In this book, Bispham refrained from going into many particulars of his artistic career, preferring to give a general survey of its principal points, for his object is not only to interest music lovers by giving them a glimpse into an artist's life, but to provide a stimulus for amateurs who contemplate entering the professional arena, and to show them how necessary it is to have, in the first place, the natural ability, then the inner urge to continue against opposition, and the determination to endure to the end.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

This study is an attempt to describe both the theories which underlay the Friends' deep concern for children, and the ways in which these theories were manifested in the life and practice of the Society. Contents: children in the thought and life of the early Friends; education of children before 1737; religious experiences of children; birthright membership; associate membership; children and Quakerism; bibliography.

More than a thousand Quaker female ministers were active in the Anglo-American world before the Revolutionary War, when the Society of Friends constituted the colonies' third-largest religious group. Some of these women circulated throughout British North America; others crossed the Atlantic to deliver in courthouses, meeting houses, and private homes, to audiences of men and women, to Quakers and to those of other faiths, to Native Americans, and to slaves. Utilizing the Quakers' rich archival sources, as well as colonial newspapers and diaries, Rebecca Larson reconstructs the activities of these women. She examines the ways their public, authoritative role affected the formation of their identities, their families and their society.

In-depth discussion of the Quaker method of worship and business, sacraments as an attitude toward life, simplicity, peacemaking, education, and service to others. Reprint of 1927 edition.

A systematic theological reflection on Quaker beliefs. Widely used in theology courses. Includes questions for use in group discussions and a glossary of theological terms.

In this popular compilation, letters, journals, artwork, and essays describe the origins of Quakerism, the Quakers in Colonial America, matters of conscience, and writings by and about Quakers in American literature. Readers will learn about George Fox, William Penn, Lucretia Mott, Levi Coffin, and others who were instrumental in establishing the "Quaker lifestyle" and Quaker pacifism in World War II and the Vietnam War. Also included are excerpts from Hawthorne, Melville, Whittier, and West.

Known in Pennsylvania Dutch as Brauche or Braucherei, the folk-healing practice of powwowing was thought to draw upon the power of God to heal all manner of physical and spiritual ills. Yet some people believed-and still believe today-that this power to heal came not from God, but from the devil. Controversy over powwowing came to a climax in 1929 with the York Hex Murder Trial, in which one powwower killed another who, he believed, had placed a hex on him. Based on seven years of fieldwork and extensive interviews, David Kriebel's study reveals the vibrant world, history, and culture of powwowing in southeastern and central Pennsylvania. He describes, compares, and contrasts powwowing practices of the past and the present; discusses in detail the belief in powwowing as healing; and assesses the future of Braucherei. Biographical sketches of seven living powwowers shed additional light on this little-understood topic. A groundbreaking inquiry into Pennsylvania German culture and history, Powwowing Among the Pennsylvania Dutch opens a window onto an archaic, semi-mystical tradition still very much in practice today.

This landmark volume is the first in a century to examine the "Second Period" of Quakerism, a time when the Religious Society of Friends experienced upheavals in theology, authority and institutional structures, and political trajectories as a result of the persecution Quakers faced in the first decades of the movement's existence. The authors and special contributors explore the early growth of Quakerism, assess important developments in Quaker faith and practice, and show how Friends coped with the challenges posed by external and internal threats in the final years of the Stuart age-not only in Europe and North America but also in locations such as the Caribbean. This groundbreaking collection sheds new light on a range of subjects, including the often tense relations between Quakers and the authorities, the role of female Friends during the Second Period, the effect of major industrial development on Quakerism, and comparisons between founder George Fox and the younger generation of Quakers, such as Robert Barclay, George Keith, and William Penn. Accessible, well-researched, and seamlessly comprehensive, The Quakers, 1656-1723 promises to reinvigorate a conversation largely ignored by scholarship over the last century and to become the definitive work on this important era in Quaker history. In addition to the authors, the contributors are Erin Bell, Raymond Brown, J. William Frost, Emma Lapsansky-Werner, Robynne Rogers Healey, Alan P. F. Sell, and George Southcombe.

J. Williams Thorne (1816-1897) was an outspoken farmer who spent the first half-century of his remarkable life in Chester County, Pennsylvania, where he took part in political debates, helped fugitive slaves in the Underground Railroad and co-founded the Progressive Friends Meeting near his home in Longwood. Williams and his associates discussed vital matters of the day, from slavery to prohibition to women's rights. These issues sometimes came to Thorne's doorstep-he met with nationally prominent reformers, and thwarted kidnappers seeking to enslave one of his free black tenants. After the Civil War, Williams became a "carpetbagger," ;moving to postwar North Carolina to pursue farming and politics. An "infidel" Quaker (anti-Christian), he was opposed by Democrats who sought to keep him out of the legislature on account of his religious beliefs. Today a little-known figure in history, Williams made his mark through his outspokenness and persistent battling for what he believed.

This is the first full biography of James Rendel Harris (1852-1941), Bible and patristic scholar, manuscript collector, Quaker theologian, devotional writer, traveller, folklorist, and relief worker. Drawing on published and unpublished sources gathered in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, many of which were previously unknown, Alessandro Falcetta tells the story of Harris's life and works set against the background of the cultural and political life of contemporary Britain. Falcetta traces the development of Harris's career from Cambridge to Birmingham, the story of his seven journeys to the Middle East, and of his many campaigns, from religious freedom to conscientious objection. The book focuses upon Harris's innovative contributions in the field of textual and literary criticism, his acquisitions of hundreds of manuscripts from the Middle East, his discoveries of early Christian works - in particular the Odes of Solomon - his Quaker beliefs and his studies in the cult of twins. His enormous output and extensive correspondence reveal an indefatigable genius in close contact with the most famous scholars of his time, from Hort to Harnack, Nestle, the 'Sisters of Sinai', and Frazer.

