MDDM Ch. 51 The Topick of Hats

[Dave Monroe]

"He has blundered into a Remark about Hats, cock's and
not.
   "'Sir?' Dixon giving Beef.
   "'Surely, Sir, I meant no disrespect to the
Quakers, among whom I number,-- '
   "''Tis the dismissive Use of Metonymy, Sir.  We are
particularly earnest upon the Topick of Hats, having
invested in them more than insurance against the 
Rain.-- Our history as a sect having begun with a Hat
that remain'd upon its Head,-- and mercifully the Head
upon its Body,-- '" (M&D, Ch. 51, p. 492)


"In the early days, the testimony to the equality of
all people before God led to Quakers refusing to take
off their hats in the presence of their 'superiors'
and addressing everyone with 'thee' and 'thou' without
consideration of rank."

http://www.quaker.org.uk/more/qviews/qtestim1.html

Cf. ...

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0109&msg=59899&sort=date

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0109&msg=60296&sort=date

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0109&msg=60027&sort=date


   "Quakerism arose in England as the most radical
expression of the Protestant reformation. Quakerism
must be understood as a product of reformation: a
stripping away of the layers of institutional
Christianity that were seen as non-essential or even
hindrances to faith....

[...]

   "What, then, do we make of the man in the hat?
Surprisingly the hat played an interesting role in
early Quakerism. One of the early Quaker Testimonies
was to the equality of all people. If God dwells in
every person, there can be no assignment of social
worth that distinguishes royalty from commoners or
elevates one person over another. Removing the hat in
the presence of a superior was not just a courtesy but
an obligation in 17th century society. As a protest
against institutionalized inequality Quakers refused
to remove their hats for anyone! Thus the man in the
hat, who looks so quaint today, was in the context of
his times an example of social radicalism born of
spiritual mysticism."

http://www.quaker.org/visalia/subpages/WhoAreTheQuakers.html


Subject: (5.2) Authority

"Friends generally have held that people are people;
no one is more 'holy' than anyone else, (except
*maybe* Christ, (See 'Christianity')) and that
everyone has equal access to the part of God in all of
us.  Thus Friends have traditionally refused to use
honorifics like 'Your Honor,' 'Your Eminence,' etc.

"The only authority a Meeting has is that its members
all agree that its actions are in keeping with that of
God of each of its members.  This is of course the
Highest Form of authority to a Friend.

[...]

"Friends have also traditionally refused to use terms
of royalty, or of office, like 'Your Highness' or
'Your Honor'.  As Barclay writes (from Dean Freiday's
edition, on p. 391):

2. It is not lawful for Christians to kneel before or
prostrate themselves to any man, or to bow the body or
uncover the head.

"The previous point also makes the same point as to
'word honor' in court, specifically the use of terms
including 'Your Honor.'

"On p. 402 there is a more extensive discussion of
Kneeling, Bowing, and Removing the Hat, with some
Biblical references.

"A footnote quotes George Fox's Journal, as follows:

'When the Lord sent me forth into the world, he
forbade me to put off my hat to any, high or
low...neither might I bow or scrape with my leg to any
one.'  G. Fox, Journal, Bi-Centenary Edition, London,
Headley, 1902, v. 1, p. 38.

"Finally, p. 404 remarks,
	  
'Many of us have been badly beaten and buffeted about,
and we have even been imprisoned for several months
for no other reason except that we would not uncover
our heads or bow our bodies to satisfy the proud and
unreasonable whims of egotistical men. Certainly the
innocent practice of standing still and erect without
taking off our hats any more than our shoes does not
show as much rudeness as the beatings and knocking
about we have had because of our practice.'

Subject: (5.8) Dress

"Many people, are under the impression that Quakers
have rules about clothing, hats, bonnets, etc. similar
to the standards among the Amish, the Old Order
Mennonites, and certain Orthodox Jewish sects.  One
explanation for this confusion is the image on the
Quaker Oats(tm) logo (See (1.4) Oatmeal, Motor
Oil...); another is the traditional refusal of Friends
to rise or doff their hats to figures considered to be
in authority. (See (5.2) Authority)"

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/Quaker-faq/


>From Julian Hawthorne, The History of the United
States from 1492 to 1920 (New York: P.F. Collier and
Sons, 1920), Ch. VII, "Quaker, Yankee and King" ...

"... to the assembly of religious radicals, there
enters a plain man in leather breeches, and sees
fetters on the limbs of all of them....

[...]

   "This man in leather breeches, who also wears his
hat in the King's presence, is otherwise known as
George Fox, the Leicestershire weaver's son, the
Quaker...."

http://freepages.books.rootsweb.com/~rbrown/us/chapter-07.htm


And from The Journal of George Fox, Chapter XV, "In
Prison for not Swearing" (1662-65) ...

"The sessions coming on, I went to Lancaster, and
appeared according to my engagement. There was upon
the bench Justice Fleming, who had bid five pounds in
Westmoreland to any man that would apprehend me, for
he was a justice both in Westmoreland and Lancashire.
There were also Justice Spencer, Colonel West and old
Justice Rawlinson, the lawyer, who gave the charge,
and was very sharp against Truth and Friends; but the
Lord's power stopped them.

"The session was large, the concourse of people great,
and way being made for me, I came up to the bar, and
stood with my hat on, they looking earnestly upon me
and I upon them for a pretty space.

"Proclamation being made for all to keep silence upon
pain of imprisonment, and all being quiet, I said
twice, 'Peace be among you.'

"The chairman asked if I knew where I was. I said,
'Yes, I do; but it may be,' said I, 'my hat offends
you. That's a low thing; that's not the honour that I
give to magistrates, for the true honour is from
above; which,' said I. 'I have received, and I hope it
is not the hat which ye look upon to be the honour.'

"The chairman said they looked for the hat, too, and
asked wherein I showed my respect to magistrates if I
did not put off my hat. I replied, 'In coming when
they called me.' Then they bade one take off my hat."

http://www.strecorsoc.org/gfox/ch15.html

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