Speaking Scripture: The Flushing Remonstrance of 1657

Abstract

Speaking Scripture: The Flushing Remonstrance of 1657 R. Ward Harrington* And after I had declared the Truth to them some hours and the meeting was done, the chiefconstable and some otherprofessors fell a-reasoning with me in the steeple house yard; and I took a Bible and showed and opened to them the Scriptures, and showed them chapter and verse and dealt with them as one would deal with a child in swaddling clothes. They that were in the light ofChrist and spirit ofGod did know when I spoke Scripture, though I didnot mention chapter and verse after the priest's form unto them. George Fox, Journal (1652); Nickall ed. 1 1 1 -1 12 Introduction In addition to its importance as a defense of religious liberty, The Flushing Remonstrance is an early American example of "Speaking Scripture." This rhetorical form links the residents ofFlushing, New York to dissenters andIndependents, including Quakers, in seventeenth-century England and displays a characteristic which is also to be seen in the ministry and writings of George Fox. The Historical Context In August 1657 the ship Woodhouse arrived at Manhattan Island in the Colony ofNewNetherlands after a trip from England. It brought ministers ofthe Quaker movement, and five ofthese Quakers debarked at Manhattan . The Woodhouse did not linger long atNewNetherlands because it was known that Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch Governor, who had his headquarters in Manhattan, was a vigorous enforcer ofthe ban inNewNetherlands on all forms of religious activity other than that of the Dutch Reformed Church. As the Woodhouse left forRhode Island, the five Quakerministers made their way to the vicinity ofFlushing, on Long Island, about ten miles east ofManhattan. Flushing, it appears, was a fertile ground for the ministry, because in December, three months after their arrival, a Town Meeting of Flushing residents approved a "Remonstrance" protesting the ban on worship of Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists and Quakers. In the Remonstrance, they pointed to the fact that the Town Charter, which had been obtained from the authorities in Holland, assured the residents of religious liberty, and by reference to this, they declared their intention to receive into their town and theirhouses, any Christians who came amongst *R. Ward Harrington, Professor-Emeritus in Philosophy from City University of New York, is actively involved in New York Yearly Meeting. Speaking Scripture: The Flushing Remonstrance of 1657105 them. The Remonstrance was prepared by the Town Clerk and signed by him,the Sheriff, twoMagistratesandabout30residents oftheTown. There is no indication at this time that these citizens had, as yet, embraced Quakerism. Governor Stuyvesant arrested and imprisoned the Town Clerk, the Sheriffand the Magistrates, and by threats offines and imprisonment forced them to renounce the declarations in the Remonstrance. The Quaker meetings in Flushing continued secretly, however, until four years later, when John Bowne invited Quakers to meet for worship in his newly constructed home. John Bowne was arrested, and when he persisted in refusing to accept the ban on Quaker worship, was banished from the Colony by being placed on a ship bound for Europe. By 1663, however, he was back, bearing a letter from the authorities in Holland, directing Gov. Stuyvesant to permit the Quakers to worship without hindrance. Quakers continued their meetings for worship at John Bowne's house, and from this area, spread the Quaker message eastward on Long Island. The fruitfulness oftheir work is evident from the fact that within a decade, Quakers on Long Island would hold a six day "General Meeting" at Oyster Bay, about 40 miles east ofFlushing. George Fox, in his American travels in 1672,visitedFlushing, spoketoalarge gatheringinthe streetbeforeJohn Bowne's home, and then attended the General Meeting at Oyster Bay, before travelling into New England. Quakermeetings inFlushingcontinued atthe home ofJohn Bowne until 1694, when the Flushing Meeting House was built. In 1696 New York Yearly Meeting was established by a minute of New England Yearly Meeting, with the direction that correspondence for the new Yearly Meetingbe senttoJohnBowne atFlushing. NewYorkYearlyMeetingmet annually at Flushing throughout the 18th century, until British forces took possession of the Meeting House during the War for Independence. The Yearly Meeting sessions were then shifted to the Westbury Meeting, about 25 miles to the east. The Bible...