acquainted with their
manoeuvring."
[170] Jacob and Deborah Willetts were friendly educators in the first
half of the nineteenth century. Jacob became principal of Nine Partners
boarding school in 1803, when only 18 years of age, and Deborah Rogers
principal of the girl's department in 1806, when at the same age.
Jacob Willetts and Deborah Rogers were married in 1812. At the time of
the "separation," Nine Partners' school passed into the hands of the
Orthodox, and Jacob and Deborah resigned their positions, and started
a separate school, which they conducted successfully for nearly thirty
years. Jacob was the author of elementary text books of arithmetic and
geography, and Deborah was an accomplished grammarian, and assisted
Gould Brown in the preparation of his once well-known English Grammar.
Deborah's letter was both newsy and personal, and threw interesting
sidelights on the "separation" experiences. At the close of a sermon by
Ann Jones, Eighth month 5th, she made reference to the sudden death of
a woman Friend of the orthodox party, which is thus referred to in this
letter:
"Perhaps thou wilt hear ere this reaches thee of the death of Ann
Willis. She died at William Warings on her way home from Purchase
Quarterly Meeting, in an apoplectic fit. At our Quarterly Meeting Ann
Jones told us of the dear departed spirit of one who had lived an
unspotted life, who passed away without much bodily suffering, and
whose soul was now clothed in robes of white, singing glory, might
and majesty with angels forever and ever: which amounted nearly to a
funeral song."
We make the following extract from the letter of Deborah Willetts
because of its interesting references and statements:
"A week ago I returned from Stanford Quarterly Meeting held at
Hudson. All the English force was there save T. Shillitoe with a
large re-enforcement from New York, but they were headed by 15 men
and 25 women of the committee of Friends, and a great many attended
from the neighboring meetings, Coeymans, Rensalaerville, Saratoga,
&c. The city was nearly full. Anna Braithwaite and suite took
lodgings at the hotel. It was the most boisterous meeting I ever
attended. The clerks in each meeting were orthodox, but Friends were
favored to appoint others who opened the meeting. Anna Braithwaite
had much to say to clear up the charges against her in circulation
that their expenses had been borne by Friends, which she said was
false, and never had been done but in two instances, and mentioned
it twice or three times that her dear husband felt it a very great
pleasure to meet all expenses she might incur, and she would appeal
to those present for the truth of what she had said, and then Ann
Jones, Claussa Griffin, Ruth Hallock, Sarah Upton and some others
immediately attested to the truth of it. Oh, how inconsistent is all
this in a Friends' meeting. She also gave a long statement of the
separation at Yearly Meeting, but she was reminded of her absence at
the time, but she replied Ann Jones had informed her. She accused
Friends of holding erroneous doctrine and said Phebe I. Merritt did
not believe in the atonement for sin. Phebe said she denied the
charge, when Anna turning and looking stern in her face said, 'Did
thou not say, Phebe Merritt, all the reproof thou felt for sin was
in thy own breast?' Phebe then arose and was favored to express
her views in a clear way with an affecting circumstance that she
experienced in her childhood that brought such a solemnity over the
meeting that almost disarmed Anna of her hostile proceedings. She
stood upon her feet the while ready to reply but began in a different
tone of voice, and changed the subject, and very soon after, Ann
Jones made a move to adjourn when they could hold Stanford Quarterly
Meeting, which was seconded by several others and Friends in the
meantime as cordially and silently uniting with them in the motion.
They then retired without reading an adjournment, I afterwards
learnt, to the Presbyterian Conference room. I dined in company with
Willett Hicks, who said he was surprised to see so few go with them
after such a noble effort."
CHAPTER XX.
The Experience with T. Shillitoe.
The first day after his arrival in America, Thomas Shillitoe[171]
attended Hester Street Meeting, in New York. He tells that "it
was reported that he had come over to help the Friends of Elias
Hicks."[172] As this Friend came into collision with Elias several
times, and was second to none in vigor and virulence among his
antagonists, either domestic or foreign, it seems proper to review his
connection with the controversy, because some added light may thus be
thrown on the spirit and purpose of the opposition to Elias Hicks.
[171] Thomas Shillitoe was born in London "about the Second month,
1754," Elias Hicks being six years his senior. His parents were not
Friends. At one time his father kept an inn. Joined Grace Church Street
Monthly Meeting in London about 1775. Was acknowledged a minister at
Tottenham in 1790. He learned the grocery business, and afterward
entered a banking house. Finally learned shoemaker's trade, and had
a shop. Was married in 1778. Came to America in 1826, arriving in
New York, Ninth month 8th. While here traveled extensively, visiting
certain Indian tribes. In 1827 he had an interview with President
Andrew Jackson. He left New York for Liverpool in Eighth month, 1829,
having been in this country nearly three years. Thomas Shillitoe died
in 1836.
[172] "Journal of Thomas Shillitoe," Vol. 2, p. 150.
Of the experience on that first meeting in America the venerable
preacher says: "I found it hard work to rise upon my feet, but
believing that the offer of the best of all help was made, I ventured
and was favored to clear my mind faithfully, and in a manner I
apprehended would give such of the followers of Elias Hicks as were
present a pretty clear idea of the mistake they had been under of my
being come over to help their unchristian cause."[173]
[173] "Journal of Thomas Shillitoe," Vol. 2, p. 151.
He had not been seen at that time to converse with a single friend of
Elias Hicks, and there is no evidence that during the three years he
was in America he mingled at all with any Friends who were not of the
so-called orthodox party.
During the week following his arrival in this country, Thomas Shillitoe
visited Jericho by way of Westbury. Regarding his visit he says:
"We took our dinner with G. Seaman; after which we proceeded to
Jericho, and took up our abode this night with our kind friend,
Thomas Willis. In passing through the village of Jericho, Elias
Hicks was at his own door; he invited me into his own house to take
up my abode, which I found I could not have done, even had we not
previously concluded to take up our abode with T. Willis. I refused
his offer in as handsome a manner as I well knew how. He then pressed
me to make him a call; I was careful to make such a reply as would
not make it binding upon me, although we had to pass his door on our
way to the next meeting. I believe it was safest for me not to comply
with his request."[174]
[174] "Journal of Thomas Shillitoe," Vol. 2, p. 154.
G. Seaman, mentioned above, became the first clerk of the Orthodox
Monthly Meeting of Westbury and Jericho, organized after the
"separation," and Thomas Willis was the Friend who should probably be
called the father of the opposition to Elias Hicks. Had the English
visitor determined from the start to hear nothing, and know nothing but
one side of the controversy, he could not have more fully made that
possible than by the intercourse he had with Friends on this continent.
To show how bent he was not to be influenced or contaminated by those
not considered orthodox, it may be noted that while in Jericho he was
visited by Friends in that neighborhood, who urged him to call on them.
He was at first inclined to acquiesce, but after "waiting where the
divine counsellor is to be met with," he changed his mind, remarking,
"I afterwards understood some of these individuals were of Elias
Hicks's party."[175]
[175] "Journal of Thomas Shillitoe," Vol. 2, p. 154.
The New York Yearly Meeting of 1827 was attended by all of the
ministering Friends and their companions from England, viz: Thomas
Shillitoe, Elizabeth Robson, George and Ann Jones, Isaac and Anna
Braithwaite. There seems to have been a foreshadowing of trouble in
this yearly meeting. Elizabeth Robson asked for a minute to visit men's
meeting, which met with some opposition, and was characterized by
confusion in carrying out the purpose. Elias Hicks says nothing about
the matter in his Journal, and no reference was made to this Friend in
his personal correspondence. The English Friends left New York before
the close of the Yearly Meeting, to attend New England Yearly Meeting.
It is not our purpose to follow the wanderings of Thomas Shillitoe
in America. He was at the New York Yearly Meeting again in 1828, at
the time of the "separation." Touching this occasion, the minutes of
the meeting in question furnish some information, as follows: "Thomas
Shillitoe, who is in this country on a religious visit from England,
objected to the company of some individuals who were present with us,
and members of a neighboring yearly meeting, stating that they had
been regularly disowned," etc.[176] For thus dictating to the yearly
meeting, Thomas Shillitoe presented this justification:
[176] From Minute Book of New York Yearly Meeting, session of 1828.
"I obtained a certificate from my own monthly meeting and quarterly
meeting, and also one from the Select Yearly Meeting of Friends held
in London, expressive of their concurrence with my traveling in the
work of the ministry on this continent, which certificates were read
in the last Yearly Meeting of New York, and entered in the records
of that Yearly Meeting; such being the case, it constitutes me as
much a member of this Yearly Meeting as any other member of it."[177]
[177] "Journal of Thomas Shillitoe," Vol. 2, p. 311.
This may have been according to good society order and etiquette eighty
odd years ago, but would hardly pass current in our time. For a visitor
in a meeting to object to the presence of other visitors, on the ground
of rumor and with no regular or official evidence of the charges
against them, would probably put the objector into disfavor. But we
are not warranted in passing harsh judgment in the nineteenth-century
case. The English Friends, right or wrong, came to this country under
the impression that they were divinely sent to save the Society of
Friends in America from going to the bad. At the worst, it was a case
of assuming the care of too many consciences.
Soon after the close of the New York Yearly Meeting of 1828, both
Thomas Shillitoe and Elias Hicks started on a western trip. Elias seems
to have preceded the English Friend by a few days. The two men met at
Westland.[178] At this place Thomas says that Elias denied that Jesus
was the son of God, until after the baptism, and opposed the proper
observance of the Sabbath.[179] Of course, the statements of Elias were
controverted by his fellow-preacher, or, at least, an attempt to do
so was made. It should be understood that Elias denied that Jesus was
the son of God in the sense in which Thomas conceived he was, and he
undoubtedly antagonized the observance of the Sabbath in the slavish
way which considered that man was secondary to the institution.
[178] See page 47 of this book.
[179] "Journal of Thomas Shillitoe," Vol. 2, p. 328.
Part of the mission of our English Friend from this time seems to
have been to oppose Elias Hicks, and turn the minds of the people
against him. They both attended Redstone Monthly Meeting. Here Elias
presented his minute of unity and the other evidences of good faith
which he possessed. At this point Thomas says: "Observing a disposition
in most of the members of the meeting to have these minutes read
in the meeting, I proposed to the meeting to consider how far with
propriety they could read them; after their Meeting for Sufferings
had given forth a testimony against the doctrines of Elias Hicks. But
a determination to read his minutes being manifested, Friends were
obliged to submit."[180]
[180] "Journal of Thomas Shillitoe," Vol. 2, p. 330.
Taken altogether, this is a remarkable statement. The "testimony"
referred to was the "declaration of faith"[181] published by the
Philadelphia Meeting for Sufferings. This document did not mention
Elias Hicks, and failed to secure the approval of the Yearly Meeting,
before the "separation." It is evident that "most of the members"
were with Elias Hicks on this occasion. Only the few opposers were
"Friends"; so the statement infers.
[181] See page 139 of this book.
The two preachers are next heard from at Redstone Quarterly Meeting,
where Thomas was disposed to practice an act of self-denial. He told
the meeting that he preferred his own minute should not be read, if
Elias Hicks's was received. We have some evidence from Elias Hicks
himself regarding this incident, in a letter written to Valentine
and Abigail Hicks, from Pittsburg, Eighth month 5, 1828, stating the
proposition of Thomas Shillitoe regarding his minute. Elias says:
"Friends took him at his word, and let him know that they should not
minute it, but insisted that mine should be minuted, expressing very
general satisfaction with my company and service, and reprobated his
in plain terms, and charged him and his companion with breach of the
order and discipline of the Society, and insisted that the elders and
overseers should stop at the close of the meeting and see what could be
done to put a stop to such disorderly conduct."
Thomas then says that he exposed Elias Hicks as an impostor "in
attempting as he did to impose himself upon the public as a minister
in unity with the Society of Friends; the Society having, by a printed
document, declared against his doctrine, and himself as an approved
minister."[182] Evidently this was another reference to the much-lauded
"declaration of faith," although this did not represent an actually
authoritative declaration of the Society. At its best, Philadelphia's
Meeting for Sufferings was not the Society of Friends; but the people
still wanted to hear Elias. They apparently preferred to interpret him
at first-hand.
[182] "Journal of Thomas Shillitoe," Vol. 2, p. 331.
Thomas Shillitoe tells us that when they crossed the Ohio River he
talked with the woman at the ferry, who protested against the ideas of
Elias Hicks, and then remarks: "She kept a tavern, and I left with her
one of the declarations, requesting her to circulate it amongst her
neighbors."[183] Evidently the publican, in this case, was sound in the
faith as held by the English preacher.
[183] "Journal of Thomas Shillitoe," Vol. 2, p. 332.
Mt. Pleasant was next visited by both Friends, preceding and at Ohio
Yearly Meeting. They do not seem to have come personally into collision
at this point, and insofar as either makes reference to the occurrences
there, they are in substantial agreement.[184] Thomas Shillitoe bears
mildly veiled testimony to the desire of the people to hear Elias
Hicks, in the following statement: "From the great concourse of people
we passed in the afternoon on the way to Short Creek Meeting, where
Elias Hicks was to be, I had cherished a hope we should have had a
quiet meeting at Mt. Pleasant."[185] But the contrary was the case; to
whom the blame was due, the reader may decide.
[184] For other reference to this matter, see page 49 of this book.
[185] "Journal of Thomas Shillitoe," Vol. 2, p. 343.
It is to be presumed that these two Friends, both of whom performed
valuable service for the Society, according to their lights and gifts,
never met after their western experience. For the want of understanding
each other, they went their way not as fellow-servants, but as
strangers, if not enemies. The unity of the spirit was obliterated in a
demand for uniformity of speculative doctrine.
CHAPTER XXI.
Disownment and Doctrine.
