Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: II THE QUAKERS IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES The first Quakers known to have set foot on American soil were two women, Ann Austin and Mary Fisher, who appeared in Boston harbor on July 11, 1656, having come from the island of Barbadoes for the express purpose of bearing testimony against the religious deadness and formality of the Puritans. Long had the Puritans of New England heard of the turmoil raised in the home-land by the troublesome Quakers; and now they had them at their very doors. Why should they come hither to disturb the peace and quiet of the wilderness? These were Puritan shores. The Puritans, as "Pilgrims" in a strange land, had come to New England in order that they might live according to their own ideals and worship God in their own way. They had their own institutions and their own customs, which to them were dear and sacred. At infinite cost they had built up a commonwealth in the wilderness, based on the laws, statutes, and ordinances of God. They had convictions as strong as were the convictions of the Quakers. Why should they give way to these newcomers? The very purpose of thistransient visit of members of the despised sect was to scatter their books and pamphlets — firebrands of disruption and discord — and overturn the very foundations on which the Puritan community rested. The Puritans were determined that they would not allow themselves thus to be disturbed; while the Quakers were just as determined to bear their testimonies. The scenes which followed the first arrival of Quakers in America were indeed dramatic. An irresistible force seemed to have met an immovable object. The two women were at once taken into custody by the authorities of Boston, their books and tracts were publicly burned in the market-place as heretical, and being "stripped s...