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.'