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 4
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" You will judge of the propriety of permitting them to pro- ceed farther than Lancaster ; but from appearances I imagine their request may be safely granted. They seem much dis- tressed. Humanity pleads strongly in their behalf."
On the exiles arriving near General Washington's head- quarters at Valley Forge, they addressed him a letter asking him for a special permission to pass the American lines into Philadelphia, which he promptly granted to their messenger by his Secretary, Tench Tilghman, Esquire ; and it was received and esteemed as a proof of his sense of justice. It was dated on the 29th April, 1778, when the party passed the American picket guard, whence Colonel Livingston permitted them to go on to their homes in Philadelphia.
During the further four or five years' continuance of the war, the exiles who were left of the company returned to their homes, and resided in the city of Philadelphia, then in posses- sion of the British forces, till evacuated on the 17th June, 1778, when it was relinquished to the Americans,-the two armies having been alternately occupying and surrounding it for nearly a year.
During these changes, the Friends who had returned from banishment enjoyed unimpaired the confidence of their fellow- citizens-no political conduct being imputed to them ; and on the organization of the General Government, they were en- gaged as before to sustain institutions of public utility, some of them to hold offices of trust and honour, and to serve in the Legislature of the State.
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INTRODUCTION.
REFLECTIONS ON THE CONDUCT OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS RELATIVELY TO THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
The preceding narrative renders it necessary to review the general conduct of the Society of Friends, and particularly so, in regard to the American Revolution ; because as a religious and deliberative people, adverse to war, they withdrew from taking any part in the measures of the government, on the ap- proach of a political contest in which they could not unite.
The Colonial Government of Pennsylvania had its origin with the emigration of the Friends from England ; it had been formed and conducted very much according to their own views, and they enjoyed under it for a long period great re- spect, and shared in common with others, great prosperity and peace.
But at several times they had been aware of the unconstitu- tional attempts of Great Britain to tax the Colonies, and to control trade as well as to pass the Stamp Act; all of which had taken place in Parliament without any representation from the Colonies in regard to their legality, expediency, or effect.
On these laws reaching America they were found to be in- fringements of the colonial rights, and of the common rights of subjects of the realm, and they were highly offensive to the people. The Friends, therefore, with others, joined in making remonstrances against them, and they succeeded in obtaining their repeal by measures consistent with their principles.
It was then thought proper by the people of Pennsylvania, residing in and near Philadelphia, who were affected by these encroachments of Great Britain upon the rights of the Colonies, to join the citizens in a non-importation agreement, to prevent goods from being imported from England until the offensive acts were repealed. To that instrument, dated 25th October, 1765, the signatures of more than fifty members of the Society were placed, nine of which were of the Friends who were banished.
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But there were several other measures taken by the Friends in favour of the principles of liberty to which they believed the American Colonies to be entitled. Among these it appears in Smith's History of New Jersey, "That no sooner were the Quakers settled in New Jersey, than an attempt was made by the Duke of York, who claimed the sovereignty there, to tax them, and this produced much discontent. Finally, about the year 1679, they made a manly intrepid remonstrance against the injustice of taxation without representation, stating that it is a fundamental law of the British constitution, that the King of England cannot take his subjects' goods without their consent ; and they used nearly all the arguments which nearly one hun- dred years afterwards were deemed unanswerable." This tax was abated subsequently, and thus the first successful resistance to the conduct of the British government was made by the Friends, and it was in fact the first movement in the cause of American independence.
At the commencement of the Revolution, in common with other citizens, the Friends hoped that as the Stamp Act had been repealed in consequence of the remonstrances of America to the government of England, and some of the other measures revoked, the ministry would be eventually compelled to yield to the representations of some of her ablest politicians who in- terceded so warmly in favour of the rights of the Colonies, as the Earl of Chatham, Lord Camden, Edmund Burke, the Duke of Richmond, Colonel Barré, and others, and that the immense importance of preserving the allegiance of this part of the em- pire by keeping its interests united to her own would be made clearly manifest.
The repugnance of the Society of Friends to the hostile pro- gress of the Revolution arose from their principles, and from their feelings of humanity, independently of any anticipation of its progress or result. They never had taken part in any national strife, and it would have been inconsistent for them to have entered with zeal as partisans where all other active
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measures were incompatible with their religious principles. Having no ambitious or political expectancies, they only viewed the contest with anxiety, under a sincere hope that the hostile parties would seek the reconciliation which their mutual in- terests dictated.
This reluctance to war formed a peculiar characteristic of the Friends ; but it was also justly applicable to many con- siderate Americans in power, and even in the army ; and the following are among many other evidences to show that inde- pendently of the pacific principle, the confidence of the people and even of some of the States was more fully placed upon an amicable settlement of the differences than upon the prosecution of the war.
