CurmudgeonNov 9, 2023
Been perusing late 17th and early 18th century texts, as one is wont to do, when I came across this pronoun rant.
Show threadCurmudgeonNov 9, 2023

I've seen a similar quote before, but was surprised to actually come across it while reading.

#Quaker #Books

For those who wish to see what happens next, the text is available online:

https://archive.org/details/historyoflifeoft00ellw/page/24/mode/2up

The history of the life of Thomas Ellwood : Or, an account of his birth, education, &c. with divers observations on his life and manners when a youth: and how he came to be convinced of the truth; with his many sufferings and services for the same ; Also, several other remarkable passages and occurrences : Ellwood, Thomas, 1639-1713 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

448 p. ; 21 cm

Internet Archive
Show threadCurmudgeonNov 9, 2023

And, yes, early #Quakers were weird.

We're still weird, just in different ways.

Show threadEvan Gallagher (he/him)Nov 9, 2023

@jetton Few people seem to get that, unlike modern pronoun rants, this was a rant *for* equality against the still newish practice of using ‘you’ to flatter social ‘superiors’. If ‘thou’ was good enough for God, it was good enough for me and thee.

Still, a fun rant to look back on.

Show threadCurmudgeonNov 10, 2023
@evan Yes. Quakers believed one should make no distinction based based on "superiority" or "inferiority" on how they are to be addressed. A King should be addressed the same as a beggar.
Caused them a hell of a lot of problems.
Much of the first part of this book is about how his father kept beating him for saying "thou" to him.
Show threadCurmudgeon

@evan

A typical example a bit later in the book.

Nov 10, 2023 at 12:48pmWeb