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169 Q Notes Introduction 1 A word here about usage of the name Religious Society of Friends to apply to early Quakers. There is a modern preference for the term Quaker in reference to all things that pertain to the Society. Early Quakers knew the term in its derogatory sense yet took it as a badge of honor. In this sense the name of Quaker represents a victory for the movement in that it successfully subverted the dominant paradigm which sought to shame believers with pejorative language . At the same time, the earliest Friends had a preference their own: Children of Light. This title disappeared from common usage within Margaret Fell’s own long lifetime, and it was probably intentional. Both strike me as more poetic than the more official Religious Society of Friends, but I appreciate its practicality. Though the name has been identified in use as early as 1665, it is likely the term only grafted onto common usage later than that. This makes its use a bit anachronistic as a choice, but not completely without some historical connection. My primary reason for using the simple form, Society of Friends, is that it captures the occasional and casual reference we see used during the life of Margaret Fell. Ideally I would use only the term Friends because it is simple, elegant, and theologically loaded for bear, just as she was. 2 The Society of Friends, The Life of Margaret Fox, Wife of George Fox, Compiled From Her Own Narrative, and Other Sources, With a Selection From Her Epistles, Etc. (Philadelphia: Association of Friends for the Diffusion of Religion and Useful Knowledge, 1859), iv. 3 Maria Webb, The Fells of Swarthmoor Hall and their Friends, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia : H. Longstreth, 1884). 4 Helen G. Crosfield, Margaret Fox of Swarthmoor Hall (London: Headley Brothers , 1913). 170 Notes to pp. 8–22 5 Isabel Ross, Margaret Fell: Mother of Quakerism (London: Longmans, 1949), iii–iv. 6 Bonnelyn Young Kunze, Margaret Fell and the Rise of Quakerism (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994), 198. 7 Kunze, 202. 8 Kunze, 284 n. 11. 9 William C. Braithwaite, The Beginnings of Quakerism, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1955), 307. 10 Thomas Camm, “Testimony Concerning our Dear and Honoured Friend Margaret Fox,” in Works, A3–6. 11 Thomas Edwards, Gangraena, 3 parts in 1 volume (1646; repr., Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1977). 12 “An Epistle to the Reader,” prefaced to her important tract, A True Testimony (1660), as printed in Wallace, 16. The volume edited by Wallace contains a number of the works of Fell, in modern English, with helpful introductions by the editor. 13 One of the many tracts and publications that greeted the rabbi publicly was Margaret Fell’s For Manasseth-ben-Israel: The Call of the Jews out of Babylon, which appeared in 1656. Chapter 1 1 Nicholas Morgan, Lancashire Quakers and the Establishment, 1760–1830 (Halifax, UK: Ryburn Academic, 1993), 14. 2 There are numerous explanations for this within the practices of the first generations of Friends themselves. Members of the Society of Friends were discouraged from arrogance, pride, and vanity so that they might remain appropriately humble before the Light of Christ. Upon reviewing the extant material from the pen of early Quakers, it is clear that they gave little import to their daily experiences except where those served to illustrate divine grace and provision, or as evidence of the oppression and persecutions of Friends by others. Their interest in biography as such was limited primarily to “testimonies” of faithful Friends and focused upon events they held to be of religious significance. Introspective theological autobiography along the lines of Augustine’s Confessions held little value for early Friends. As will be apparent in later chapters, this preference for testimony over biography also reflects the eschatological presuppositions of early Friends, as well as their emphasis upon evangelistic and proselytizing activities. 3 As a result, the single autobiography of Margaret Fell’s early years is the source for most subsequent account of her life. See “A Relation of Margaret Fell,” Wallace, 105–14; also in Works, 1–15. 4 The best study of the life of Fell is still Ross, Margaret Fell. This should be supplemented by the more recent study by Kunze, Margaret Fell, and by the Letters (Undaunted Zeal). For Fell’s own autobiographical notes, “A [44.201.64.238] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 16:47 GMT) Notes to pp. 22–26 171 Relation of Margaret Fell,” see...