The journal and essays of John Woolman

Front matter

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PORTRAIT OF JOHN WOOLMAN.

The originafr^epia drawing on a large folio sheet from which this reproduction has been made is almost certainly the work of John Woolman's friend and contemporary, Robert Smith III, of Burlington, New Jersey, son of Daniel (d. 1781), and grandson and namesake of the well known Judge Robert Smith of the Court of Common Pleas, Burlington County (1769 &c). Robert Smith III married Mary, daughter of Job Bacon, of Bacon's Neck, N. J. He had a natural gift for seizing a likeness and has left a large collection of striking sketches. The technique is identical with this sketch, which, however, is more ambitious, and the erratic background is omitted. The medal of the British and Foreign Anti- Slavery Association, founded in 1787 by Thomas Clarkson, which appears in the original, goes to prove this a memory sketch, as are many of Robert Smith's portraits, and also furnishes corroborative evidence of its genuineness.

Preface

Nearly a decade has passed since the preparation of this edition of John Woolman's Journal was undertaken at the request of the Friends' Historical Society of Philadelphia. In that interval has come and gone the Great War, whose shadow has fallen so deeply upon our modern civilization. To the philosopher of the future, who will command a truer perspective than is possible for us today, must be left the final verdict of its effect upon a great portion of the human race.

In view, however, of the stupendous changes which have been wrought in national and political relations, and of the fact that never before were social upheavals of such magnitude or importance, it is appropriate that a wider hearing be given to one whose quiet voice has still a message for this weary world, and whose meditations have survived in a form, quaint indeed, but singularly penetrating in their sympathetic counsel and wisdom. John Wooln :n had two great aims in his rather brief life: — the abolition of I tvery, and the readjustment of human relations for the relief If the laboring classes. The first was accomplished at the cost of a civil war, and the life of the Great Emancipator. Over the second, which is yet unattained, the world nevertheless may discern faint gleams of light; but we desperately need today the sound teaching of John Woolman. He called his little book a Journal, although in it will be found comparatively few autobiographical details. Such it is, however, in the sense of being the history of the Progress of a Soul through what was to him indeed a Vale of Tears. John Woolman believed it possible "to provide all men with an environment which will best develop their physical, mental and spiritual powers." This definition of social reconstruction is that of a modern English student and leader in social reform, B. Seebohm Rowntree, but it was anticipated more than a century and a half ago by John Woolman.

The circumstances of the early publication of Woolman's Journal are related in the pages that follow. It is less a matter of

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Copyright, 1922, By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.

Set up and printed. Published November, 1922.

Press of J. J. Little & Ives Company- New York, U. S. A.

PREFACE

Nearly a decade has passed since the preparation of this edition of John Woolman's Journal was undertaken at the request of the Friends' Historical Society of Philadelphia. In that interval has come and gone the Great War, whose shadow has fallen so deeply upon our modern civilization. To the philosopher of the future, who will command a truer perspective than is possible for us today, must be left the final verdict of its effect upon a great portion of the human race.

In view, however, of the stupendous changes which have been wrought in national and political relations, and of the fact that never before were social upheavals of such magnitude or importance, it is appropriate that a wider hearing be given to one whose quiet voice has still a message for this weary world, and whose meditations have survived in a form, quaint indeed, but singularly penetrating in their sympathetic counsel and wisdom. John Wooln :n had two great aims in his rather brief life: — the abolition of I tvery, and the readjustment of human relations for the relief If the laboring classes. The first was accomplished at the cost of a civil war, and the life of the Great Emancipator. Over the second, which is yet unattained, the world nevertheless may discern faint gleams of light; but we desperately need today the sound teaching of John Woolman. He called his little book a Journal, although in it will be found comparatively few autobiographical details. Such it is, however, in the sense of being the history of the Progress of a Soul through what was to him indeed a Vale of Tears. John Woolman believed it possible "to provide all men with an environment which will best develop their physical, mental and spiritual powers." This definition of social reconstruction is that of a modern English student and leader in social reform, B. Seebohm Rowntree, but it was anticipated more than a century and a half ago by John Woolman.

