Psalm 72.

1 Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.
2 He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.
3 The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.
4 He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.
5 They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.
6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: s showers that water the earth.
7 In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
9 They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.
12 For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.
13 He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.
14 He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.
15 And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised.
16 and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.
17 His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.
18 Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.
19 And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.

Verse 16 is a notoriously difficult passage in Hebrew. "A handful" should be read as "an abundance of"; "corn" is whatever was the local grain, probably wheat or rye. The New American Bible much less poetically but perhaps more readably translates the passage as "May wheat abound in the land, flourish even on the mountain heights. May his fruit increase like Lebanon's, his wheat like the grasses of the land."

Deuteronomy 33:27:

The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.

Matthew 5:14-16

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Lord Calvin granted some 30,000 acres at the head of Chespeake Bay to Augustine Herrman in 1661. It was called "Bohmia Manor" after Herrman's birthplace. Herrman ceded about 3000 acres to a colony of European Protestants called Labadists in 1684. Jean de Labadie was a French priest who joined the Reformed church in 1650. By the 1670s he had founded a sect of French Protestants in Holland which took his name. After being banished from Holland and moving for a while to northern Germany, the group emigrated to America. The Labadists stressed internal revelation inspired by the Holy spirit. Their church was an association of born-again equals and they held property in common. "Pietists" were religious "communities of the pious"; they made no distinction between social and religous ties.

Pope Leo X (Geiovanni de Medici) prohibited slavery in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in 1514. He was pretty much ignored. Pope Urban VIII (Mafeo Barberini), in a Bull issued April 29, 1639, prohibited slavery among the Indians of Brazil, Paraguay and the West Indies.

Lamentations 4:1,2

1 How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. 2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!

It was the practice of the Society of Friends to meet in silence until some person was inspired to speak.

Joel 3:14: "Multitudes, multitudes int he valley of decision; for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision."

Psalm 42, verse 3: "My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?"

Proverbs 29:25-26:

25 The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe. 26 Many seek the ruler's favour; but every man's judgment cometh from the LORD

Acts 10:37-38. "That word ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and begin from Gallilee, after the baptism which John preached; How God annointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power; who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Judges 16:26. And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.

Proverbs 20:27. The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.

The Emancipation Proclamation, signed by President Lincoln January 1, 1863. It promised manumission to slaves in areas still held by the Confederacy. It did not free slaves in areas controlled by Northern forces; they remained legally held until the ratification of the 13th Amendment, December 18, 1865. An important provision of the Proclamation allowed Blacks to serve in the Union Army.

First Corinthians 15:

41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. 42 So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

This line, often quoted as if it were Biblical, is from an early poem by William Wordsworth on the subject of a picture of Peele Castle, Lancashire, by his friend Sir George Beaumont. The poem is usually styled "Elegiac Stanzas". The first four quatrains (there are 15 in all) are reproduced below. The first stanza is explained by Wordsworth's visit in the summer of 1794 to a cousin in Rampside, within sight of Peele Castle.

I was thy neighbour once, thou rugged Pile!
Four summer weeks I dwelt in sight of thee:
I saw thee every day; and all the while
Thy Form was sleeping on a glassy sea.

So pure the sky, so quiet was the air!
So like, so very like, was day to day!
Whene'er I looked, thy Image still was there;
It trembled, but it never passed away.

How perfect was the calm! it seemed no sleep;
No mood, which season takes away, or brings:
I could have fancied that the mighty Deep
Was even the gentlest of all gentle Things.

