berton, Anthony Benezet, John Churchman, and others, representing the most influential and

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weighty" members of the Yearly Meeting, addressed the Assembly. They say they are very willing to contribute to taxes to cultivate friendship with Indians, to relieve distress, or other benevolent purposes, but to expect them to be taxed for funds which are placed in the hands of committees to be expended for war, is inconsistent with their peaceable testimony, and an infringement of their religious liberties. Many Friends will have to refuse to pay such a tax and suffer distraint of goods,* and thus "that free enjoyment of liberty of conscience for the sake of which our forefathers left their native country and settled this then a wilderness by degrees be violated." "We sincerely assure you we have no temporal motives for thus addressing you, and could we have preserved peace in our own minds and with each other we should have declined it, being unwilling to give you any unnecessary trouble and deeply sensible of your difficulty in discharging the trust committed to you irreproachably in these perilous times, which hath engaged our fervent desires that the immediate instruction of supreme wisdom may inThis afterwards happened in numerous cases.

fluence your minds, and that being preserved in a steady attention thereto you may be enabled to secure peace and tranquillity to yourselves and those you represent by pursuing measures consistent with our peaceable principles, and then we trust we may continue humbly to confide in the protection of that Almighty Power whose providence has hitherto been as walls and bulwarks round about us."*

As the Assembly was composed, this was an earnest plea from the responsible Friends to their fellow religionists to stand uncompromisingly by their principles. It was not very kindly received. The reply indicated that the signers had no right to speak for others than themselves, that they had not duly considered the customs of the past, particularly the grant of £2,000 in 1711, and the address "is therefore an unadvised and indiscreet application to the House at this time." Four members of the Assembly dissent from this reply.†

On the other hand we have a strong petition sent about the same date to the King, signed by numerous influential men in Philadelphia, stat

* Votes of Assembly, Vol. VI., page 530.

†“Pennsylvania Archives," Vol. II., page 487.

ing that the Province was entirely bare to the attack of enemics, "not a single armed man, nor, at the public expense, a single fortification to shelter the unhappy inhabitants."

"We have no hopes of seeing the grievances redressed here while a great majority of men whose avowed principles are against bearing arms find means continually to thrust themselves into the Assembly of this Province." They ask the interposition of royal authority to insist on proper defence being provided.*

The attorneys for the petitioners before the Board of Trade made the most sweeping and unfounded charges, full of errors of fact and unconcealed animus, and ending with the recommendation "that the King be advised to recommend it to his Parliament that no Quaker be permitted to sit in any Assembly in Pennsylvania or any part of America," and that this result should be produced by the imposition of an oath.

In the minds of the Friends the crisis was reached when the Governor and Council (William Logan, son of James Logan, only dissenting) in the spring of 1756 declared war against the Delaware Indians, the old allies and friends

*“Pennsylvania Magazine," Vol. X., page 283, et seq. Article by Dr. Stille.

of William Penn, but now in league with the French and killing and plundering on the frontiers. They were quite sure that peaceful and just measures would detach the Indians from their alliance, and that war was unnecessary. The lines were becoming more closely drawn, and the middle ground was narrowing, so that it was impossible to stand upon it. Either the principle of the iniquity of war must be maintained in its entirety, or war must be vigorously upheld and prosecuted. Some Friends with Franklin took the latter position, but the great majority closed up their ranks around the principle of peace in its integrity. In Sixth month 1756 six of the old members of the house, James Pemberton, Joshua Morris, William Callender, William Peters, Peter Worral and Francis Parvin, resigned their seats, giving as their reason, many of our constituents seem of opinion that the present situation of public affairs calls upon us for services in a military way, which from a conviction of judgment after mature deliberation we cannot comply with, we conclude it most conducive to the peace of our minds, and the reputation of our religious profession to persist in our resolution of resigning our seats, which we now accordingly do, and request these our reasons may be entered on the minutes of the

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