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QUAKER MEETINGS. 269
and Councill taking it into their considracon have thought fitt to appoint, And do hereby
for the prevention of the like Inconveniency's for the tyme to come require and comand
all and every the Justices of the Peace of this province that so soone as they shall have
notice that any of the afcl vagabonds or idle persons shall againe presume to come into
this province, they forthwith cause them to be apprehended and whipt from constable to
constable untill they be sent out of ye Province. u PHILIP CALVERT Sec'rv "1
In August, Thurston was brought before the governor and council, and
pleaded that the order of July 23d only applied to such as came into the
province after its issue, whereas he was in Maryland at the time. This plea
was allowed, but he was banished for life under penalty of receiving thirty-
eight lashes if contumacious, and any person harboring him was to be fined
five hundred pounds of tobacco.
We find no evidence that the penalties provided in the order were enforced
in their full severity against any; and, indeed, when so active a missionary as
Thurston received no worse sentence than banishment, it would have seemed
unreasonable as well as cruel to visit all the rigor of the law upon less conspicuous victims. And with the deposition of Fendall from power the
persecuting spirit was for awhile banished. It is true that, in 1661, we find one
John Everitt—possibly a Friend—committed for trial, but it is for desertion—
"running from his colors when pressed to go to the Susquehanna fort;" in
extenuation of which he pleaded conscientious scruples against bearing arms;
but this may have been a mere cloak for cowardice. While other colonies
were treating these inoffensive, if peculiar people, with extreme cruelty,
flogging both men and women, imprisoning, mutilating and hanging; in
Maryland they found a secure asylum, and the names of many of these
fugitive sufferers appear in our early records.
Some other particulars respecting the Quakers in Maryland may be
appropriately introduced here.2
George Kofe, a Quaker missionary, visited Maryland about 1661, and wrote
to George Fox that there were many " settled meetings " in the province.
This shows that even at that early date their numbers had grown, either by
" convincement" or immigration, to a considerable body. In April, 1672,
George Fox, the founder of the sect, visited Maryland, and attended a general
meeting at West river, which he describes as "very large," and "held four
days."3 This was the first general meeting held in the province, and is considered memorable in Quaker history. In October of the same year, Fox
attended another/'meeting for all Maryland Friends," which was held at
Treadhaven, near the site of Easton, Talbot county, and lasted five days.
And again in May, 1673, (which he calls "third month," following the old
style in reckoning the year,) he was at a "wonderful glorious meeting" at
West river, just before he set sail for England. These general or yearly
meetings, according to the testimony of Samuel Bownas, an English Quaker,
1 Bundle, Maryland, B. T., iii., D., 33, Public 2 From The Early Friends, ut svpra.
Record Office, London. 3 Fox's Journal.
| Title | History of Maryland - 1 |
| Creator | Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas) |
| Publisher | J. B. Piet |
| Place of Publication | Baltimore |
| Date | 1879 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000296 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | QUAKER MEETINGS. 269 and Councill taking it into their considracon have thought fitt to appoint, And do hereby for the prevention of the like Inconveniency's for the tyme to come require and comand all and every the Justices of the Peace of this province that so soone as they shall have notice that any of the afcl vagabonds or idle persons shall againe presume to come into this province, they forthwith cause them to be apprehended and whipt from constable to constable untill they be sent out of ye Province. u PHILIP CALVERT Sec'rv "1 In August, Thurston was brought before the governor and council, and pleaded that the order of July 23d only applied to such as came into the province after its issue, whereas he was in Maryland at the time. This plea was allowed, but he was banished for life under penalty of receiving thirty- eight lashes if contumacious, and any person harboring him was to be fined five hundred pounds of tobacco. We find no evidence that the penalties provided in the order were enforced in their full severity against any; and, indeed, when so active a missionary as Thurston received no worse sentence than banishment, it would have seemed unreasonable as well as cruel to visit all the rigor of the law upon less conspicuous victims. And with the deposition of Fendall from power the persecuting spirit was for awhile banished. It is true that, in 1661, we find one John Everitt—possibly a Friend—committed for trial, but it is for desertion— "running from his colors when pressed to go to the Susquehanna fort;" in extenuation of which he pleaded conscientious scruples against bearing arms; but this may have been a mere cloak for cowardice. While other colonies were treating these inoffensive, if peculiar people, with extreme cruelty, flogging both men and women, imprisoning, mutilating and hanging; in Maryland they found a secure asylum, and the names of many of these fugitive sufferers appear in our early records. Some other particulars respecting the Quakers in Maryland may be appropriately introduced here.2 George Kofe, a Quaker missionary, visited Maryland about 1661, and wrote to George Fox that there were many " settled meetings " in the province. This shows that even at that early date their numbers had grown, either by " convincement" or immigration, to a considerable body. In April, 1672, George Fox, the founder of the sect, visited Maryland, and attended a general meeting at West river, which he describes as "very large," and "held four days."3 This was the first general meeting held in the province, and is considered memorable in Quaker history. In October of the same year, Fox attended another/'meeting for all Maryland Friends," which was held at Treadhaven, near the site of Easton, Talbot county, and lasted five days. And again in May, 1673, (which he calls "third month," following the old style in reckoning the year,) he was at a "wonderful glorious meeting" at West river, just before he set sail for England. These general or yearly meetings, according to the testimony of Samuel Bownas, an English Quaker, 1 Bundle, Maryland, B. T., iii., D., 33, Public 2 From The Early Friends, ut svpra. Record Office, London. 3 Fox's Journal. |
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