USA > Massachusetts > The Quaker invasion of Massachusetts > Part 2
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from Rome by the English Church. Com- ing into power, they established their own church and compelled an unwilling people to conform to and support it. The Quakers probed deeper. They rebelled against prel- ate and presbyter alike. They claimed not toleration, but liberty of conscience for all as an inalienable right ; they demanded the absolute separation of Church and State; denounced the clergy as priests and hirelings, and in spite of fiendish persecu- tion refused to acknowledge their authority or to contribute so much as a farthing to their maintenance. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty ; and the spirit of liberty was infectious. Others as well as the Quakers asserted the religious equal- ity of men and the sufficiency of the Holy Spirit, and with stinging invective exposed the pretenses of pious charlatans. In 1658, John Milton, in an address to Parliament, said, "For now commonly he that desires to be a minister looks not at the work but at the wages . .. it were much better there were not one divine in the university, nor no school divinity known; the idle sophis- try of monks, the canker of religion. . . . But most of all are they to be reviled and
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shunned who cry out with the distinct voice of hirelings, that if you settle not our main- tenance by laws, farewell the gospel ; than which nothing can be more ignominious, and, I may say, more blasphemous against our Saviour, who hath promised without this condition both his Holy Spirit and his own presence with his church to the world's end." He continues, " Of which hireling even, together with all the mischiefs, dis- sensions, troubles, wars, merely of their own kindling, Christendom might soon rid her- self and be happy, if Christians would but know their own dignity, their liberty, their adoption, and let it not be wondered if I say their spiritual priesthood, whereby they have all equally access to any ministerial functions whenever called by their own abilities and the church, though they never came near commencement or university."
These bold, brave words might well have been uttered by Fox, or Burrough, or Thomas Ellwood, the Quaker reader to the blind old poet.
With remarkable unanimity the early Quakers held many views of religious ob- ligation that brought them into direct con- fliet with the civil authorities and social
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usages. These views were known as " tes- timonies," and later, when an organization was effected, they were incorporated into what is known as the Discipline of the So- ciety. Church ordinances, baptism, com- munion table, prayer-book, were contemned. Silent meditation, interrupted only by a short prayer or exhortation by one or more' of them, who, perchance, were moved by' the Spirit, constituted their only form of worship. They substituted simple affirma- tion for the oath, defending the innovation with apt and telling quotations from Scrip- ture. They held meetings for worship, and were generally careful to abstain from all unnecessary secular employment on the first day of the week, but they did not regard it as especially the " Lord's day." They claimed that "all days are alike holy in the sight of God." They regarded the use of the plural number in addressing one per- son as a species of flattery, and adopted the simple thee and thon of the Bible. Your Holiness, Your Grace, Your Honor, etc., were " flattering titles," and therefore they addressed all men by their Christian names only. They declared " that it is not lawful for Christians to kneel or prostrate them-
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selves to any man, or to bow the body, or to uncover the head to men. That it is not lawful for a Christian to use superfluities in apparel, as are of no use, save for ornament and vanity. That it is not lawful to use games, sports, plays, nor, among other things, comedies, among Christians, under the no- tion of recreations, which do not agree with Christian silence, gravity, and sobriety." They considered war " an evil as opposite and contrary to the Spirit and doctrine of Christ as light to darkness," and they would not fight. They laid particular emphasis upon the sacredness of the married rela- tion, nevertheless their bigoted persecutors denounced Quaker marriages as illegal, until, in 1661, the courts confirmed the legality of such marriages. Even as careful a writer as Masson says "they had no religious cere- mony in sanction of marriage."1 Professor Masson, as his context proves, had ample opportunity to avoid this blunder, and it can only be accounted for on the theory that his mind is prejudiced by the still pop- ular notion that the presence and offices of an ordained minister are necessary to make a marriage ceremony religious and
