Johann Conrad Beissel (review)

88 BULLETIN OF FRIENDS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION heritage whose influence has carried far. It would have been helpful to have had these institutions included in the index. The table of contents is well done, the type is excellent, the volume attractive, and all in all, it is a work of which we may be proud. It is of value because of the accounts of the labors and characters of our State's outstanding women, and because of the co-editors' evident and untiring efforts in making a significant phase of Pennsylvania's history appreciated and accessible for all time. It is more than a woman's "Who's Who" for this State. It is a record of lives and achievements which have formed an integral part in the progress of the State. It is the story of the women of the past who will be remembered and honored the more readily, because two loyal women of today, who themselves have made contributions to Pennsylvania's history, have recognized the importance of perpetuating the memories of the devoted women who have blazed the trail for liberal and progressive womanhood in America's great Democracy. Hannah Clothier Hull. Johann Conrad Beissel, by Walter C. Klein. Fifth volume of a series entitled "Pennsylvania Lives." Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1942. 218 pp.; $2.25. 1T1HE BEST resumé of the book Johann Conrad Beissel is found in the first paragraph on page 108 of the chapter entitled "Wisdom's Household." It reads as follows : "A narrative of Conrad Beissel's life, however sparkling in some passages and fantastic or curious in others, soon becomes a bald catalogue of the Vorsteher's feuds, notwithstanding the author's unflagging efforts to inject a modicum of charm into his account. In the end, both biographer and reader are obliged to accept the ineluctable fact that there is not much else to recount. Intellectually, Beissel was largely an echo. Spiritually, he bears the impress of Pietism and presents nothing startlingly distinctive. His temperament is the only interesting and original thing about him, and it is the temperament of an unbending, untiring fanatic. It derives its power from the concentration that is possible only for a circumscribed mentality. If we could watch experience blunting his jagged edges and infusing a pastoral compassion, if not a warmth of fellow-feeling, into his frozen soul, this repulsive monotony would be mitigated in some degree. At times a superficial graciousness and affability masked the obsession that dominated his life, but when we undo the wrappings we find nothing but a blade of cold flint, which pierced not only those who matched their strength with his, but also the friends who embraced him. Strife was his sustenance . The ecstasy of combat was his animating principle. He lived for the tension of struggle. His successes were personal triumphs, and his failures humiliated him deeply because in every dispute or wrangle it was his self-love that was most at stake." BOOK REVIEWS89 This quotation portrays the author's appraisals of Conrad Beissel's life, his personal criticisms and opinions. This is also borne out by the first sentence of the biographical note in the appendix, which reads: "The complete truth about Beissel has been preserved in the mind of God, and one would look in vain for it in any other place; the feeble faculties of a mere biographer cannot hope to recover it." To some Quakers it will seem unfortunate that the founders of Germantown should be spoken of as Dutch Quakers, as the nationality of those early settlers is still a moot question. There seems little basis also for the definite implication that Beissel drew upon the Catholic church for his ideas of monasticism, and upon the Jewish religion for the idea of the seventh day of the week as the sabbath. This does not seem to be in keeping with the spirit of the Pietists, who dared to think for themselves. The author has painstakingly consulted every known source of information and from the literary standpoint has done a magnificent piece of work. The result, however, is adequately described in the above quotations. Wilbur K. Thomas. Carl Schurs Memorial Foundation The Works...