The circumstances of the early publication of Woolman's Journal are related in the pages that follow. It is less a matter of

VI

PREFACE regret that the present edition has been unavoidably delayed, since some of the most important facts connected with John Woolman's life have but very recently come to light. The reader should be reminded that the change of date from old to new style occurred in the year 1752. In certain cases it has been impossible to know definitely whether the record quoted has been adjusted or not. In every such case the original is given as it stands ; in other cases, the change is noted. The bibliography is based upon the very full one published in the "Century" Edition of Headley Bros., London, 1900, and is used with permission.

It remains to acknowledge with gratitude the assistance rendered the present editor by many kind friends who cannot all be named, but to most of whose services reference will be found in the notes. Death has claimed those to whom the editor's debt is greatest. President Isaac Sharpless, of Haverford College, read the earliest chapters, and urged their publication. Professor Allen C. Thomas critically examined and endorsed the entire manuscript during the summer preceding his death. To the late Dr. John W. Jordan, and to Miss Wylie of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and to Dr. J. Russell Hayes, Librarian at Swarthmore College, are due thanks for their aid with the original Woolman manuscripts in their respective collections. Many members of the collateral branches of the Woolman family have cordially loaned their papers and documents for examination or reproduction. Gilbert Cope, the genealogist, has furnished the facts regarding the father of Sarah Ellis, wife of the Journalist, and both William A. Slaughter and the late Charles H. Engle of Mount Holly, gave valuable aid in regard to the local associations of John Woolman in his home town.

In England the editor is under deep obligations to Norman Penney, F.R.H.S., at Devonshire House, London, where the vast collections of Quaker historical material have been laid under contribution for this volume by him and his able assistant, M. Ethel Crawshaw. He has also had searches made in the records of those meetings in the counties which were visited by Woolman. The late William C. Braithwaite and Dr. R. Hingston Fox furnished valuable information, and to no one more than to the late Malcolm Spence, of Almery Garth, York, is the editor's indebtedness greater. His interest in the work led him to much care in photo-

PREFACE vii

graphing in detail the valuable manuscripts still in possession of the family in the house where John Woolman died, and his own death occurred very soon after he had sent over all the material which had any relation to the Quaker philanthropist.

The inspirer and adviser of this edition, who did not live to see the work finished, but the memory of whose helpful aid has made the completion of the task possible, was Francis B. Gummere. His grateful wife would here record her debt to his unfailing bright encouragement and wise counsel. Without the aid and cooperation of these and many others, the editor's labors would have been far less complete. The personal life of John Woolman is here presented in more detail than has before been possible. It is hoped that his spiritual message will not lose thereby.

Amelia Mott Gummere.

Haverford, Pa.

June, 1922.

vi PREFACE

regret that the present edition has been unavoidably delayed, since some of the most important facts connected with John Woolman's life have but very recently come to light. The reader should be reminded that the change of date from old to new style occurred in the year 1752. In certain cases it has been impossible to know definitely whether the record quoted has been adjusted or not. In every such case the original is given as it stands; in other cases, the change is noted. The bibliography is based upon the very full one published in the "Century" Edition of Headley Bros., London, 1900, and is used with permission.

It remains to acknowledge with gratitude the assistance rendered the present editor by many kind friends who cannot all be named, but to most of whose services reference will be found in the notes. Death has claimed those to whom the editor's debt is greatest. President Isaac Sharpless, of Haverford College, read the earliest chapters, and urged their publication. Professor Allen C. Thomas critically examined and endorsed the entire manuscript during the summer preceding his death. To the late Dr. John W. Jordan, and to Miss Wylie of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and to Dr. J. Russell Hayes, Librarian at Swarthmore College, are due thanks for their aid with the original Woolman manuscripts in their respective collections. Many members of the collateral branches of the Woolman family have cordially loaned their papers and documents for examination or reproduction. Gilbert Cope, the genealogist, has furnished the facts regarding the father of Sarah Ellis, wife of the Journalist, and both William A. Slaughter and the late Charles H. Engle of Mount Holly, gave valuable aid in regard to the local associations of John Woolman in his home town.

