USA > Virginia > Exiles in Virginia : with observations on the conduct of the Society of Friends during the revolutionary war ; comprising the official papers of the government relating to that period. 1777-1778 > Part 19
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About the time this epistle was sent forth, some instances happened of persons of our Society being seized when on their lawful business, without even the colour of law to authorize it, and confined, for refusing to bear arms or find substitutes in their room ; and from others, tests not warranted by any law, were attempted to be extorted by military officers. These arbitrary proceedings led the meeting to consider that the youth and the unwary might be intimidated into a departure from those principles in which they had been educated, and which they professed. To prevent which they thought it their duty to give forth their brotherly caution and advice ; nor can any who are willing to allow liberty of conscience to the Society, condemn them. It should here be observed, that all these papers were printed and openly dispersed among our members, and some of them were sent to the members of Con- gress then in Philadelphia, before they appeared abroad. Had they contained any thing seditious or unwarrantable, why was not a disapprobation of them then expressed ? Why was the censure of them deferred until near nine months after the date of the last of them ? But when the subject of this epistle is duly considered, it must evidently appear to be intended to dis- courage the members of our Society from bearing arms in all cases whatsoever. How then can men professing candour apply it to any particular case, and interpret it as a seditious publication, evidencing that the authors were with much rancour und bitterness disaffected to the cause of America?
" The happy Constitution under which we and others have long enjoyed tranquillity and peace," are words which, we un- derstand, have given offence to some of those who have been engaged in forming a new one ; they have thought it derogatory to their skill as legislators, that a work which they had rejected, should be spoken of with so much respect. But we who have known the happiness enjoyed in Pennsylvania under the mild administration of so wholesome a form of government, cannot but express our regret that it was so little esteemed as to be wholly set at nought. It was formed by a man, who as a
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worthy ancient of our Society, and a wise legislator, stands as high in the page of history as any of his cotemporaries ; in framing it, he consulted with a number of our ancestors who held the same noble principles with himself, and adapted it so wisely to the purposes of a free government, that the learned Montesquieu, in his Spirit of Laws, bears this testimony in favour of him and his work :* " A character so extra- ordinary in the institutions of Greece, has shown itself lately in the dregs and corruptions of modern times. A very honest legislator has formed a people to whom probity seems as natural as bravery to the Spartans. William Penn is a real Lycurgus ; and though the former made peace his principal aim, as the latter did war, yet they resemble one another in the singular way of living to which they reduced their people; in the ascendency they had over freemen ; in the prejudices which they overcame; and in the passions which they subdued."
The experience of near an hundred years has evinced the truth of this learned man's observation ; and it was but a just tribute to the memory of the honourable founder, to notice the happiness enjoyed under the "generous plan of liberty" handed down from him. And when it is considered that under his constitution, no superiority was allowed to one religious society over another, but all were put on the footing of brethren entitled to an equal share of that liberty which is the gift of Heaven-that no persecution was ever waged by any persons exercising power under it, and that as soon as it was over- turned and a new form introduced, a spirit of persecution was raised, that threatened our Society, the descendants of the first settlers, with the loss of their religious liberty, which their ancestors had purchased at so dear a rate,-and that actually began to hold cognizance over our consciences, -it cannot, therefore, be matter of wonder that such expres- sions were used in the epistle referred to ; and we believe a great majority of the people of Pennsylvania concur in our opinion.
ยป Vol. i. page 51.
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Upon the whole, this epistle is couched in terms so full of Christian charity, that we cannot, as we before observed, but be surprised that such invidious reflections should be cast upon it. We have been the longer in our observations on this paper, because it has been the pretext for much calumny and abuse of the Society.
Although this epistle was never inserted in any of the public papers with the privity of the meeting, yet illiberal censures have been cast upon it for republishing it, and it has been represented to be done with a view " to discourage the militia of Pennsylvania from marching at a time of danger." This is another instance of the uncandid construction put upon the acts of the Society.
The Assembly of Pennsylvania prepared a bill last spring, to compel all persons under particular circumstances to sub- scribe a test, and published it for the consideration of the people at large ; this, together with the reasons that subsisted at the time of first issuing the epistle, was thought a sufficient cause for reviving it, by directing it to be again read in some of our religious meetings : whatever other publication of it was made, was not with the concurrence of the Society; and indeed if such revisal was in reality so improper at that time, how is it to be accounted for, that it should again be published by authority of Congress, who now so freely condemn it, at a time much more critical than either of the former-namely, at the late approach of the British army to Philadelphia ? But men are often insensible of absurdities when they occur in a favour- ite pursuit !
