The Quaker spiritual journey, often invisible due to its silent, humble and individual nature, is illustrated in this map.
In 1916, Albert Edmunds (1857-1941) recalled “a very curious religious game” that young Friends played with on Sunday afternoons. Born into a Quaker family in Middlesex, England, Edmunds attended the Croyden Friends Boarding School and later taught there before attending university and emigrating to the United States. The game he remembered was based on an allegorical map called “A Map of the Various Paths of Life” created in 1794 by American minister George Dillwyn (1738-1820). Edmunds was familiar with a dissected version of the map (what we call a jigsaw puzzle) that became popular in the late eighteenth century. As an artifact of his Quaker childhood, this map depicts an imaginary landscape fraught with risk and reward for the pious Friend.
Accompanying the map was a letter by an unnamed parent to his or her children delineating the “various paths to happiness” that Friends walked from early childhood to old age. The letter warned Quaker offspring to remain on the straight and narrow, lest they find themselves in “Off Guard Parish” where “Alluring Bower” and “Sorrow Chamber” were found. The letter counseled Quaker youth to remain watchful. Those who attained “Knowledge Pastureland” to reach “Promotion Mount,” could still make a stop at “Flatterer’s Haunt,” which led to the town of “Braggington” and “Vanity Fair.” Starting out well in life did not guarantee spiritual safety. One could easily be diverted from the “narrow path” and find themselves in “Knave’s Lure, and in great danger of going by Forger’s Hole, to Detection Crevice, and, to the great grief of parents and friends, they have been brought into Conviction Court, sent to Dungeon Bottom and narrowly escape Gallows Hill.” This was one of many pitfalls outlined in the parental letter. The dangers posed to young men were especially highlighted. A sharp turn at “Pausing Window” would land them in “False Rest Common,” where “Idleman’s Corner” led to “Seduction Play-house” and “Bully’s Brothel.” Yet there was hope for salvation. If a Friend reached “Mending Quarter,” they could go from “Faltering Alley” to “Good Resolve Turnstile” and “Bear Cross Road.” Friends confronted a panorama of pathways that meandered from comfort and danger to solace and sin. Choosing the “path of righteousness” would ensure the believer’s journey through life. The letter ended by advising young Quakers to avoid the “many strange and crooked paths” evident in Dillwyn’s map.