The "separation" was accomplished in most meetings in the East by the
withdrawal of the orthodox party, after which they set up new meetings
for worship and discipline. In a minority of meetings the orthodox held
the property and the organization, and the other Friends withdrew. At
Jericho and Westbury the great majority of the members remained, and
continued to occupy the old meeting-houses. The orthodox who separated
from the Westbury and Jericho Monthly Meetings organized the Monthly
Meeting of Westbury and Jericho, as has already been mentioned.
In 1829, when the new monthly meeting was formed, the membership of
Westbury Monthly Meeting was as follows: Westbury Preparative Meeting,
193; Matinecock Preparative Meeting, 121; Cow Neck (now Manhassett),
65; total, 379. Of this number, accessions to the orthodox were: From
Westbury Preparative Meeting, 32; Matinecock Preparative Meeting, 2;
Cow Neck Preparative Meeting, 5; total, 39. In Jericho the members of
the monthly meeting, Fifth month, 1829, numbered 225. Of this number,
nine left to join the Monthly Meeting of Westbury and Jericho, and
five were undetermined in their choice. Giving the latter meeting the
benefit of the doubt, and assigning to it the five uncertain members,
the meeting that disowned Elias Hicks was composed of fifty-three
members, of whom thirteen were minors and five of only mild allegiance.
A simple mathematical calculation will show that the Monthly Meeting
of Westbury and Jericho contained 10 per cent. of the Friends who had
been members of the two original monthly meetings, which meetings still
survived, retaining 90 per cent. of the members. These figures will
throw suggestive light on what follows.
It was the Westbury and Jericho Monthly Meeting which, on the 29th of
Fourth month, 1829, adopted the "testimony against Elias Hicks," called
his disownment. It contained specified charges, which may be condensed
as follows: He denied the influence or existence of an evil spirit;
doubted the fall of man, and his redemption through Christ; endeavored
to "destroy a belief in the miraculous conception of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ"; also rejected a "belief in his holy offices, his
propitiatory offering for the redemption of mankind; and has denied his
resurrection and ascension into heaven"; "he also denied his mediation
and intercession with the Father." He was charged with too much
industry in promulgating his views, causing great numbers to embrace
them, "and has at length become the leader of a sect distinguished by
his name." He was also charged with meeting with, and countenancing by
his presence and conduct, those who had "separated" from Friends. This
had reference to many meetings of a large majority of the Society held
at various places in 1828. The "testimony" also alleges that he had
many times been tenderly admonished and advised, but that he and his
friends "prevented the timely exercise of the discipline in his case."
It all, without doubt, sounded very formidable to the little company of
Friends who formulated and issued the document.
This was a remarkable document in more ways than one. The meeting which
issued it assumed an authority in conduct hard now to understand, and
asserted as facts mere assumptions, and yet we are bound to believe
that, in the main, they thought they were performing God's service.
It must be remembered that the orthodox Friends, in 1829, everywhere
operated on the theory that those who considered themselves "sound in
doctrine," no matter how few in numbers, were the Society of Friends,
in direct descent from the founders of the faith. It was their
religious duty to excommunicate all whom they considered unsound, even
though those disowned might constitute the overwhelming portion of the
meeting. That this was the sincere conviction of the orthodox Friends
all through the "separation" period, and also before and after it, is
a demonstrable fact of history. There was also a marked disposition
to adhere to tradition and to cling to former precedents. If there
had ever been a time when Friends had been disowned on account of
theological opinions, the practice should be kept up, and practically
continued forever.
That there was a considerable amount of precedent for disowning
Friends on points of doctrine is undoubtedly true. In the famous New
Jersey Chancery trial, Samuel Parsons gave several cases of such
disownment.[186] They involved cases in half a dozen monthly meetings,
and included charges as follows: Denying the miraculous conception;
denying the divinity of Jesus Christ; denying the authenticity of the
Scriptures; promulgating the belief that the souls of the wicked would
be annihilated.
[186] "Foster's Report," Vol. I, p. 171.
The orthodox Friends might have done still better, and cited the case
of John Bartram,[187] the father of American botany, who was disowned
by Darby Monthly Meeting in 1758, for deistical and other unorthodox
opinions. It has been supposed that Bartram was disowned by Friends
for placing the following inscription over his door:
[187] John Bartram, born near Darby, Pa., Third month 23, 1699. Was
the earliest native American botanist. He died Ninth month 22, 1777.
Bartram traveled extensively in the American colonies in pursuit of
his botanical studies and investigations. He established the Bartram
Botanical Gardens near the Schuykill River, which are still often
visited.
"'Tis God alone, Almighty Lord,
The Holy One by me adored.
John Bartram, 1770."
As this sentiment is dated twelve years after the disownment,[188] it
is evident that it was not the primary cause of the action taken by
Darby Monthly Meeting.
[188] "Memorials of John Bartram and Humphrey Marshall," by William
Darlington, 1849, p. 42.
During the period of repression in the Society, lasting from about
1700 to 1850, it was not hard to find precedent for disowning members
on almost any ground, so that the treatment of Elias Hicks, on account
of alleged "unsound" doctrine calls for no complaint on the score of
regularity. Disowning members for that cause in one branch of Friends
to-day would be practically inconceivable. Its wisdom at any time was
doubtful, and, in spite of precedents, the practice was not general.
The main point in this transaction, however, is that the meeting which
issued the "testimony" against Elias Hicks had no jurisdiction in
the case. As a matter of fact, he was never a member of the meeting
in question, unless it be assumed that 10 per cent. of two monthly
meetings can flock by themselves, organize a new meeting, and take over
the 90 per cent. without their knowledge or consent.
In the main, we do not care to consider or discuss the points in the
"testimony" under consideration. Those who have followed the pages
of this book thus far will be able to decide whether the main causes
as stated by those who prepared and approved the document were true
in fact, and whether they would have constituted a sufficient reason
for the action of the Monthly Meeting of Westbury and Jericho, had it
possessed any authority in the case.
Just what Elias Hicks thought regarding the matter of Society and
disciplinary authority in his case, we have documentary evidence. In
a private letter he said: "For how can they disown those who never
attended their meetings, nor never had seen the inside of their
new-built meeting-houses, and who never acknowledged their little
separate societies? Would it not be as rational and consistent with
right order for a Presbyterian or a Methodist society to treat with and
disown us for not attending their meetings, and not acknowledging their
creed?"[189]
[189] Letter to Johnson Legg, Twelfth month 15, 1829.
There is one point in the "testimony" which cannot so easily or
reasonably be ignored. It says that Elias Hicks "has at length become
the leader of a sect, distinguished by his name, yet unjustly assuming
the character of Friends." From the assumed standpoint of those who
made this statement of fact, it had no warrant. That body of Friends
in, at least, the Yearly Meetings of New York, Philadelphia, and
Baltimore, which at the time of the "separation" housed two-thirds of
all the members, was as much entitled to be called Friends, and assume
their "character," as the minority. The distinguishing epithet was not
of their selecting or adoption, and those who applied it could scarcely
with propriety force it upon those who did not claim it or want it. As
for leadership, the outcome in 1827-28 was accomplished without either
the presence or assistance of Elias Hicks in a majority of cases. If
those who left the parent meetings and set up meetings of their own
were the "separatists," then, in a majority of cases, the name belonged
to the party that opposed Elias Hicks, and not to that body of Friends
who objected to the Society being divided or perpetuated because of the
personality or the preaching of any one man.
It has to be said that the disowning at the time of the "separation"
was not all on one side. Jericho Monthly Meeting "testified against"
at least four of the orthodox party. But in every such case, so far
as we are aware, no charges regarding doctrine were made against any.
The disownments took place because the persons involved had become
connected with other meetings, and did not attend the gatherings of
that branch of Friends who issued disownments. Both sides undoubtedly
did many things at the time which later would have been impossible.
Elias Hicks evidently approved the general order of the Society in
his time touching disownments. In a letter directed to "My Unknown
Friend," but having no date, he deals with the disownment question. He
goes on to say that it had been the practice of the Society to disown
members for more than a century, when such members had deviated "from
the established order of Society," and he reaches the conclusion that
not to follow this course would lead to "confusion and anarchy." He
then says: "These things considered, it appears to me the most rational
and prudent, when a particular member of any society dissents in some
particular tenet from the rest of that society, if such dissent break
communion and render it necessary in the judgment of such society that
a separation take place between them, that it be done in the same way,
and agreeable to the general practice of such society in like cases."
It is quite certain, however, that Elias Hicks did not think that
disputed points of doctrine offered a sufficient ground for disownment
in the Society of Friends. In a letter to David Evans, written at
Jericho, Twelfth month 25, 1829, he says: "I apprehend that if the
Friends who took part in the controversy on the side of the miraculous
conception, and those on the opposition, will fully examine both
sides of the question, they will find themselves more or less in
error, as neither can produce sufficient evidence to enforce a
rational conviction on others.... Surely, then, we who believe in the
miraculous conception ought not to censure our brethren in profession
for having a different opinion from ours, and especially as we have no
knowledge of the subject in any wise, but from history and tradition.
Surely, then, both parties are very far off the true Christian
foundation for keeping up the controversy, inasmuch as it never has had
the least tendency to gather on the one hand or the other, but always
to scatter and divide, and still has the same baneful tendency."
The reader will not fail to consider that at this late period Elias
Hicks reiterates his personal belief in the miraculous conception,
although the "testimony" of disownment against him charged that he
was "endeavoring to destroy a belief in that doctrine." Whatever may
have been his belief regarding the matter, it is clear that he did not
consider acceptance or rejection of the doctrine a determining quality
in maintaining a really Christian fellowship.
CHAPTER XXII.
After the "Separation."
A letter dated Solebury, Pa., Sixth month 21, 1828, told of some
experiences on his last western trip. It was addressed to his
son-in-law, Valentine Hicks. On the journey from Jericho to New York,
Elias was very much annoyed, if not vexed, by the crowds of "vain and
foolish people coming from the city and its suburbs to see horses
trot." "How ridiculous and insignificant," he says, "is such foolish
conduct for professed rational beings! I can scarcely conceive in
thought an epithet degrading enough to give a just estimate of such
irrational conduct."
The "separation" had just been accomplished in the New York Yearly
Meeting, and as this was the first visit he had made to the local
meetings and Friendly neighborhoods since that event, it is a matter
of interest to learn from his own hand how he was received by Friends
in the meetings. Rose and Hester Street Meetings, in New York, were
attended the First-day after leaving home. Elias says, in the letter
mentioned: "They were both large, solemn meetings, showing evidently
the comfort and benefit Friends have derived from the orthodox
troubles, (they) having separated themselves from us." This may have
been the superficial view of many who were prominent in sustaining
Elias Hicks. They failed to see, as did their opponents, that the
"separation" no matter which side went off, was a violation of the real
spirit of Quakerism. It was an unfortunate acknowledgment that "unity
of the spirit" was a failure, if it required absolute uniformity of
doctrine for its maintenance.
Passing over to New Jersey, he reports universal kindly treatment. In
this particular he remarks:
"Indeed we have found nothing in the least degree to discourage or
impede our progress, unless it be an excess of kindness from our
friends, who can hardly give us up to pass on, without favoring
them with a visit in their own houses. And not only Friends, but
many who are not members manifest much friendly regard and respect.
On Fourth-day we attended Friends' Monthly Meeting for Rahway and
Plainfield held at Plainfield, Friends having given their neighbors
notice of our intention to be there, it was largely attended by those
of other professions, and some of the orthodox Friends', contrary
to the expectation of Friends also attended. It was truly a very
solemn and instructive good meeting, in which truth reigned. I was
truly comforted in the meeting for discipline in viewing Friends'
order, and the unity and harmony that prevailed, and the brotherly
condescension that was manifested in transacting their business."
Elias Hicks evidently possessed what might be called a grain of humor.
In Eleventh month, 1828, when practically all of the "separations" had
been accomplished, he wrote to his wife from Redstone, Pa. He had not
been getting letters from home as he desired, and especially was that
true regarding the much-valued missives from Jemima. He, therefore,
says, toward the end of this particular epistle: "If I do not
receive some direct account from home at one or both of these places
(Alexandria or Baltimore), I shall be ready to conclude that my friends
have forgotten me or turned orthodox."
Evidently there had been a readjustment of society conditions in this
neighborhood. He says: "Divers friends, whose names I have forgotten,
and some who have never seen thee, but love thee on my account, desired
to be affectionately remembered to thee. Indeed, love and harmony so
abound among Friends in these parts, and the more they are persecuted,
the more love abounds, insomuch that I have observed to them in some
places, that if they continued faithful to the openings of truth on the
mind, that they would so exalt the standard of love and light, that the
old adage would be renewed, 'See how the Quakers love one another.'"
Returning from the long western trip, considered in Chapter VI, Elias
was met in New York by his wife and daughter Elizabeth, where Westbury
Quarterly Meeting was attended. Many near and dear Friends greeted the
aged minister, inwardly, if not outwardly, congratulating him upon his
safe return home, and the labors so faithfully performed. In mentioning
the event, Elias says: "It was truly a season of mutual rejoicing,
and my spirit was deeply humbled under a thankful sense of the Lord's
preserving power and adorable mercy, in carrying me through and over
all opposition, both within and without. He caused all to work together
for good, and the promotion of his own glorious cause of truth and
righteousness in the earth, and landed me safe in the bosom of my dear
family and friends at home, and clothed my spirit with the reward of
sweet peace for all my labor and travail. Praises, everlasting high
praises be ascribed unto our God, for his mercy endureth forever."[190]
[190] "Journal," p. 425.
