Whereupon he asked them, whether, if
their mother married, they should not lose by it? And he asked Margaret,
whether she had done any thing in lieu of it, which might answer it to
the children? The children said, _she had answered it to them_, and
desired him to _speak no more about that_. He told them, that he was
plain, and that he would have all things done plainly; for he sought not
any outward advantage to himself. So, after he had acquainted the
children with it, their intention of marriage was laid before Friends,
both privately and publicly;" and afterwards a meeting being appointed
for the accomplishment of the marriage, in the public Meeting-house at
Broad Mead, in Bristol, they took each other in marriage, in the plain
and simple manner as then practised, and which he himself had originally
recommended to his followers.
[Footnote 1: G. Fox's Journal, Vol. 2. p. 135.]
The regulations concerning marriage, and the manner of the celebration
of it, which obtained in the time of George Fox, nearly obtain among the
Quakers of the present day.
When marriage is agreed upon between two persons, the man and the woman,
at one of the monthly meetings, publicly declare their intention, and
ask leave to proceed. At this time their parents, if living, must either
appear, or send certificates to signify their consent.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25