George Fox's New Testament in Dutch

68 BULLETIN OF FRIENDS' HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. George Fox, and that recently on account of its somewhat militant tone some writers on Quakerism have called its authenticity in question. Norman Penney has kindly sent me an interesting piece of early external evidence which he has come upon from an unexpected quarter and which fully supports the traditional authorship of the paper. The reference is in a letter of 23 November, 1680, from John Pennyman to Ambrose Rigge and is therefore of a date within twenty-one years of the publication referred to and in correspondence between persons who were both in close touch with Friends at that earlier date. The words " Chief Leader G. F." exclude the conjecture that George Fox the Younger is meant. The extract is quoted from " Short Account . . . John Pennyman," London, 1696, p. 127, and is as follows : " Tis much that you that take upon your self to be a Teacher of Others, and an Instructor of Youth, should be so Unsavoury in your Words as proceeded from thee this Day in (thy Sermon) calling a sober Person an Unclean Spirit and a Nasty Spirit : I confess when I heard the latter Words, it put me in thoughts that it was probable thou hadst learned such Language from they Elder Brother G. Fox, who in days past, in his Paper to th|e Council of Officers then in Power, (when Oliver and Richard were gone off the stage) tells them what a Sincerity was once in the Nation, and what a Dirty Nasty thing it would have been, to have talked of a House of Lords, etc. I say the remembrance of these Words of your Chief Leader G. F. made me think 'twas possible thou mightst learn them of him : For satisfied I am, few Schoolmasters whom you call Heathen, would teach their Scollars such Dirty Nasty Words. Wherefore first learn a Bridle to thy own Tonge, before thou take upon thy self to be a Teacher of Others, (especially in Religious Matters) for till thou hast first learned that Lesson, all thy Religion, Preaching and Praying, is in vain. Take Warning, and Repent, lest thou perish with the Uncircumcised." J. P. Cambridge, Mass. Henry J. Cadbury. GEORGE FOX'S NEW TESTAMENT IN DUTCH. A recent gift to the increasingly important collection of Friends' Historical Association is the Dutch New Testament owned by George Fox and carried by him through Holland on his tour in Europe in 1677. His companions were William Penn, Robert Barclay, John Furley, William Talcott, George Watts, George Keith and his wife and Isabel Yeamans, daughter of Margaret Fell Fox and the step-daughter of George Fox. Probably others accompanied the party. This Testament came from the library of Joseph Bevan Braithwaite of London, and was purchased from the Executors of his estate by the late Joshua L. Baily, of Philadelphia. It was exhibited by the owner at our meetings in 1910 and 191 1 and is now presented to this Association by his sons. The little book measures two and five eighths by four and one half ADDITIONAL NOTES.69 inches, and is about one inch in thickness. Its type is beautifully clear and the printing was done in Amsterdam in 1637. George Fox did not speak Dutch. Quite possibly William Penn was familiar with the language, through his Dutch mother, Margaret Jasper. But there were a number of Friends named as interpreters for the party; two of these, John Claus and John Roeloffs, were resident in Amsterdam, and Benjamin Furley, father of John Furley of Colchester, was of Rotterdam , where his famous library was well known. Several of these men accompanied Fox throughout his journey. George Fox was accustomed to make very free use of the New Testament in all his preaching, and this copy was doubtless used for ready reference to aid his interpreter. It bears his familiar signature on the last fly-leaf—" G : ffs : Book." [Facsimile in Bulletin, 3 (1910) : 156.] J. B. Braithwaite had the little book handsomely rebound, much like the original. In 1914 the Quaker binder in London, William Cramp, reported to the then Assistant Librarian at Devonshire House, London, M. Ethel Crawshaw , that...