Dark days were approaching, and the heavy hand of a great sorrow was
about to be laid upon this strong man, who had buffeted many storms,
and who seemed now to be feeling a period of calm and quiet. But we
shall let Elias Hicks tell the details in his own words:
"Soon after my return from the aforesaid journey, I had to experience
a very severe trial and affliction in the removal of my dearly
beloved wife. She was taken down with a cold, and although, for a
number of days, we had no anticipation of danger from her complaint,
yet about five days after she was taken, the disorder appeared
to settle on her lungs, and it brought on an inflammation which
terminated in a dissolution of her precious life, on the ninth day
from the time she was taken ill. She had but little bodily pain, yet
as she became weaker, she suffered from shortness of breathing; but
before her close, she became perfectly tranquil and easy, and passed
away like a lamb, as though entering into a sweet sleep, without sigh
or groan, or the least bodily pain, on the 17th of Third month, 1829:
And her precious spirit, I trust and believe, has landed safely on
the angelic shore, 'where the wicked cease from troubling, and the
weary are at rest.' To myself, to whom she was a truly affectionate
wife, and to our children, whom she endeavored, by precept and
example, to train up in the paths of virtue, and to guard and keep
out of harm's way, her removal is a great and irreparable loss: and
nothing is left to us in that behalf, but a confident belief and an
unshaken hope, that our great loss is her still greater gain; and
although the loss and trial, as to all my external blessings, are
the greatest I have ever met with, or ever expect to have to endure,
yet I have a hope, that, though separated, I may be preserved from
mourning or complaining; and that I may continually keep in view
the unmerited favour dispensed to us, by being preserved together
fifty-eight years in one unbroken bond of endeared affection, which
seemed if possible to increase with time to the last moment of her
life; and which neither time nor distance can lessen or dissolve; but
in the spiritual relation I trust it will endure for ever, where all
the Lord's redeemed children are one in him, who is God over all, in
all, and through all, blessed forever. She was buried on the 19th,
and on this solemn occasion, the Lord, who is strength in weakness,
enabled me to bear a public and, I trust, a profitable testimony to
the virtues and excellences of her long and consistent life."[191]
[191] "Journal," p 425.
Regarding the funeral of Jemima Hicks, and its aftermath, rumor has
been more or less busy. That Elias spoke on this occasion is certain.
It was his eighty-first birthday. His remarks were undoubtedly in
harmony, both as to the matter and the hope of a future reunion, with
the extract printed above. There is in existence what purports to be
matter copied from a Poughkeepsie newspaper relating to this event. The
statement is supplemented by a "poem," entitled "Orthodox Reflections
on the Remarks Made by Elias Hicks at His Wife's Funeral." These verses
are both theological and savage. Elias is assured that, because of his
belief, he cannot hope to "rest in heaven," or meet his wife there.
What is strange, however, is that verses, signed "Elias Hicks," and in
reply to the poetical attack, are also given. The first-mentioned rhyme
may be genuine, as it voices an opinionated brutality and boldness
which was not uncommon in dealing with the future life eighty years
ago. But we can hardly imagine Elias Hicks being a "rhymster" under any
sort of provocation. If the two "poems" were ever printed, touching the
matter in question, some one besides Elias, undoubtedly is responsible
for the rejoinder.
Near the 1st of Sixth month, and a little more than three months after
the death of his wife, Elias Hicks started on his last religious
visit. His concern took him to the meetings and neighborhoods within
the limits of his own Yearly Meeting. Nothing unusual is reported on
this visit until Dutchess County was reached. All of the meetings
were reported satisfactory. Of the meetings at West Branch, Creek and
Crum-Elbow, Elias says:
"Although it was in the midst of harvest, such was the excitement
produced amongst the people by the opposition made by those of our
members who had gone off from us, and set up separate meetings, that
the people at large of other societies flocked to those meetings
in such numbers, that our meeting-houses were seldom large enough
to contain the assembled multitude; and we had abundant cause for
thanksgiving and gratitude to the blessed Author of all our mercies,
in condescending to manifest his holy presence, and causing it so to
preside as to produce a general solemnity, tendering and contriting
many minds, and comforting and rejoicing the upright in heart."[192]
[192] "Journal," p. 428.
Proceeding up the Hudson, arriving at Albany on Seventh-day, Eighth
month 1st, that evening a large meeting was held in the statehouse.
Those present represented the inhabitants generally of the capital
city. Many meetings were attended after leaving Albany, which have now
ceased to exist. In fact, few, if any, meetings then in existence were
missed on this journey. The 17th of Eighth month he was in Utica. Of
the meeting in that city, and at Bridgewater, he says:
"These were not so large as in some other places, neither was there
as much openness to receive our testimony as had generally been the
case elsewhere. Our opposing Friends had filled their heads with
so many strange reports, to which they had given credit without
examination, by which their minds were so strongly prejudiced
against me, that many in the compass of these two last meetings
were not willing to see me, nor hear any reasons given to show them
their mistakes, and that the reports they had heard were altogether
unfounded: however, I was favored to communicate the truth to those
who attended, so that they generally went away fully satisfied, and I
left them with peace of mind."[193]
[193] "Journal," p. 430.
In 1829, under date of Seventh month 9th, in a letter written at
Oblong, in Westchester County, New York, he expresses the feeling that
the meeting at Jericho sustains important relations to the branch of
Friends with which he was connected. The letter was written to his
children, Valentine and Abigail Hicks. In it he says:
"Although absent in body, yet my mind pretty often takes a sudden and
instantaneous excursion to Jericho, clothed with a desire that we
who constitute that monthly meeting, may keep our eye so single, to
the sure and immovable foundation of the light within, so as to be
entirely preserved from all fleshly reasonings, which if given way
to, in the least degree, ever has, and ever will, have a tendency to
divide in Jacob and scatter in Israel. I consider that much depends
upon the course we take in our monthly meeting, as we are much looked
up to as an example and if we make but a small miss, it may do much
harm."
Twelfth month 15, 1829, Elias Hicks wrote to his friend Johnson Legg,
evidently in reply to one asking advice in regard to his own conduct
in relation to the "separation." In this letter Elias says: "In the
present interrupted and disturbed state of our once peaceful and
favoured Society, it requires great deliberation and humble waiting on
the Lord for counsel before we move forward on the right hand or the
left. Had this been the case with our brethren of this yearly meeting
who style themselves orthodox, I very much doubt if there would have
been any separation among us. For although the chief cause thereof is
placed to my account, yet I am confident I have given no just cause for
it."
This statement undoubtedly expresses the real feeling of Elias Hicks
regarding the "separation." He could not see why what he repeatedly
called "mere opinions" should cause a rupture in the Society. It will
be noted that he still refers to the other Friends as "our brethren,"
and he, apparently, had no ill-will toward them. The letter from which
this extract was taken was written only about two months before his
death, and was undoubtedly his last written word on the unfortunate
controversy, and the trouble that grew out of it.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Friendly and Unfriendly Critics.
Few men in their day were more talked about than Elias Hicks. The
interest in his person and in his preaching continued for years after
his death. While the discussion ceased to be warm long years ago,
his name is one which men of so-called liberal thought still love to
conjure with, without very clearly knowing the reason why. Some clearer
light may be thrown upon his life, labor and character by a brief
review of opinions of those who criticised him as friends, and some
of them as partisans, and those who were his open enemies, for the
theological atmosphere had not yet appeared in which he could be even
approximately understood by the men of the old school.
We shall begin the collection of criticisms by quoting Edward
Hicks,[194] who wrote a comparatively judicial estimate of his friend
and kinsman. After stating that even the apostles had their weak side,
that Tertullian "was led into a foolish extreme by the fanatical
notions of Montanus;" and that Origen "did immense mischief to the
cause of primitive Christianity by his extreme attachment to the
Platonic philosophy, scholastic divinity and human learning," he
remarks:
[194] Edward Hicks, a relative of Elias Hicks, was born in Attleboro,
Pa., Fourth month 4, 1780. His mother passed away when he was an
infant, and he was cared for in his early youth by Elizabeth Twining,
a friend of his mother. When a young man, he became a member of
Middletown Monthly Meeting in Bucks County by request. He began
speaking in meeting when about thirty years of age, and was a little
later recorded as a minister. Edward Hicks for many years carried on
the business of carriage maker and painter at Newtown, Pa. Although
much more orthodox in doctrine than his celebrated kinsman, he was one
of the most ardent friends and defenders of Elias Hicks.
"Therefore, it is among the possible circumstances that dear Elias
was led to an extreme in the Unitarian speculation, while opposing
the Trinitarian, then increasing among Friends, and now almost
established among our orthodox Friends. But I have no recollection
of ever hearing him in public testimony, and I have heard him
much, when his speculative views or manner of speaking, destroyed
the savour of life that attended his ministry, or gave me any
uneasiness. But I have certainly heard to my sorrow, too many of his
superficial admirers that have tried to copy after him, pretending
to wear his crown, without knowing anything of his cross, make
use of the naked term, Jesus, both in public and private, till it
sounded in my ears as unpleasant, as if coming from the tongue of
the profane swearer; and on the other hand, I have been pained to
hear the unnecessary repetition of the terms, our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, from those I verily believed Elias's bitter enemies,
especially the English preachers, and have scarcely a doubt that
they were substantially breaking the third commandment. And I will
now add my opinion fearlessly, that Elias was wrong in entering into
that quibbling controversy with those weak Quakers, alluded to in
his letter, about the marvellous conception and parentage of Christ,
a delicate and inexplicable subject, that seems to have escaped the
particular attention of what we call the darker ages, to disgrace the
highest professors of the nineteenth century."[195]
[195] "Memoirs of Life and Religious Labors of Edward Hicks," p. 92.
An independent, and in the main, a judicial critic of Quakers
and Quakerism is Frederick Storrs Turner, an Englishman. Some of
his estimates and observations of Elias Hicks, are both apt and
discriminating. Of his preaching Turner says:
"His great theme was the light within; his one aim to promote a
true living spiritual, practical Christianity. He was more dogmatic
and controversial than Woolman. There seems to have been in him a
revival of the old aggressive zeal, and something of the acerbity
of the early Quakers. 'Hireling priests' were as offensive in his
eyes as in those of George Fox. He would have no compromise with the
religions of the world, and denounced all new-fangled methods and
arrangements for religious work and worship in the will of man. He
was a Quaker to the backbone, and stood out manfully for the 'ancient
simplicity.'"[196]
[196] "The Quakers;" a study, historical and critical, by Frederick
Storrs Turner, 1889, p. 292.
With still deeper insight Turner continues his analysis:
"This was his dying testimony: 'The cross of Christ is the perfect
law of God, written in the heart ... there is but one Lord, one
faith, and but one baptism.... No rational being can be a real
Christian and true disciple of Christ until he comes to know all
these things verified in his own experience.' He was a good man, a
true Christian, and a Quaker of the Quakers. His very errors were
the errors of a Quaker, and since the generation of the personal
disciples of George Fox it would be difficult to point out any man
who had a simpler and firmer faith in the central truth of Quakerism
than Elias Hicks."[197]
[197] The same, p. 293.
Regarding some of the bitter criticisms uttered against Elias Hicks
at the time of the controversy in the second decade of the nineteenth
century, and repeated by the biographers and advocates of some of his
opponents, Turner says:
"This concensus of condemnation by such excellent Christian men would
blast Hicks's character effectually, were it not for the remembrance
that we have heard these shrieks of pious horror before. Just so did
Faldo and Baxter, Owen and Bunyan, unite in anathematizing George Fox
and the first Quakers. Turning from these invectives of theological
opponents to Hicks's own writings, we at once discover that this
arch-heretic was a simple, humble-minded, earnest Quaker of the old
school."[198]
[198] The same, p. 291.
James Mott, Sr., of Mamaroneck, N. Y., was among the friendly, although
judicial critics of Elias Hicks. In a letter written Eighth month 5,
1805, to Elias, he said: "I am satisfied that the master hath conferred
on thee a precious gift in the ministry, and I have often sat with
peculiar satisfaction in hearing thee exercise it." He then continues,
referring to a special occasion:
"But when thou came to touch on predestination, and some other
erroneous doctrines, I thought a little zeal was suffered to take
place, that led into much censoriousness, and that expressed in
harsh expressions, not only against the doctrines, but those who had
embraced them.... I have often thought if ministers, when treating on
doctrinal points, or our belief, were to hold up our principles fully
and clearly, and particularly our fundamental principle of the light
within, what it was, and how it operates, there would very seldom be
occasion for declamation against other tenets, however opposite to
our own; nor never against those who have through education or some
other medium embraced them."
This would seem to be as good advice at the beginning of the twentieth
century as it was in the first years of the nineteenth.
In the matter of estimating Elias Hicks, Walt Whitman indulged in
the following criticism, supplementing an estimate of his preaching.
Dealing with some opinions of the contemporaries of Elias Hicks, he
says:
"They think Elias Hicks had a large element of personal ambition,
the pride of leadership, of establishing perhaps a sect that should
reflect his own name, and to which he should give special form and
character. Very likely, such indeed seems the means all through
progress and civilization, by which strong men and strong convictions
achieve anything definite. But the basic foundation of Elias was
undoubtedly genuine religious fervor. He was like an old Hebrew
prophet. He had the spirit of one, and in his later years looked like
one."[199]
[199] "The Complete Works of Walt Whitman," Vol. 3, p. 269-270.
It is not worth while to deny that Elias Hicks was ambitious, and
desired to secure results in his labor. But those who carefully go over
his recorded words will find little to warrant the literal conclusion
of his critics in this particular. He probably had no idea at any time
of founding a sect, or perpetuating his name attached to a fragment
of the Society of Friends, either large or small. He believed that he
preached the truth; he wanted men to embrace it, as it met the divine
witness in their own souls, and not otherwise.
Among the severe critics of Elias Hicks is William Tallack, who in his
book "Thomas Shillitoe," says that "many of Elias Hicks' assertions
are too blasphemous for quotation," while W. Hodgson, refers to the
"filth" of the sentiments of Elias Hicks. But both these Friends use
words rather loosely. Both must employ their epithets entirely in a
theological, and not a moral sense. Having gone over a large amount of
the published and private utterances of the Jericho preacher, we have
failed to find in them even an impure suggestion. The bitterness of
their attacks, simply illustrates the bad spirit in which theological
discussion is generally conducted.
