ABSTRACT
The Puritan interregnum saw the rise of Ethringtonians, Grindlestonians, Muggiestonians, Fifth Monarchy Men, Family of Love, Ranters, and a swarm of other seeking sectarians. Many of the opponents of early Quakerism in England, like the great Puritan preacher Richard Baxter, thought James Naylor was its leader. Actually, Fox and Naylor, his follower, were equally important charismatic leaders in the early days before Naylor was thoroughly discredited. Some histories of Quakerism have played down the embarrassing Naylor affair. The Quaker awakening on the northern frontier of England was not unlike people own Great Awakening, which influenced Jonathan Edwards in western Massachusetts rather than his peers in Boston. Reform movements, usually led by, and appealing to, dissatisfied members of the establishment, tend to have a decentralized leadership. The pattern of leadership that emerged in the 1650s at Swarthmore Hall still characterizes the transatlantic Quaker community.
