God's Other Children: Protestant Nonconformists and the Emergence of Denominational Churches in Ireland, 1660-1700 (review)

64Quaker History The issue of textual integrity is particularly significant for the speeches which have rarely been reprinted without abridgement. Finally, this collection is perhaps most noteworthy for Gordon's extensive array of supporting materials. The introductory notes on biography and editorial policy are extremely helpful without overwhelming the primary material. The index is very thorough and will make this volume particularly useful to those scholars interested in specific individuals or issues. However , the annotations to each entry are the most useful addition even for readers ofthe microfilm collection. Gordon and her editorial assistants have painstakingly researched all names and events in order to make these texts as clear as possible. Each annotation itself is carefully documented adding further to the heuristic value of this collection. The only limitation of this volume is its subtitle, "In the School of AntiSlavery ," which is needlessly misleading. Although both SBA and ECS did emerge from the context ofanti-slavery reform, SBA in particular was more influenced by temperance activity as these documents make clear. In addition, the subtitle overlooks three important aspects of Gordon's selection : 1) the wealth of family information provided, 2) the inclusion of documents accentuating SBA and ECS 's general concern for women exhibited throughout their other reform activities, and 3) the transformation of the women's rights movement during the Civil War. In sum, Volume I of the selected papers of SBA and ECS has been worth waiting for and readers interested in these two leaders specifically or the women's rights movement generally will find themselves eagerly awaiting the next installment. This collection is itself a major contribution to scholarship and will be a significant aid to scholars in the future. E. Claire IerryMacMurray College God's Other Children: Protestant Nonconformists and the Emergence ofDenominationalChurchesinlreland, 1660-1700. By Richard L. Greaves. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997. xii + 472 pp. Appendix, notes, bibliography, and index. $55. Richard L. Greaves has written or edited more than twenty books on Elizabethan and Stuart religious and political history. It is thus especially gratifying that this eminently qualified scholar has ventured into the relatively underexplored field of Protestant Nonconformity in Ireland 1660-1700. His study focuses on structural and historical elements and the religious life that energized them. He contends that, whereas English Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Baptists suffered near-catastrophic decline in this period, Scottish Presbyterians and Friends survived in Book Reviews65 appreciablenumberslargelybecausetheyevolvedinto"protodenominations" incorporating both an institutionalized authority and an agency structure. His argument complements the conclusion of H. Larry Ingle (FirstAmong Friends) that George Fox's major achievementlay in the circumscription of the movement's early individualism through the development ofan institutional structure that provided the discipline and unity required for survival in Restoration England. Greaves traces the fortunes of Nonconformity in general in this period but concentrates on the activities of the two protodenominations. In the chapters devoted solely to Quakers, the treatment is both sympathetic and detailed. Irish Friends are seen to espouse theirvalues steadfastly in spite of persecution, while developing structures to regulate the movement of individuals and families to new locations, to provide self-censorship in publication, to furnish appropriate education for their children, and to enforce standards of conduct in such varied activities as dress, house furnishing, attendance at meetings, marriage, and occupational choices. The author's observation of occasional failures in these matters adds a realistic dimension, as manufacturers and traders have to be regularly reminded not to engage in business transactions at national meetings, a Friend is admonished for contending for truth while drunk, some are disciplined for sexual offenses, and others are warned not to yoke themselves unequally in marriage in terms of age "and otherwise." At appropriatepoints , theEnglish and Irish experiences are compared: early Irish polity was not identical to that in England, and unlike their English counterparts Irish Quakers rarely provided charity to people of other faiths. This substantial volume, winner of the American Society of Church History's Outler Prize, occupies a significant place beside the earlier related works of Sean Connolly and Phil Kilroy. There is not much more one could hope for in Greaves' book, except perhaps maps, illustrations, and most importantly a bibliography. But cost-conscious...