The fame of Elias Hicks as a liberalizing influence in religion seems
to have reached the Orient. Under date, "Calcutta, June 29, 1827," the
celebrated East Indian, Rammohun Roy,[200] addressed an appreciative
letter to him. It was sent by a Philadelphian, J. H. Foster, of the
ship Georgian, and contained the following expressions:
[200] Rammohun Roy was born in Bengal in 1772, being a high-class
Brahmin. He was highly educated, and at one time in the employ of the
English Government. In comparatively early life he became a religious
and social reformer, and incurred the enmity of his family. He
published various works in different languages, including English. In
1828 he founded a liberal religious association which grew into the
Brahmo Somaj. Roy visited England in 1831, and died there in 1833.
"My object in intruding on your time is to express the gratification
I have felt in reading the sermons you preached at different
meetings, and which have since been published by your friends in
America.... Every sentence found there seems to have proceeded
not only from your lips, but from your heart. The true spirit of
Christian charity and belief flows from thee and cannot fall short of
making some impression on every heart which is susceptible of it. I
hope and pray God may reward you for your pious life and benevolent
exertion, and remain with the highest reverence.
"Your most humble servant,
"RAMMOHUN ROY."
A copy of what purports to be a reply to this letter is in existence,
and is probably genuine, as the language is in accordance with the
well-known ideas of Elias Hicks. Besides, an undated personal letter
contains a direct reference to the East Indian correspondence. From it
we quote: "I take my pen to commune with thee in this way on divers
accounts, and first in regard to a letter I have recently received from
Calcutta, subscribed by Rammohun Roy, author of a book entitled, 'The
Precepts of Jesus, a Guide to Peace and Happiness.'"[201]
[201] From letter written to William Wharton of Philadelphia.
A request is made that William Wharton will find out if the
ship-master, Foster, mentioned above, would convey a letter to
Calcutta. Then Elias expresses himself as follows:
"I also feel a lively interest in whatever relates to the welfare and
progress of that enlightened and worthy Hindoo, believing that if he
humbly attends to that hath begun a good work in him, and is faithful
to its manifestations that he will not only witness the blessed
effects of it, in his own preservation and salvation, but will be
made an instrument in the divine hand of much good to his own people,
and nation, by spreading the truth, and opening the right way of
salvation among them, which may no doubt prove a great and singular
blessing not only to the present, but to succeeding generations. And
also be a means of opening the blind eyes of formal traditional
Christians, who make a profession of godliness, but deny the power
thereof, especially those blind guides, mere man-made ministers, and
self-styled missionaries, sent out by Bible and missionary societies
of man's constituting, under the pretence of converting those, who
in the pride of their hearts they call Heathen, to Christianity,
while at the same time, judging them by their fruits they themselves,
or most of them, stand in as great, or greater need, of right
conversion."
Among the present-day critics of Elias Hicks, is Dr. J. Rendell Harris,
of England. In his paper at the Manchester Conference in 1895, this
quotation from Elias Hicks is given: "God never made any distinction
in the manifestation of his love to his rational creatures. He has
placed every son and daughter of Adam on the same ground and in the
same condition that our first parents were in. For every child must
come clean out of the hands of God."[202] Doctor Harris says Elias
Hicks "was wrong not simply because he was unscriptural, but because
he was unscientific."[203] Doctor Harris prefaces this remark by the
following comment on the quotation from Elias Hicks: "Now suppose such
a doctrine to be propounded in this conference would not the proper
answer, the answer of any modern thinker, be (1) that we never had
any first parents; (2) we were demonstrably not born good."[204] We
do not at all assume that Elias Hicks had no limitations, or that he
was correct at all points in his thinking, measured by the standards
of present-day knowledge or any other standard. But we must claim that
in holding that we had first parents, he was scriptural. The poor
man, however, seems to have been, unconsciously, of course, between
two stools. The orthodox Friends in the early part of the nineteenth
century claimed that Elias was unsound because he did not cling to
the letter of the scripture, and his critic just quoted claims that
he was unscientific although he used a scriptural term. Doctor Harris
then concludes that "a little knowledge of evolution would have saved
him (Hicks) all that false doctrine." But how, in his time, could he
have had any knowledge of evolution? A man can hardly be criticised
for not possessing knowledge absolutely unavailable in his day and
generation. We are then informed "that the world at any given instant,
shows almost every stage of evolution of life, from the amoeba to the
man, and from the cannibal to the saint. Shall we say that the love of
God is equally manifested in all these?"[205] To use the Yankee answer
by asking another question, may we inquire, in all seriousness, who is
qualified to say with certainty that it is not so manifested? Who has
the authority, in the language of Whittier, to
... "fix with metes and bounds
The love and power of God?"
[202] "Report of the Proceedings of the Conference of Members of
the Society of Friends, held by Direction of the Yearly Meeting in
Manchester," 1895, p. 220.
[203] The same, p. 220.
[204] We do not hesitate to say that had Elias Hicks made this
statement he would have suffered more at the hands of the Philadelphia
Elders in 1822 than is recorded in this book.
[205] Report Manchester Conference, pp. 220-221.
Elias Hicks was given to using figures of speech and scriptural
illustrations in a broad sense, and those who carefully read his
utterances will have no trouble in seeing in the quotation used
by Doctor Harris simply an attempt to repudiate the attribute of
favoritism on the part of the Heavenly Father toward any of his human
children, and not to formulate a new philosophy of life, based on a
theory of the universe about which he had never heard.
The special labor of Elias Hicks, as we may now dispassionately review
it, was not as an expounder of doctrine, or the creator of a new
dogmatism, but as a rationalizing, liberalizing influence in the field
of religion. He was a pioneer of the "modern thinkers" of whom Doctor
Harris speaks, and did much, amid misunderstanding and the traducing
of men, to prepare the way for the broader intellectual and spiritual
liberty we now enjoy.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Recollections, Reminiscences and Testimonies.
Many statements which have come down to us from the generation in which
Elias Hicks lived, warrant the conclusion that he was a natural orator.
He possessed in a large degree what the late Bishop Simpson, of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, called "heart power." We are able to give
the personal impression of a venerable Friend[206] now living, who as a
boy of eleven heard Elias preach twice.
[206] Dr. Jesse C. Green, of West Chester, Pa., now in his 93d year.
Doctor Green almost retains the sprightliness of youth.
One of the sermons was delivered at Center, Del., on the 8th of Twelfth
month, 1828, and the other the day before at West Chester. This was on
his last long religious visit, which took him to the then "far west,"
Ohio and Indiana.
Doctor Green says that the manner of Elias Hicks when speaking was very
impressive. In person he is described by this Friend "as above medium
height, rather slim, and with a carriage that would attract universal
attention." He wore very plain clothes of a drab color.
With no education in logic, and no disposition to indulge in forensic
debate, he was, nevertheless a logician, and had he indulged in public
disputation, would have made it interesting if not uncomfortable for
his adversary.
If he occasionally became involved, or got into verbal deep water, he
always extricated himself, and made his position clear to his hearers.
Doctor Green tells us that he had an uncle, not a member of meeting,
but a good judge of public speaking, who considered Elias Hicks the
most logical preacher in the Society of Friends. On one occasion he
heard Elias when he became very much involved in his speaking, and as
this person put it, he thought Elias had "wound himself up," but in a
few minutes he came down from his verbal flight, and made every point
so clear that he was understood by every listener.
Henry Byran Binns, Whitman's English biographer, gives the following
estimate of the preaching of Elias Hicks:
"With grave emphasis he pronounced his text: 'What is the chief end
of man?' and with fiery and eloquent eyes, in a strong, vibrating,
and still musical voice, he commenced to deliver his soul-awakening
message. The fire of his fervor kindled as he spoke of the purpose of
human life; his broad-brim was dashed from his forehead on to one of
the seats behind him. With the power of intense conviction his whole
presence became an overwhelming persuasion, melting those who sat
before him into tears and into one heart of wonder and humility under
his high and simple words."[207]
[207] "A Life of Walt Whitman," Henry Byran Binns, p. 16.
We have another living witness who remembers Elias Hicks. This Friend
says that she, with the members of her family, were constant attenders
of the Jericho meeting. Speaking of Elias she remarks: "His commanding
figure in the gallery is a bright picture I often see in my mind. His
person was tall, straight and firm; his manner dignified and noble
and agreeable; his voice clear, distinct and penetrating--altogether
grand."[208]
[208] Extract of letter from Mary Willis, of Rochester, N. Y., dated
Ninth month 7, 1910. This Friend is 92 years old. The letter received
was entirely written by her, and is a model of legible penmanship and
clear statement.
We quote the following interesting incidents from the letter of Mary
Willis:
"One other bit I recall was a talk, or sermon, to the young
especially. He related that once he threw a stone and killed a bird,
and was struck with consternation and regret at killing an innocent
bird that might be a parent, and its young perish for the need of
care. He appealed feelingly to the boys to refrain from giving
needless pain.
"He was guardian to my mother, sisters and brother, and they and
their mother returned his loving care with warm affection, always, as
did my father.
"One of his characteristics was his kindness to the poor. Not far
from his home (three miles, perhaps) was a small colony of colored
people on poor land, who shared his bounty in cold, wintry weather,
in his wagon loads of vegetables and wood, delivered by his own hand."
Probably one of the most appreciative, and in the main discriminative
estimates of Elias Hicks, was made by Walt Whitman. The "notes (such
as they are) founded on Elias Hicks," for such the author called them,
were written in Camden, N. J., in the summer of 1888. Elias Hicks had
been dead nearly half a century. Whitman's impressions of the famous
preacher were based on the memory of a boy ten years old, for that
was Whitman's age when he heard Elias Hicks preach in Brooklyn. But
personal memory was supplemented by the statements of his parents,
especially his mother, as the preaching of their old Long Island
neighbor was undoubtedly a subject of frequent conversation in the
Whitman home.
As to the manner of the preacher Whitman says: "While he goes on he
falls into the nasality and sing-song tone sometimes heard in such
meetings; but in a moment or two, more as if recollecting himself, he
breaks off, stops, and resumes in a natural tone. This occurs three or
four times during the talk of the evening, till he concludes."[209]
[209] "The Complete Works of Walt Whitman," Vol. 3, p. 259.
The "unnamable something behind oratory," Whitman says Elias Hicks had,
and it "emanated from his very heart to the heart of his audience,
or carried with him, or probed into, and shook or aroused in them a
sympathetic germ."[210]
[210] The same, p. 264.
There are a good many anecdotes regarding Elias Hicks current in
Jericho, going to show some of his characteristics. It is stated that
at one time he found that corn was being taken, evidently through the
slats of the crib. One night he set a trap in the suspected place.
Going to the barn in the morning he saw a man standing near where the
trap was set. Elias passed on without seeming to notice the visitor. On
returning to the house he stopped, spoke to the man, and released him
from the trap. Elias would never tell who the man was.
Illustrating his feeling regarding slavery, and his testimony against
slave labor, the following statement is made: Before his death, and
following the fatal paralytic stroke, he noticed that the quilt with
which he was covered contained cotton. He had lost the power of speech,
but he pushed the covering off, thus indicating his displeasure at the
presence of an article of comfort which was the product of slave labor.
There is an anecdote which illustrates the spirit of the man in a
striking way. He is said to have had a neighbor with whom it did not
seem possible to maintain cordial relations. One day Elias saw this
neighbor with a big load of hay stalled in a marsh in one of his
fields. Without a word of recognition Elias approached the man in the
slough and hitching his own ox team to the load in front of the other
team proceeded to pull the load out of the slough. It was all done in
characteristic Quaker silence. The result was the establishment of
cordial relations between the two neighbors.
In bestowing his benefactions, he was exceedingly sensitive, not
wishing to be known in the matter, and especially not desiring to
receive ordinary expressions of gratitude. His habitual custom was
to take his load of wood or provisions, as the case might be, leave
them at the door or in the yard of the family in need, and without
announcement or comment silently steal away.
During the Revolutionary War, Elias Hicks, in common with other
Friends, had property seized in lieu of military service or taxes. The
value does not seem to have been great in any of the cases which were
reported to the monthly meeting. We copy the following cases from the
records:
"On the 28th of Eighth month, 1777, came Justice Maloon, Robert
Wilson, Daniel Wilson, and Daniel Weeks, sergeant under the above
Captain (Youngs) and took from me a pair of silver buckles, worth
18 shillings; two pair of stockings worth 15 shillings; and two
handkerchiefs worth 5 shillings, for my not going at the time of an
alarm.--Elias Hicks, Jericho, 24th of Ninth month, 1777."[211]
[211] Westbury Monthly Meeting: "A Record of Marriages, Deaths,
Sufferings, etc.," p. 231.
The "silver buckles" were either for the shoes or the knees. They were
evidently more ornamental than useful, and how they comported with the
owner's rather severe ideas of plainness is not for us to explain.
The price put on these stockings may surprise some twentieth century
reader, but it should be remembered that they were long to reach to the
knees, and went with short breeches called in the vernacular of the
time, "small clothes."
"The 3d of Twelfth month, 1777, there came to my house George Weeks,
sergeant under said Captain (Thorne) with a warrant, and demanded
twelve shillings of me toward paying some men held to repair the
forts near the west end of the island, and upon my refusing to pay,
took from me a great coat, worth one pound and six shillings.--Elias
Hicks."[212]
[212] The same, p. 234.
We continue the "sufferings," only remarking that the "great coat" was
an overcoat, the price at the equivalent of about six dollars and a
half was not overdrawn.
"The Sixth month, 1778, taken from Elias Hicks by order of Captain
Daniel Youngs, for refusing to pay toward hiring of men to work on
fortifications near Brooklyn Ferry, a pair of stockings worth 5
shillings; razor case and two razors, worth 4 shillings."[213]
[213] The same, p. 242.
