Quakers and Education: As Seen in Their Schools in England (review)

Book Reviews47 no one can read this volume without recognizing the comforting companionship of Emma Wallace, starting at a very early date and continuing as it does today in full bloom. We are grateful to Emily Cooper Johnson for devoting so much time and effort in portraying the life of Jane Rushmore and at the same time recording the progress of the Hicksite group of Friends. Never before have the detailed activities of liberal Friends been reviewed so completely. Recent Quaker historians have not been members of the Friends General Conference, and consequendy many of the accomplishments of this group have remained unpublished. This splendid biography is a fitting tribute and a grateful acknowledgement of the many varied services rendered to our Society by Jane Rushmore , and as the story unfolds, the reader is reminded of many other Friends who have played their individual parts in this same field. Many of these were honored some years ago in Quaker Torch Bearers (1943), published by the Friends General Conference. One naturally gives great thanks for the Providence that placed Jane Rushmore where she found such a fertile field, was able to do so much, and yet, at the same time, continually refrained from assuming full generalship of the movement with which she was so intimately associated. This quality alone reveals her real greatness. Never can it be said of her that the undoubted power she had over the group was ever used unwisely. At the time of her eightieth birthday party, I wired the Committee: "Greetings to Jane Rushmore from New York whence she came. She should be awarded a distinguished service medal for the way she has upheld the torch of liberal Quakerism and for the way she has handled Philadelphia Quakers all these years." Now, ten years later, something much more fitting and enduring than medals, certainly more Friendly, is published in her honor, revealing much that has never before been recorded, thus making this volume both a biography and an historical record of the Hicksite group of Friends. New York CityC. Marshall Taylor Quakers and Education: As Seen in Their Schools in England. By W. A. Campbell Stewart. London: The Epworth Press. 1953. ix, 310 pages. 30 shillings. Although himself not a member, Campbell Stewart evidences a wide comprehension of the beliefs and practices of Friends. His analysis of the application of those principles to education is to be commended for depth of insight. The book is a scholarly piece of work, thoroughly done, but in the author's words, "is not a piece of original, historical research." The lesser bits of research are skillfully blended with adequate annotations, however, so that one does not get an indigestible mince-pie effect. Stewart first traces Quaker beginnings in seventeenth-century England , then launches into his subject proper. After getting the Friends' 48Bulletin of Friends Historical Association schools in England firmly established, he covers the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the areas of cost, staffing, curriculum, school government, punishment, "guarded" education, and co-education. The next to last chapter carries the story from 1918 to the present time and touches on all the above-mentioned areas. This method of presentation enables one to refer easily to a particular aspect of Friends' education in England, but unfortunately (for this reviewer ) makes the volume less readable than might otherwise be the case. It is hoped this does not interfere with others' enjoyment of the book, for it is well worth careful reading. Individuals interested in present-day Friends' education will find a fund of background data affording considerable insight into many current Quaker school practices. Several of the American Quaker secondary schools have their roots in the English experience. The fact that the reviewer is directly associated with one of these institutions made the reading of this volume doubly interesting. For one who is looking for answers to the question, "How did we get this way?" Stewart has much documentary evidence. The traditional Friends' attitude toward music, for instance, has only changed by slow degrees. In the 1830's "whistling was considered next door to swearing." Even by 1880 many still felt that training in music would corrupt the meeting for...