Coacre et Coacresses dans leurs Assemblées à London is an engraving that appeared in Henri Misson’s travel book Mémoires et observations faites par un voyageur en Angleterre (1698). It shows a Meeting for Worship in a large room with latticed windows, a woman perched on an upturned tub, preaching, with people sitting and standing around her. In the left foreground visitors observe the scene with curiosity. The artist is anonymous. Though the scene is reminiscent of Egbert van Heemskerk’s paintings of Meeting for Worship, the style differs, so it is probably not that artist. The exact location is also unknown. “Coacre et Coacresses” was Misson’s French phonetic rendering of “Quakers and Quakeresses”. (In English it is pronounced “Ko-a-cre et Ko-a-cress”). Some sources identify the author as Francois Misson while others state that the picture appeared in James Beeverell’s Delice de la Grand Bretagne (1719).
Misson wrote a page and a half about Quakers to go with the engraving. It is, perhaps, the earliest French account of Friends. He commented that “The Quakers are grand fanatics…. There appears to be something praiseworthy about them; they seem to be gentle, simple in every respect, sober, modest, and peaceable. They even have a reputation for being faithful, and this is often true…. (But) as for doctrine, they have none whatsoever…. (They are) people who, having no principles and no guide other than their own visionary minds, have absolutely no idea what they believe, what they are saying….”
Coacre et Coacresses dans leurs Assemblées à London is a fascinating illustration. Like a modern Meeting for Worship, you can pick out Friends: intent, sleepy, smiling. A snapshot of Quakers in the 17th century.
Gary Sandman
October 2026