The next record of "suffering" is more than ordinarily interesting in
that it shows that the seizures of property were very arbitrary, and it
also gives the price of wheat on Long Island at that time. We quote:
"About the middle of Tenth month, 1779, came George Weeks, by order
of Captain Daniel Youngs, and I being from home demanded from my wife
three pounds, for not assisting to build a fort at Brooklyn Ferry,
for which he took two bags with three bushels of wheat, worth one
pound, ten shillings."[214]
[214] The same, p. 254.
At this rate the market price of wheat was $2.50 per bushel. Possibly
this was during the period of scarcity, referred to in the introduction.
In 1794 Elias Hicks was influential in establishing in Jericho an
organization, the scope of which was described in its preamble as
follows: "We, the subscribers, do hereby associate and unite into a
Society of Charity for the relief of poor among the black people, more
especially for the education of their children."[215]
[215] This organization has been in continuous existence since its
inception. Meets regularly every year, and distributes the proceeds of
an invested fund in accordance with its original purpose.
This society was almost revolutionary at the time of its inception,
showing how far-seeing its projectors were. Its constitution declared
that the society was rendered necessary because of the injustice and
lack of opportunity which the colored people suffered. The hope was
expressed that the time would come when the black people would cease
to be a submerged and oppressed race. It was provided that in case the
original need for the society should disappear, its benefits might be
distributed in any helpful way. It may be interesting to note that at
the meetings of the society the scarcity of colored children attending
the school was mentioned with regret. So far as we know, the Jericho
society was the first organized Friendly effort in negro education.
Elias Hicks contributed $50 to the invested funds of the organization.
CHAPTER XXV.
Putting Off the Harness.
During the series of visits, reported in the twenty-second chapter,
Elias was ill a number of times, and was forced to rest from his
labors. On the return trip from central and western New York, he
visited for the last time the Hudson Valley meetings which he attended
on his first religious journey in 1779.
He arrived in New York the 8th of Eleventh month, attending the
mid-week meeting at Hester Street that day. On First-day, the 15th,
he attended the Rose Street meeting in the morning and Hester Street
in the afternoon. Second-day evening, the 16th, a largely attended
appointed meeting was held in Brooklyn. He then proceeded toward
Jericho, arriving home on Fourth-day, the 18th of Eleventh month, 1829.
The "Journal" is singularly silent regarding this Brooklyn meeting.
Henry Byran Binns, on what he considers good authority, says, "Elias
Hicks preached in the ball-room of Morrison's Hotel on Brooklyn
Heights." To this statement he has added this bit of realistic
description:
"The scene was one he (Whitman) never forgot. The finely fitted
and fashionable place of dancing, the officers and gay ladies in
that mixed and crowded assembly, the lights, the colors and all the
associations, both of the faces and of the place, presenting so
singular contrast with the plain ancient Friends seated upon the
platform, their broad-brims on their heads, their eyes closed; with
silence, long continued and becoming oppressive; and most of all,
with the tall, prophetic figure that rose at length to break it."[216]
[216] "A Life of Walt Whitman," p. 16.
Whitman's own reference to this meeting is still more striking. He says
that he, a boy of ten, was allowed to go to the Hicks meeting because
he "had been behaving well that day." The "principal dignitaries of the
town" attended this meeting, while uniformed officers from the United
States Navy Yard graced the gathering with their presence. The text
was, "What is the chief end of man?" Whitman says: "I cannot follow the
discourse, it presently becomes very fervid and in the midst of its
fervor, he takes the broad-brim hat from his head and almost dashing
it down with violence on the seat behind, continues with uninterrupted
earnestness. Though the differences and disputes of the formal division
of the Society of Friends were even then under way, he did not allude
to them at all. A pleading, tender, nearly agonizing conviction and
magnetic stream of natural eloquence, before which all minds and
natures, all emotions, high or low, gentle or simple, yielded entirely
without exception, was its cause, method and effect. Many, very many,
were in tears."[217]
[217] "The Complete Writings of Walt Whitman." Issued under the
editorial supervision of his Literary Executors, 1902, Vol. 3, p. 258.
With the account of this journey of 1829 his narrative in the "Journal"
closed. This paragraph formed a fitting benediction:
"The foregoing meetings were times of favor, and as a seal from the
hand of our gracious and never-failing helper, to the labor and
travail which he has led me into, and enabled me to perform, for the
promotion of this great and noble cause of truth and righteousness in
the earth, as set forth in the foregoing account, and not suffering
any weapon formed against me to prosper. 'This is the heritage of
the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith
the Lord.' For all these unmerited favors and mercies, in deep
humiliation my soul doth magnify the Lord, and return thanksgiving
and glory to his great and excellent name; for his mercy endureth
forever."[218]
[218] "Journal," p. 438.
It should be remembered that Elias Hicks was then past his eighty-first
year. He started on this last long religious visit, Sixth month 24th,
and was therefore absent from home one week less than five months.
He says himself, in the last sentence of the "Journal": "We traveled
in this journey nearly fifteen hundred miles." These are words as
impressive as they are simple.
During this trip many families were visited from the Valley of the
Genesee to the City of New York, where he tarried several days that he
might see his friends in their homes. Whatever may have been their mind
in the case, he doubtless felt that they would look upon his face no
more.
But Elias Hicks was not yet free from his religious concerns, for on
First month 21, 1830, he asked for a minute, which was granted by
Jericho Monthly Meeting, and is as follows:
"Our beloved Friend, Elias Hicks, presented a concern to make
a religious visit to the families of Friends and some Friendly
people (as way may open), within the compass of this and Westbury
Monthly Meeting, which claimed the solid attention of this meeting,
was united with, and he left at liberty to pursue his prospect
accordingly."
This is the last minute ever asked for by Elias Hicks. But evidently
the visits contemplated were never undertaken, for about that time he
had a slight attack of paralysis, which affected his right side and
arm. Still the next day he attended a meeting at Bethpage, and a little
later quarterly and monthly meetings in New York. In both he performed
ministerial service with his usual power and clearness. From a little
brochure printed in 1829, we quote:
"In the Monthly Meeting, he took a review of his labors in the city
for many years; and then expressed a belief that his religious
services were brought nearly to a close.
"After adverting to the great deviations that had taken place in the
Society, from that plainness and simplicity into which our principles
would lead us, he added, 'but if I should live two or three years
longer, what a comfort it would be to me to see a reformation in
these respects.' He then spoke in commemoration of the goodness of
his Heavenly Father, and closed with these memorable words: 'As
certainly as we are engaged to glorify him in all our works, he will
as certainly glorify us.'"[219]
[219] "Life, Ministry, Last Sickness and Death of Elias Hicks,"
Philadelphia, J. Richards, printer, 130 North Third Street.
But the time of putting off the harness was near at hand. On the 14th
of Second month, 1830, he suffered a severe attack of paralysis which
involved the entire right side, and deprived him of the use of his
voice. When attacked he was alone in his room, but succeeded in getting
to his family in an adjoining apartment. He declined all medical aid.
In a condition of helplessness he lingered until Seventh-day the 27th,
when he quietly passed away. Although he could only communicate by
signs, consciousness remained until near the end.
The funeral was held in the meeting house at Jericho, on Fourth-day,
Third month 3d. Without a storm raged in strange contrast to the
peace and quiet within. A large company braved the elements, to
pay their respects to his worth, as a man and a minister, while a
number of visiting ministering Friends had sympathetic service at the
funeral, after which the burial took place in the ground adjoining the
meeting-house, where he had long worshipped and ministered.
The last act performed by Elias Hicks before the fatal stroke came, was
to write a letter to his friend Hugh Judge,[220] of Barnesville, Ohio.
Between the two men a singular sympathy had long existed, and to Hugh,
Elias unburdened his spirit in this last word to the world. In fact the
letter fell from the hand of the writer, after the shock. It was all
complete with signature and postscript.
[220] Hugh Judge was born about 1750 of Catholic parents. Joined
Friends in his young manhood in Philadelphia. Removed to Ohio in 1815.
Died Twelfth month 21, 1834. He died while on a religious visit to
Friends in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Was buried at Kennett Square.
He was a recorded minister for many years.
This letter really summarizes the doctrine, and states the practical
religion which inspired the ministry and determined the life and
conduct of this worthy Friend. It may be well, with its suggestive
postscript, to close this record of the life and labors of Elias Hicks:
"Jericho, Second month 14th, 1830.
"Dear Hugh: Thy very acceptable letter of the 21st ultimo was
duly received, and read with interest, tending to excite renewed
sympathetic and mutual fellow-feeling; and brought to my remembrance
the cheering salutation of the blessed Jesus, our holy and perfect
pattern and example, to his disciples, viz: 'Be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world.' By which he assured his disciples, that, by
walking in the same pathway of self-denial and the cross, which he
trod to blessedness, they might also overcome the world; as nothing
has ever enabled any rational being, in any age of the world, to
overcome the spirit of the world, which lieth in wickedness, but the
cross of Christ.
"Some may query, what is the cross of Christ? To these I answer, it
is the perfect law of God, written on the tablet of the heart, and in
the heart of every rational creature, in such indelible characters
that all the power of mortals cannot erase nor obliterate. Neither is
there any power or means given or dispensed to the children of men,
but this inward law and light, by which the true and saving knowledge
of God can be obtained. And by this inward law and light, all will
be either justified or condemned, and all be made to know God for
themselves, and be left without excuse; agreeably to the prophecy
of Jeremiah, and the corroborating testimony of Jesus in his last
counsel and command to his disciples, not to depart from Jerusalem
until they should receive power from on high; assuring them that they
should receive power when they had received the pouring forth of the
spirit upon them, which would qualify them to bear witness to him in
Judea, Jerusalem, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth;
which was verified in a marvellous manner on the day of Pentecost,
when thousands were converted to the Christian faith in one day. By
which it is evident that nothing but this inward light and law, as
it is heeded and obeyed, ever did, or ever can make a true and real
Christian and child of God. And until the professors of Christianity
agree to lay aside all their non-essentials in religion, and rally
to this unchangeable foundation and standard of truth, wars and
fightings, confusion and error will prevail, and the angelic song
cannot be heard in our land, that of 'glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace and good will to men.' But when all nations are
made willing to make this inward law and light the rule and standard
of all their faith and works, then we shall be brought to know and
believe alike, that there is but one Lord, one faith, and but one
baptism; one God and Father, that is above all, through all, and
in all; and then will all those glorious and consoling prophecies,
recorded in the scriptures of truth, be fulfilled. Isaiah 2:4. 'He,'
the Lord, 'shall judge among the nations, and rebuke many people; and
they shall beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears
into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation;
neither shall they learn war any more.' Isaiah 11. 'The wolf also
shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the
kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together;
and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall
feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall
eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole
of the asp, and the weaned child put his hand on the cockatrice's
den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for
the earth,' that is our earthly tabernacles, 'shall be full of the
knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.'
"These scripture testimonies give a true and correct description
of the gospel state, and no rational being can be a real Christian
and true disciple of Christ until he comes to know all these things
verified in his own experience, as every man and woman has more or
less of all those different animal propensities and passions in their
nature; and they predominate and bear rule, and are the source and
fountain from whence all wars, and every evil work, proceed, and
will continue as long as man remains in his first nature, and is
governed by his animal spirit and propensities, which constitute the
natural man, which Paul tells us, 'receiveth not the things of the
spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know
them, because they are spiritually discerned.' This corroborates the
declaration of Jesus to Nicodemus, that 'except a man be born again
he cannot see the kingdom of God;' for 'that which is born of the
flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.'
"Here Jesus assures us, beyond all doubt, that nothing but spirit
can either see or enter into the kingdom of God; and this confirms
Paul's doctrine, that 'as many as are led by the spirit of God are
the sons of God, and joint heirs with Christ.' And Jesus assures us,
by his declaration to his disciples, John 14:16-17; 'if ye love me
keep my commandments; and I will pray the Father and he shall give
you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever, even the
spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive;' that is, men and
women in their natural state, who have not given up to be led by
this spirit of truth, that leads and guides into all truth; 'because
they see him not, neither do they know him, but ye know him, for he
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.' And as these give up to be
wholly led and guided by him, the new birth is brought forth in them,
and they witness the truth of another testimony of Paul's, even that
of being 'created anew in Christ Jesus unto good works,' which God
had foreordained that all his new-born children should walk in them,
and thereby show forth, by their fruits and good works, that they
were truly the children of God, born of his spirit, and taught of
him; agreeably to the testimony of the prophet, that 'the children of
the Lord are all taught of the Lord, and in righteousness they are
established, and great is the peace of his children.' And nothing can
make them afraid that man can do unto them; as saith the prophet in
his appeal to Jehovah: 'Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose
mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.' Therefore let
every one that loves the truth, for God is truth, 'trust in the Lord
forever, for in the Lord Jehovah there is everlasting strength.'
"I write these things to thee, not as though thou didst not know
them, but as a witness to thy experience, as 'two are better than
one, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.'
"I will now draw to a close, with just adding, for thy
encouragement, be of good cheer, for no new thing has happened to
us; for it has ever been the lot of the righteous to pass through
many trials and tribulations in their passage to that glorious,
everlasting peace and happy abode, where all sorrow and sighing come
to an end; the value of which is above all price, for when we have
given all that we have, and can give, and suffered all that we can
suffer, it is still infinitely below its real value. And if we are
favored to gain an inheritance in that blissful and peaceful abode,
'where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest,'
we must ascribe it all to the unmerited mercy and loving kindness of
our Heavenly Father, who remains to be God over all, blessed forever!
"I will now conclude, and in the fulness of brotherly love to thee
and thine, in which my family unite, subscribe thy affectionate
friend,
"ELIAS HICKS.
"To Hugh Judge:
"Please present my love to all my friends as way opens."
APPENDIX.
A
DESCENDANTS OF ELIAS HICKS.
The only lineal descendants of Elias Hicks are through his daughters,
Abigail and Sarah. Abigail's husband, Valentine, was her cousin, and
Sarah's husband, Robert Seaman, was a relative on the mother's side.
