AN EPISTLE FROM THE YEARLY MEETING OF FRIENDS, HELD IN PHILADELPHIA..

Philadelphia: Printed by William P. Gibbons, 1833. First Edition. Pamphlet: 8 p. Stitched brown paper wrappers (4 ¼" x 6 3/8"). The lower corner of p.7-8 is unevenly trimmed (no loss of text). Some minor foxing, with a bit of wear to the wrappers.

In the late 1820s, Lucretia Mott (1793-1880) and her husband, James, found themselves swept up in a controversy which bitterly divided the Quaker community. After the death of her first child, Thomas, in 1817, Lucretia turned to her faith for solace. In addition to solace, she found she had a gift for ministry and within a relatively short period of time she established herself as an influential force. (truncated) When Elias Hicks preached ideas which Quaker elders considered heretical, James and Lucretia Mott, though not wholly persuaded of the righteousness of all his ideas, nonetheless opposed the elders' attempt to silence Hicks. The rift over Hicks' ideas forced the "Great Separation" of 1827 when the Quaker community split into "Orthodox" and "Hicksite". Reluctantly and with considerable sorrow, the Mott's followed others into the Hicksite Cherry Street Meeting. It was the first great test of Lucretia Mott's ability to pursue what she deemed right at the cost of friendship and the approval of those she cared about. From 1830 to 1835, she served as clerk of the Women's Yearly Meeting, a role which closely wove her into a variety of Quaker activities and further prepared her to take her convictions regarding slavery and women's rights into the public realm.

Along with John Comly, a leader in the Hicksite Quaker faction and author of numerous spelling and grammar texts, Lucretia more than once defended the community against charges of heresy. In this 1833, pamphlet they reaffirm the Quaker principle that God has a direct relationship with each individual, a relationship that does not require an intermediary: "We believe there never was a time when we had more need to recur to this ancient foundation and characteristic principle of our society - to remember that it was this that gathered our forefathers to be a peculiar people, holding a testimony against the formal worship and lifeless religion of their day."

While it is not known who drafted this "Epistle" or how Comly and Mott may have worked or reworked particular passages, the central thesis, that each person, through a direct relationship with God, has a moral spring to which he or she must be faithful, is a principle Mott often touches upon in later recorded sermons. It is recorded, however, that when Comly drafted an "Epistle" in 1831, Mott changed the letter's opening to include "brethren and sisters", insisting on the importance of women within the Quaker community. This 1833 "Epistle" likewise addresses itself to "our dear brethren and sisters". It is a principle that formed the backbone of Lucretia Mott's convictions regarding slavery, women's rights, and capital punishment. The date is also of particular note: in 1833 Mott took the first steps to involve herself formally in the abolitionist movement.

NAW II, p.592-3; Bacon, Friend: The Life of Lucretia Mott, p.44-52; Cromwell, Lucretia Mott, p.34-8. (Inventory #: 73100)