To Try the Bloody Law: The Story of Mary Dyer (review)

72Quaker History politics," 42) ofpolitical forces in Pennsylvania that denied them participation in government, when in fact it was a conscious and thoroughly voluntary decision on the part ofFriends to remove themselves from office. He reveals the true extent of his misunderstanding of eighteenth-century Friends in his description of an encounter between Israel Pemberton and John Adams in which Pemberton upbraided Adams forthe lack ofreligious toleration in Massachusetts. Clearly surprised and confused that a Quaker would ignore conventions ofsocial etiquette and speakvehemently inpublic about his concerns, Jennings doubts the validity and relevance of the encounter, and then essentially dismisses it by describing Pemberton as "exceptionally aggressive and militant among his brethren" (153). Taking his cue apparently from popularized twentieth-century images of Friends, Jennings describes Quakers ofthe period simplistically as "generally stuffy, but mild mannered" (153). In fact, the historical record reveals that Pemberton's actions were nothing ifnot exemplary ofthe passion Friends had for their concerns and their determined disregard of superficial social constructs that muzzled dissent. Jennings is truly earnest in his concern to present the truth ofhistory as he sees it. But he is also torn between humility and hubris. On the one hand, he patronizes his reader and dismisses most scholarship that has preceded his as misguided at best and deceptive at worst; on the other, he apologizes repeatedly for the mistakes and shortcomings that he is sure are there, but clearly cannot detect. The most frustrating point in this work comes at the very end. Jennings acknowledges some criticism from a "good friend" who "chides me for giving too little notice to historical persons who really did struggle and sacrifice for liberty for all" (316). But after acknowledging it, he dismisses it. Would that we all were able to detect our own shortcomings before they were published to the world, or at least to heed the advice of good friends. Jane E. CalvertUniversity of Chicago To Try the Bloody Law: The Story ofMary Dyer. By Robert S. Burgess. Burnsville, N.C.: Celo Valley Books, 2000. ix + 133 pp. Illustrations and appendix. $19.95. There is apeculiar charm and attraction in the story ofMary Dyer. Apart from Fox and Penn, there is perhaps no other first generation figure so enshrined in popular Quaker tradition. Robert Burgess' To Try the Bloody Law is the mostrecent contributionto a lengthy lineage oftitles retelling the story ofMary and William Dyer. We need another book on Dyer; unfortunately , Burgess' effort is not the book we need. Book Reviews73 To Try the Bloody Law begins with the execution of Dyer, then flashes back to tell the now very familiar story. Burgess draws quotations from late nineteenth-century works (Horatio Rogers and Richard Hallowell) but ostensibly he has not consulted more recent works nor does he address any issues that Dyer's life and actions raises. It is clear from the book's preface that Burgess is not concerned with writing either a careful history or with asking pointed questions about our understanding ofDyer. Rather, To Try the Bloody Law is a work of historical fiction and should be read as such. Yet, even as historical fiction there are problems; for example, misprinted dates in the afterword push events one hundred years later in time. The events ofthe Bay Colony are simplistically portrayed with little or no complexity. The Puritan divines are clearly evil; Mary Dyer and all associated with her clearly good, clear-headed, and directed by the voice ofGod. John Wilson is "narrow-minded," he "spits" words, speaks "sharply" and "snaps"; his "mouth was small and drawn together as if he were sucking something sour." John Endicott is a "smallminded bigot." Dyer is resolute, always serene, "hermind seemedfaraway, as ifshe was in anotherworld"— in other words, she is just as Sylvia Shaw Judson enshrined her for our popular imagination. The book even invites us to connect eroticism to the challenging of authority: after being chastised by Rev. Wilson for their theological views, William "picked up Mary in his arms, kissed her lightly on the lips, and carried her to bed." Was Mary Dyer wise or foolish? Was she truly motivated by a love for God and her fellows or by...