1 Life of Milton, vol. v. p. 25.
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to secure the Divine sanction of the nup- tial rites. The Quakers thought otherwise. They repudiated the claims of the clergy, and believed that God alone can join men and women in the solemn covenant. "It is their custom," says Sewel, " first having the consent of the parents or guardians . . . and after due inquiry, all things ap- pearing clear, they in a public meeting sol- emnly take each other in marriage, with a promise of love and fidelity, and not to leave one another before death separates them. Of this a certificate is drawn, men- tioning the names and distinctions of the persons thus joined, which, being first signed by themselves, those then that are present sign as witnesses."1 This custom is still in force, and, with some unimportant ver- bal amendments, the phraseology of early Friends is still preserved. After an appro- priate silence, the groom and bride rise, and taking each other by the hand, each in turn repeats, " In the presence of the Lord and this assembly, I take thee to be my wife (or husband), promising, with Divine assist- ance, to be unto thee a loving and faithful husband (or wife) until death shall separate
1 History of the Quakers, p. 777.
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us." For religious solemnity and tender, touching simplicity, the Quaker marriage ceremony has always challenged compari- son, and if any one desires to feel and real- ize the presence of God in a public or pri- vate gathering, let him attend a Quaker wedding.
One of the most popular slanders current is the charge that the early Quakers held all civil authority in contempt and were willful law-breakers. So far from this, they were an eminently law-abiding people, and had profound respect for the office of the civil magistrate. For the insignia of office they had, perhaps, too little regard, but for law on which social order and well-be- ing depend, they showed a most exemplary fidelity. George Fox said, " Magistracy is for the praise of them that do well. .. . Magistrates are for the punishment of evil- doers. . . . We are not against, but stand for all good government." Edward Burrough, in 1658, wrote to Richard Cromwell, " As for magistracy, it was ordained of God to be a dread and terror and limit to evil-doers, and to be a defense and praise to all that do well, to condemn the guilty and to justify the guiltless." In an interview with the
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King, in 1660, Richard Hubberthorn said, " Thus do we own magistrates ; whatsoever is set up by God, whether king, as supreme, or any set in authority by him, who are for the punishment of evil-doers, and the praise of them that do well, such shall we submit unto and assist in righteous and civil things, both by body and estate, and if any magis- trates do that which is unrighteous, we must declare against it, only submit under it by a patient suffering and not rebel against any by insurrections, plots, and contriv- ances." Barclay's statement of the attitude of the early Quakers toward the civil law and the magistracy is equally clear and defi- nite. He said, "Since God hath assumed to himself the power and dominion of con- science, who alone can rightly instruct and govern it, therefore it is not lawful for any whosoever, by virtue of any authority or principality they bear in the government of this world, to force the consciences of others, . . . providing always, that no man, under the pretense of conscience, prejudice his neiglibor in his life or estate, or do any- thing destructive to, or inconsistent with, human society ; in which case the law is for the transgressor, and justice is to be admin-
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istered upon all without respect of persons." Perhaps it should be stated here that be- cause Barclay was a highly educated gen- tleman, and wrote his best known works as late as 1673-76, some modern critics in- sinuate, if they do not broadly affirm, that he does not fairly represent the Quakerism of 1656 to 1662. Such criticism is fla- grantly unjust. It is alleged that " the crude and indigested notions which the early Quakers uttered 'in a prophetical way,' sounded like the wildest rant, to be relieved of the reproach of blasphemy only by being referred to a besotted stupidity or a shade of distraction."1 With a magician's power, Barclay, it seems, transformed dis- traction into sobriety. At his touch be- sotted stupidity was metamorphosed into a wise intelligence, and blasphemy into rev- erential religion. This magician, and also William Penn, we are informed, " wrought out for the Friends a religious system for belief and practice, which would do honor to any fellowship of Christians at the pres- ent time." The simple truth is, that cal- umnies almost as harsh as the one just quoted, marred the writings of distinguished
1 Massachusetts and its Early History, p. 106.
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divines in the seventeenth, as well as in the nineteenth century. Barclay, recognizing vital religious truth in the "principles and doctrines " contemptuously called " notions " by our critic, wrote, not only an "explana- tion," but a " vindication " of them. He was a warm personal friend and admirer of Fox, and was admirably fitted for the work by education, sympathy, suffering, experience, and knowledge. It would be a difficult task for any one to show wherein the " religious system for belief and practice," elaborated by him, differs in essential particulars from the Quakerism of Fox, or Burrough, or Hubberthorn. There is a striking corre- spondence in their opinions concerning social duty and the limit of their obligation to civil government; and, bearing in mind the fact that they were not anchored to a creed, we cannot but be impressed by the har- mony of their doctrinal views. But this is a digression. The reader who cares to pur- sue the matter further should consult Bar- , clay's " Catechism," his "Anarchy of the Ranters," and his " Apology." And for Penn's testimony as to the " extraordinary understanding in divine things," and the " admirable fluency and taking way of ex-
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pression," so characteristic of the "first Quakers," one should read his " Rise and Progress of the People called Quakers."