We come now to the minutes of the several monthly and quarterly meetings, which were illegally forced out of the hands of the clerks, by virtue of a general warrant, with a design to furnish evidence against us. But whatever effect might have been expected from them, they will be found wholly void of offence. And here it may be proper for the information of such as are unacquainted with our method of transacting business, to observe, that at the time our ancestors sepa-
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rated themselves from other religious societies, and formed themselves into a body, divers laws subsisted, with which they conceived it their religious duty not actively to comply ; they were of course subjected to forfeitures and penalties which, by the defect of the laws in not guarding against the malice of their persecutors in making excessive distresses, were so heavy upon many, as to impoverish and ruin them. It became the concern of their brethren to relieve and assist such as well by counsel as by supplying their necessary wants; for this pur- pose a committee of the Society was appointed by the name of the Meeting for Sufferings, which has been continually kept up in London for Great Britain, Ireland, &c.
To this meeting the inferior meetings send an account of all the sufferings in support of our testimony, from time to time. When our forefathers settled in America, they established, as occasion required, the same Christian discipline for the well ordering of the affairs of the Society, as had been used and approved in England ; and among others a Meeting for Sufferings was appointed, and has been kept up for many years at Philadelphia, for Pennsylvania and New Jersey ; and in the course of their proceedings, the minutes now published were sent from the several monthly to the quarterly meetings, in order to be by them forwarded to the Meeting for Sufferings, that through it the Yearly Meeting might be informed of the state of the Society, and of the trespass upon the sufferers. Nor is this new among us, or calculated for the present occasion, but the constant, uniform practice of our Society. As to the matter of those minutes-it is a plain narrative of facts, incontestably true, and notorious in the places where they happened. Nor is the manner of them exceptionable, as all the expressions are true in themselves, and descriptive of the several matters alluded to.
We are now to take notice of the papers said to be found among the prisoners' baggage on Staten Island; and we re- gret that our justification requires us to use language, which in other circumstances we would wish to avoid. We do, however, with a firm confidence undertake to say, that so
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much of those papers as imports that the intelligence there mentioned was given from a meeting of our Society, is a direct falsehood and forgery ; and although we have never yet seen the original papers, nor heard of the circumstances attending the finding of them, so as to enable us to search for proof in vindication of our brethren in that part of the country, or to discover the marks of deceit which generally accompany counterfeits, yet we trust sufficient evidence appears upon the face of the publication to warrant our assertion.
General Sullivan, in his letter to Congress, dated Hanover, 25th August, 1777, speaks of " one from the Yearly Meeting of Spanktown," but whether it was intended that the whole of what follows should be considered in that light, or only those six lines entitled " Intelligence from Jersey, 19th August, 1777," and subscribed, "Spanktown Yearly Meeting," we cannot determine ; but will show that no part is chargeable on any of our members; and in order to arrive at the greater precision, we shall speak of the three articles separately.
The first consists of eight questions, which at first view are found to be such as must come from persons seeking intelli- gence, and not from those who were to give it. We may therefore safely conclude that this was not the work of any of our members, but merely a set of instructions to the officers of the British army, to direct their inquiries in case they should meet with persons capable of giving information.
The second is the paper said to come from Spanktown Yearly Meeting ; and indeed it is unfavourable for the contriver of this piece of business, that he had not obtained better in- formation concerning our meetings in those parts, and attended a little more to the dates of events ; and it is happy for us, de- prived as we are of all opportunity of clearing up the matter by other evidence, that he has put into his composition several things which wholly destroy its credit.
And first, it is highly improbable that any body of people would subscribe a paper containing intelligence which, if de-
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tected, would endanger their lives. Persons concerned in such dangerous transactions always avoid describing themselves in such a manner as to be known to the opposite party, in case their correspondence should be intercepted ; and the members of any meeting must be supposed to be idiots before such con- duct could be believed of them. Besides, the constant practice of all our meetings every where, is that no paper issues from them without the signature of the clerk, or some other persons in their behalf, as all the genuine papers published by order of Congress, show.
Secondly .- There is not, and never has been, a yearly meet- ing of our Society held at Spanktown, as the inventor of this affair might have known had he made the least inquiry. It is true that a quarterly meeting is held at Rahway, part of which place, we understand, is known by the nickname of Spank- town, but never so called in any of our proceedings. The paper published immediately before the extract of General Sul- livan's letter, shows the manner in which that meeting is styled by the Society, to wit, " our quarterly meeting, held in Rah- way." This meeting was held and finished on the 18th day of that month, and we are assured by one of our company now confined at Winchester, who attended it, at every sitting from beginning to end, that no paper, or intelligence of any public nature, kind, or tendency whatsoever, was made therein.
