Letters of Early Friends

by: John Barclay

The preparation of this large collection of manuscripts for the press was begun by John Barclay, but was completed after his death by his brother Abram Rawlinson Barclay. The majority of these letters, which range in date from 1652–1690, were kept at Swarthmore Hall in Lancashire until the decease of Margaret Fox in 1702, and were individually endorsed by George Fox, with the name of the writer, the date, and sometimes a brief memorandum added by Fox respecting the author or the chief subject of the letter. This publication, copied largely from original sources, records some of the earliest gospel services of Friends in various parts of England and other foreign lands, and has been arranged by the editor of this volume into three parts: 1) Historical letters, exhibiting various events, services, and sufferings of Friends at the rise of the society; 2) Documents illustrative of the early order, government, or discipline that was adopted among early Friends; and 3) General epistles of counsel and exhortation addressed to churches in various parts. (Original title: Letters, etc., of Early Friends; Illustrative of the History of the Society, from Nearly its Origin, to About the Period of George Fox’s Decease; with Documents Respecting its Early Discipline; Also Epistles of Councel and Exhortation, etc.)