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Digital Paxton: Digital Collection, Critical Edition, and Teaching Platform

The Conduct of the Paxton Men Impartially Represented - 9

of the Back-Counties either tacitly, or openly, approve and support them-----Every cool and well thinking Man, as well as Men among themselves, are sensibly concern’d that they were reduced to the Necessity of having Recourse to such Methods as might be deem’d an Insult to the Government and Laws of their King and Country.

The names of RIOTERS, REBELS, MURDERERS, WHITE SAVAGES, &c. (i) have been liberally bestowed upon them: But all this they look upon only as the Effects of disappointed Malice, and the Resentment of a destructive FACTION, who see their darling Power in Danger.-----The Merciful and the Good however, they trust, will pity rather than condemn them.-----And they are pleased with the Thoughts that they have been able at last to lay bare the PHARASAICAL BOSOM of QUAKERISM, by obliging the NON-RESISTING QUALITY to take up Arms, and to become Proselytes to the first great Law of Nature.

But this Triumph of theirs is founded upon a false Supposition, that Quakers never us’d Arms before.-----Whereas, it can be prov’d that these People have taken up Arms, and fought well too, upon many other Occasions.----Whoever will take the Trouble to read the printed Trials of G. KEITH, will find, that when a Quaker-sloop, belonging to this Province, was formerly taken by some PIRATES, and finding it impossible to save both the Sloop, and their so much-cried-up Principle, against outward Force, they at last resolved to give up the Principle, rather than the Sloop! and so opposed Force to Force----retook their Vessel, and made some of the Pirates Prisoners!

It is plain that the first Quakers were never against Force of Arms, if they thought the Quarrel just.

If you will believe their own Writers, they fought well in the Reign of OLIVER CROMWELL.-----G. Fox, in the Fifth Page of his Letter directed “To the Council of Officers of the Army, &c.” complains, That many Quakers were disbanded out of the Army, for no other Fault than their being QUAKERS, though they were good Fighters and good Soldiers.

(i) See the NARRATIVE, and a Letter from ‘SQUIRE READ, the JERSEY DEMOSTHENES, &c.

Contents of this annotation:

A defense of the Paxton boys, in reply to Benjamin Franklin's "A narrative of the late massacres, in Lancaster County, of a number of Indians." Attributed to Thomas Barton by Hildeburn and Evans. Also attributed to the Rev. John Ewing. Cf. Egle, W.H. History of the counties of Dauphin and Lebanon, 1883, p. 68. An added title page identifies John Creaig of Lancaster as bookseller. Signatures: pi [A]? B-D? E1.