The Province of East New Jersey, 1609-1702: The Rebellious Proprietary (review)

108Quaker History The limitations of this review permit only a brief discussion of one of these areas—mysticism. This reviewer is impressed, in reading the Introductions again, by the careful, balanced presentation of mysticism in these Introductions. Indeed, Rufus Jones can conclude a vivid rollcall of the "First Publishers of Truth" with this sentence, "It is a matter of little importance what name is given to this type of religion___ The important fact is obvious enough . . . [they had passed] from knowledge about God ... to an inward, first-hand experience. . . . They had found Godin the present tense" (p. 130). This surelyis the quintessence of the author's contribution by word and deed to his generation. This will continue to be the important contribution of Rufus Jones to succeeding generations. On almost every page expressions such as "the inrush of new energies," "the presence of an invading life," appear, witnessing to what Martin Buber has made familiar in his "I-Thou" relationship. One must admit that occasionally phrases such as "all men partake of one central Divine life," "a divine, unlost, inalienable, soul-centre which is unsundered from God," (p. 98) might be interpreted in a Stoic rather than a Christian sense. But such expressions are not characteristic and one is convinced that Rufus Jones would have approved of Howard Brinton's word, "If a man enters the holy of holies only to find himself there, he will not come again" (Preface to Barclay in Brief, ed., Eleanore Price Mather, Pendle Hill Historical Studies, Number 3). Earlham CollegeAlexander C. Purdy The Province of East New Jersey, 1609-1702: The Rebellious Proprietary. By John E. Pomfret. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 1962. sdii, 407 pages. $10.00. Seven years ago, our distinguished member, John E. Pomfret, Director of the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, published a splendid history of the Province of West New Jersey from 1609 to 1702. Now he has produced a companion volume, covering the history of East New Jersey during the same period. Since this review must be brief, this reviewer feels like saying simply that this book is quite as good as its predecessor. And that would be high praise. But something more must be said, if only to make it clear what a difficult task John Pomfret set himself. East Jersey was a tiny colony—almost as small as Rhode Island—but it was full of people who liked to squabble. It was separated from West Jersey until 1702, not by a natural boundary but by a surveyor's line run from Little Egg Harbor to an arbitrary point on the upper Delaware. It had no religious uniformity, for it included New England Puritans, Dutch Calviniste , Scotch Presbyterians, Maine Baptists, Anglicans, and Quakers. No more than West Jersey did it have its own center of economic life. East Jersey looked towards New York and West Jersey towards Philadelphia; people rightly said that the Jerseys were like "a cask tapped at both ends." And politically, East Jersey's history was a steady series of bickerings among individuals and between individuals and their rulers over land titles, quitrents, taxes, and what not. As Mr. Pomfret puts it, "West New Jersey was a peaceful community where Quakers strove to settle all matters by patient and considered deliberation. East New Jersey was a rebellious colony" (p. vii). "The volume," says its author, "sets forth the history of this complex proprietary in order to establish its identity among the early American colonies" Book Reviews109 (p. ix). It does that. One feels like taking off one's hat in admiration of John Pomfret's courage and patience in telling so clearly the story of this rebellious province. F. B. T. Quaker Pioneers. By Stephen Allott. With an Introduction by Joyce Blake. London: Bannisdale Press. 1963. 127 pages. Illustrations. 18s 6d. This little book contains biographies of twelve pioneer Friends, together with authentic background and connecting material. Half of these Quaker pioneers will be familiar to most American young Friends: George Fox, Margaret Fell, William Penn, John Woolman, Elizabeth Fry, and Levi Coffin. Their biographies here recorded are a valuable addition to our literature, because of the straightforward , ungarnished, authoritative way they...