The Records and Recollections of James Jenkins (review)

Book Reviews59 nia politics. What is distressing to the reader, however, is the author's failure to delineate exactly which Friends remained politically active (beyond James Pemberton ), what their standing was in the Society, and how they interacted with Yearly Meeting reformers. In my view, Marietta has made the wrong division by striking a line between the social and political reformations: as described here, the vibrant, idealist reform of the 1750s reaches fulfillment only in a passive manner with the persecution of the 1770s. To Marietta, Friends finally adopted abolitionism, for example, as a way of setting themselves apart from a hostile society, not primarily because they came to accept the inconsistency of slavery with their beliefs. A more enlightening approach is J. William Frost's hypothesis (Quaker History, Spring 1978), which distinguishes between sectarian reformers who wanted to purify the Society and humanitarian reformers like John Wollman and Anthony Benezet whose chief mission was to end slavery. The philanthropic Friends did not oppose slavery because abolitionism was unpopular in Pennsylvania in the 1770s (in fact antislavery was gaining support among many Pennsylvanians); they opposed the institution because they believed it was wrong. Despite these reservations, students of Quaker history have much to learn from this important book about colonial Pennsylvania Friends. Jack Marietta offers new evidence about the workings of reform among ordinary Quakers and puts to rest permanently the myth that Pennsylvania Friends lost political influence and withdrew from the larger society at the outbreak of me Seven Years' War. Swarthmore CollegeJean R. Soderlund The Records and Recollections of James Jenkins. Edited by J. William Frost. Lewiston, New York: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1985. 634 pp. $69.95. The Records and Recollections ofJames Jenkins are the memoirs of a Friend who was neither extraordinarily wealthy nor widely known but who lived long, worked hard, and observed well. J. William Frost has made this important primary source more easily accessible and understandable by producing a text based on careful comparisons between the original manuscripts and later typescript copies and by adding explanatory footnotes and a helpful introduction. James Jenkins was born in Bristol in 1753, the illegitimate son of Quakers who were disowned for the deed, although later reinstated. As a youth Jenkins was sent from nurse to school in Yorkshire, and then to trades in London, Suffolk and Ireland in search of a suitable position for him. By age 18 he was acquainted with English literature (but not the Greek and Latin classics), several trades, a variety of locations , and me insecurities of dependency. Ever anxious to better his position as an adult he married, settled in London selling Irish cheese and bacon, and began a family; yet he was plagued by economic adversity, the recurrent illnesses and pregnancies of his wife, and the deaths of two children. In 1790 he gave up the struggle for economic security in London and moved to Berkshire where he sought to support his often ailing and always growing family by selling tea, groceries, and his services as a traveling salesman. After three years he returned to London to find success at last amidst the rapid-fire transactions of the London Stock Exchange. Finally he flourished and retired a wealthy man in 1819 to live out his years in a country home in Kent. Jenkin's shifting fortunes and dogged pursuit of financial stability are a frequent backdrop for his recollections. He liked to keep one eye on the market, especially in his early and middle years, often noting fortunes won and lost in the expanding but erratic British economy. He was also interested in politics, or at least in political leaders, and intended to write a separate set of recollections of public events but apparently never did so. Yet of most concern to Jenkins were the many personal 60Quaker History acquaintances he made throughout his long life and varied careers. Frequently observing (and apparently misquoting) the adage that "The dead cannot be scandalized ," he recorded his candid opinions of scores of those acquaintances, mostly Friends, no longer living at the time he was writing. A veritable parade of memorable Friends people the pages of The Records and Recollections ofJames Jenkins. Such...