General Francisco de Miranda and the Quakers

Notes and Documents GENERAL FRANCISCO DE MIRANDA AND THE QUAKERS Translated by Samuel J. Bunting, Jr. General Francisco de Miranda, the hero of Venezuela, forerunner of the independence of his country, fought against the English in Louisiana during the War for American Independence while he was still in the service of Spain. A few years later, he undertook the first of his great journeys, in the course of which he traveled over a large part of Europe, including Russia. Leaving the Antilles, he first visited the United States, which had just signed the peace treaty with England. He landed in North Carolina in May 1783, and remained in the United States until December of the following year, when he sailed for England. During his travels in Pennsylvania and other states along the Atlantic, he was received and entertained by the great personages of the time. A shrewd observer and an easy narrator, the young LatinAmerican military man wrote his impressions in a diary, which was published for the first time in 1928.1 From it we quote two interesting paragraphs which refer to his attendance at Quaker meetings, the first in Philadelphia, the second in Newport, Rhode Island. [Philadelphia, December 1783] The principal church of the Quakers (there are four or six in the city) or Quaker Meeting, 1 The Diary of Francisco de Miranda: Tour of the United States, 17831784 , ed. William Spence Robertson (New York, 1928), pp. 36-37, 104. The passages relating to Friends were briefly paraphrased and translated in "A Spanish Officer among the Quakers," Journal of the Friends' Historical Society, XLVI (1954), 35-37. 128 Notes and Documents129 as it is called, is in Market Street near the city hall.2 Its architecture is completely devoid of elegance, without ornamentation, many benches arranged in various parts for the accommodation of the congregation, a small rostrum or gallery in which are seated the accredited ministers (that is, those known to the congregation as pious, educated men, who have official recognition of this and enjoy a certain pre-eminence in this line); and a division for the women, everything rather neglected, little taste and not much cleanliness. These [i.e. the gallery and the "shutters" separating the sexes] are the only ornaments which are seen in the interior of the church. To which one can add some small candlesticks of tin plate leaning against the walls and pillars with their tallow candles which give a dim light at the time of evening services. One of the last nights, I attended the services which began at six o'clock and adjourned at eight. The whole congregation was seated on the benches, their hats on and their heads bowed in deepest silence. Then the neighbor on my left arose and in a loud voice said to the others: "My Spirit says that God shall not always tread upon Earth because he is in Heaven."3 A little later, another of the principal ministers (my neighbor is supposed to be only a beginner), taking for his text a proverb that says "Think twice and lead once,"4 gave a sermon of more than an hour and a half in the style of our pompous friar preachers. Another voice, mournful and emphatic, apparently that of a woman, recited the Lord's Prayer, beginning "Our Father," and then everybody stood up and shook hands with the greeting of "Friend," and we all left the church together, men and women, noting that some of the latter even shook hands with the men, calling them "Friend." Notwithstanding the large size of the gathering, I was unable to see any of the convulsions or trembling which these people are 2 The so-called Greater Meeting House at Second and Market; the "city hall" is probably the old court house beside it. 3 Miranda quotes these words in English. 4 The author of the article in the Journal of the Friends' Historical Society (noted above) suggests that perhaps the proverb was "look before you leap." 130Bulletin of Friends Historical Association supposed to affect in church when they feel moved by the Divine Spirit; still less any other ceremony that merits the title of ridiculous . I confess...