The Impact of the Discipline Ireland, New England, and New York

THE IMPACT OF THE DISCIPLINE IRELAND, NEW ENGLAND, AND NEW YORK By Arthur J. Worrall* The Society of Friends in the American colonies peaked numerically between 1755 and 1770. In the first half of the eighteenth century American Quakers had been content with their numerical increase and measured it as a sign of their sect's prosperity . So had most Friends from the British Isles who had travelled in the ministry visiting the American meetings. One English Friend, Mary Weston (ultimately one of the reformers in London Yearly Meeting) was enthusiastic about her reception when she visited the colonies between 1750 and 1752 and in her journal reflected favorably on the state of American Quakerism. She was particularly happy about the large crowds that heard her speak—1,500 at Nantucket, 2,000 at Salem "where a part of the Meeting House broke down with the throng," 3,000 at Apponogansett , and 4,000 at Newport. Mary Weston was also pleased to have been entertained by the "top Sort" wherever she went— such as the Wantons and the Richardsons in Rhode Island, and the Bownes and the Franklins in New York.1 In 1754 and 1755 other Friends from the British Isles visited American meetings and offered a sharply different version of the state of American Quakerism. Reformers Samuel Fothergill from England and Mary Peisley from Ireland were not happy about the numerous shortcomings that they found in American Quakerism. While he was pleased with the large crowds which came to hear him, Fothergill found signs of declension. He was especially displeased with older Friends who occupied important positions within the yearly meetings—perhaps the same older Friends Mary Weston had admired. Of the New York Yearly Meeting of 1755, he observed: "The lamentable defection of those who would be thought the head but are the tail—I mean the more advanced in years, profession, and station amongst the *Arthur J. Worrall teaches in the Department of History, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado. This article is adapted from his forthcoming book on Friends in New England and New York. The writer wishes to acknowledge financial support from the Penrose Fund of the American Philosophical Society, die Faculty Improvement Committee of Colorado State University, and Indiana University. 1. Mary Weston's Journal, Transcript, Friends House Library, London, pp. 45-62. 83 84QUAKER HISTORY people—gives painful prospect. And as it is hard to lift up a hand against grey hairs, my progress has been more difficult and afflicting than I can express." Mary Peisley was critical of the declension represented by a general failure among Friends to maintain standards and, to her, unitarian sentiments found among several of her coreligionists.2 The sharp changes from Mary Weston's enthusiasm on the one hand to Samuel Fothergill's and Mary Peisley's criticism on the other point up the onset of reform for Quakerism in both the British Isles and the American colonies during the second half of the eighteenth century. For English and Irish Friends reform meant a more vigorous enforcement of rules—the Discipline— along the same lines and with essentially the same effect as that enforcement had obtained since at least 1725. For American Friends, reform resulted in a sharp change in outlook and practice, so much so that by the century's end no longer would English visitors be able to comment on large numbers and prosperity of the Society as had Mary Weston. To demonstrate that reform among American Friends essentially involved copying rule-enforcement among British Quakers, this paper studies the enforcement of the Discipline in the British Isles and the American colonies during the eighteenth century. As a representative sample for British Friends, the paper focuses first on the effect of the Discipline on Irish Quakers. To demonstrate the transition of British Quaker practice to America, discussion then turns to the application of the Discipline to New England and New York Yearly Meetings. I The precise effect of the enforcement of the Discipline is difficult to measure for there were no census figures for Quakers in England and Ireland. One form of evidence which can serve to demonstrate increase or decrease in Friends is...