Descendants of Valentine and Abigail Hicks.
CHILDREN OF THE ABOVE.
GRANDCHILDREN OF ELIAS HICKS.--Caroline, married Dr. William Seaman;
Phebe, married Adonijah Underhill (no children); Elias Hicks, married
Sarah Hicks; Mary (unmarried).
GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN OF ELIAS HICKS.
CHILDREN OF DR. WILLIAM SEAMAN AND CAROLINE HICKS.--Valentine Hicks
Seaman, married Rebecca Cromwell; Sarah Seaman, married Henry B.
Cromwell; Samuel Hicks Seaman, married Hannah Husband.
CHILDREN OF ELIAS HICKS AND SARAH HICKS.--Mary, married Peter B.
Franklin; Elias Hicks (unmarried), deceased; Caroline (unmarried),
deceased.
GREAT-GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN OF ELIAS HICKS.
CHILDREN OF VALENTINE H. AND REBECCA C. SEAMAN.--William, married
Addie W. Lobdell; Caroline (infant);[221] Henry B.,[222] married Grace
Dutton; Edwin H. (infant); Howard (unmarried), deceased; Valentine H.
(unmarried); Emily C. (unmarried); Frederic C., married Ethel Lobdell.
[221] Note--Those marked "(infant)" died in infancy. Those without
notation are under age and living.
[222] Henry B. Seaman is a graduate of Swarthmore College, class
of 1881, and received degree of C. E. in 1884. Was for three years
Chief Engineer of the Public Service Commission of Greater New York.
He resigned this position Tenth month 1, 1910, because he could
not approve estimates desired by the authorities. Since then these
estimates have been held up as excessive.
CHILDREN OF HENRY B. AND SARAH SEAMAN CROMWELL.--George[223]
(unmarried); Henry B. (unmarried), deceased.
[223] When Greater New York was incorporated George Cromwell was
elected President of the Borough of Richmond. Although this borough
is normally Democratic in its politics, George Cromwell has been
re-elected, and is the only president the borough has ever had. He and
Henry B. Seaman are double first cousins.
CHILDREN OF SAMUEL H. AND HANNAH H. SEAMAN.--Joseph H. (unmarried);
Caroline Hicks, married William A. Read; Mary T. (unmarried); Franklin
(unmarried), deceased; Sarah, married Lloyd Saltus.
CHILDREN OF PETER B. AND MARY HICKS FRANKLIN.--Anne M., married Walter
A. Campbell.
GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN OF ELIAS HICKS.
CHILDREN OF WILLIAM AND ADDIE SEAMAN.--Howard L. (unmarried); Jessie M.
(unmarried).
CHILDREN OF HENRY B. AND GRACE D. SEAMAN.--Ayres C.; Henry Bowman.
CHILDREN OF FREDERIC C. AND ETHEL L. SEAMAN.--Esther....
CHILDREN OF WILLIAM A. AND CAROLINE SEAMAN READ.--William Augustus;
Curtis Seaman; Duncan Hicks; R. Bartow; Caroline Hicks; Bancroft
(infant); Bayard W.; Mary Elizabeth; Kenneth B. (infant).
CHILDREN OF LLOYD AND SARAH SEAMAN SALTUS.--Mary Seaman; Ethel S.;
Seymour; Lloyd.
CHILDREN OF WALTER ALLISON AND ANNE M. FRANKLIN CAMPBELL.--Franklin
Allison; Mary Elizabeth.
Descendants of Robert Seaman and Sarah, Daughter of Elias Hicks.
CHILDREN OF THE ABOVE.
GRANDCHILDREN OF ELIAS HICKS.--Phebe (died); Hannah, married Matthew
F. Robbins; Willet (died); Elizabeth, married Edward Willis; Elias H.,
married Phebe Underhill; Willet H., married Mary Wing; Mary H., married
Isaac Willis.
GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN OF ELIAS HICKS.
CHILDREN OF HANNAH AND MATTHEW F. ROBBINS.--Caroline, married Sidney W.
Jackson; Walter, married Sarah E. Hubbs.
CHILDREN OF ELIZABETH AND EDWARD WILLIS.--Sarah R.; Mary S. (died);
Caroline H. (died); Henrietta, married Stephen J. Underhill.
CHILDREN OF ELIAS H. AND PHEBE SEAMAN.--Mary (died); Samuel J., married
Matilda W. Willets; Sarah (died); Anna; Robert, married Hannah W.
Willets; William H., married Margaret J. Laurie; James H., married (1)
Bessie Bridges; (2) Florence Haviland.
CHILDREN OF WILLET H. AND MARY SEAMAN.--Edward W.; Willet H.; Frank W.
CHILDREN OF MARY H. AND ISAAC WILLIS.--Henry, married June Barnes;
Robert S.
GREAT-GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN OF ELIAS HICKS.
SON OF CAROLINE AND SIDNEY W. JACKSON.--M. Franklin, married Annie T.
Jackson.
CHILDREN OF WALTER AND SARAH E. JACKSON.--Caroline J., married William
G. Underhill; Annie H., married Thomas Rushmore; Cora A., married John
Marshall.
CHILDREN OF HENRIETTA AND STEPHEN J. UNDERHILL.--Edward W., married
Emeline Kissam; Hannah W.; Henry T., married Dorothy Vernon; Arthur.
CHILDREN OF SAMUEL J. AND MATILDA W. SEAMAN.--Mary W., married Leon A.
Rushmore; Samuel J., married Ethelena T. Bogart; Anna Louise; Frederick
W.; Lewis V. (died).
DAUGHTER OF ROBERT AND HANNAH W. SEAMAN.--Phebe U.
CHILDREN OF WILLIAM H. AND MARGARET L. SEAMAN.--William Laurie; Faith
Frances (died).
CHILDREN OF JAMES H. AND BESSIE B. SEAMAN.--George B.; Elias Haviland.
CHILDREN OF JAMES H. AND FLORENCE H. SEAMAN.--Bertha Lucina; Willard
H.; Helen U.
GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN OF ELIAS HICKS.
DAUGHTER OF M. FRANKLIN AND ANNIE T. JACKSON.--Marion F.
CHILDREN OF CAROLINE J. AND WILLIAM G. UNDERHILL.--Mildred; Irene;
Margaret.
CHILDREN OF ANNIE H. AND THOMAS RUSHMORE.--Lillian A.; Elizabeth A.
SON OF CORA A. AND JOHN MARSHALL.--John W.
DAUGHTER OF HENRY T. AND DOROTHY UNDERHILL.--Winifred.
SON OF MARY S. AND LEON A. RUSHMORE.--Leon A.
B
Letter to Dr. Atlee.[224]
[224] See page 164 of this book.
Copy of a letter from Elias Hicks to Dr. Edwin A. Atlee, of
Philadelphia:
"JERICHO, Ninth mo. 27, 1824.
"MY DEAR FRIEND:
"Thy very acceptable letter of the 29th ultimo came duly to hand,
and I have taken my pen not only to acknowledge thy kindness, but
also to state to thee the unfriendly and unchristian conduct of Anna
Braithwaite toward me, not only as relates to that extract, but in
her conversation among Friends and others, traducing my religious
character, and saying I held and promulgated infidel doctrines,
etc.--endeavoring to prejudice the minds of Friends against me,
behind my back, in open violation of gospel order. She came to my
house, as stated in the extract thou sent me, after the quarterly
meeting of ministers and elders at Westbury in First month last.
At that meeting was the first time I saw her, which was about five
or six months after her arrival in New York. And as I had heard
her well spoken of as a minister, I could have had no preconceived
opinion of her but what was favorable, therefore, I treated her with
all the cordiality and friendship I was capable of. She also, from
all outward appearance, manifested the same; and, after dinner, she
requested, in company with A. S., a female Friend that was with her,
a private opportunity with me. So we withdrew into another room,
where we continued in conversation for nearly two hours. And being
innocent and ignorant of any cause that I had given, on my part, for
the necessity of such an opportunity, I concluded she had nothing
more in view than to have a little free conversation on the state of
those select meetings.
"But, to my surprise, the first subject she spoke upon, was to call
in question a sentiment I had expressed in the meeting aforesaid,
which appeared to me to be so plain and simple, that I concluded the
weakest member in our society, endued with a rational understanding,
would have seen the propriety of. It was a remark I made on the
absence of three out of four of the representatives appointed by
one of the preparative meetings to attend the quarterly meeting.
And I having long been of the opinion, that much weakness had been
introduced into our society by injudicious appointments, I have
often been concerned to caution Friends on that account. The remark
I made was this: that I thought there was something wrong in the
present instance--for, as we profess to believe in the guidance of
the Spirit of Truth as an unerring Spirit, was it not reasonable
to expect, especially in a meeting of ministers and elders, that
if each Friend attended to their proper gifts, as this Spirit is
endued with prescience, that it would be much more likely, under its
divine influence, we should be led to appoint such as would attend on
particular and necessary occasion, than to appoint those who would
not attend?
"This idea, she contended, was not correct; and the sentiments she
expressed on this subject really affected me. To think that any,
professing to be a gospel minister, called from a distant land to
teach others, and to be so deficient in knowledge and experience, in
so plain a case, that I could not well help saying to her, that her
views were the result of a want of religious experience, and that I
believed if she improved her talent faithfully, she would be brought
to see better, and acknowledge the correctness of my position. But
she replied, she did not want to see better. This manifestation of
her self-importance, lowered her character, as a gospel minister,
very much in my view; and her subsequent conduct, while she was
with us, abundantly corroborated and confirmed this view concerning
her. As to her charge against me, in regard to the Scriptures,
it is generally incorrect, and some of it false. And it is very
extraordinary, that she should manifest so much seeming friendship
for me, when present, and in my absence speak against me in such an
unbecoming manner. Indeed, her conduct toward me, often reminds me of
the treachery of Judas, when he betrayed his Master with a kiss. And,
instead of acting toward me as a friend or a Christian, she had been
watching for evil.
"As to my asserting that I believe the Scriptures were held in too
high estimation by the professors of Christianity in general, I
readily admit, as I have asserted it in my public communications
for more than forty years, but, generally, in opposition to those
that held them to be the only rule of faith and practice; and my
views have always been in accordance with our primitive Friends on
this point. And at divers times, when in conversation with hireling
teachers, (and at other times) I have given it as my opinion, that
so long as they held the Scriptures to be the only rule of faith
and practice, and by which they justify wars, hireling ministry,
predestination, and what they call the ordinances, viz: water
baptism and the passover supper, mere relics of the Jewish law,
so long the Scriptures did such, more harm than good; but that the
fault was not in the Scriptures, but in their literal and carnal
interpretation of them--and that would always be the case until they
came to the Spirit that gave them forth, as no other power could
break the seal, and open them rightly to us. Hence I have observed,
in my public communications, and in conversation with the members of
different denominations, and others, who held that the Scriptures are
the primary and only rule of faith and practice--that, according to
the true analogy of reasoning, 'that for which a thing is such--the
thing itself is more such'--as the Spirit was before the Scriptures,
and above them, and without the Spirit they could not have been
written or known. And with this simple but conclusive argument,
I have convinced divers of the soundness of our doctrine in this
respect--that not the Scriptures but the Spirit of Truth, which Jesus
commanded his disciples to wait for, as their only rule, they would
teach them all things, and guide them into all truth, is the primary
and only rule of faith and practice, and is the only means by which
our salvation is effected.
"The extract contains so much inconsistency, and is so incorrect,
that, as I proceed, it appears less and less worthy of a reply, and
yet it does contain some truth. I admit that I did assert, and have
long done it, that we cannot believe what we do not understand. This
the Scripture affirms, Deut. xxix. 29--'The secret things belong
unto the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong unto
us and our children forever, that we may do all the words of this
law'--and all that is not revealed, is to us the same as a nonentity,
and will forever remain so, until it is revealed; and that which
is revealed, enables us, agreeably to the apostle's exhortation,
to give a reason of the hope that is in us, to honest inquirers. I
also assert, that we ought to bring all doctrines, whether written
or verbal, to the test of the Spirit of Truth in our minds, as the
only sure director relative to the things of God; otherwise, why is
a manifestation of the Spirit given to every man if it not to profit
by; and, if the Scriptures are about the Spirit, and a more certain
test of doctrines, why is the Spirit given, seeing it is useless?
But this doctrine, that the Scriptures are the only rule of faith
and practice, is a fundamental error, and is manifested to be so
by the Scriptures themselves, and also by our primitive Friends'
writings. It would seem that Anna Braithwaite has strained every
nerve in exaggerating my words, for I have not said more than R.
Barclay, and many others of our predecessors, respecting the errors
in our English translation of the Bible. Hence it appears, that she
was determined to criminate me at all events, by striving to make
me erroneous for saying that the Gospel handed to us, was no more
authentic than many other writings. Surely a person that did not
assent to this, must be ignorant indeed.
"Are not the writings of our primitive Friends as authentic as
any book or writing, and especially such as were written so many
centuries ago, the originals of which have been lost many hundred
years? And are not the histories of passing events, written by candid
men of the present age, which thousands know to be true, as authentic
as the Bible?
"Her assertions, that I asked if she could be so ignorant as to
believe in the account of the creation of the world, and that I had
been convinced for the last ten years, that it was only an allegory,
and that it had been especially revealed to me at a meeting in
Liberty Street about that time; that I asked her if she thought Adam
was any worse after he had eaten the forbidden fruit than before, and
that I said I did not believe he was; and also her asserting, that I
said that Jesus Christ was no more than a prophet, and that I further
said, that if she would read the Scriptures attentively she would
believe that Jesus was the son of Joseph: these assertions of hers,
are all false and unfounded, and must be the result of a feigned
or forced construction of something I might have said, to suit her
own purpose. For those who do not wish to be satisfied with fair
reasoning, there is no end to their cavilling and misrepresentation.