In England the editor is under deep obligations to Norman Penney, F.R.H.S., at Devonshire House, London, where the vast collections of Quaker historical material have been laid under contribution for this volume by him and his able assistant, M. Ethel Crawshaw. He has also had searches made in the records of those meetings in the counties which were visited by Woolman. The late William C. Braithwaite and Dr. R. Hingston Fox furnished valuable information, and to no one more than to the late Malcolm Spence, of Almery Garth, York, is the editor's indebtedness greater. His interest in the work led him to much care in photo-

PREFACE vii

graphing in detail the valuable manuscripts still in possession of the family in the house where John Woolman died, and his own death occurred very soon after he had sent over all the material which had any relation to the Quaker philanthropist.

The' inspirer and adviser of this edition, who did not live to see the work finished, but the memory of whose helpful aid has made the completion of the task possible, was Francis B. Gummere. His grateful wife would here record her debt to his unfailing bright encouragement and wise counsel. Without the aid and cooperation of these and many others, the editor's labors would have been far less complete. The personal life of John Woolman is here presented in more detail than has before been possible. It is hoped that his spiritual message will not lose thereby.

Amelia Mott Gummere.

Haverford, Pa.

June, 1922.

There are few men so eminent as John Woolman in social or religious literature, of whose personal life and surroundings so very little is known. The extraordinary modesty of character which so distinguished him in his personal relations with his fellowmen, has kept from the world for one hundred and fifty years those more intimate facts of which present day biography is often too full. In reading Woolman one must always carefully distinguish between the humility of character which was his in a marked degree, and that "holy boldness" which made him fearless in the prosecution of those delicate and difficult tasks to which his apprehended duty called him.

John Woolman's autobiography, heretofore our only source of information, contains but a thread of personal history, usually introduced because it is necessary to explain the circumstances of the spiritual "exercise" which he wishes to record. Even this appears solely for the purpose of enforcing a moral lesson. The Journal, for its very restraint, its simplicity of style, and its clarity of vision and statement, has grown into a classic, occupying a place unique in literature, and of far more influence than was dreamed possible by its modest author. Such writers as Henry Crabbe Robinson, Charles Lamb and George Macaulay Trevelyan, to name but three representative men, have borne testimony to its spiritual and literary qualities. Joseph Sturge, the reformer and philanthropist, wrote of it: "In the picturesque simplicity of its style, refined literary taste has found an inimitable charm ; but the spiritually minded reader will discover beauties of a far higher order." x The Journal was at one time in use as a text book at Princeton University, for the purity of its English, 2 and in 1920 the State of Pennsylvania required it of its candidates in the public school examinations.

1 "Visit to the United States." 1841. p. 9.

* Charles B. Todd. "JJistory of the Burr Family." 2d edit. p. 449.

x INTRODUCTION

The Journalist was in the habit of noting down his experiences on his tours about the country, and he says, "After reading over the notes I made as I travelled, I find my mind engaged to preserve them." Having once made this determination, he systematically carried it out. The "Memorials" of his intimate friend, Rebecca Jones of Philadelphia, were published thirty years after her death, and in violation of her written request that they be not made public. She committed them to writing under a sense of duty, like John Woolman, and it was the opinion of the eminent men consulted that "it was not within her province to withhold from posterity the lustre of her example." John Woolman made no such restriction. Aware how much the record of his own experience might benefit his successors, he committed to paper all he thought of value as the days went by. He began the practice at the age of thirty-five and kept it up until his death at the age of fifty-two.

Examination of the sources now available for a fuller biography, brings out a personality which has nothing to lose and much to gain over the traditional figure of John Woolman. Records, legal and denominational, have been searched, often with important results, and many hitherto unknown letters and documents have been found in public libraries and in private hands. In fact, so much of new interest has developed, that a biographical sketch of the man is now no more than due to those who know John Woolman only through his Journal — the most impersonal autobiography ever written.