But lastly, the author of this counterfeited paper, besides his want of knowledge of the meetings, the times at which they are held, and the names by which they are called, has been guilty of an oversight in the date of his intelligence, equally fatal to the credibility of his work. He makes his newly con- stituted Yearly Meeting at Spanktown say, " It is said General Howe landed near the head of Chesapeake Bay, but cannot learn the particular spot, nor when." He dates this the 19th day of August. From the public papers we find that the fleet containing General Howe's army was on that day, at or near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, and that it did not arrive at
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Turkey Point, near the head of it, till the 22d, of which the earliest intelligence was brought to Philadelphia on the 23d, and might have reached Spanktown and Hanover on the 24th or 25th ; before which time the paper in question could not have received its present form. How then can it be true that it was framed at Spanktown on the 19th, as itself imports, or that it was found on Staten Island on the 22d, as General Sul- livan has asserted! !
We submit these facts to the consideration of the public, not doubting but they will acquit our Society of being the authors of it, whatever opinions they may entertain of any others.
The third article is a letter dated Sunday, July 28th, 1777; but as it is not even insinuated to be written by any of our members, and carries in its date a style not used by our Society, it is unnecessary to observe further upon it, than that although it is of a much earlier date than the preceding one, it is here transposed (as was done in a former instance), in order that it might pass with the unthinking for a work of the pretended Spanktown Yearly Meeting.
These observations, we think, are sufficient to show that nothing contained in our " several testimonies" supports the charge exhibited against our Society ; but on the contrary, that the welfare of mankind, and extending the glad tidings of peace on earth, and good will to men, was the only aim of the authors of those papers. And with respect to our conduct and conversation, we need say no more than that our characters have been such as to be proof against the general calumny of any body of people whatever, and will remain so until evidence supplies the place of assertion.
Before we conclude, it will be proper to observe upon another. circumstance, which fully shows that our persecutors were satisfied of our innocence before they executed their unjust sentence upon us, although they had not the candour to ac- knowledge their error by doing us justice.
It appears by the resolves of the Congress and Council, dated the 5th of September, that both those bodies, after all
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the fears and jealousies they had expressed, were willing to enlarge us, if we would have " sworn or affirmed allegiance to the State of Pennsylvania." This was a direct relinquish- ment of all the charges exhibited against us, and from that moment we stood in no other point of view than offenders against the Act of Assembly commonly called the Test Law ; if by that law we were not compellable to subscribe the test, then have the Council punished us without any other authority than their own arbitrary will, and they might with equal jus- tice have apprehended and sent from their families, every in- habitant who had declined taking it.
As we declined accepting our liberty on those terms, it may not be improper to consider the nature of tests in general, and show that our refusal to take those offered to us, was not a breach of the law, nor punishable in any manner whatever.
That no government ever derived stability from tests im- posed on the people at large, is a fact notorious to every person conversant in history. If the constitution and the administra- tion of justice be such, that the inhabitants derive the blessings of liberty from it, their common interest in supporting it, forms the surest obligation ; if it be otherwise, men of ambition who have interested views, by oppressing the people, are the only persons who would propose to continue it by enforcing them under the dread of perjury, to submit to arbitrary laws.
Designing men have never failed to cloak their ambition under specious appearances; they are ingenious at forming plausible pretexts for withdrawing their allegiance from the sovereign or state to whom they have sworn it, nor can an in- stance be found of oaths preventing a revolution. The alle- giance sworn by the Long Parliament to Charles the First, did not hinder them from bringing him to the scaffold-nor the tests taken by General Monk and his army to the Common- wealth of England, prevent them from restoring Charles the Second to the crown .- They are in fact nothing more than an engine to oppress the more virtuous part of the people. Wit- ness the use made of them during the days of Cromwell, and
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for some years after the Restoration. Many of the peaceable conscientious inhabitants were grievously persecuted for re- fusing them, while those, to check whom they were principally intended, took them and observed them no longer than it suited their views. During that unhappy contest we find abundant reason to reject the use of tests. The same persons for the sake of the places they held or coveted to hold, were induced to swear and recant many direct contradictions in the course of a few years, to the great dishonour of religion, and the weakening the force of every moral obligation.
Every conscientious man when he submits to the solemnity of an oath or affirmation, means to perform it in the fullest sense; but how can any man who takes a test to either of the contending parties, be sure in the present unsettled state of affairs, that he can hold his integrity a single week ? The face of things may in a few days be changed, and by the events of war he may fall into the hands of the opposite party, and be tempted for the safety of his property, his life, or his family, to do some act in violation of his solemn engagement to the great injury of his conscience ; nor will the common excuse of force serve him in the hour of reflection as a palliation, for the mind not being subject to compulsion receives a lasting wound wherever it assents to any evil for the ease of the body.
Nor is it a practice among nations at war, to compel the peaceable inhabitants of an invaded country to swear fidelity until by the ratification of peace it is confirmed to the con- queror; and if there be some instances to the contrary, they have been condemned by all writers of liberal sentiments.