As the party of Friends who were returned from banish- ment passed homeward through York, Pennsylvania, on the 24th of April, 1778, they had a friendly conference with Gene- ral Gates, who stated to them that resolutions had passed the British Parliament, proposing to repeal the several acts oppres- sive to America, and to appoint Commissioners to treat with the Americans, in order to settle the unhappy contest; with which resolutions he said he was much pleased, and thought that Great Britain had agreed to all the Americans had asked or contended for.
When the Representatives were appointed by the Colonies to form the first Congress, and met at Philadelphia, the 5th September, 1774, to consult upon measures expedient to be pursued, they proceeded only so far as to petition the King for a redress of grievances inflicted upon their colonial rights, by the several acts of Parliament relatively to the Tea Tax-to the act shutting up the port of Boston, and other similar mea- sures, and then they dissolved on 26th October. They had recommended the appointment of another Congress, which was chosen afterwards, and met at Philadelphia, 10th May, 1775, and continued its sessions.
But these bodies, constantly relying on the adjustment of the differences, never expressed a desire to create an independent
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government in the country notwithstanding the acts of warfare which had been committed by the British forces at the Battle of Lexington, on the 19th April, and Bunker's Hill, on the 17th June, 1775, and declarations of allegiance continued to be ex- pressed in all their resolutions.
On the 6th July, the language of Congress was as follows :
" Lest this declaration should disquiet the minds of our friends and fellow-subjects in any part of the empire, we assure them that we mean not to dissolve that union which has been so long and so happily existing between us, and which we sin- cerely wish to see restored."
There had been no representation sent from the Colony of Georgia to the first Congress appointed by the States to meet at Philadelphia on the 5th September, 1774, and that Colony did not send one to the second Congress, which met there on the 10th of May, 1775, until the 15th July.
The Declaration of Independence was under preparation in Congress for a considerable time ; and though finally passed on the 4th of July, 1776, had been debated and deferred from the important consequences to result from its passage.
It had been referred to the decision of Congress from several of the states, but on its being moved there, on the 7th June, 1776, by Richard Henry Lee, and seconded by John Adams, it was agreed in Congress, that neither the name of the mover or seconder should be entered on the journal, and a committee of five members was appointed to draw up a Declaration of Independence, in case Congress should agree thereto.
After the act had passed Congress, 4th July, 1776, it became necessary that the new measures attending it should make their way into the minds of the people, many of whom, though to be relied upon to sustain the rights of the country, would naturally have felt a caution in regard to its immediate effect and relatively to the time at which the people should be pre- pared to receive it.
The colony of New Jersey had no constitution nor charter
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under its allegiance to the British government, but it was thought proper to make one about this time. This was under discussion by the representatives at Trenton during the time that Congress was debating upon the Declaration of Indepen- dence at Philadelphia, and when the Constitution of New Jersey was adopted and signed there on the 2d of July, 1776, only two days before the Declaration of Independence, there was inserted in it this remarkable condition :-
" Provided always that it is the true intent and meaning of this Congress, that if a reconciliation between Great Britain and these Colonies should take place, and the latter be again taken under the government and protection of Great Britain, this Charter shall be null and void, otherwise to remain, firm and inviolable."
If, therefore, a diversity of views were entertained among several of the states and governments, under a hope of a set- tlement of the difficulties, a cautious line of conduct should not have been considered censurable on the part of individuals.
The Friends especially, believing all warlike measures to be antichristian, had never obeyed the injunctions of any govern- ment when they led to them. In this respect they differed from other members of the community, who were willing to seek redress for national or personal injuries, by force or retaliation. On the other hand they never sought to attain their object by flattery, or by adulation to persons in power, as kings or rulers, for they prized too highly the rights of the people, and the duties owing by the rulers to their fellow-citizens, who were placed under their care not for subjection but for protection.
And while they felt themselves bound to treat kings and rulers with respect, they had frequently remonstrated, both in person and by letters, in very plain terms, to several of them, -to Oliver Cromwell, to King Charles II., to King James II., and others, upon their private and public conduct, when it was adverse to the liberty and interest of their country. And cer- tainly, under the impending difficulties between America and England, caused by circumstances so justly to be complained
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of, they could never have promoted such an address as was sent by Congress to the king immediately after the hostile acts with which the war had been commenced. Had they done this, they would have been amenable to a charge of flattery and insincerity, to which no part of their conduct had ever approached.
