Beyond Uneasy Tolerance
The saga of Friends and the Arts in 75 quotations
(most of them not in your Faith and Practice)
arranged chronologically, 1650-1995
Now available: Expanded version in pamphlet form : 100 quotations
with additions from Rufus Jones, John Macmurray, Thomas Kelly, John Punshon and others
- Part I: 1650-1950
- 17th Century
- 18th Century
- 19th Century
- 1900-1950
- Part II: 1950-1995
- Author index
- 17th Century
NOTES:
(1) Corporate writings (Yearly Meeting epistles, etc) are in
boldface.
(2) Clicking on a date will take you to fuller information about the source of
the quote.
(3) In the source notes, Nicholson = Frederick J. Nicholson,
Quakers and the arts; a survey of attitudes of British Friends to the creative arts
from the seventeenth to the twentieth century (London: Friends Home Service
Committee, 1968); Greenwood = Ormerod Greenwood, Signs of life;
art and religious experience, Swarthmore Lecture 1978 (London: Friends Home
Service Committee, 1978).
17th Century
1658 All ye Poets, Jesters, rhimers, makers of Verses and Ballads, who bend your wits to please novelties, light minds, who delights in jests and toyes, more than in the simple naked truth which you should be united to, you are for the undoing of many poor souls, it is your work to tickle up the ears of people with your jests and toyes; this proceeds from a wrong heart where dwells the lust, and feeds the wrong heart and mind and wits, which brings them to the grave and dust, and there buries the minds and clogs the nature, which is a shame to all that be in the modesty and pure sincerity & truth and cleaness of mind....
—George Fox, 1658
1667 Musician. Truly, me thinks when I go to Church, and hear the Organs, and Voyces, and the Discords, and Concords, I am even ravished to hear, and I can praise the Lord with them, and tis to me as the joys of Heaven.
< I>Quaker. That Heaven will be shaken, and thy Song will be turned into howling; for such Musick and Singing was never set up of God, but of men; and it takes with that part of man that serves not God aright, but is for wrath and judgement.
—Solomon Eccles, 1667
1670 And therefore, all friends and people, pluck down your images . . . ; I say, pluck them out of your houses, walls, and signs, or other places, that none of you be found imitators of his Creator, whom you should serve and worship; and not observe the idle lazy mind, that would go invent and make things like a Creator and Maker. . . .
—George Fox, ca. 1670
1676 It is not lawful for Christians to use games, sports, plays, comedies, or other recreations which are inconsistent with Christian silence, gravity, or sobriety. Laughter, sports, games, mockery, or jests, useless conversation, and similar matters are neither Christian liberty nor harmless mirth.
—Robert Barclay, 1676 (in modern English)
1682 How many plays did Jesus Christ and His Apostles recreate themselves at? What poets, romances, comedies, and the like did the Apostles and Saints make, or use to pass away their time withal? I know, they did redeem their time, to avoid foolish talking, vain jesting, profane babblings, and fabulous stories.
—William Penn, 1682
1694 I was moved to cry also against all sorts of Musick, and against the Mountebanks playing tricks on their Stages, for they burdened the pure Life, and stirred up people's minds to Vanity.
—George Fox, 1694
1700 Christ Jesus bids us consider the lilies how they grow, in more royalty than Solomon. But contrary to this, we must look at no colours, nor make anything that is changeable colours as the hills are, nor sell them, nor wear them; but we must be all in one dress and one colour; this is a silly poor Gospel. It is more fit for us, to be covered with God's Eternal Spirit, and clothed with his Eternal Light, which leads us and guides us into Righteousness.
—Margaret Fell, 1700
18th Century
1738 Avoid sports, plays, and all such diversions as tending to alienate the mind from God. . . . It is apparent, to our very great grief, that the simplicity and distinguishing plainness of our profession respecting language, apparel and behaviour is too much departed from by many among us.
