Glaube und Politik in Pennsylvania, 1681-1776 (review)

58QUAKER HISTORY If the persuasion of the politiques by the reformers to withdraw from government was political, then the persuasion of Quaker slaveholders to emancipate their chattels was equally political (p. 193). The results in both cases affected public policy. On the whole, in spite of the difficulties of anthropological theory, die capacity to make three syllables do where one sufficed before, the dessication of biographical data and its removal to an appendix instead of allowing personalities to color the narrative as they colored events, and the first-book syndrome ("scholars have hitherto ignored. . ."), this is a nicely articulated structure. It rolls the boulder of understanding early American Quakerism another turn up the hill. University of Vermont, BurlingtonThomas Bassett Glaube und Politik in Pennsylvania, 1681-1776. By Herman Wellenreudier. Köln, Wien: Böhlau Verlag, 1972. 475 pages. This doctoral thesis covers a phase in Quaker history and specifically the history of Pennsylvania that manifests an internal mutation in the Society of Friends. William Penn's colony found itself in repeated conflicts of conscience because of the demands of the English crown for financial support on various occasions, especially for warlike adventures. The economic situation of Friends, including their slaveholding properties, naturally influenced the politics of their representatives and tiieir general attitude in matters of public affairs. The tensions created by the war declaration against Spain (1739) exposed Friends to the reproach voiced by Governor Thomas that their religious principles made them unfit for government responsibilities and that they put religious principles above their duties and loyalty toward the king. Furthermore they were told they represented only a fraction of the interests and rights of the Pennsylvania population. This criticism was actually the gist of a growing public sentiment diat prevailed for decades. By their economic successes Friends had made of their state a most coveted subject without observing always their religious principles while nevertheless customarily referring to their trust in God's protective love. This particular conflict had its repercussions among English Friends whose spokesman was at first Dr. John Fothergill. In later years Friends were to experience the increasing tensions between their religious principles and their political positions. A faction of the Friends promoted a spiritual renewal and an esoteric withdrawal from the "world" which had diluted or plainly corrupted the original Quaker faith. Other Friends were willing to cooperate with the government except in times of war, whereas a third group maintained their loyalty to the king's military policies also in war, an attitude which Benjamin Franklin approved, as was to be expected. The resulting disunity was to persevere for decades in spite of, first a temporary and then later, a final success of the group promoting the return to die original Quaker principles. This incomplete sketch cannot do justice to the drama involved in the period with which Hermann Wellenreuther's book deals. The study investigates each phase of die period in question with an admirable thoroughness, and the references quote a rich and broadly based source material. The study BOOK REVIEWS59 is written in a most readable German and contributes valuable points of view to the historiography of Friends as well as of Pennsylvania and Colonial America in general. Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaWilliam Hubben John Woolman in England: 1772. By Henry J. Cadbury London: Friends' Historical Society. 1971. Supplement No. 32 to the Journal of the Friends' Historical Society. 142 pages, index. $4. John Woolman's account of his experiences and observations in England, as recorded in the twelfth chapter of his Journal, provide valuable insight into his character, his sense of God's presence, and his social concerns. But it does not give a complete picture of his itinerary, activities, or message. Nor does it indicate the reactions of others to him. In the present volume Henry Cadbury attempts to fill in these gaps in order to illuminate Woolman's account and make it more meaningful. Witii his characteristic thoroughness and meticulous attention to detail, Dr. Cadbury examines the original sources, minutes of meetings, letters, journals of Friends, and officiai records. He corrects many errors in the Gummere and Whitney versions of Woolman's Journal, as well as in odier sources, and dispels prevalent misconceptions...