Maidstone Quakers

An outsider’s view of Quakers in the 18th century

Cesar de Saussure was Swiss and in the 1720s he wrote a book called ‘A foreign view of England in the reigns of George I and George II’. Here is just a part of his observations on the Quakers he encountered which Friends may find of interest:

‘The Quakers’ mode of dressing is as curious as is their language; the men wear large, unlooped, flapping hats, without buttons; their coats are as plain as possible, with no pleatings or trimmings, and no buttons or button holes on the sleeves, pockets or waists. If any brother were to wear ruffles to his shirts or powder on his hair he would be considered impious….

Quakers claim to be Christians after the manner of the early members of the church, but I do not know whether this appellation can really be given them, for they are never baptised. When a child is born the father or a near relative takes it up in his arms and says, ’Welcome to this vale of misery.’ They declare they have communion with God, not with the lips but with the heart, and that communion was instituted to remind men of our Saviour’s death and that they having his memory constantly before them, have no need of a reminder. Quakers have neither priests nor ministers, for they say it is not right that men should choose their own preachers. They are what we call inspired, and they consider themselves as machines made to move, act and think by a Divine Providence.

I have attended some of their conventional assemblies. The meeting remains wrapped in profound silence, sometimes for as much as half an hour. The men’s faces are hidden in the borders of their wide flapping hats which they never remove, and the women draw down their pretty silken caps, or hide their faces with their fans. Everyone seems plunged in deep meditation…’

Helen Allinson