The only valid reason which could be offered for a new edition of the Journal of John Woolman would be the discovery of new material. There are half a hundred editions of the Journal proper, and a multitude of publications in which his Essays and appreciations of him appear. This valid reason, however, may now be safely advanced, for descendants of the Journalist have recently made accessible by presenting to learned institutions which are glad to guard them, the manuscripts — there are three — of the Journal, and of most of his Essays, as well as letters, marriage certificates of the family and other documents.

The large, leather-bound folio, which once had clasps, written in the excellent clerkly hand of the author, and from which Crukshank printed the first edition in 1774, came into possession of

INTRODUCTION xi

the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 191 2 as the gift of Samuel Comfort, a descendant in the sixth generation from John Woolman. It measures eight inches in width by twelve and a half in height. Inscribed upon the outside of the front of its cover are the names of three of John Woolman's grandsons: — "Samuel and Stephen and John Comfort's Book." Upon the back his great-grandson, Samuel Comfort, has written his name. This was the descendant who aided John Comly in preparing the edition of 1837, and who replied to the Philadelphia Friend who was the medium through whom an English would-be purchaser in 1845 offered a small sum for the folio: — "Could it be justly supposed that those through whose veins his blood flows, would, for sordid gold, sell to a stranger those pages over which the hand has moved and penned the sentiments and feelings as they flowed fresh and warm from the heart of their honored Father in the Truth? I may adopt this Scripture : 'The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the Inheritance of my Father unto thee.' " Accompanying this folio are the Larger and Smaller Account Books, the marriage certificate of John and Sarah Woolman, that of their daughter Mary and John Comfort, and of several of his ancestors and other relatives, besides valuable letters, papers and other documents. These have by gift now become the property of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia.

At Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, are the two earlier manuscripts of the same Journal. The first of these is a rough draft of forty-seven quarto pages, begun when the Journalist was thirty-five years of age, and bearing interesting internal evidence of his spontaneity and youth. There is great freedom from the set phraseology which sometimes renders the literature of Quakerism difficult of comprehension to the ordinary reader. Its account ends with the year 1747. The second, like the first, is unbound, with its pages stitched together, and containing all the material in the first. It continues the narrative to the year 1770. Worn and sometimes blurred, the good ink and clear handwriting have in both cases preserved for us these precious documents. Accompanying these also are letters, and the manuscripts of several of the Essays. Most valuable of all, from the antiquarian point of view, is the short Journal of the Sea Voyage, and of the four months travel in England. This is stitched together in a duoxii INTRODUCTION

decimo page, and is still covered with the original blue paper which protected it in its owner's pocket. These papers were all deposited on loan at Swarthmore College by a descendant in the same generation as Samuel Comfort, Elizabeth Lawrence Dudley, in 1913.

It is clear that the two Swarthmore copies were used by Woolman in preparing the folio for the printer. His Larger Account Book (Page 27) contains a charge for this book. This copy was made in the years 1 769-1 771, and was finished before he left home for England. It was one of the important details of his preparation for departure, whose completion was necessary for his peace of mind. Corrections and changes were made as he copied, most of the alterations bearing evidence of the writer's more mature thought. In the present edition these changes are noted. When John Woolman was about to leave home in 1772, he carefully tied up this folio, together with other important private papers, and left them in the hands of his intimate friend, John Pemberton, who was at that time Clerk of the Meeting for Sufferings, as the large Committee acting in the intervals of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, was then called. They were not to be opened except in case of his failure to return. He also prepared and left for immediate publication his well-known "Epistle," to Friends "4 mo. 1772."

The Journal of the Sea Voyage was made from day to day, and in the five weeks during which it lasted, John Woolman inserted the reflections which life at sea suggested to him. Five days after .landing, at the close of London Yearly Meeting, this manuscript was given to his friend, Sophia Hume, for whom he had in 1748 performed a similar service, to revise and correct,

da mo at her discretion. The cover bears the endorsement "13: 6: 1772. I commit these notes to the care and keeping of Sophia Hume, and if she hath a mind to revise them, and place them in better order, I am free to it, but I desire she may not shew them to any one, but with a very weighty consideration. John Woolman." There is no evidence of any alterations made by Sophia Hume, with whom he doubtless left the little manuscript on his departure from London.