—London Yearly Meeting, 1738
1763 There came a man to Mount Holly who had previously published a printed advertisement that at a certain public-house he would show many wonderful operations, which were therein enumerated. At the appointed time he did, by sleight of hand, perform sundry things which appeared strange to the spectators. Understanding that the show was to be repeated the next night, and that the people were to meet about sunset, I felt an exercise on that account. So I went to the public-house in the evening, and told the man of the house that I had an inclination to spend a part of the evening there; with which he signified that he was content. Then, sitting down by the door, I spoke to the people in the fear of the Lord, as they came together, concerning this show, and laboured to convince them that their thus assembling to see these sleight-of-hand tricks, and bestowing their money to support men who, in that capacity, were of no use to the world, was contrary to the nature of the Christian religion. One of the company endeavoured to show by arguments the reasonableness of their proceedings herein; but after considering some texts of Scripture and calmly debating the matter he gave up the point. After spending about an hour among them, and feeling my mind easy, I departed.
—John Woolman, 1763
1779 Carefully shun the vain, unprofitable amusements, as well as the corrupt conversation of the world; all being earnestly admonished to avoid everything in their dress and address which might have the least tendency to render them unsuitable for an intercourse, league or amity with the children of the land, or of a depraved degenerate world that wallows in pollution and great defilements.
—John Griffith, 1779
1782 These poems are written by a Quaker; a circumstance rather extraordinary in the world of letters, rhyming being a sin which gentlemen of that fraternity are seldom guilty of.
—review of John Scott of Amwell's Poetical Works, 1782
1798 Soon after I appeared in the ministry, I dropped my pen in regard to verses. I do not say it was a sacrifice required; but the continuing of the practice might have proved a snare some way: it might have engaged my attention too much, or tended to make me popular, which I have ever guarded against, perhaps too much so in some points.
—Catherine Phillips, 1798
19th Century
1806 As our time passeth swiftly away, and our delight ought to be in the law of the Lord; it is advised that a watchful care be exercised over our youth, to prevent their going to stage-plays, horse-races, music, dancing, or any such vain sports and pastimes. . . .
—Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, 1806
1812 When poring over light and trifling publications, with which the present age abounds, or when using the pencil or needle merely to amuse, think whether your time might not be more profitably spent in reading the Scriptures, with other pious writings or useful publications.
—Henry Hull, 1812
183- The experience of Quaker poet Bernard Barton, who introduced himself to a Quaker Minister visiting his Meeting:
"Barton? Barton? That's a name I don't recollect. (pause) What, art thou the versifying man?" On my replying with a gravity that I really think was heroic that I was called such, he looked at me again, I thought, more in sorrow than in anger, and observed: "Ah, that is a thing quite out of my way." I dare say the good soul may have thought of me, if at all, with much the same feelings as if I had been bitten by a mad dog.
—Bernard Barton, 1830s?
1832 Ungrateful man! to error prone;
Why thus thy Maker's goodness wrong?
And deem a Luxury alone,
His great and noble gift of song.Hast thou not known, or felt, or heard,
How oft the poet's heav'n-born art,
Feeling and thought afresh have stirr'd,
To touch, and purify the heart?
—Bernard Barton, 1832
1833 My observation of human nature and the different things that affect it frequently leads me to regret that we as a Society so wholly give up delighting the ear by sound. Surely He who formed the ear and the heart would not have given these tastes and powers without some purpose for them.
—Elizabeth Fry, 1833
1836 Banish poetry and allow no scope for the imagination and men would be, what it is indeed needless that they should be, much more essentially selfish than they are at present.
—Richard Batt, 1836
1846 ...we believe [music] to be both in its acquisition and its practice, unfavourable to the health of the soul.... Serious is the waste of time of those who give themselves up to it.... It not unfrequently leads into unprofitable, and even pernicious associations, and in some instances to a general indulgence in the vain amusements of the world.