Ah! Then, if mine had been the Painter's hand,
To express what then I saw; and add the gleam,
The light that never was, on sea or land,
The consecration, and the Poet's dream;

These lines are from Percy Bysshe Shelley's long poem Alastor; or the Spirit of Solitude. Here is the context:

   Yet the grey precipice and solemn pine
And torrent, were not all;--one silent nook
Was there. Even on the edge of that vast mountain,
Upheld by knotty roots and fallen rocks,
It overlooked in its serenity
The dark earth, and the bending vault of stars.
It was a tranquil spot, that seemed to smile
Even in the lap of horror. Ivy clasped
The fissured stones with its entwining arms,
And did embower with leaves for ever green,
And berries dark, the smooth and even space
Of its inviolated floor, and here
The children of the autumnal whirlwind bore,
In wanton sport, those bright leaves, whose decay,
Red, yellow, or ethereally pale,
Rivals the pride of summer. 'Tis the haunt
Of every gentle wind, whose breath can teach
The wilds to love tranquillity.

Matthew 7:21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Whittier is probably using Cabalism in the general sense that Emerson defined: "A superstitious devotion to the mysteries of the religion which one professes."

Fénelon's Christian Counsel, or Maxims on Divers Matters Pertaining to the Inner Life, XV.

Romans 14:7. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.

Isaiah 3:15. What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord God of hosts.

Jeremiah 8:22. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

Zephaniah 3:9. For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.

Matthew 23:23. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Whittier is quoting Milton here, perhaps this passage from Smectymnuus:

For as in teaching doubtless the spirit of meekness is most powerful, so are the meek only fit persons to be taught: as for the proud, the obstinate, and false doctors of men’s devices, be taught they will not, but discovered and laid open they must be. For how can they admit of teaching, who have the condemnation of God already upon them for refusing divine instruction?

O power of meekness,
Whose very gentleness and weakness
Are like the yielding, but irresistible air!

These are lines 2-8 of William Allingham's "The Touchstone". Allingham was an English poet, a contemporary of Whittier.

A basic principle of the Quaker faith is that Christ was here in the flesh, was raised from the grave, and continues with us in the spirit. The important things that we say and do are moved by the holy spirit. At Quaker meetings, the participants sit in silence until someone is moved to speak.

Quakers disliked the Pagan origins of the names given the days of the week and months of the year. Until the 20th cenury, they preferred to use "First Day" instead of Sunday, "Second Day" instead of Monday, etc.; and "First Month" for January, "Second Month" for February . . . .

This matches so closely the arguments of Henry David Thoreau in the first chapter of Walden that I wonder if Thoreau read Woolman's journal. Certainly there is a close relationship between the "inner light" of the Friends and the light of which Thoreau speaks so beautifully in the last chapter of that book, and the parallels between Woolman's writings and Thoreau's essay "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" are many. It seems very likely that Thoreau read these pages and approved them.

It was a tradition of the Friends to travel to other congregations. Such trips were subsidized by the local Societies in order to get news, to strengthen the faith of local adherents by emulation of other groups of Friends, and to voice the consensus of the local group.

After a period of peace during the Regency and the early reign of Louis XV, relations between France and England, strained by the War of the Austrian Succession, broke down. Britain, allied with Prussia, fought an alliance of France, Russia, Sweden, Austria and (later) Spain from 1756 to 1763. The conflict in North America actually began in 1755.

The prospect of war was of great concern to the Quakers, whose pricipals forbade them to fight or support fighting. On the other hand, they felt the obligation to defend their colony and their property. This subject is discussed in detail in Benjamin Franklin's autobiography.

And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not; for behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith Jehovah; but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou shalt go. Jeremiah 45:5.

And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God. Zechariah 13:9.

Lamentations 4:1. How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.

The Separate Newlights sect of Baptists began in New England, gaining strength mainly from disaffected Presbyterians. Two of the leaders, Shubeal Stearns and Daniel Marshall, moved to Virginia where the movement spread rapidly and extensively, as far south as Georgia.

Acts 10:34-35. Then Peter opened [his] mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

It has been the practice of Quakers almost from the beginning to pose questions at annual or monthly meetings to be discussed at the local meetings of Friends and reported on. The best-known modern queries, also called the "Philadelphia queries", are contained in the book Faith and Practice first published by the Philadelphia Annual Meeting in 1955.

