QuakerQuaker

Primitive Christianity Revived, Again

Mrs. Greer (of "Bedewings" fame) and Her Anti-Quaker Ethnography

Sometimes writers who have an anti-Quaker axe to grind do some rather perceptive, if biased, ethnography.

Today, I finally got a chance to search n a room jammed with family "assets" for the anti-Quaker volume by a woman who grew up as a Friend in Ireland. I didn't find the book but, as I searched in vain, the name Greer popped into my mind! When I looked it up on Bookfinder.com, with Quaker entered in the title box, Mrs. Greer appeared. I even found that the text of her book is available online. http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=AJK2418

I don't have the patience to read Mrs. Sarah D. Greer's book, Quakerism: or, The story of my life./ By a lady, who for forty years was a member of the society of Friends, in a Kindle style format, but at least I now know the title I am looking for. I am quite "bedewed" by the Table of Contents; take a look! http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/AJK2418.0001.001/3?rgn=full+text;vi...

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by William F Rushby on 8th mo. 18, 2015 at 11:47am

Mrs. Greer's portrayal of Irish Friends was first published in 1851. It is not a commentary on contemporary Irish Friends, who tend to be more orthodox in faith than Britain Yearly Meeting Friends. For an interesting case in point, see the website of Grange Friends Meeting in Northern Ireland: https://grangefriendsmeeting.sharepoint.com/Pages/default.aspx

Some of my ancestors came from County Down in Northern Ireland. I would love to return William Brien's visit, in the 1970s', to this country, but don't expect it to ever happen. William was a Friends minister and former missionary in Pemba. He visited America after his retirement.

When he visited the South Starksboro meeting in Vermont (near where I grew up), I made a remark about the dirt roads. William corrected my usage; he called them "errrth [earth] roads!!!"

Permalink Reply by William F Rushby on 8th mo. 18, 2015 at 12:12pm

Mrs. Greer's book did not receive universal acclaim when it was published. https://tripod.brynmawr.edu/find/Record/.b1453335 I would love to read the retort by Caspar Morris, but do not have access to it.

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