INTRODUCTION xiii

The leaves on which is written the diary of the long walk to the North are stitched in later, possibly having been added after his death, the manuscript of the voyage, and of the English Journey thus forming one little paper-covered pamphlet. On the blank pages of the English Journey, William Tuke 68 wrote down from day to day the memoranda of John Woolman's illness and death. This manuscript was brought by Samuel Emlen, 7 [then known as "Junior,"] to whose care William Tuke consigned it, (along with Woolman's clothing and other small possessions), from York to John Woolman's wife, who handed them to the Meeting for Sufferings at Philadelphia. That meeting appointed a Committee to edit and prepare the Journal and Essays for publication. The minutes are in the handwriting of the Clerk, John Pemberton, the lifelong friend of Woolman. They give us in detail the story of the first edition.

"At a Monthly Meeting for Sufferings held in Philadelphia, the 15th of 4 mo.th, 1773.

Our beloved Friend John Woolman having before his leaving us Sealed up a Journal of his life to near that time, together with some other manuscripts, & directed them to John Pemberton 8 in order that they should be Cofhunicated (sic) to this meeting, if it should please the Lord to remove him from the Stage of this life before his return, being now presented to this meeting, John Huntt, 1 John Reynell, 2 James Pemberton, 3 Anthony Benezet, 4 & Owen Jones 5 are appointed to inspect them & Comunicate (sic) their Sentiments thereon to a future Meeting;" (p. 379). 18th day of 8mo. 1773; Israel Pemberton, 6 Samuel Emlen, 7 Junior, & John Pemberton 3 were added to the Committee in charge of the Journal. These, then, were the Friends who became the official editors. They were men whose prominence in the councils and affairs of the Colony will at once be evident to any one familiar with the history of Pennsylvania. 1

They had already entered upon their task when the official announcement of the deaths of John Woolman and his cousin William Hunt, 9 was received from London. The meeting replied: — "22nd. 4mo. 1773. . . . We had before the arrival of your Epistle received the Sorowful account of two of these

1 Brief sketches of these men will be found in the Biographical Notes.

xiv INTRODUCTION

worthy Friends being removed to receive the Reward of their faithfull Labours, which very Sensibly affect us, & our loss is the Greater, as several other valuable Friends were near the same time taken from us, & by their patient Continuance in Weldoing were nearly united to the faithful." (p. 383).

Several months were spent in sorting and arranging the various papers and manuscripts, and in the autumn work was actually begun on the Journal proper. The Meeting for Sufferings, under date, "21 day of iomo. 1773," has a minute; — "It's now agreed that the Committee, with such other friends of this Meeting as can well attend, do meet at the 6th. hour in the Evening of next 4th. day in order to proceed to the Inspection & Consideration of the Journal left by our Friend John Woolman, & so to adjourn from time to time until they have gone thro' it." (p. 396.) Next month they record that the Committee and "divers Friends" are regularly meeting together once a week for the purpose of hearing the Journal and to revise it. Finally, "21 of imo. 1774. . . . The Journal left by our Dear Friend John Woolman having been read through by the Committee & nearly ready for the Press, and a Specimen of the Type & Paper on which it is proposed to be printed being produced, the letter appearing clear & large, it's tho't may be agreeable, & that the Printer may be Encouraged to Print 1200 Copies. Some further Consideration respecting the Journal is referred to the next Meeting." (p. 401).

The last entries have to do with the subscriptions. Broadsides were printed and distributed by Joseph Crukshank. "21 of 4tno. 1774," they record: — "The Friends who have had the Care of revising the Journal left by Our Friend John Woolman are desired to get printed notices spread to Several Quarterly & Monthly Meetings to Acquaint them that the work is in the press & to encourage Friends to Subscribe for them." (p. 413). "19 of 5mo. 1774. Notices having been printed respecting the Journal of our Friend John Woolman, part of them are distributed, & its expected Joseph Cruckshank (sic) will Exercise care to Spread them further." (p. 414).