Quaker meetings have always had two purposes: worship of God and strengthening of the community. I get the idea that the meeting are sometimes, but not always, formally divided into time periods devoted to each function. Quaker literature has frequent reference to "Meeting for Discipline" and "Meeting for Worship".

Decision-making in Quakier meetings is a complicated business. Issues are not decided by majority vote or by unanimity, but by a mutual agreement to proceed. When that mutual agreement can not be reached, the problem is left to "season" -- to become less difficult. A "seasoning opportunity" in Woolman's sense is an opportunity to get a question on the communitee agenda, even though there is no community agreement on it.

The Mennonites are church in the Anabaptist tradition, stressing adult baptism, missionary work and the authority of Scripture. They became a distinct soon after the conversion of the seminal Swiss Anabaptist, Conrad Grebel. A Dutch priest, Menno Simons, converted to the Protestant faith around 1536 and became the leader and the namesake of the Mennonites. Widely persecuted in Europe, many Mennonites fled to America where their church prospered.

In the 18th century there was a string of forts south of Lake Champlain. The northern-most, Ft Saint-Frédéric or Crown Point at the southern end of the lake, remained in French hands the longest. Ft Carillon (later Ticonderoga) was just south on the north end of Lake George. Ft William Henry was at the south end of Lake George. Fort Edward was farther south and west. Between 1755 and 1759 these fortifications were the focus of the French and Indian Wars.

Fort William Henry was the scene of a bloody fight in 1757. It was beseiged by Montcalm and, when reinforcements from Ft Edward could not relieve it, the British garrison surrendered under terms. The Indian allies of the French Canadians, however, did not accept the terms and attacked the British after the surrender, killing around 1500.

Psalms 42:

1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me . . .

Smallpox was wide-spread in the American colonies from the 17th century onward. There were constant outbreaks in the 18th century (the worst, the "Great Smallpox Epidemic", raged 1775-1782) and about 35% of those infected died. The fatality rate among children and pregnant women was much higher.

Inoculation (the term vaccination is of later origin) against smallpox was common in China, India and Turkey by 1700. Mary Wortley, Lady Montagu, had her children inoculated in 1717 in Istanbul and brought the practice to England where she enthusiastically promoted it.

Inoculation until the 1790s used live smallpox virus applied to an open cut in the skin, causing a usually-mild case of the disease. (The fatal form of smallpox is usually contracted by breathing the virus.) Inoculation was dangerous. Two or three of every 100 persons innoculated died. In the United States, their was organized opposition to the practice. Ben Franklin's New England Courant (before Franklin ran it) made its reputation by campaigning against inoculation, and Franklin's decision not to have his children inoculated led to the death of his son.

It's not clear what is being quoted here. Likely it is from a commentary on 2 Samuel 22, verses 8-16:

8: Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth.
9: There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
10: He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet.
11: And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind.
12: And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies.
13: Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled.
14: The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice.
15: And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them.
16: And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.

This was the beginning of Pontiac's Rebellion. Pontiac was a chief of the Ottawa tribe and was a charismatic and politic leader. He urged the tribes of the northwest frontier to unite in an attack on the British in 1763. Initially he was very successful, isolating the British at Ft. Pitt, Detroit, and Niagra. Pontiac was unable to capture any of these major forts, however, mainly because he was unable to maintain a siege with soldiers who had to return to their families to hunt for winter food. By 1765 the rebellion was ended and Pontiac exiled to Illinois where he was assassinated.

The Moravian Brethren, or Unitas Fratrum, was formed by Hussites in 1457. Their community led a precarious and wandering existence until the early 18th century when they settled at Herrnhut in Saxony where they prospered. A group of the Brethren came to America in 1735. After a short stay in Georgia they settled near Nazereth and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. In 1752 some of the Pennsylvania Moravians moved to North Carolina where they founded the town of Salem.

An inflammation of the sack surrounding the lungs, characterized by painful breathing.

The southern-most point of Great Britain, on the coast of Cornwall. It is usually the first land seen by ships entering the English Channel.