This address of the Congress of the United States of America to King George the Third, dated on the 8th of July, 1775, con- tains as follows :
" Attached as we are to your Majesty's person and govern- ment, with all the devotion which principle and affection can inspire, connected with Great Britain by the strongest ties that can unite societies, and deploring any event which tends in any degree to weaken them, we do solemnly assure your Majesty that we do not only desire that the former happiness between her and these Colonies may be restored, but that such a concord may be established between us as to perpetuate its blessings, and to transmit your Majesty's name to posterity adorned with that signal and lasting glory, which has attended the memory of those illustrious personages whose virtues and abilities have extricated states from dangerous convulsions, and by securing happiness to others, have erected the most noble and durable monuments to their own fame."
This flattering address to the king was a descent from the high standing theretofore assumed by the Congress of the nation. It was an attempt at policy, in appealing to the con- sideration of the king in whom they had no confidence, because they knew that ever since the treaty with France in 1763, when England obtained possession of the Canadas, and of America generally, the government had begun the oppressive measures of Colonial taxation, which were always attributed to the king and his ministry.
It was sent at the time the Colonists were suffering under a violation of their most important rights by an army occupying their country to compel their surrender, and also after the war commenced, in the spring and summer of that year, at the battles of Lexington and Bunker's Hill; which with other
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aggressions they soon after embodied in the Declaration of Independence, in which they declared him, " a prince whose character is thus marked with every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be a ruler of a free people."
The Society of Friends, on the contrary, had persevered in a course to obtain the important objects of their civil and re- ligious rights, by measures devoid both of flattery or offence ; they had never made to the officers of government in England or America such expressions of " devotion or attachment," nor did they go beyond those professions of just and independent respect due to persons placed in power for the preservation of society.
Their addresses were made plainly to " The King" as holding that position in the government of their country; they were free from any of the appellatives of dignity, or any of the com- plimentary forms of servility, and on the occasions when they sought redress from the Parliament in regard to the religious rights due to them as subjects, or for their civil or colonial rights, it was by an intrepid and manly maintenance of their privileges, until that body became convinced of the justice of their demand.
On the 4th day of October, 1777, while the Friends re- mained in banishment in Virginia, a committee of six, which had been appointed by the Yearly Meeting of Friends of Penn- sylvania, visited the generals of both the contending armies, in order to explain to them the independent and impartial course their peaceable principles had required them to pursue.
These visits were made to General Howe and to General Washington, who received them very courteously at their re- spective headquarters. In these interviews they gave such explanations of the principles, and of the conduct of the Society, as were satisfactory, and removed from the minds of General Washington and his officers, who were assembled at camp, all impression of their having been concerned in the Spanktown memorial, or in any political interference which had been im- puted to them, and published by order of Congress ; and they
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refuted other misrepresentations which had found their way into the public prints, and had caused prejudices against them, on which the measures of Congress and of the Supreme Execu- tive Council had been founded.
On the conference being ended, a full confidence in the im- partiality of the conduct of the Friends was expressed by each of the generals, and the committee was permitted to pass their respective military lines to return into the city of Philadelphia, then in possession of the British forces.
It is true that the Society had issued its advice to its mem- bers, to be faithful to their peaceable principles, and to keep out of all warlike measures ; and this advice, consistent with the uniform conduct of the Society, was intended to repress any desire any of their members had to engage in the contest on either side. It had been urged impartially, and could have afforded no just ground of complaint against the Society from one of the contending parties more than from the other.
It is quite probable that the Society of Friends, under the kind course of treatment they were entitled to receive, and such as was extended to other respectable members of the community by the persons in power, would have manifested the same impressions as other citizens, regarding the indepen- dence of the country, and its responsibilities to itself, and not to a foreign land. But there had been a strong party prejudice created against them, arising from an idea of their being people of influence-from their former position in the government, as well as from the reserved and cautious conduct incident to their principles.
For in the tumult of the times the ardour of the revolution- ary enthusiasm was opposed to deliberate reflection, and an idea prevailed that " he that is not for us is against us," in- stead of the more kind one, that " he that is not against us is for us ;" and reason and reflection being too slow for popular feeling, the conservative views of the Society were neither consulted nor appreciated.
The liberal and independent principles of the Friends, with
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their influence and judgment, would have answered many valu- able purposes to the country, because they were much re- spected, and no persons had ever been more firm and consis- tent in sustaining the rights of the people.
In addition to the cases already stated, this appears in the published volumes of the votes and proceedings of the Colonial Assembly of Pennsylvania, where the votes of the Friends who were members of that body are always to be found on the popular or liberal side. In the year 1742, when the election of members of Assembly was contested, the chief opposition was made by the members of the Society of Friends to the patronage, both of the Crown and the Proprietary .*
It was by the vigilance of this Society in Pennsylvania, and its interest with Friends in England, that Edmund Burke was returned to Parliament from the city of Bristol. As an advo- cate of the American cause, his celebrated speeches denounced the ministerial measures pursued in Massachusetts, which had caused the convention of the first Congress, and brought on the Revolutionary War.
