The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-04-29
INFLUENCE OF QUAKERS
LECTURE BY ISAAC sHARPLESS,
OF HAVERFORD COLLEGE.
His Address First Public Meeting of
Friends Historical Society of
America.

The first public meeting of the Friends
Historical Society Of America, held in the
First Friends Church last night, was made
notable by an address on Quaker In
fuence in American Institutions delivered
by Isaac sharpless. president of Haver-
ford College. DR.. Sharpless traced inter-
estingly the effect of Quaker thought and
Quaker policy upon the inception and de-
velopment of America. In part he said:
william Penn was an idealist and was
far removed from mercenary considera-
tions in the founding of his State. a dis
appointed would-be purchaser of trading
rights said with surprise: Believe truly
he has more regard for justice and right
eOusness and spreading Of truth than at his
own particular gain He was an enthusi-
asst for justice, liberty and peace and to
these causes sacrificed a noble inheritance
of money and station, and the quiet and
comfort Of his life. His Fundamental Con-
stitution,' recently discovered in his own
handwriting was liberal beyond any pre-
vious publication Of import and was toned
down later to meet supposed necessities.
"It can hardly be claimed that the rank
and file of his followers rose to the stand
ard of his conceptions. They were mainly
English yeomen. who had been for years
under the fire of severe persecution and
were seeking peace and freedom for them
selves in PENIS woods. Yet from the very
nature of their religious views they could
not do otherwise than embrace rather
broad principles of liberty, fraternity and
equality. There was perfect equality of
spiritual action When they came to
America it was not to found a little reser-
walton. built upon their own ideas of bibli-
cal authority, but they generaliZed from
their own condition. and enacted for all
the liberties they wished TO enjoy them
selves. There were no restrictions on wor-
ship. Dissenting sects were more than en-
duTed. they held with the dominant body,
on terms of equality, all civil and political
rights.
NOT A TRIUMPHANT CAREER.
1.-The other principle which the Pennsyl-
vania settlers had at heart-peace-had no
such triumphant career. Yet it doubtless
seemed to Penn no less important and no
less likely to succeed than liberty. 1t con-
veys wrong impression to call these Quak-
ers nOnresistants and noncombatants. They
believed in fairness, in insistence on rea-
son and in fOrcible presentation and on
force UP to the point of criminal methods.
During all the colonial period they con-
stituted the liberty party of the province
and wTung from successive governors one
concession after another. They showed
ability to resist bravely and successfully
whenever their rights were invaded. There
are good reasons for believing that during
the war of the revolution their sympathies
were with the Americans and several hum
dred of them, though under the diSapprO-
baton of their ecclesiastical bodies, gave
active aid to the revolutionary cause. The
opposition was to methods, not to resist
could be settled generally by common sense
and fOrbearance; that moral resistance TO
the fullest extent was better than suffer
ing iniqulty TO prevail. They stopped at
war because they thought il was crime;
that the hatred. the killing. the stealing
and all the immoralitles which cluster
NO part o. PENIS policy has been more
eulogiZed than his treatment of the In
dams. 1t was the fairness Of PENIS trans
actions which was characteristic Of his
dealings with the native tribes. He ex
planned his contracts in full, he met every
objection, he was more than liberal in the
purchase of every claim which had any
show of justice, he was always open and
honest, and in after years not a shred Of
sharp practice could be brought up or was
brought up by any Indian against him. His
treatment of them was probably the cause
of peace on the colonial frontier. L doubt
the truth of Parkmans statement that il
was not Quaker justice but Indian politics
thai maintained peace. The Indian qualities
were those of savages. Their treachery
ana cruelty TO enemies were extreme but
the general testimony is that they were
faithful in their friendships. Gen William
Henry Harrison said of them: n long and
intimate knowledge of them in peace and
war, as enemies and friends, has left upon
my mind the most favorable impression of
their character for bravery, generosity ana
fidelity TO their engagements The French
who treated them better than the English
had little cause to complain of the faith
leSsneSS of their allies. To their engage
ments with William Penn they were true
and it has been said of them In COM
memOration of their conferences with Penn
they frequently assembled in some shady
spot as near as possible TO those where
they used to meet their brother and there
laid all his words" or speeches, with those
of his descendants on blanket or clean
piece of bark and with great satisfaction
went over the whole
MATTER OF SPECULATION.
''It cannot be other than a matter of
speculation what the result would have
been had Quaker policy controlled the
provinces for a score of years after the
Stamp Act was passed. There would
have been no war, very likely, and very
likely there would have been no declarati ton
of independence, but there would have been
a persistent and determined refusal TO
bring England 10 grant justice by measures
which would have appealed to the pock-
cts, the consciences and the political mo-
successful and an army sent TO America,
the resistance would have been continued.
Many people would have been sent TO Jail,
and perhaps some would have been mar
tyred But would there have been many
lives lost were sacrificed by the revO-
lutionary war? Would England. year after
year. have bounded and killed innocent men
of conscientious convictions rather than
grant reasonable demands-independenc or
otherwise? Separation might have been
delayed, but when demanded by the united
voice OF the people ii must have come just
as 1T would come I'm Canada to-day. One
hundred years of bitterness would have been
avoided, and the AnglO-SaXon race have
marched on unitedly to its moral con-
quests.
Nor is it altogether an unreasonable
thought that If the Quaker anti-slaveTy
policy had been adopted the civil war
would have been avoided 1t had other
causes-sectiOnalism might have precipi-
tated dscordant interests into armed con-
half free But the most obvious and pO-
tent cause of the differences which brought
on the war would have been removed had
the nation at large listened 10 the appeals
of their Quaker brethren of New England.
Pennsylvania and North Carolina. and
freed their negroes. The removal of one
evil averts many another.
Pennsylvania alone worked out the
problem OF liberty for colonies. From no
other sources in Europe or America could
statesmen have declared that liberty was
not only right but practicable. When JEFF
ferson wrote that all men were created free
and equal he wrote not the New England
idea of his beloved Virginia, but the idea