If it be objected that in times of difficulty it is necessary to bind suspected persons by an oath or affirmation of fidelity, we answer that some cause of suspicion should be proved against a man before he is publicly stigmatized, and if upon a hearing he cannot clear up the suspicions, it is then time enough to call for surety for his good behaviour.
These observations, we hope, will be sufficient to convince the candid that general tests are inconsistent with true liberty,
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unnecessary in the present situation of America, and subversive of the morality of the inhabitants.
But if in any circumstances it be necessary for the Legisla- ture to enact a general test law, such test can never authorize the executive powers to inflict heavy punishments on those who have never committed any breach of it.
The power of the Council of Pennsylvania in a business of this nature, is nothing more than that of justices of the peace, which is given to them as counsellors by the Declaration of Rights. This power could neither be enlarged nor abridged by the recommendations of Congress. We must therefore con- sider the Council as acting in that capacity. And a bare perusal of the test law is sufficient to show that no justice had power to tender it to men who quietly stayed in the county where they usually resided ; and as none of us were found be- yond the limits prescribed, we never could be considered as liable to the penalties of refusing it ; and even if we were, the measure of the punishment has been exceeded an hundred fold. With what face then can any set of men pretend to assert the cause of liberty who are found in so flagrant a violation of its most essential parts? What security can the inhabitants of Pennsylvania have for the enjoyment of their unalienable rights under governors who have thus publicly substituted their own arbitrary will in the place of their own positive law.
Thus, we apprehend, we have fully answered and refuted every charge and suspicion that has been published against us, and have shown that the proceedings of the Council of Pennsylvania founded upon the recommendation of the Congress, have been a violent exertion of power against right. And we cannot but be sorry that the Congress should have given rise to such a course of conduct, and in the progress of it, have counte- nanced it.
They listened to insinuations without any just ground, the authors of which were concealed-they censured a whole religious Society with which they were very little acquainted- they condemned a number of innocent individuals of that
17
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Society upon the general charge of their conduct and conver- sation, without hearing them in their defence-they caused the Council to apprehend them and many others, and consented to their banishment to a distant country before any legal convic- tion-and published to the world the groundless suspicions and falsehoods by which themselves had been misled, in order to excite prejudices against others.
When a number of us whom they had accused and con- demned, applied to Congress for a hearing, they left it to the option of the Council to grant it or not at their pleasure, and recommended such a hearing as is not known in any free country, to wit, to hear what we could allege to " remove their suspicions ;" thus instead of a fixed charge being supported against us, the burthen of proving negatives was to be thrown upon us. And when the Council refused even such a hearing, Congress, who profess to be the guardians of American freedom, suffered the Council to send us away from our families at a time when the noise of armies engaged in battle approaching the city, was heard within the walls of our habitations, when our tender wives and helpless children required a double por- tion of care and attention from us.
Had we been allowed to defend ourselves before an impartial tribunal, as every man who boasts the rank of a freeman is entitled to when his character is called in question, we should not now have had occasion to trouble the public with a written defence, which we have endeavoured to make as concise as the nature of our case would admit ; and we trust that our at- tempt to vindicate ourselves as individuals and as a religious Society, who have ever been generally reputed useful members of the community, will not be unacceptable to those who wish to know the truth and judge for themselves.
APPENDIX.
EXTRACTS FROM THE JOURNALS OF THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, IN THE YEARS 1777, 1778 ; AND FROM THE MINUTES OF THE SUPREME EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, FROM THE 4TH OF MARCH, 1777, TO THE 28TH OF JUNE, 1779 ; INCLUDING THE MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL OF SAFETY.
(Dunlap's Edition.)
JOURNAL OF CONGRESS.
Monday, August 25th, 1777.
Whereas the States of Pennsylvania and Delaware are threatened with an immediate invasion from a powerful army, who have already landed at the head of Chesapeake Bay ; and whereas the principles of policy and self-preservation require that all persons who may reasonably be suspected of aiding or abetting the cause of the enemy, may be prevented from pursuing measures injurious to the general weal :
Resolved, That the executive authorities of the States of Pennsylvania and Delaware, be requested to cause all persons within their respective states, notoriously disaffected, forthwith to be apprehended, disarmed, and secured, till such time as the respective states think they may be released without injury to the common cause.
Resolved, That it be recommended to the Supreme Execu- tive Council of the State of Pennsylvania, to cause a diligent search to be made in the houses of all the inhabitants of the city of Philadelphia, who have not manifested their attach- ment to the American cause, for firearms, swords and bayonets ;
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that the owners of the arms so found be paid for them at an appraised value, and that they be delivered to such of the militia of the State of Pennsylvania who are at present un- armed and have been called into the field.
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