—London Yearly Meeting, 1846
1848 Sorrowful it is, that even some in conspicuous and influential stations, have actually "sat" for their portraits; and this, not for the hasty moment of the Daguerreo-typist (questionable as even this prevalent indulgence is), but patiently awaiting the slow business of the limner. Shallow indeed must be the religion of him who knows not that in himself, as a man, dwelleth no good thing. . . . We cannot suppose that our primitive Friends would for a moment have sanctioned so vain and weak an indulgence.
—Philadelphia Friend, 1848? [reprinted in the British Friend, 1848]
1851 If the Christian world was in the real spirit of Christ, I do not believe there would be such a thing as a fine painter in Christendom. It appears clearly to me to be one of those trifling, insignificant arts, which has never been of any substantial advantage to mankind. But as the inseparable companion of voluptuousness and pride, it haspresaged the downfall of empires and kingdoms; and in my view stands now enrolled among the premonitory symptoms of the rapid decline of the American Republic.
—Edward Hicks, 1851
1854 Thou shalt rob me no more of sweet silence and rest,
For I've proved thee a trap, a seducer at best.
—Amelia Opie, "Farewell to Music", 1854
1859 The attitude assumed by the Friends towards the fine arts, furnishes another evidence (as it appears to the writer) of their imperfect apprehension of the dignity of all the feelings and emotions, originally implanted by the Creator in the constitution of man. . . .
Whilst the primitive Quakers did not purpose absolutely to banish these pursuits from the homes of themselves and their successors, they so far restrained the development of the aesthetic element, that acting in conjunction with the general subjective character of the system, Quakerism became (what the French denominate) a spécialité, without the elastic, adaptive qualities, which fit Christianity for every tribe of men. . . . Here, we imagine, lies the secret why Quakerism has made no progress amongst the aboriginal tribes it has befriended—amongst the Negroes whose liberties it has struggled for—or (with trivial exceptions) anywhere beyond the limits of the Anglo-Saxon family; and also why it has not proved a congenial home to that large class of persons whose characters are rather emotional, than intellectual or reflective.
—John Stephenson Rowntree, 1859
1867 Call it by what name you will, mysticism, spiritualism, transcendentalism, it will scarcely be going beyond what history warrants to affirm that every writer or thinker who has taken deep hold of the hearts, not of the intellects, of mankind, has been a teacher of the doctrine of the "Divine Principle in man", of the "enthusiasm (vergötterung) of humanity". An illustration of the same truth will be furnished by every poet who has touched the deepest sympathies of the heart, whether he write in prose or verse. . . . He that dishonoureth the creature dishonoureth the Creator.
—Alfred W. Bennett, 1867
1873 We would renewedly caution all our members against indulging in music, or having instruments of music in their houses, believing that the practice tends to promote a light and vain mind. . . . It becomes us to be living as strangers and pilgrims on earth, seeking a better country, and to be diligently using [our time] for the great end for which it is lent to us . . . , and not in vain amusements or corrupting pleasures, but striving that "whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, we may do all to the glory of God. . . ."
—Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (Orthodox), 1873
1895a It needs to be recognised that our Society has not escaped the tendency to narrow down spiritual action to certain prescribed ways as a substitute for the reality of the spiritual life. For example, while Friends have been among the pioneers of modern science they have, until recent years, repressed all taste for the Fine Arts. These, at their greatest, always contain some revelation of the Spirit of God, which is in the fullest harmony with our spiritual faith. In the fields of music, art, and literature, as in others, Friends may witness to the glory of God and advance that glory by their service. The "fulness of the whole earth is His glory", and we mar the beauty of this message by every limitation we set upon it.
—William Charles Braithwaite, 1895
1895b For human conduct and human happiness, it is far safer to ignore Art altogether, than it is to accept her as the sole guide and arbiter of human life. . . . Now Art threatens to become Religion in another sense, obliterating all the old landmarks of morality, and deciding by herself, and with reference to artistic considerations alone, what is fitting and becoming in human life.
