Northern Friends and the Conscription Acts during the Civil War, 1861-1865

12 BULLETIN OF FRIENDS' HISTORICAL SOCIETY hold ye fellowfhip & meetings, & the lord god allmighty be with you forever. I am lett this be read ifYour Frd. & Bro1. you fee fitt in ye allem-In [illegible] Wm Penn blys of gods people : farewell in ye lord. Note.—The Friends named in this letter are John Claus, Peter Hendricks , Bareni van Tongeren, William Sewel, the historian, Jacob Claus, who, as we learn from a Dutch tract of 1680, was a bookseller in Amsterdam , and William March (?). The signature has been cut out. This letter appears to have been written when Penn accompanied the Deputies of London Yearly Meeting to present an address to King James relative to the Declaration of Indulgence. (Sewel's History, fol. ed., 1722, pp. 605-608.) Sewel says James was then in residence at Windsor. NORTHERN FRIENDS AND THE CONSCRIPTION ACTS DURING THE CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865. The following extracts from the Minutes of the Meeting for Sufferings of Baltimore Yearly Meeting of Friends, (Eutaw Street) 1862-1865, throw much light on the position taken by conscientious Friends during that trying period of our nation's history. With a single exception* every actor named has passed away. The Bulletin is indebted to the Clerk of the Permanent Board and the Custodian of the Records for these transcripts.— Editor. At a Meeting for Sufferings held in Baltimore 3d. month 17th. 1862 A Memorial of London Yearly Meeting for Sufferings to the British Government was received by the Correspondents of this Yearly Meeting in the 12th month last. Prompt action being desirable, as many of the members of this Meeting as could be assembled on short notice met and in accordance with a request from London Friends, a committee was appointed to present the Memorial to the President of the United States Abraham Lincoln , who received them with much interest and cordiality, and * Charles F. Coffin, of Chicago, then of Richmond, Indiana, who has allowed his name to be used in this paper. CONSCRIPTION ACTS.13 afterward sent the following acknowledgment which was transmitted to England. This Meeting approves the action of their members thus informally taken, and directs their proceedings to be recorded on our minutes. The President's reply is as follows. Executive Mansion, Washington, January 7th, 1862. Gentlemen : It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the receipt through you of the Memorial of the English Friends, in relation to the matter between the Government of Great Britain and that of the United States of America. Although I trust that any fears entertained of any serious derangement of our amicable relations have been without foundation, I cannot but gratefully appreciate your prompt, and generous suggestions in the interests of peace and humanity. I have the honor to be with great respect, Your obedient servant, A. Lincoln. F. T. King and others. At a Meeting for Sufferings held in Baltimore the 18th. of 10th month, 1862 This Meeting was brought under exercise, and feeling on behalf of the members of this Meeting residing in Virginia who are subjected to trials, and sufferings on account of the war, but owing to all intercourse with them being cut off, no way opens at present to labor with the authorities on their behalf. Since last Meeting there has been a requisition on the State of Maryland for its proportion of three hundred thousand men for the United States Army : several members of this Meeting examined our State laws, and had interviews with the Governor, and the Commissioners of Enrollment from which they felt assured that Friends would be undisturbed in their conscientious scruples against War, and that a special call of this Meeting on the subject would be unnecessary. The draft has recently taken place, and Friends have been exempted. In recording this privilege which has been extended to us by our Rulers, we desire that our members may so adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things 14 BULLETIN OF FRIENDS' HISTORICAL SOCIETY that the sincerity of our profession, and the Scriptural soundness of the doctrine may appear to those around us. CONSCRIPTION BILL. At a called Meeting for Sufferings held 2d. month 1863 : The following Memorial was adopted relative to...