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The “public testimonies” of Friends from the very beginning included the plain speech and dress and refusal of tithes, oaths, and worldly courtesies. To these was added in a few years an explicit renunciation of participation in war. Within the next century, bankruptcy, marriage out of meeting, smuggling, and dealing in or owning of enslaved persons also became practices for which an unrepentant Friend would be disowned. These latter, especially those relating to slavery, became matters for discipline because a comparative minority of Friends persuaded the rest that they were inconsistent with Friends’ principles. But not all social concerns were ...(100 of 3301 words)