—Thomas Hodgkin, 1895
1900-1950
1920 This Quaker denial of the beauty of colour was pointed out to me thirty-five years ago by John Ruskin as the cause of the decay of the Society. "Your early Friends," he said, "would have carried all before them if they had not been false to that which is obeyed by the whole of the animal creation, the love of colour." Allowing for exaggeration there is much in it, especially if we extend "colour," metaphorically, to cover music, dancing, and the theatre.
—John Wilhelm Graham, 1920
1925 There are many voices today which call us to enjoyment, to self-expression, or to contemplate and share in the beauty of creative art. These things need to be subordinated to the service of the Highest, and sometimes in that service they must be given up. There are some too who, listening to the still small voice, which makes clear to them a duty that may not rest upon all, will forgo pleasures and activities in themselves good, for the sake of other claims. We would not narrow unduly for any of our members the opportunities for sharing in the joys and activities of life, but in the midst of all we must hold fast the thought of God's Kingdom, of which we are called to be part, and which we have to make real to others by our lives.
—London Yearly Meeting, 1925
1937 God is in all beauty, not only in the natural beauty of earth and sky, but in all fitness of language and rhythm, whether it describe a heavenly vision or a street fight, a Hamlet or a Falstaff, a philosophy or a joke; in all fitness of line and colour and shade, whether seen in the Sistine Madonna or a child's knitted frock; in all fitness of sound and beat and measure, whether the result be Bach's Passion music or a child's nursery jingle. The quantity of God, so to speak, varies in the different examples, but His quality of beauty in fitness remains the same.
—Caroline Graveson, 1937
1939 [Contributions of the Quakers:] THE ARTS
This section, unfortunately, might almost be entitled: What the Friends Have Not Given. When they ruled music and decoration out of their meeting houses, the Quakers, being a consistent people, put music and art out of their lives too. So intent were they on worshipping God and helping man that they overlooked the healing and inspiring power of great music and great art. . . .
Quakerism has produced scientists, as you would expect, for a scientist is one who gives his life to the search for truth. . . . Quakerism also produced saints, philosophers, philanthropists, reformers, prophets. Perhaps that is enough. Perhaps we should not ask for artists, too.
—Elizabeth Gray Vining (Elizabeth Janet Gray), 1939
1944 [The artist] brings something to religion which is essential to the life of man if that life is to reach up to God by every way that is open. What the artists can express of truth and beauty through the symbols of art may have an exact and abiding quality which may not be found by some earnest souls in such symbols of religion as they can use. . . . For fresh vision and new growth man needs imagination—and so, too, needs the arts in which imagination is expressed. Along the path of the imagination the artist and the mystic may make contact. The revelations of God are not all of one kind. Always the search in art, as in religion, is for the rhythm of relationships, for the unity, the urge, the mystery, the wonder of life that is presented in great art and true religion.
—Horace B. Pointing, 1944
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Q u a k e r s and the Arts Historical Sourcebook
Maintained by Esther Greenleaf MürerThis page last updated August 2000
SOURCES OF QUOTES
1667 Solomon Eccles, A Musick-Lector; or, the Art of MUSICK (that is so much vindicated in Christendome) discoursed of... London, 1667. Available online (Back)
1670 George Fox: "A Hammer to break down all Invented Images, Image-makers, and Image-worshippers. Showing how contrary they are both to the Law and Gospel." Works (1831), IV: 367. (Back)
1676 Robert Barclay, Barclay's Apology in Modern English, ed. by Dean Freiday (1967), 391. (Back)
