ABSTRACT
Described in his later years as of 'unbearable temper and carriage', George Keith (c. 1638-1716) was an intellectually assertive member of the Church of Scotland until he turned to the Society of Friends in the mid-1660s. A missionary companion of Fox, Barclay and Penn in Europe, he eventually settled in Philadelphia where he became principal of the school later known as the William Penn Charter School. He was soon at odds with other leading Quakers, formed his own party of 'Keithians' or 'Christian Quakers' and was the subject of a declaration of disunity by the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in 1692. On the treatment of African-Americans and what was a proper Christian attitude toward slavery, however, Keith provided an early and classic Quaker testimony. It should be noted that this document may have been composed by a number of 'Keithians' and not simply by Keith himself.