Having noted some of the more salient features of Quakerism, we are quite pre- pared to believe that in an age of intense religious excitement some of its more ar- dent professors were victims of religious zeal, and occasionally were guilty of acts inconsistent with proper decorum. It must be added, too, that, when pushed in argu- ment, prominent Friends, including Fox and Penn, justified some of these acts by throw- ing responsibility for them upon the Spirit of the Lord. On the other hand, they dis- owned James Naylor and others on account of their fantastic extravagances.1 The num- ber of Quakers was counted by tens of thousands, and at one period forty-two hun- dred of them were in the gaols,2 not for any crime or misdemeanor, but because of their stout defense of liberty and their heroic re- sistance to religious tyranny. When driven or dragged from their meeting-houses, they assembled in the streets; and when the
1 Sewel's History, p. 159.
2 Janney's Life of Fox, p. 477, and many other Quaker histories.
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meeting-houses were torn down they met on the ruins, from whence they were driven only by personal violence. Many of them died in prison and many more suffered long imprisonment only to resume their life of sacrifice and trial when released. They were courageous, aggressive, bold, and un- sparing in their denunciation of sin and sin- ners, but equally tender-hearted, loving, and affectionate. Even women suffering the tortures of the lash could kneel and ask God to forgive the wretched men who dealt the blows.1
The name Quaker was applied to them in derision, but as indicative of their charac- ter and aim, they called themselves Friends. When they organized, it was not in order to proclaim a creed or to build up a sect, but for humane purposes, and, in Fox's phraseology, for the " promotion of purity and virtue." The only test of membership was an habitual attendance at religious meetings. If a stranger appeared in their business meetings and wished to participate therein, he was asked for a certificate from Friends of his own town, indorsing, not his soundness in doctrine, but his personal
1 New England Judged, p. 61.
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character. "This precaution," says Fox, " was to prevent any bad spirit that may scandalize honest men, from bringing re- proach upon them."
Questions of policy were not settled by a count of noses or a show of hands, but, after grave deliberation and conference, by what appeared to be the weight or solid judg- ment of the assembly.
Quakerism in its social and moral aspect was the synonym for brotherly love, purity, simplicity, integrity, and benevolence. The early Quakers not only advocated an en- lightened revision of the criminal laws and a reform in the treatment of prisoners, which was then barbarous, but they visited the prisons, and sought out and aided the poor, the friendless, and the outcasts of so- ciety. They literally loved both friend and foe. Hated, reviled, and persecuted of men, they asked a divine blessing for their bit- terest enemies.
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CHAPTER II.
THE INVASION. - MEASURES OF RESISTANCE AND DEFENSE.
IT is believed that numbers of the people of the town of Salem, in Massachusetts (together with others of the Plymouth Col- ony), had embraced the tenets of the Qua- kers prior to the arrival of some mission- aries in 1656, but there is apparently no evidence to indicate that they had pro- claimed themselves or adopted the name of the despised sect. Had they done so, they probably would have been at least named in the recommendation of the Court made in May of the same year, that " the 11th day of June next . . . be kept as a public day of humiliation, to seek the face of God in behalf of our native country, in refer- ence to the abounding of errors, especially those of the Ranters and Quakers," etc. This is the first reference to the Friends fonnd in the printed official records. When it was made, Plymouth Colony had been
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settled thirty-five years, and the Massa- chusetts Bay Colony, a quarter of a cen- tury. Roger Williams, who, with all his shortcomings, is fairly ranked with the apostles of liberty, had been driven into exile. Mrs. Ann Hutchinson had been sup- pressed and banished. Sir Henry Vane had returned to England discouraged and dis- heartened. Coddington, one of the founders, and afterwards a Quaker, had taken ref- uge in Rhode Island, where he enjoyed the liberty of conscience denied him here. Winthrop had died lamenting the part he had played in persecuting heresy.1 Sir Richard Saltonstall, another founder, had addressed his famous letter, from England, to his old friends, in which he deplored their "tyranny and persecution," and be- sought them " not to practise those courses in a wilderness which you went so far to prevent." 2 His advice, it is needless to say, was unheeded. John Endicott was Gov- ernor, and John Norton the leading minister
1 George Bishop's New England Judged, p. 226. First published in 1661, reprinted in 1667, with addition of a Sec- ond Part. Again reprinted in 1702 and bound in one volume with John Whiting's Answer to Cotton Mather, etc. For references in this book, see the edition of 1702.
