Giorgio Fox E I Quaccheri (review)

BOOK REVIEWS61 "Tracts to Proclaim the Day of Visitation," "Journal of Lives Led by die Light," "Truth Defended," "Quaker Life as Testimony," "The True Church Restored." The selections are well edited widi modern spelling and with notes, and usually widi an introduction. Some of diese were described to me by a British reader as "inspired." As one would expect from the audior of Quakers in Puritan England, die relation of the Quaker position to that of their British contemporaries is well brought out. Indeed one of die best ways to know how early Quakerism veered from the conventional Christianity is to study the subjects of controversy. These appear in extracts from both sides. One of the longest and earliest extracts is from Fiigginson 's Religion of the Northern Quakers (1653). But long quotations from Barclay's Catechism and Confession of Faith and Anarchy of the Ranters are fully matched in interest with some of the Epistles quoted in a great variety of circumstances. One sermon of Fox (1680) is printed (pp. 501-512). For further general review, I can well refer the reader to Edwin Bronner's four page foreword, and the audior's own general introduction. The historical background of the selections and the literary history of sources are treated with full recognition of textual history. The Biographical Index gives abundant personal information. The importance of women is suggested rather than stressed, with letters by Elizabeth Hooton (1651) and Margaret Fell (1698). There is plenty of suggestion of narrative— active and passive, autobiographical and collective. The letters of the Massachusetts martyrs are included. The editors have mastered even quite recent material about these writings, and die proof has been carefully read. It is wrongly assumed that Fox's published epistles (1698) (p. 145) and doctrináis (1706) were edited by Thomas Ellwood (p. 594), who we know did edit die Journal (1694). John Pennyman becomes Charles Pennyman (p. 43). Carrick fergus in Ireland is spelled Carrickforgus (p. 1191); Morecambe Bay is Morecombe (p. 157). Lecture day(s) become Easter day(s) (p. 61). How well die editors have selected from the possible material no one can tell who has not surveyed the large unused area. They have acted wisely and intelligently. Odiers could make quite different choices widi good conscience . In attempting to articulate one aspect of Quaker experience widi others, tiiey might have drawn different connections and attempted odier logical assumptions. Widiout omnivorous knowledge of the whole unused literature one would hesitate to criticize or to suggest an alternate scheme. If the accumulation of relevant studies that preceded this book could continue for another generation or two a fuller judgment might be possible. HaverfordHenry J. Cadbury Giorgio Fox E I Quaccheri. By Angiolo Maros Dell'Oro. Maestri di Spiritualita. Fossano (Cueno), Italy: Editrice Esperienze, 1973. 211 pages. (May be ordered from Friends Book Store, 302 Arch St., Philadelphia.) Dell'Oro has provided for die Maestri di Spiritualita Series a comprehensive history of the Society of Friends in a small space. His proportions seem admirably suited to his purpose: 16 pages in which he sets the stage, sketching the state of religion in England from FJizabedi to die Commonwealth; 62QUAKER HISTORY 60 pages for the life and work of George Fox and his contemporaries, their evangelical passion, their sufferings, their influence on the advance toward religious toleration in England, die internal problems of the movement and die resulting organization of a system of business meetings; 17 pages for doctrine with a definition of the "Inward Light" and special emphasis on Barclay's Apology; 12 pages for Quaker ethics, their testimonies as to oaths, dress, hat honor, singular address and equality of persons, and their innovations in business practices; 20 pages for the 17th and 18di centuries whose actual achievement Dell'Oro may underestimate; 12 pages for "Quakers Today"; 53 pages of "readings"; and 4 pages of bibliography. There is a detailed table of contents but no index. Four illustrations may enliven die text but do little to enhance its historical accuracy. The area of Dell'Oro's greatest interest is probably attested by his choices for the anthology. He gives two long sections from Fox's Journal, one recounting...