L. V. HODGKIN
Reading edition
(Mrs. JOHN HOLDSWORTH)
ILLUSTRATED BY
F. CAYLEY-ROBINSON, A.R.A.
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON 1922
COPYRIGHT First Edition 1917 Reprinted 1918 Transferred to Macmillan & Co. and reprinted 1922
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
DEDICATED
TO THE
CHILDREN
OF THE
SOCIETY OF FRIENDS
AND TO THE
GRANDCHILDREN
OF
THOMAS HODGKIN
PREFACE
The following stories are intended for children of various ages. The introductory chapter, 'A Talk about Saints,' and the stories marked with an asterisk in the Table of Contents, were written first for an eager listener of nine years old. But as the book has grown longer the age of its readers has grown older for two reasons:
First: because it was necessary to take for granted some knowledge of the course of English History at the period of the Civil Wars. To have re-told the story of the contest between King and Parliament, leading up to the execution of Charles the First and the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, would have taken up much of the fresh, undivided attention that I was anxious to focus upon the lives and doings of these 'Quaker Saints.' I have therefore presupposed a certain familiarity with the chief actors and parties, and an understanding of such names as Cavalier, Roundhead, Presbyterian, Independent, etc.; but I have tried to explain any obsolete words, or those of which the meaning has altered in the two and a half centuries that have elapsed since the great struggle.
Secondly: because the stories of the persecutions of the Early Friends are too harrowing for younger children. Even a very much softened and milder version was met with the repeated request: 'Do, please, skip this part and make it come happy quickly.' I have preferred, therefore, to write for older boys and girls who will wish for a true account of suffering bravely borne; though without undue insistence on the physical side. For to tell the stories of these lives without the terrible, glorious account of the cruel beatings, imprisonments, and even martyrdom in which they often ended here, is not truly to tell them at all. The tragic darkness in the picture is necessary to enhance its high lights.
My youngest critic observes that 'it does not matter so much what happens to grown-up people, because I can always skip that bit; but if anything bad is going to happen to children, you had better leave it out of your book altogether.' I have therefore obediently omitted the actual sufferings of children as far as possible, except in one or two stories where they are an essential part of the narrative.
It must be remembered that this is not a History of the Early Quaker Movement, but a book of stories of some Early Quaker Saints. I have based my account on contemporary authorities; but I have not scrupled to supply unrecorded details or explanatory speeches in order to make the scene more vivid to my listeners. In two stories of George Fox's youth, as authentic records are scanty, I have even ventured to look through the eyes of imaginary spectators at 'The Shepherd of Pendle Hill' and 'The Angel of Beverley.' But the deeper I have dug down into the past, the less need there has been to fill in outlines; and the more possible it has been to keep closely to the actual words of George Fox's Journal, and other contemporary documents. The historical notes at the end of the book will indicate where the original authorities for each story are to be found, and they will show what liberties have been taken. The quotations that precede the different chapters are intended mainly for older readers, and to illustrate either the central thought or the history of the times.
Many stories of other Quaker Saints that should have been included in this book have had to be omitted for want of room. The records of William Penn and his companions and friends on both sides of the Atlantic will, it is hoped, eventually find a place in a later volume. The stories in the present book have been selected to show how the Truth of the Inward Light first dawned gradually on one soul, and then spread rapidly, in ever-widening circles, through a neighbourhood, a kingdom, and, finally, all over the world.
I have to thank many kind friends who have helped me in this delightful task. The Book of Quaker Saints owes its existence to my friend Ernest E. Taylor, who first suggested the title and plan, and then, gently but inexorably, persuaded me to write it. Several of the stories and many of the descriptions are due to his intimate knowledge of the lives and homes of the Early Friends; he has, moreover, been my unfailing adviser and helper at every stage of the work.
No one can study this period of Quaker history without being constantly indebted to William Charles Braithwaite, the author of Beginnings of Quakerism, and to Norman Penney, the Librarian at Devonshire House, and Editor of the Cambridge Edition of George Fox's Journal with its invaluable notes. But beyond this I owe a personal debt of gratitude to these two Friends, for much wise counsel as to sources, for their kindness in reading my MS. and my proofs, and for the many errors that their accurate scholarship has helped me to avoid, or enabled me to detect.
To Ethel Crawshaw, Assistant at the same Library; to my sister, Ellen S. Bosanquet; and to several other friends who have helped me in various ways, my grateful thanks are also due.
The stories are intended in the first place for Quaker children, and are written throughout from a Quaker standpoint, though with the wish to be as fair as possible not only to our staunch forefathers, but also to their doughty antagonists. Even when describing the fiercest encounters between them, I have tried to write nothing that might perplex or pain other than Quaker listeners; above all, to be ever mindful of what George Fox himself calls 'the hidden unity in the Eternal Being.'
L. V. HODGKIN.
29th July 1917.
CONTENTS
PREFACE page vii
* A TALK ABOUT SAINTS 1
* I. 'STIFF AS A TREE, PURE AS A BELL' 19
* II. 'PURE FOY, MA JOYE' 33
* III. THE ANGEL OF BEVERLEY 57
* IV. TAMING THE TIGER 79
* V. 'THE MAN IN LEATHER BREECHES' 97
VI. THE SHEPHERD OF PENDLE HILL 111
VII. THE PEOPLE IN WHITE RAIMENT 121
VIII. A WONDERFUL FORTNIGHT 131
IX. UNDER THE YEW-TREES 149
X. 'BEWITCHED!' 163
XI. THE JUDGE'S RETURN 175
* XII. 'STRIKE AGAIN!' 185
* XIII. MAGNANIMITY 197
* XIV. MILES HALHEAD AND THE HAUGHTY LADY 209
XV. SCATTERING THE SEED 223
XVI. WRESTLING FOR GOD 239
XVII. LITTLE JAMES AND HIS JOURNEYS 255
XVIII. THE FIRST QUAKER MARTYR 271
* XIX. THE CHILDREN OF READING MEETING 285
* XX. THE SADDEST STORY OF ALL 301
* XXI. PALE WINDFLOWERS 321
XXII. AN UNDISTURBED MEETING 343
XXIII. BUTTERFLIES IN THE FELLS 353
* XXIV. THE VICTORY OF AMOR STODDART 367
* XXV. THE MARVELLOUS VOYAGE OF THE GOOD SHIP 'WOODHOUSE' 379
* XXVI. RICHARD SELLAR AND THE 'MERCIFUL MAN' 403
* XXVII. TWO ROBBER STORIES—WEST AND EAST 427
XXVIII. SILVER SLIPPERS: OR A QUAKERESS AMONG THE TURKS 441
* XXIX. FIERCE FEATHERS 465
* XXX. THE THIEF IN THE TANYARD 479
XXXI. HOW A FRENCH NOBLE BECAME A FRIEND 489
XXXII. PREACHING TO NOBODY 509
COME-TO-GOOD 523
HISTORICAL NOTES 539
Note.—An Asterisk denotes stories suitable for younger children.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
reproduced from water-colour drawings by F. Cayley-Robinson
I. LOIS AND HER NURSE Frontispiece
II. THE BOYHOOD OF GEORGE FOX page 36
III. 'DREAMING OF THE COT IN THE VALE' 114
IV. 'THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE' 306
V. PALE WINDFLOWERS 324
VI. FIERCE FEATHERS 474
VII. A FRIENDS' MEETING 534