The correspondence of the Friends in England with their friends in America shows the deep interest they took in pre- venting the hostile measures of the ministry, and towards pro- ducing a reconciliation. Dr. John Fothergill and David Bar- clay were among those who were particularly active, being entitled to make this interference as men of weight of character and great popularity. They assisted Dr. Franklin in England, and gave their opinion to the ministry firmly in favour of the rights of the Colonies, and of their claims made for redress.
It is true that the affinities of commercial and friendly intercourse which existed so largely between England and America, created relations which had been for a long time conducted to mutual advantage, and " which when long established should not be changed for light and transient causes ;" but as it has been stated, when the non-importation agreement of 25th October, 1765, appeared necessary to pro-
* See the votes of Pennsylvania Assembly, appended to vol. iii.
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duce a just and proper effect upon the government of England, it was united in by the Friends as generally as by others.
The justice and moderation with which the Colonial govern- ment of Pennsylvania had been conducted, showed the Friends to be philosophers in politics as well as in religion, and pro- duced its good effect upon the principles and habits of the colonists. This, together with their just and amicable care of the Indian natives, became well known in Europe, and raised very highly the character of the province.
The connexion America had formed with France in order to aid the country through the war of the Revolution, caused many military officers, statesmen, and gentlemen of high standing from the continent of Europe, to be some time in this country. They became domesticated here ; they had an ac- quaintance with a number of the Friends, and were much pleased with the intercourse they enjoyed among them.
It was, however, more particularly in the State of Penn- sylvania, that these gentlemen were made sensible of the plain republican habits of domestic life, with the principles of government, and with the charitable establishments founded by private benevolence, and conducted without patronage, on a system of such general usefulness and order, as to exceed their highest expectations.
The progress of mankind in moral and social science is confessedly slow : it has been subject to the imperfections of human nature; and the peaceful and benignant principles of Christianity are liable to many interruptions from the agitations and conflicts of society.
Whether or not the practice of the principles advocated by the Society of Friends may continue to be maintained by them- selves or by others, or are only to be handed down as the history of a past apostolic era, which had shed the promise of a better dispensation to the New World,-a future time will determine. The evidence and experience of these are now before us, in our recollections and traditions ; the recorded volumes and tes- timonies of this age are extant, and though they may be left in
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obscurity, contain a code of self-evident truths, the exposition of which has gone imperceptibly into society ;- these truths have formed the basis of our social system-of our daily inter- course, and justify the integrity and simplicity of its character.
We see these principles in the institutions for which the State of Pennsylvania has been distinguished, for they were brought here with the Colonists. The toleration of religious liberty joined to the glory of forming an equal government for civil and religious rights, without discrimination of sects or pro- fessions, have their birthplace in Pennsylvania. The friendly care of the Indian natives,-of the poor,-the diseased,-and the aged,-the practice of temperance as a requisite to religious society,-the system for the employment and reformation of criminals,-of societies to do away with the injustice of slavery, and for the discouragement of war,-originating here, have been extended through the land, and are now becoming imitated through Europe. These are peculiarly due to the Society of Friends, which engrafted them into its discipline for the government of its members, for their intercourse with others, and which has persevered to bring them into adoption for the benefit of the community.
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MEETING OF THE YEARLY MEETING OF FRIENDS AT
PHILADELPHIA.
Minutes of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, 1777, 3d of 10th month. Afternoon.
James Thornton, on behalf of the Committee on Epistles, &c., reports-
That a weighty consideration hath been before them, re- specting some Friends going, by appointment of this meeting, on a visit to William Howe, General of the British Army, and to George Washington, General of the American Army, and to take with them the testimony yesterday approved by this meeting ; in which visits or opportunities they are to endeavour to lay before said generals, or any of their officers, or other people, the reason of publishing that testimony ; and also, fur- ther to remonstrate on the behalf of our banished Friends, or proceed in other respects on behalf of truth and our religious society, as best wisdom may dictate and make way for them.
The subject being now weightily attended to, and the senti- ments of many Friends expressed in approbation of such a con- cern and visit, the meeting nominates and approves for this purpose, William Brown, James Thornton, Nicholas Waln, Warner Mifflin, Joshua Morris, and Samuel Emlen, who are to make report to the Meeting for Sufferings, when they have performed the service.
A Testimony given forth from our Yearly Meeting, held at Philadelphia, for Pennsylvania and New Jersey, by adjourn- ments, from the 29th day of the 9th month to the 4th of the 10th month, inclusive, 1777.
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