The Quakers Synod is an engraving of the 1696 London Yearly Meeting, an annual conference of Friends. It depicts William Penn, George Whitehead, William Bingley and other Friends gathered at the Clerk’s table. In captions, when Penn asks, “Call over ye list, Are none of Truths enemies here” and Whitehead questions, “are the doors shut”, Bingley responds, “Yea the doors are lockt”. At a table in front of them sit Benjamin Bealing and other Friends, with the books “church canons” and “ye Journal of G. Fox”. “Deputies”, apparently Quaker ministers, are assembled to the left and right and in the foreground. Whitehead was Yearly Meeting Presiding Clerk; Bealing was Yearly Meeting Recording Clerk. The Quakers Synod appears in Chapter XIII of Francis Bugg’s The Pilgrim’s Progress from Quakerism to Christianity (1698). The drawing measures about 12 inches by 16 inches, and the artist is anonymous.
Francis Bugg was an apostate to Quakerism. He published numerous attacks on Friends, including The Pilgrim’s Progress from Quakerism to Christianity. The Quakers Synod was meant to expose Friends as a cabal. Since he was sometimes not entirely truthful, what Bugg wrote should be read with some skepticism.
The Quakers Synod is a fascinating illustration. It is probably the earliest picture of a Yearly Meeting. It also contains perhaps the only accurate portrait of William Penn. Though several alleged likenesses exist, the only authentic one is the Bevan medallion, and The Quakers Synod version closely resembles the medallion.
(Please note: The Quakers Synod has no identifying year attached to it. The year 1696 was assigned to the image because it was featured in Chapter XIII of The Pilgrim’s Progress from Quakerism to Christianity, which includes material from that Yearly Meeting).
Gary Sandman
August 2024