As to what she relates as it regards the manner of our coming into
the world in our infant state, it is my belief, that we come into
the world in the same state of innocence, and endowed with the same
propensities and desires that our first parents were, in their
primeval state; and this Jesus Christ has established, and must be
conclusive in the minds of all true believers; when he took a little
child in his arms and blessed him, and said to them around him that
except they were converted, and become as that little child, they
should in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Of course, all
the desires and propensities of that little child, and of our first
parents in their primeval state, must have been good, as they were
all the endowments of their Creator, and given to them for a special
purpose. But it is the improper and unlawful indulgence of them that
is evil.
"I readily acknowledge, I have not been able to see or understand,
how the cruel persecution and crucifixion of Jesus Christ, by the
wicked and hard-hearted Jews, should expiate my sins; and never
have known anything to effect that for me, but the grace of God,
that taught me, agreeably to the apostle's doctrine, to deny all
ungodliness and the world's lusts, and do live soberly, righteously,
and godly in this present world; and as I have faithfully abode
under its teachings, in full obedience thereto, I have been brought
to believe that my sins were forgiven, and I permitted to sit under
the Lord's teaching, as saith the prophet: 'that the children of
the Lord are all taught of the Lord, and in righteousness they are
established, and great is the peace of his children.' And so long
as I feel this peace, there is nothing in this world that makes me
afraid, as it respects my eternal condition. But if any of my friends
have received and known benefit from any outward sacrifice, I do not
envy them their privilege. But, surely, they would not be willing
that I should acknowledge as a truth, that which I have no kind of
knowledge of. I am willing to admit, that Divine Mercy is no doubt
watching over his rational creation for their good, and may secretly
work at times for their preservation; but, if, in his infinite wisdom
and goodness, he sees meet to hide it from us, as most consistent
with his wisdom and our good, let us have a care that we do not, in
the pride of our hearts, undertake to pry into his secret counsels,
lest we offend; but be content with what he is pleased to reveal to
us, let it be more or less, and, especially, if he is pleased to
speak peace to our minds. And when he graciously condescends to do
this, we shall know it to be a peace that the world cannot give, with
all its enjoyments, neither take away, with all its frowns.
"I shall now draw to a close, and, with the salutation of gospel
love, I subscribe myself thy affectionate and sympathizing friend and
brother.
"ELIAS HICKS."
To Edwin A. Atlee.
C
The Portraits.
The cut facing page 121 is a photograph from the painting by Henry
Ketcham. This was sketched by the artist who was in the public gallery
of the meeting house at different times when Elias Hicks was preaching,
his presence being unknown to the preacher. It was originally a
full-length portrait, but many years ago was injured by fire, when it
was cut down to bust size. For some time it was in the home of the
late Elwood Walter, of Englewood, N. J. For many years it has been in
the family of Henry B. Seaman. It is believed that the pictures made
under direction of the late Edward Hopper, had this portrait as their
original. The engravings in the "History of Long Island" and in the
"Complete Works of Walt Whitman," are probably based on this portrait.
They have passed through such a "sleeking-up" process, however, as to
lack the individuality of the more crude production.
The frontispiece is from a photograph of the bust of Elias Hicks, by
the sculptor, William Ordway Partridge, and was made for Henry B.
Seaman. In making the bust the artist used the oil painting referred
to above, and all of the other pictures of Elias Hicks in existence,
including the full-length silhouette. He also had the bust, said to
have been taken from the death mask, and from them all attempted to
construct what may be termed the "ideal" Elias Hicks.
D
The Death Mask.
Much has been written about the death mask of Elias Hicks, from which
the bust in Swarthmore College, in the New York Friend's Library and
other places was made. That such a mask was taken admits of no doubt,
and the only clear statement regarding the matter is given below. The
bust is in the possession of Harry B. Seaman. The issue of "Niles
Register" referred to was published only six weeks after the death of
Elias Hicks.
"We understand an Italian artist of this city, has secretly
disinterred the body of Elias Hicks, the celebrated Quaker preacher,
and moulded his bust. It seems he had applied to the friends of
the deceased to take a moulding previous to his interment, but was
refused. Suspicion being excited that the grave had been disturbed,
it was examined, and some bits of plaster were found adhering to the
hair of the deceased. The enthusiastic Italian was visited, and owned
that, as he had been denied the privilege of taking a bust before
interment, he had adopted the only method of obtaining one. We have
heard nothing more on the subject, except that the bust is a most
excellent likeness."[225]
[225] Quoted from New York Constellation, in "Niles Weekly Register,"
April 10, 1830, p. 124.
E
A Bit of Advertising.
As showing the way the presence of ministering Friends was advertised
in Philadelphia eighty-eight years ago, we reproduce the following,
which appeared in some of the papers[226] of that period:
[226] The Cabinet, or Works of Darkness Brought to Light. Philadelphia,
1824, p. 33.
"Arrived in this city on the 7th inst., Elias Hicks, a distinguished
minister of the gospel, the Benign Doctrines of which he is a
faithful embassador, has for many years past practically endeavored
(both by precept and example) to promulgate in its primeval
beauty and simplicity, without money and without price. Those who
are Friends to plain truth and evangelical preaching, that have
heretofore been edified and comforted under his ministry, will
doubtless be pleased to learn of his arrival, and avail themselves of
the present opportunity of attending such appointments as he, under
the direction of Divine influence, may see proper to make in his tour
of Gospel Love, to the inhabitants of this city and its vicinity.
"A CITIZEN."
PHILADELPHIA, December 9, 1822.
F
Acknowledgment.
The author of this book acknowledges his indebtedness in its
preparation to the following, who either in furnishing data, or
otherwise assisted in its preparation: William and Margaret L. Seaman,
and Samuel J. Seaman, Glen Cove, N. Y.; Robert and Anna Seaman,
Jericho, N. Y.; Henry B. Seaman, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Dr. Jesse H. Green,
West Chester, Pa.; Mary Willis, Rochester, N. Y.; Ella K. Barnard and
Joseph J. Janney, Baltimore, Md.; Henry B. Hallock, Brooklyn, N. Y.;
John Comly, Philadelphia, Pa.
G
Sources of Information.
In making this book the following are the main sources of information
that have been consulted; which are referred to those who may wish to
go into the details of the matter involved:
Journal of Elias Hicks, New York, 1832. Published by Isaac T. Hopper.
The Lundy Family. By William Clinton Armstrong. New Brunswick, 1902.
The Quaker; A Series of Sermons by Members of the Society of Friends,
Philadelphia, 1827-28. Published by Marcus T. C. Gould.
A Series of Extemporaneous Discourses, etc., by Elias Hicks.
Philadelphia, 1825. Published by Joseph and Edward Parker.
Letters of Elias Hicks. Philadelphia, 1861. Published by T. Ellwood
Chapman.
An Account of the Life and Travels of Samuel Bownas. Edited by J.
Besse. London, 1756.
Ante-Nicene Fathers. Vol. II. Buffalo, N. Y., 1885. The Christian
Literature Publishing Company.
The Quakers. By Frederick Storrs Turner. London, 1889. Swan,
Sounenschein & Co.
A Review of the General and Particular Causes Which Have Produced the
Late Disorders in the Yearly Meeting of Friends Held in Philadelphia.
By James Cockburn. Philadelphia, 1829.
Foster's Report. Two volumes. By Jeremiah J. Foster, Master and
Examiner in Chancery. Philadelphia, 1831.
Rules of Discipline of the Yearly Meeting of Friends Held in
Philadelphia, 1806.
The Friend; or Advocate of Truth. Philadelphia, 1828. Published by M.
T. C. Gould.
An Apology for the True Christian Divinity, etc. By Robert Barclay.
Philadelphia, 1877. Friends' Book Store.
Memoirs of Anna Braithwaite. By her son, J. Bevan Braithwaite.
London, 1905. Headley Brothers.
The Christian Inquirer. New York, 1826. Published by B. Bates.
J. Bevan Braithwaite; A Friend of the Nineteenth Century. By His
Children. London, 1909. Hodder & Stoughton.
Sermons by Elias Hicks, Ann Jones and Others of the Society of
Friends, etc. Brooklyn, 1828.
Journal of Thomas Shillitoe. London, 1839. Harvey & Darton.
Memorials of John Bartram and Humphrey Marshall. By William
Darlington. Philadelphia, 1849.
The American Conflict. By Horace Greeley. Hartford, Conn., 1864. O.
D. Case & Co.
Memoirs of Life and Religious Labors of Edward Hicks. Philadelphia,
1851.
Life of Walt Whitman. Henry Bryan Binns.
Complete Works of Walt Whitman. 1902.
History of Long Island.
Proceedings of the Manchester Conference. 1895.
Stephen Grellett. By William Guest. Philadelphia, 1833. Henry
Longstreth.
INDEX.
Abolitionists, Garrisonian, 87
After the "Separation," 195
Aldrich, Royal, reference to, 69
Ancestry and Boyhood, 17
Apostolic Christian, an, 7
Appendix, 226
Apprenticeship of E. H., 22
Atlee, Dr. Edwin A., E. H.'s letter to, Appendix B;
reference to, 166
Baltimore Y. M., E. H. attends, 44
Baptists, Southern, reference to, 94
Barclay's Apology, quotation from, 143-144
Bartram, John, reference to, 190;
sketch of, 190;
his supposed deism, 190-191
Beacon Controversy, the, 169-170
Berry, Mary, at Easton, Md., 37
Binns, Henry Byran, describes E. H.'s preaching, 212-218
Black people commended, 37
Bownas, Samuel (note), 18
Braithwaite, Anna, referred to, 49;
sketch of (note), 161;
writes to E. H., 162;
writes to Friend in Flushing, 163;
writes to E. H. from England, 165;
writes to E. H. from Kipp's Bay, 168;
advised by Jericho ministers and elders, 169;
late reference to "Hicksism," 170
Braithwaite, Isaac, reference to (note), 161;
reference to, 179-183
Braithwaite, J. Bevan (note), 164-170
Camp meetings, E. H. condemns, 104
Carpenter. E. H. apprenticed as, 22
Christ, Divinity of, 115, 116, 156
Christ as saviour, 156-157
Clarkson, Thomas, receives Hicks' pamphlet, 90
Clement of Alexandria, reference to, 106
Conflict, The American (note), 94
Cotton gin, invention of, 94
Court Crier, E. H. imitates, 62
Cropper, James (note), 89;
letter from E. H., 90
Dancing, opinion of, 22
Discipline, E. H.'s regard for, 29
Disownment and doctrine, 188
Disownments for doctrine, 190;
E. H. on, 191-193;
during slavery agitation, 87-88
Division, before the, 121
Doctrine, statement of by Philadelphia Meeting for Sufferings, 139
Dutchess County, separation in, 178
Early labors in ministry, 32
Easton, Md., letter from, 37
Election, E. H. on, 110
Evans, Jonathan, opposes E. H., 127;
clerk Meeting for Sufferings, 139;
expounds orthodox doctrine, 153
Exeter, Pa., E. H. writes letter from, 38
Family, the Hicks, 71;
E. H.'s statement about, 71;
children in, 72-73
First Trouble in Philadelphia, 126
Fisher, Samuel R., entertains E. H., 44
Flushing, O., E. H. meets opposition in, 50;
also (note), 50
Free Masonry, E. H. on, 103
Friends, Progressive (note), 88
Garrison, William Lloyd, on Society of Friends, 87
Gibbons, James S., is disowned, 87
Goldsmith, Oliver, extract from "Deserted Village," 68
Gould, Marcus T. C., publisher "The Quaker," 152-153
Greeley, Horace, quotation from, 94
Green, Dr. Jesse C., reference to, 211;
recollections of E. H., 211-212
Green Street Monthly Meeting, center of difficulty, 147-149
Grellett, Stephen, sketch of (note), 123;
questions orthodoxy of E. H., 123
Gurney, Joseph John, reference to, 165
Harris, Dr. J. Rendell, criticises E. H., 208
Heaven and hell, E. H. on, 110-111
Hicks, Abigail, daughter of E. H., 72;
picture of, facing, 97
Hicks, David, son of E. H., 72
Hicks, Edward, sketch of (note), 202;
estimate of E. H., 203
Hicks, Elias, apostolic Christian, 7;
his type of Quakerism, 7;
reading Scriptures, 12;
reference to old folks, 13;
objects to flower bed, 13;
sells wheat at low price to neighbors, 14;
favors disciplinary equality for women, 15;
birth, 18;
reference to parents, 11, 19;
death of mother, 20;
reference to singing and running horses, 20;
apprenticed to learn carpenter's trade, 22;
on dancing, 22-23;
on hunting, 23-24;
reference to possibly lost condition, 23;
statement regarding his marriage, 24;
marriage application in monthly meeting, 25;
takes up residence in Jericho, 26;
a surveyor, 27;
appears in the ministry, 28-29;
regard for discipline, 29;
recorded a minister, 30;
passes through military lines in Revolutionary War, 31;
makes first long religious journey, 32;
visits Nine Partners, Vermont, etc., 34;
visits New England, 35;
visits Philadelphia and Baltimore Yearly Meetings, 36;
first sermon against slavery, 36;
letter from Easton, Md., 37;
visit to states south of New York, 38;
visit to Canada, 40;
visit New England meetings, 42;
goes to Ohio, 43;
at Baltimore Y. M., 44;
starts on last long religious journey, 46;
meets opposition at Westland, 47;
experience at Brownsville, 47;
at Mt. Pleasant, O., 48-49;
attends Ohio Y. M., 49-50;
disturbance at Flushing, O., 50;
attends Indiana Y. M., 52;
trouble at West Grove, Pa., 53;
extent of his travels, 56;
ideas about the ministry, 57;
speaks of his own ministry, 58;
against premeditation, 59;
measuring the ministry, 60-61;
imitates court crier, 62;
advice touching meetings and ministry, 63;
is frequently indisposed, 64;
his Jericho property, 69;
statement about his wife, 71;
as a father, 72;
letters to his wife, 76-83;
on the slavery question, 84-94;
various opinions, 95;
on the joys of labor, 97;
ideas regarding railroads, 98;
ideas about Thanksgiving, 102;
opposes Freemasonry, 103;
some points of doctrine, 107-120;
has trouble in Philadelphia, 126-128;
writes letter to Philadelphia elders, 132;
in the time of unsettlement, 139-151;
three sermons reviewed, 152-160;
is visited by Anna Braithwaite, 162;
writes to Dr. Atlee, 164;
writes to Anna Braithwaite, 169;
in Dutchess County with Ann Jones, 171-176;
contact with T. Shillitoe, 184-185;
at Mt. Pleasant and Short Creek, O., 186-187;
disowned by Westbury and Jericho Monthly Meeting, 189;
ideas about disownment, 193-194;
at Rose and Hester Streets, New York, 195;
remarks on reception by Friends, 196;
assumes the humorous role, 196;
received by Friends after long western trip, 197;
death of wife, 198;
visits Dutchess County, 199;
preaches in statehouse, Albany, 200;
letter to Johnson Legg, 201;
his dying testimony, 204;
critics of, 202-210;
a logical thinker, 211;
his kindness to poor, 213-214;
deals with corn thief, 214;
his dying testimony against slavery, 214;
sufferings for peace principles, 215-216;
helps organize charity society, 216-217;
putting off harness, 218-225;
his last traveling minute, 220;
attends his last monthly meeting, 220-221;
suffers stroke of paralysis, 221;
his death, 221;
his funeral, 221;
last letter to Hugh Judge, 222
Hicks, Elias, Jr., son of E. H., 73
Hicks, Elizabeth, daughter of E. H., 72;
picture of, facing, 97 ...