Inspired by the Quaker ideals of simplicity, equality, and peace, a group of white planters formed a community in the British Virgin Islands during the eighteenth century. Yet they lived in a slave society, and nearly all their members held enslaved people. In this book, John Chenoweth examines how the community navigated the contradictions of Quakerism and plantation ownership. Using archaeological and archival information, Chenoweth reveals how a web of connections led to the community's establishment, how Quaker religious practices intersected with other aspects of daily life in the Caribbean, how these practices were altered to fit a slavery-based economy and society, and how the eventual development of dissent and schism brought about the end of the community after just one generation. He uses this story as a fascinating example of the ways religious ideals can be interpreted in everyday practice to adapt to different local contexts.

Quakerism began in England in the 1650s. George Fox, credited as leading the movement, had an experience of 1647 in which he felt he could hear Christ directly and inwardly without the mediation of text or minister. Convinced of the authenticity of this experience and its universal application, Fox preached a spirituality in which potentially all were ministers, all part of a priesthood of believers, a church levelled before the leadership of God. Quakers are a fascinating religious group both in their original 'peculiarity' and in the variety of reinterpretations of the faith since. The way they have interacted with wider society is a basic but often unknown part of British and American history. This handbook charts their history and the history of their expression as a religious community. This volume provides an indispensable reference work for the study of Quakerism. It is global in its perspectives and interdisciplinary in its approach whilst offering the reader a clear narrative through the academic debates. In addition to an in-depth survey of historical readings of Quakerism, the handbook provides a treatment of the group's key theological premises and its links with wider Christian thinking. Quakerism's distinctive ecclesiastical forms and practices are analysed, and its social, economic, political, and ethical outcomes examined. Each of the 37 chapters considers broader religious, social, and cultural contexts and provides suggestions for further reading and the volume concludes with an extensive bibliography to aid further research.

American Quakerism changed dramatically in the antebellum era owing to both internal and external forces, including schism, industrialization, western migration, and reform activism. With the "Great Separation" of the 1820s and subsequent divisions during the 1840s and 1850s, new Quaker sects emerged. Some maintained the quietism of the previous era; others became more austere; still others were heavily influenced by American evangelicalism and integration into modern culture. Examining this increasing complexity and highlighting a vital religiosity driven by deeply held convictions, Janet Moore Lindman focuses on the Friends of the mid-Atlantic and the Delaware Valley to explore how Friends' piety affected their actions-not only in the evolution of religious practice and belief but also in response to a changing social and political context. Her analysis demonstrates how these Friends' practical approach to piety embodied spiritual ideals that reformulated their religion and aided their participation in a burgeoning American republic. Based on extensive archival research, this book sheds new light on both the evolution of Quaker spiritual practice and the history of antebellum reform movements. It will be of interest to scholars and students of early American history, religious studies, and Quaker studies as well as general readers interested in the history of the Society of Friends.

Hailed upon its publication as "history at its finest" by H. Larry Ingle and called "the essential foundation to explore early Quaker history" by Sixteenth Century Journal, Rosemary Moore's The Light in Their Consciences is the most comprehensive, readable history of the first decades of the life and thought of The Society of Friends. This twentieth anniversary edition of Moore's pathbreaking work reintroduces the book to a new generation of readers. Drawing on an innovative computer-based analysis of primary sources and Quaker and anti-Quaker literature, Moore provides compelling portraits of George Fox, James Nayler, Margaret Fell, and other leading figures; relates how the early Friends lived and worshipped; and traces the path this radical group followed as it began its development into a denomination. In doing so, she makes clear the origins and evolution of Quaker faith, details how they overcame differences in doctrinal interpretation and religious practice, and delves deeply into clashes between and among leaders and lay practitioners. Thoroughly researched, felicitously written, and featuring a new introduction, updated sources, and an enlightening outline of Moore's research methodology, this edition of The Light in Their Consciences belongs in the collection of everyone interested in or studying Quaker history and the era in which the movement originated.

This comprehensive collection brings together every extant text known to have been penned by Elizabeth Webb, a missionary for the Society of Friends who traveled and taught in England and America during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Webb's work circulated widely in manuscript form during her lifetime, but has since become scarce. This annotated collection reintroduces her as a major contributor to women's writing and religious thought in early America. Her autobiographical works highlight the importance of ecstatic or visionary experiences in the construction of Quaker identity and illustrate the role that women played in creating religious and social networks. Webb used the book of Revelation as a lens through which to comprehend episodes from American history, and her commentary on the book characterized the colonization of New England as a sign of the end times. Eighteenth-century readers looked to her commentary for guidance during the American War of Independence. Her unique take on Revelation was not only impactful in its own day, but puts contemporary understanding of eighteenth-century Quaker quietism into new perspective. Collecting the earliest known writings by an American Quaker, and one of the earliest by an American woman, this annotated volume rightly places Webb in the company of colonial women writers such as Anne Bradstreet, Mary Rowlandson, and Sarah Kemble Knight. It will be an invaluable resource for scholars of early America, women's history, religious history, and American literature.