[Quakers]: [Maryland]:

$3,000 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

[MANUSCRIPT DOCUMENT, FAIR COPY OF THE MINUTES OF A QUARTERLY MAN'S MEETING REGARDING FRIENDS "GOING TO LAW" BEING DISCOURAGED, WITH A NOTE ON VERSO AGREEING TO THE SAME, SUBSCRIBED TO BY FIFTEEN ... A manuscript fair copy of the minutes of a Quarterly Man's Meeting of the Society of Friends in Talbot County, Maryland, held in 1679, in which the Meeting discourages "Friends going to law," that is, from bringing suits or seeking redress through the courts, without first seeking the advice and counsel of the Meeting. As early as the mid 1650s, Quakers had begun settling on Maryland's Eastern and Western Shores. These Maryland Quakers faced religious persecution throughout the 17th century for refusing to take oaths in court or to serve in local militias. In 1688, Lord Baltimore issued a proclamation dispensing with oaths in testamentary cases, but Quaker persecution persisted in Maryland well into the early 18th century. The text of the minutes reads as follows:"Dear Friends, There is another very materiall matter wch a friend [illegible] at ye Meeting wch wee doubt not but some of you may remember and that for want of time was past by, wch being truly weighed & considered, would finde the thing, if Duely observed may be for the truths Advancement, and we may be more & more servisable to helpe & assist, one another, for ye future to prevent what suits of law may possibly be prevented, wee knowing this yt friends going to ye law though our cause may be just, yet the truth seldom

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