Hicks, Sir Ellis, reference to, 17
Hicks Family, the, 71
Hicks, Jonathan, son of E. H., 73
Hicks, John, son of E. H., 72
Hicks, Jemima, wife of E. H., estimate of, 74-75;
letters to, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82;
death of, 198;
funeral of, 198-199
Hicks, Martha, daughter of E. H., 72;
picture of, facing, 97
Hicks, Sarah, daughter of E. H., 72
Hicks, Judge Thomas, great-grandfather E. H., 18;
befriends S. Bownas, 18
Hicksville, reference to, 66
Hicks, Valentine, son-in-law of E. H., reference to, 66;
President Long Island Railroad, 100;
picture of, facing, 97
Hodgson, W., reference to E. H.'s sentiments, 206
Home at Jericho, the, 66
Hopper, Isaac T., reference to disownment of, 87
Humor, E. H. indulges in, 196
Immortality, E. H. on, 112-114
Indiana Y. M., E. H. attends, 51
Inquirer, The Christian (note), 102
Introduction, 11
Jackson, Halliday, arrested at Ohio Y. M., 49;
statement about (note), 49
Jericho, home at, 66
Jericho Monthly Meeting, members at time of "separation," 188;
E. H. advises, 200
Jesus, death and resurrection of, 118-120
Johnson, Oliver, on abolition claims of Friends, 88
Jones, Ann, in Dutchess County, 171;
extracts from sermons, 171-172
Jones, George, reference to, 174-176
Judge, Hugh, sketch of (note), 221-222;
reference to, 221;
E. H.'s letter to, 222-225
Keith, George, sketch of (note), 19
Kennett Monthly Meeting, extract from minutes, 88
Kingston, Canada, E. H. writes letter from, 40
Labor, ideas about, 96-98
Lamb, blood of, 155
Lewis, Evan (note), 89
Liberator, the, quotations from, 87-88
Lloyd, Isaac, statement by, 154
Lost condition, reference to, 23
Lundy, Benjamin, sketch of (note), 86
Manchester Conference, proceedings of (note), 208;
quotation from, 208
Marriage of E. H., 25
Marriott, Charles, his disownment, 87
Meeting ministers and elders, a visiting committee, 36
Meeting for Sufferings, to control membership, 150
Merritt, Jesse, travels with E. H., 54;
is homesick, 54
Mifflin, Daniel, emancipates slaves, 84
Mifflin, Warner, emancipates slaves, 84;
presents memorial to Congress, 84;
reference to, 85
Mind, effect on body, 100
Minister, E. H. recorded as, 30
Ministry, E. H.'s first appearance in, 28;
ideas about, 57;
speaks of his own, 58;
measuring the, 60-61
Minute, E. H.'s last traveling, 220
Miraculous conception, the, 114, 194
Monthly Meeting, E. H. attends his last, 220-221
Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, reference to, 105
Mott, Adam (note), 35
Mott, James, Sr., reference to (note), 35;
writes E. H., 123;
criticises E. H., 205
Mott, James and Lucretia, reference to, 35
Mt. Pleasant, O., disturbance in meeting at, 48-49;
Yearly Meeting 1828 at, 49-50;
E. H. and T. Shillitoe at, 186
New England Y. M. visited by E. H., 35;
attended by English Friends, 183
New Jersey, Friends in, approve E. H., 196
New York Y. M., attended by English Friends, 183;
by T. Shillitoe, 1828, 183;
extract from minute of, 183;
T. Shillitoe objects to visitors in, 183
Nine Partners, sermon at, 123
Ohio Y. M. attended by E. H., 48-49, 186
Osborn, Charles, prays and preaches two hours, 50
Paine, Thomas, referred to, 117;
E. H. on, 117;
E. H. compared with, 167
Parker's, Hicks's sermons, extracts from, 92-93
Philadelphia Elders write E. H., 130-131
Philadelphia Meeting for Sufferings starts charge of E. H.'s
unsoundness, 129;
issues statement of doctrine, 139-143
Pine Street Monthly Meeting offers affront to E. H., 126-127
Property, E. H.'s views about, 95-96
Quakerism, type of, 7
Quaker," "The, extracts from, 91, 96
Quaker creed, a sort of, 139, 143
Railroad, E. H. opposes, 99;
the Long Island, 99;
Baltimore and Ohio, 98-99;
the first (note), 99
Recollections, reminiscences and testimonies, 211-217
Religious journeys in 1828, 46
Routh, Martha, writes letter to E. H., 90
Roy, Rammouhan, sketch of (note), 206;
writes E. H., 207
Salvation, universal, 108-109
Salvation, vital, 159
Satan, 116
Schools, public, ideas about, 101
Seaman, Gideon, reference to, 50, 182
Seaman, Jemima, reference to, 24;
marries E. H., 25
Seaman, Captain John, moves to Long Island, 26
Seaman, Jonathan, father of Jemima, 26
Seaman, Lazarus, Puritan divine, 26
Sermons, length of, 65
Shillitoe, Thomas, reference to, 47;
sketch of (note), 181;
declines to visit E. H., 182;
refers to his traveling minute, 183-184;
goes west, 184;
converses with ferry keeper, 186;
at Mt. Pleasant, 186
Sin and transgression, 107
Singing, reference to, 20
Slavery, first sermon against, 36
Slavery question, the, 84-94;
Friends on, 85-94;
pamphlet by E. H. on, 93
Southern Q. M. members of, on E. H., 133-136
Stabler, Deborah and James, sketch of (note), 98
Tallack, William, refers to E. H.'s assertions, 206
Thanksgiving, E. H. on, 102-103
Thomas, Philip E., reference to, 98;
sketch of (note), 98
Three sermons reviewed, 152
Time of unsettlement, 139
Titus, Daniel, traveling companion of E. H., 40
Turner, Frederick Storrs, reference to, 122;
on E. H., 203-204
Unitarianism, E. H. on, 117;
in New England, 121
Unsoundness, charge of, 146
War, Revolutionary, E. H. passes military lines, 31;
E. H.'s "sufferings" during, 215-216
Westbury Monthly Meeting, members at the time of "separation," 188
Westbury and Jericho Monthly Meeting (note), 50;
orders E. H. home, 50;
reference to, 188;
membership of, 188;
disowns E. H., 189
Wharton, William, reference to, 207
Wheat, E. H. sells at low price, 14
Whitall, Joseph, reports E. H. unsound, 128
White, George F., influential in disownment of Isaac T. Hopper, 87;
on slave labor, 87;
attacks various organizations, 87
Whitman, Walt, estimation of E. H., 205;
reference to, 218-219;
hears E. H. preach, 219;
describes E. H.'s preaching, 213
Willets, Deborah (note), 178;
extract from letter, 179-180
Willets, Jacob (note), 178;
statement about division in meetings, 178
Willets, Joshua, son-in-law of E. H., 70
Willis, Edmund, traveling companion of E. H., 38
Willis, John, traveling companion of E. H., 32
Willis, Mary, reference to, 212;
her recollections of E. H., 212-213
Willis, Thomas and Phebe, oppose E. H., 124;
dealt with by Jericho Monthly Meeting, 125;
reference to, 182
Women, equality of, 15
Woolman, John, on slavery, 84
World, the, against mixing with, 103-104
APPENDIX.
A, Descendants of Elias Hicks, 226-228
B, Letter to Dr. Atlee, 229-233
C, The Portraits, 234
D, The Death Mask, 234
E, A Bit of Advertising, 235
F, Acknowledgment, 235
G, Sources of Information, 236-237
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE.
Alphabetization has been fixed in the index and page order in the List
of Illustrations was also fixed; however no content was changed, and
the changes are not noted in the detailed changes.
Archaic, unusual and inconsistent spellings have been maintained as in
the original. Obvious typos have been fixed, as detailed below.
Page 4: Transcriber's Note
Added to Table of Contents by Transcriber.
Page 25: "At a monthly meeting held in the meeting house
Originally: "At a monthly meting held in the meeting house
Page 25: appearing to obstruct their proceedings in
Originally: appearing to obestruct their proceedings in
Page 29: kept sweet and clean, consistent with
Originally: kept sweet and clean, consitent with
Page 36: some present who were slaveholders were
Originally: some present who were slave-holders were
Page 53: which had divided the Society of Friends.
Originally: which had divided the Soicety of Friends.
Page 65: his willingness to "famish the people from words,"
Originally: his willingess to "famish the people from words,"
Page 66: from cellar wall to ridge-pole
Originally: from celler wall to ridge-pole
Page 72: She passed away in 1871.
Originally: She passed away in 1781.
Page 76: one wishes for more description, relating to the
Originally: one wishes for more discription, relating to the
Page 86: Of this Address, Horace Greeley says,
Originally: Of this Address, Horace Greely says,
Page 97: more delightful and profitable instruction
Originally: more delightful and profitable instructtion
Page 101: Observation, he said, led him to believe
Originally: Observation, he said, lead him to believe
Page 106 (note): "Ante-Nicene Fathers," Vol. II, p. 305.
Originally: "Anti-Nicene Fathers," Vol. II, p. 305.
Page 122: from change in Zion.
Originally: from change in zion
Page 128: in the early part of Twelfth month,
Originally: in the early part of Twefth month,
Page 129: believing that Elias succeeded in measurably
Originally: believing that Elias succeeded in measureably
Page 131: who made the above statements which
Originally: who made the above statments which
Page 131: "THOMAS WISTAR."
Originally: "THOMAS WISTER."
Page 133: within the bounds of Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting
Originally: within the bounds of Philadelphia Quartely Meeting
Page 141: satisfactory sacrifice and not otherwise.
Originally: satisfactory sacrifice and no otherwise.
Page 160: is to be to the children of men
Originally: is to be the children of men
Page 165: the propitiatory sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour
Originally: the propitiatory sacrifice of our Lord and Savious
Page 171 (note): Taken in short-hand by Henry Hoag, p. 20.
Originally: Taken in shorthand by Henry Hoag, p. 20.
Page 173: The blood of Christ that is immortal
Originally: The blood of Chirst that is immortal
Page 179: acquainted with their manoeuvring
Originally the oe ligature was used.
Page 206: many of Elias Hicks' assertions are too blasphemous
Originally: many of Elias Hick's assertions are too blasphemous
Page 206 (note): and incurred the enmity of his family.
Originally: and incurred the emnity of his family.
Page 209: from the amoeba to the man
Originally the oe ligature was used.
Page 224: his disciples, John 14:16-17;
Originally: his diciples, John 14:16-17;
Page 231: the Spirit given to every man if it not to profit by;
Originally: the Spirit given to every man if it it not to profit by;
Page 233: undertake to pry into his secret
Originally: undertake to prey into his secret
Page 235: Acknowledgment.
Originally: Acknowledgement.
Page 240: Marriott, Charles, his disownment, 87
Originally: Marriot, Charles, his disownment, 87
Page 241: Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, reference to, 105
Originally: Mosheim's Ecclesiatical History, reference to, 105
Page 241: Tallack, William, refers to E. H.'s assertions, 206
Originally: Tallock, William, refers to E. H.'s assertions, 206
Page 242: E, A Bit of Advertising, 235
Originally: E, A Bit of Advertisting, 235
Page 242: G, Sources of Information, 236-237
Originally omitted from index.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life and Labors of Elias Hicks, by
Henry Watson Wilbur
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE AND LABORS OF ELIAS HICKS ***
***** This file should be named 50374.txt or 50374.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/3/7/50374/
Produced by Emmanuel Ackerman, Library of Congress and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
(This file was produced from images generously made
available by The Internet Archive)
Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.
Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you
do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is
subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
redistribution.
*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
http://gutenberg.org/license).
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the
collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an
individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in
a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check
the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning
the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
States.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked
to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg-tm License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or
distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
that
- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is
owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments
must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License. You must require such a user to return or
destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
Project Gutenberg-tm works.
- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
of receipt of the work.
- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the
Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
your equipment.
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with
the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy
is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
opportunities to fix the problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any
provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists
because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at
809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
[email protected]. Email contact links and up to date contact
information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
page at http://pglaf.org
For additional contact information:
Dr. Gregory B. Newby
Chief Executive and Director
[email protected]
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To
SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
particular state visit http://pglaf.org
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works.
Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily
keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
http://www.gutenberg.org
This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