One of the Publication Committee returned the Manuscript to Woolman's family, accompanied by the first London edition of "Remarks on Sundry Subjects," under which title are published the Essays written in England (1773). His letter follows:

INTRODUCTION xv

Seventh Day; 4 O'Clock P.M.

Dear Friend,

1 herewith send John Woolman's Journal, & that part of his Works published in England. Thy Aunt show'd us a written testimony sent from England, which I now applied to her for, but she tells my wife that thou hast a copy of it. I know of nothing else I can furnish, which would help y e designed testimony. Oh! that I may have reason to believe that my name is written in the meanest page (if there is any difference) of the Book of Life, and I care nothing about Testimonies.

Anthony Benezet." 4

To Samuel Allinson, Burlington. 1

The school house in which the Friends met "every 4th day evening at 6 of the clock" throughout the winter of 1773-4, stood on the site of the present Forrest Building, No. 119 South Fourth Street, Philadelphia. These were the Friends who performed the important service of giving to the world the first edition of John Woolman's Journal. The printing was excellently done by Joseph Crukshank, himself a Quaker, official printer for the Yearly Meeting. His shop was in Market Street, at the sign of the "Bible-in-Hand," and he was one of the best printers at that period in America. 2 The book appeared in the spring of 1774 with the title, "The Works of John Woolman.' ,

This Committee performed its task at a period when the biography, whether Quaker or not, might be regarded as complete, if it recorded the spiritual life of the individual, and omitted many, or even most, of the facts of daily life. History had not then become a science, and the historical sense was untrained. The eighteenth century editor considered himself justified in omitting or revising at his pleasure, the statements of his author, as may be best instanced in the well known Life of Washington, by

1 Family Papers in possession of Caroline Allinson, Yardville, N. J.

S. Allinson [1739-1791.] Prominent Quaker lawyer, appointed by N. J. Legislature, 1773, to prepare well-known folio, Laws of New Jersey, printed by Isaac Collins. [N. J. Archives 1st Ser. xxv. p.6.]

2 His friends wrote of him, that "fair in his dealings, punctual with his payment, and amiable in his manners, he was greatly esteemed by his fellow citizens." [Thomas. "History of Printing in America," Vol. I., p. 262.] Crukshank occupied the third house west of Grindstone Alley, on the site now (1922) numbered 227. He had moved there in 1770 from an earlier location in Third St. ["Market Street, Philadelphia," p. 32, by Jos. Jackson.]

xvi INTRODUCTION

Weems, or Washington's Letters, edited by Jared Sparks. The changes made in the first edition of Woolman are chiefly omissions. The dreams are all wanting, as well as the only instance in which Woolman went to law. Part of the paragraph on inoculation is left out, as well as several mathematical calculations and diagrams. The reader will be able to compare other changes in the present edition. At the close of the volume, the letter of William Tuke was inserted as a portion of the text, and not in its original form. All later editions have followed this precedent.

Many editions at once followed the first, both in Great Britain and America (see Bibliography). None of these, however, appear to have been collated with the original manuscript, carefully guarded in the hands of descendants and easily accessible, until 1837, when Samuel Comfort, its owner, a great-grandson of John Woolman, assisted John Comly, 1 minister and school teacher and author of several text books, in publishing a new and revised edition of the Journal. This edition leaves the impression upon the reader that it was printed for theological reasons. It appeared in the stress of denominational controversy, and its joint editors, like the first committee, still regarded themselves at liberty to alter and "correct" their author. The copy of Johnson's edition of 1800 which they used, is still tied up with the manuscript. It is interlined with notes, and on its fly-leaf appears a calculation as to the frequency and significance of the name of Christ in the Holy Scriptures. In many instances "God" has been substituted for "Christ" in the text. Occasionally another Scriptural text has been substituted for that quoted by the author. The editing was nevertheless done with more accuracy and literary taste than that of any other edition, and many omissions of the first were inserted. In this a valuable service was rendered to literature.