2 Hutchinson Papers, pp. 401-407.
3
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of the Massachusetts Colony, when the first two Quaker visitors arrived, and the policy of repression found in them the sternest of supporters. Ann Austin and Mary Fisher came here in a vessel, in July of 1656. The laws referring to Quakers had not yet been enacted, and there was no law, human or divine, to prohibit their coming here or bringing their books with them. On the contrary, the " Body of the Liberties," en- acted in 1641, was a guaranty of ample protection by the authorities if they were disturbed or molested. The prefatory dec- laration reads : " We do therefore, this day, religiously and unanimously, decree and confirm these following rights, liber- ties, and privileges, concerning our churches and civil state, to be respectively, impar- tially, and inviolably, enjoyed and ob- served throughout our jurisdiction forever." The first and second declarations are as fol- lows : -
"1st. No man's life shall be taken away, no man's honor or good name shall be stained, no man's person shall be arrested, restrained, banished, dismembered, nor any ways punished ; no man shall be deprived of his wife or children, no man's goods or es-
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tate shall be taken away from him, nor any way indamaged under color of law or coun- tenance of authority, unless it be by virtue or equity of some express law of the coun- try warranting the same, established by a General Court and sufficiently published, or in case of the defect of a law in any par- ticular case, by the word of God. And in capital cases, or in cases concerning dis- membering or banishment, according to that word to be judged by the General Court."
" 2d. Every person within this jurisdic- tion, whether Inhabitant or foreigner, shall enjoy the same justice and law that is gen- eral for the plantation, which we constitute and execute one towards another, without partiality or delay." 1218308
In the face of this statute, Endicott being out of town, the deputy governor, Richard Bellingham, sent officers aboard the ship, who searched the baggage of these two pas- sengers, and seized their books, which, by order of the authorities, were burned by the common executioner. The women were committed to prison, where they were con- fined for five weeks, when they were sent back to Barbadoes, the master of the ship being bound in one hundred pounds to take
4
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them there, and ordered not to suffer any to speak with them after they were put on board. It seems that while in gaol they used their own beds, which were brought ont of the ship ; these and their Bibles the gaoler confiscated to satisfy his fees. Dur- ing their imprisonment no one was allowed to visit or to speak with them, and a board was nailed up before the window so that none might see them ; they were denied all writing material, and no lights were per- mitted at night. They were so ill-fed or so starved, rather, that Nicholas Upsall, a church-member and freeman since 1631, bribed the gaoler with five shillings a week for the privilege of sending them provisions. Prior to this humane deed, he, or some other person whose heart had been tonched by their sufferings, - it was probably Up- sall, - had in vain offered to pay the five pounds penalty if permitted to visit the prisoners. As is usual with official despots, Bellingham made some show of legal pro- cedure when this severe treatment was or- dered. The council was convened, and a declaration issued, wherein it was said that " there are several laws long since made and published in this jurisdiction bearing
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testimony against heretics and erroneous persons," and that Ann Austin and Mary Fisher, " upon examination are found not only to be transgressors of the former laws, but to hold very dangerous, heretical, and blasphemous opinions ; and they do also ac- knowledge that they came here purposely to propagate their said errors and heresies, bringing with them and spreading here sun- dry books, wherein are contained most cor- rupt, heretical, and blasphemous doctrines contrary to the truth of the gospel here pro- fessed amongst us. The council, therefore, tendering the preservation of the peace and truth enjoyed and professed among the churches of Christ in this country, do hereby order," etc. What very dangerous, heretical, and blasphemous opinions the pris- oners held, we are left to surmise. Quaker authorities, however, furnish us a clew. They relate that one of the women said " thee," to Bellingham, whereupon he said, " he needed no more ; now he knew they were Quakers." That little magic word was sufficient for the chief inquisitor. We are assured by one who should be excellent authority, that the people of Massachusetts were well informed as to the spirit and
1
