The Kingdoms of Edward Hicks (review)

Book Reviews61 jamin Franklin and role in politics of the 1760s. Roberts served in the assembly only in 1751 and 1752. Similarly, we get a splendid small biography ofGovernorWilliamKeith andhistory of1720s politics, whereas Keith served only in 1726 and 1727. Several topical essays are new to volume two (while others follow from those in volume one) and some are special to Quaker historians: "The Struggle to Secure the Affirmation," "Quaker Pacifism," and "Quaker Influence on Elections." Six editors commendablyproduced volume two in abriefsix years. Unfortunately, the departure ofseveral ofits sponsors has cuttheproject's staffto three, surely delaying theappearanceofvolume three. Weattestthatmorepeoplethanthe editors will suffer from this unhappy event. Jack D. MariettaUniversity ofArizona The Kingdoms of Edward Hicks. By Carolyn J. Weakley with the assistanceofLauraPassBerry. Williamsburg, Va.: AbbyAldrichRockefeller Folk Art Center, 1999. xvi + 254 pp. Illustrations, map, chart, notes, bibliography, and index. $39.95. Edward Hicks (1780-1849) is, with the possible exception ofthe genial old man whose visage ornaments the Quaker Oats box, the most publicly visible Friend ever to live inNorth America. For many, he is the quintessential American folk artist. His various interpretations of The Peaceable Kingdom have become icons of harmony and idealism, doubtless for millions their sole exposure to Quakerism. Carolyn Weakley's attractive and thoroughly researched book, produced in conjunction with a major traveling exhibition ofHicks's work, provides us with the best account we have had to date ofthis paradoxical Friend. Hicks was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, into a family with extensive Quaker ties, although his own parents were Episcopalians. Loyalists during the Revolution, the Hickses lost most of their property and position, and the death ofEdward's mother in 1781 left the infant Edward in the care of a Quaker couple, David and Elizabeth Twining. Their influence was critical. Edward was received into membership among Friends in 1803 and was recorded a minister in 181 1. By the early 1820s, Edward Hicks had become an influential figure in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, afirmallyofhisLongIslandkinsmanEliasHicksinresistingwhat they saw as the innovations and abuses ofpower being introduced among Friends by the Orthodox. Ironic, of course, given Quaker ambivalence about art, was Edward's occupation as a painter. As many scholars have noted, he was himself 62Quaker History uncomfortablewith it, andmade littlementionofitinhis autobiography. He tried farming, but failed and was forced back into art to support his family. He didattempt to squarehis workwith Quakerprinciples, refusing commissions that he thought vain or worldly. Much ofWeakley's work is given to interpretations ofthe evolution ofHicks's paintings, especially the series of The Peaceable Kingdom that he began about 1816 and continued until his death. Like previous Hicks scholars, Weakley sees in the paintings a world that is anything but peaceful. The lions and leopards that dominate the landscapes were symbols ofpower and worldly activity, antithetical to the quietism of the true Friend. Weakley argues, for example, that Hicks doubtless associated the lion with the English Friends whose aggressive Evangelicalism played a central role in the Hicksite Separation of 1 8271828 . It is by no means derogatory to characterize Weakley's work as a coffee table book, given the profusion and attractiveness of its illustrations. It is intended for a general readership, and thus it is not surprising to find points at which a specialist in Quaker history will quibble. For example, it is questionable whether, as Weakley states, that by Hicks's lifetime English and American Friends "were not closely related" (37) or that in the 1820s the Orthodox were the Friends "supporting the original doctrines and practices ofthe Society" (46). One wonders also whether Weakley understands how badly Hicksite Friends were split over issues like abolition and women's rights in the 1840s, and how these difficulties, where Hicks steadfastly opposed Friends working with non-Friends, influenced the painter's work. These are minor points. The Kingdoms ofEdward Hicks is a welcome addition to the corpus of Edward Hicks and Quaker scholarship. Thomas D. HammEarlham College Pacifism in the Twentieth Century. By Peter Brock and Nigel Young. Syracuse: Syracuse UniversityPress, 1999. liv +436 pp. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, and index. Paper, $29.95. Varieties of Pacifism: A Survey from Antiquity to the Outset of the Twentieth Century. ByPeterBrock. New ed. Syracuse...