For the Reputation of Truth: Politics, Religion and Conflict among the Pennsylvania Quakers, 1750–1800 by Richard Bauman (review)

REVIEWS 93 theUnitedChurch, thepresident oftheUniversity ofToronto, andthepresident of theProgressive Conservative Association of Canada. Andsurely anywriter concentrating onthedramaofthecrisis mighthavebeenexpected togivemore thancasual mentionto the actionof David Macdonaldin standing alonein the House of Commons against thepassage onsecond reading of thePublicOrder TemporaryMeasuresAct. Despite hisself-imposed avoidance of 'thebenefit of hindsight or thedangers of speculation' hereisthelastparagraph of Quebec 70: 'Whateverthefuture of therLQ,theOctober crisis wasa turningpointin Canadian history. Superficiallyit forceda re-examination of Quebecnationalism, and the relations between Quebec andtherestof Canada. Farmoreimportant, however, it forced a re-examination of fundamentalattitudes, beliefs,and values.The nationalism of ther•'•2mightbelimitedandcontained; itsradicalism brought Canadafully intothelastofthecentury, forit challenged less theexistence of thenation-state thanthenatureof thesociety withinit.' The meaningof thisjudgmentisby no means clear.In myview,it istheleast useful andleast defensible kindofspeculation to assert the historical significance of contemporary events. With a year morehindsight thanhad Saywell, it seems plausible to me to arguethat the Octobercrisis wasnotin factdecisive eitherfor thedomestic society of Quebecor therelationbetween thissociety and therestof Canada.But neitherjudgment canbemadewith confidence. Apartfromthis,therelationbetween Quebecnationalism and the internalpressures for changein the community is complex andworthyofanalysis ratherthanassertion. DONALD SMILEY Universityo! Toronto UNITED STATES FortheReputation ofTruth:Politics, Religion andConflict among thePennsylvania Quakers, •75o-•8oo.mcum•D BAUrtAta. Baltimore and London,The Johns Hopkins Press, I97I. Pp.xx, e58.$I I.OO. Historians havelongbeenfascinated by the plightof colonialPennsylvania's Quakers. WilliamPenn's 'HolyExperiment' rested on legislators whoaffirmed the testimonies of simplicity and pacifism. Godlypatriarchs tanglingwith the problems ofworldliness, imperial conflict, andtheAmerican Revolution hasthe ringofamorality play.Of course it wasnot.Writers such asTheodore Thayer, FrederickTolles,and PeterBrockhavemadedear that therewere serious divisions withintheSociety of Friends, andthatthemajorityof Quakers within the assembly had longsince madepeacewith an imperfect world.Professor Richard Bauman's book adds little to these earlier accounts. He sets forth an engaging prospectus. 'The analytical framework hasbeenconsciously derived with reference to a particularsegment of the anthropological literature,'he notes, andbriefly discusses recent works onAfricansociety (pp.xiii-xiv). Bauman 94 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW indicates thattheFriends will beexamined fromthepointofviewof 'rolestrain,' asthatconcept is definedand usedby modernsociologists. For themostpart, thisplanisnot realizedand,until the concluding chapter, thereareonlyoccasional references totheco-ordinate social sciences. Usingmore conventional terms,Baumanattempts to explainthebehaviour of Pennsylvania's Quakers in theyearsafter •75o.Friendsaredividedintothreegroups:'worldly politicians,' whohad compromised their birthright;'reformers,' who remained firm in their atavisticvision;and 'politiques,' who occupied an uneasy middle ground.Butthistrichotomy does notbringclarityto the conflicts of these years. Often Baumanignoresthe larger divisionsand focuses on a few individuals, whose stance isexplained in personal, almost psychological, terms.In those cases wherepetitions areanalyzed(eg,thesplitovertheRoyalCharterin 1764) there are'politiques' and'worldlypoliticians' onbothsides of anissue. Therewere,in fact,consistent divisions amongPennsylvania's Quakers,but theexposition must besetin a broadercontext thanthatwhichBaumanoffers. By •75ø Pennsylvania hadtwowell-defined parties, 'Quaker'and'Proprietary,' andfactional questions wereinvolvedin mostissues confronting the colony.For the Society of Friends the dilemmawaswhetherto supportthe compromise-prone 'Quaker' party, or to oppose it on principledgroundsand attempt a tentative(and unrealistic) alliancewith the 'Proprietary' men. 'Quaker'party supporters included'politiques ,' likeAbelJames andHenryDrinker,and'worldlypoliticians,' likeThomas Wharton.Thesemenwereopposed by mostof the 'reformers,' 'politiques,' such asJohnReynellandIsraelPemberton, and,onsome issues, 'worldlypoliticians,' like Isaac Norris. By narrowinghis focus,BaumanatomizesQuaker politics and dissolves larger continuities. Severalothertopicsare touchedupon. In the •75osand againduringthe War for Independence, Baumanargues,Pennsylvania's Friendsunderwenta spiritual'reformation.' Buttheevidence marshalled does notmakeclearwhether this process was outreachingor limited to a handful of the devout.Three chapterstreat the behaviourof the Quakersafter the War for Independence, and their effortsto improvepublicmorals,endthe slavetrade,and assure just dealings with the Indians.The Society of Friendsisnowpronounced unitedand the earliertripartite divisiondiscarded. Bauman'sstudyis written in a laboureddissertationese, structuredabout lengthyquotes that wouldbe moreusefully summarized. His reliancesolelyon archives in the United Statesmeansthat the influenceof EnglishQuakerson thecolonies isminimized. Thisweakens hisanalysis ofthe'crisis ofthemid-•75os ' andtheyears before Independence. UseoftheEnglish sources wouldalso prevent dependence on GeorgeCrosfield's Memoirs o[ ... SamuelFothergill,which presents a bowdlerized versionof the originalletters. Professor Baumanmust be praisedfor the bold intentionswith which he approached thisstudy.No longershouldit be possible to passoff a narrow politicalsynthesis as satisfactory history.The book he proposed, however,is still to be written. MARC EGNAL York University ...