The Record of a Quaker Conscience, Cyrus Pringle's Diary With an Introduction by Rufus M. Jones

In this intimate diary a young Vermont Quaker records the turmoil of being drafted into the Union army during the Civil War. He refuses to pay the three‑hundred‑dollar commutation fee that would spare him from service, even when a generous uncle offers to cover it, because he knows the money would finance a substitute. The entries trace his struggle to stay true to a faith that forbids violence while the nation is swept up in war.

Written in straightforward, sometimes naïve language, the diary offers a vivid picture of daily life, prayer, and the quiet resolve that sustains him. Readers glimpse the broader moral questions the Quaker community faced, as individual conscience clashes with collective demands. The introduction frames these reflections within the enduring Quaker belief in inner liberty, making the young writer’s voice both historically grounded and surprisingly resonant for modern listeners.