Books of Interest to Friends Issued in 1910

BOOKS OF INTEREST TO FRIENDS, ISSUED IN 1910 45 BOOKS OF INTEREST TO FRIENDS ISSUED IN 1910. A Quaker Post-Bag. Letters to SirJohn Rodes of Barlbrough Hall, in the County of Derby, Baronet, and to John Gratton of Monyash, 16931742 . Selected andEdited by Mrs. Godfrey Locker-Lampson, ivith a Preface by Augustine Birrell. With Illustrations. Longmans, Green &> Co., London, New York, etc., 1910. 8vo. #2.50 net. This is the most attractive book relating to Friends that has been published in a long while, and it is to be regretted that its cost will to some extent restrict its circulation. It is a collection of letters addressed to Sir John Rodes (Rhodes in Smith's Catalogue of Friends' Books), who was one of the few persons of the so-called upper class who embraced Quakerism in the early days. These letters have remained in Barlbrough Hall, where they were received, " and now," says the editor, " in response to many requests for the publication of the Penn letters, this little work has been issued." How Sir John became " convinced " we are not told, and the most we know about him is in Thomas Story's Journal (p. 465, folio edition of 1747), who writes in 1714, "I went that evening to Balber Hall to Sir John Rodes, and William Thompson^ with me, where I was kindly received by him, and by the old lady, his mother. There I stayed several days, and had good conversation with them, being very open-minded and courteous, and of good understanding in the Things of God. He was convinced when young and held his integrity through many temptations. But his circumstances differing from most among us in some respects, he never married, having a great aversion to all that was wanton, light or vain, and being of nice sentiments both as to vertue, temper, education and Parts, all these (as I suppose) he has not found to concur so perfectly in any one agreeable person, as both to please the Delicacy of his own judgment, and suit the liking of his Friends. . . . He stands Steady and True, preferring the simplicity of Truth and the enjoyment of it before all other things,"f Sir John Rodes died unmarried in 1743, age about seventy-six (1667 (?)-1743). He must have been a very attractive man. The Collection consists of five letters of William Penn; sixteen of Martha Rodes to her son, Sir John; thirty-one of Henry Gouldney; twenty-eight of John Tomkins; and two of Silvanus Bevan. All of these are of unusual interest in that they give a side of life too often absent from published correspondence—that of everyday happenings, feelings, •William Thompson of Nottingham, a schoolmaster, author of several books on Education, etc. t Thomas Story records two other visits to Sir John Rodes, one in 1696, and one in 1723, Journal of Thomas Story, fol. ed., 1747, pp. 90, 684. 46 BULLETIN OF FRIENDS' HISTORICAL SOCIETY aspirations and activities. It would not be an exaggeration to say that one can learn more of the real life of the day from these few letters than in almost all other volumes of early Quaker correspondence put together. Those treat almost wholly of the religious side, this volume of all sides. Though nothing is said regarding it, it is clear that Sir John Rodes's mother, Martha Rodes, was a Friend, and independently of other considerations , it is not strange that her son, by her excellencies and beauty of character, felt no need for entering into matrimony—perhaps was rendered too fastidious in his taste. Certainly her letters are most charmiing . What a spirit of true motherhood and self-effacement breathes through this : " I desire thee to gitt a hamsome stuf sute and A good wascote. Thou knows I did not like the last stuí sute, therefore rembr and let it not be like that, but something more refined and finer. I wish, that riding coate of mine, the price I mean, had been bestowed of Clothes for thee. As for me, its littel matter what I wear. I can but take it kindly thou took such care for me, and it is a Demonstration...