X Masters and Mistresses 204-227 XI Education of Negroes and Indians 228-267 XII Conclusion 268-271 Bibliography 272-282 Abbreviations 283 Index 285-287 EARLY QUAKER EDUCATION IN PENNSYLVANIA CHAPTER I ORIGIN OF THE QUAKERS [Sidenote: An essential in leaders] Reforms, discoveries and inventions are, at the outset, conceived by individual minds; seldom, if ever, are they the simultaneous product of several. The original connection is seen and made by an individual, and afterwards may be accepted by his fellows, who may appropriate the new idea to themselves and make its applications manifold. The novel idea or relationship, once seen, thoroughly comprehended and expressed becomes either the common property of many, extending far afield from its original source, or is rejected because it fails to prove attractive to human interests or necessary for the satisfaction of human needs. By this means changes are wrought in a group or society of individuals, and the belief or the contribution of one individual becomes the faith or the possession of a nation. The meaning of the above statement is at once made clear by mere mention of a few names, such as Luther, Bacon, Pestalozzi, Confucius, Whitefield, Gœthe and Fox. It is with the ideas and the formally stated doctrines of the last mentioned that we are in this connection chiefly concerned. [Sidenote: Brief study of Quaker beliefs necessary] In a study of education among the Quakers it is desirable, if not absolutely imperative, to go back to the origin of the society and note, at least in part, the tenets of the society and the reasons for its foundation. For this purpose the best materials are to be found in the life and works of George Fox, the founder of the Society of Quakers. It would, perhaps, be unnecessary at present to make any considerable study of beliefs or tenets, if it were not for the fact that, in times past, some of the expressions of their belief have been misconstrued. For instance, reference may be made here to the so-called doctrine of _inner light_ which was promulgated by George Fox at the very beginning of his work in 1647.[1] It will be of advantage to first sketch briefly the early life of this exponent of Quakerism. [Sidenote: Fox’s youth and early education] George Fox was born July, 1624 (old style), at Drayton-in-the-clay,[2] in Leicestershire, England. His father, Christopher Fox, otherwise known as “Righteous Christer,” was a weaver by trade and “an honest man.” His mother, he says, was of the stock of martyrs.[3]