1682 William Penn, No Cross, No Crown, 1682. Quoted in Nicholson, 7. (Back)
1694a George Fox, Journal, ed. J. L. Nickalls, p. 38. (Back)
1700 Margaret Fell, 1700. Quoted in London Yearly Meeting, Christian Faith and Practice (1959), Extract 401. (Back)
1738 London Yearly Meeting, Epistle, 1738. Quoted in Nicholson, 22. (Back)
1763 John Woolman, "Religious Conversation with a Company met to see the Tricks of a Juggler&;quot; (1763), in Journal, ed. Rufus Jones. Available online. A slightly different version is found in The Journal and Major Essays of John Woolman, ed. Phillips P. Moulton (Richmond, IN: Friends United Press, 1989) 138f. (Back)
1779 John Griffith, Journal of the Life, Travels and Labours in the work of the Ministry of John Griffith (York: 1830) [written 1779(!)]. Quoted in Nicholson, 23. (Back)
1782 Review of John Scott of Amwell's Poetical Works, Critical Review (1782). Quoted in Nicholson, 63. (Back)
1798 Catherine Phillips, Journal, 1798, 20-21. Quoted in Howard Brinton, Quaker Journals; varieties of religious experience among Friends (Wallingford, PA: Pendle Hill, 1972), 17. (Back)
1806 Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Book of Discipline (1806). Available online (Back)
1812 Henry Hull, "Address to the Youth of the Society of Friends, especially those who attended Yearly Meeting in London in 1812." Quoted in Nicholson, 47. (Back)
183- Bernard Barton, 183--? Quoted in Laurence Lerner, The Two Cinnas: Quakerism, Revolution and Poetry, Swarthmore Lecture 1984 (London: Quaker Home Service, 1984), 31. (Back)
1832 Bernard Barton, 1932. Quoted in Nicholson, 75. (Back)
1833 Elizabeth Fry, 1833. Britain Yearly Meeting, Quaker Faith and Practice, (1994), from extract 21.30. (Back)
1836 Richard Batt, preface to his anthology Gleanings in Poetry, 1836. Quoted in Nicholson, 82. (Back)
1846 London Yearly Meeting, Epistle, 1846. Quoted in Nicholson, 36f. (Back)
1848 "Biographies and portraits," extract from the Philadelphia Friend, reprinted in the British Friend, March 1848. Quoted in Nicholson, 52. (Back)
1851 Edward Hicks, Memoirs (1851). Quoted in Carolyn Weekley, The Kingdoms of Edward Hicks (Williamsburg VA: Colonial Wiliamsburg/Abrams, 1999), 30. (Back)
1854 Amelia Opie, "Farewell to Music," 1854. Quoted in Greenwood, 18. (Back)
1859 John Stephenson Rowntree, Quakerism, past and present; an inquiry into the causes of its decline in Great Britain and Ireland (London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1859), 55f. (Back)
1867 Alfred W. Bennett, Friends' Quarterly Examiner, 1, no. 1 (1867). Quoted in Nicholson, 92. (Back)
1873 Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (Orthodox) Book of Discipline (1873). This text Available online (Back)
1895a William Charles Braithwaite, "Has Quakerism a message to the world today?" In Report of the Proceedings of the Conference of Members of the Society of Friends, held by direction of the Yearly Meeting in Manchester, 1895. (London: Headly Bros., 1896). Quoted in Nicholson, 96. (Back)
1895b Thomas Hodgkin, in Report of the Proceedings of the Conference of Members of the Society of Friends, held by direction of the Yearly Meeting in Manchester, 1895. (London: Headly Bros., 1896). Quoted in Greenwood, 19. (Back)
1920 John W. Graham, The Faith of a Quaker (London: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1920). Quoted in Nicholson, 57f. (Back)
1925 London Yearly Meeting, Christian Practice (1925), Extract 6, "Self-Expression and Sacrifice". Quoted in Nicholson, 110. (Back)
1937 Caroline Graveson, Religion and Culture, Swarthmore Lecture 1937 (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1937), 24f. Quoted in London Yearly Meeting, Christian Faith and Practice (1959), extract 469. (Back)
1939 Elizabeth Gray Vining (Elizabeth Janet Gray), Contributions of the Quakers. Pendle Hill Pamphlet 34 (Wallingford, PA: Pendle Hill, 1939), 75, 78. (Back)
1944 Horace B. Pointing, Art, Religion, and the Common Life (London: S.C.M., 1944). Quoted in Nicholson, 112f. (Back) | Top