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actings of the Quakers and were on the watch for them.1 At last they had arrived. These two women, it was clear, were Qua- kers, and therefore they were heretics and blasphemers. It is to be observed that without any knowledge whatever of their opinions, their arrest was predetermined and they were imprisoned before they had spoken a word. They were not accused of crime, or misdemeanor, or with the utter- ance of heresy They were arrested, re- strained, and finally banished, solely be- cause they were Quakers and had intended to disseminate their opinions, if allowed to remain here. The magistrates proceeded under color of law, it is true, but none the less in violation of the fundamental law of the colony. However, we must not overlook the plea set up by some modern writers. The council, say these apologists, derived their authority from the royal char- ter. This document, after expressly provid- ing that only such "orders, laws, ordinances, instructions, and directions aforesaid, not being repugnant to the laws and statutes of our realm of England," shall be promul- gated, proceeds to invest the government
1 Massachusetts and its Early History, p. 109.
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with the war power. It provides " that it shall and may be lawful to and for the chief commanders, governors, and officers . . . for their special defense and safety, to encounter, expulse, repel, and resist by force of arms, as well by sea as by land, and by all fitting ways and means whatso- ever, all such person and persons as shall at any time hereafter attempt or enterprise the destruction, invasion, detriment, or an- noyance to the said plantation or inhab- itants ; and to take and surprise by all ways and means whatsoever, all and every such person and persons, with their ships, armor, munition, and other goods, as shall in hostile manner invade or attempt the de- feating of the said plantation, or the hurt of the said company and inhabitants." We are assured that " through letters from friends at home," and their own familiarity with " the abounding pamphlets of relig- ions controversy of these days," the Puri- tans were apprised of the dark designs of these two desperate and warlike Amazons, who in hostile bonnets and gowns had invaded Boston harbor. To be sure the Quaker books they brought with them gave the lie to the letters from England, but
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what need to read them? One of the dread- ful women had said " thee " to the deputy governor, and her arrest prior to this her declaration of war was thus amply justified. The enemy had been surprised, " as well by sea as by land ; " the invaders had been captured, and for a time, at least, the colony was safe. But could punishment too severe be meted out to such dangerous captives ? John Endicott thought not; so he wrote a letter from Salem saying that had he been at home he would have had them well whipped. An ordeal far more terrible than scourging awaited them. By official order these two defenseless women were literally stripped of their clothing, and their bodies were examined for witch marks in a man- ner too indecent to be named. If any one cares to know all that this implies, let him consult Winthrop's Journal, vol. ii. p. 397, where he will find a narrative in de- tail of similar infliction upon the body of Margaret Jones, in the year 1648. The recital is too disgusting and sickening to be repeated. The treatment of that poor woman was inexcusable, but it was just and honorable as compared with the treatment of Ann Austin and Mary Fisher.
1 New England Judged, p. 12.
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Before Margaret Jones was arrested she had aroused the superstitious fears of the community. She had " a malignant touch, as many persons (men, women, and chil- dren) when she stroked .. . were taken with deafness . . . or sickness. She, prac- tising physic, . . . her medicines were harm- less, as anise-seed, liquors, etc., yet had ex- traordinary violent effects. .. . Some things which she foretold, came to pass accord- ingly." During her trial these alarming facts were duly proved to the jury, and she was found guilty of witchcraft and hanged for it. Governor Winthrop further narrates that " the same day and hour she was ex- ecuted, there was a very great tempest at Connecticut which blew down many trees," etc. Though nothing can palliate the re- volting torture to which she was subjected, nor justify the final punishment, it may be urged that in view of her practices a su- perstitious people might be pardoned for putting her under restraint. Her predic- tions, her stroking, and her potions had ter- rified the neighbors, and judging from the record, she was arrested and tried, in obe- dience to public sentiment. No such plea can be entered in the case of Ann Austin
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