A Portraiture of Quakerism, Volume III (of 3) by Thomas Clarkson
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Thomas Clarkson >> A Portraiture of Quakerism, Volume III (of 3)
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19 A
PORTRAITURE OF QUAKERISM.
TAKEN FROM A VIEW
OF THE
EDUCATION AND DISCIPLINE,
SOCIAL MANNERS,
CIVIL AND POLITICAL ECONOMY,
RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLES
AND
CHARACTER,
OF THE
Society of Friends
* * * * *
BY THOMAS CLARKSON, M.A.
AUTHOR OF SEVERAL ESSAYS ON THE SLAVE TRADE.
VOL. III.
CONTENTS OF THE THIRD VOLUME.
* * * * *
GREAT TENETS.
CHAPTER I.
_Civil government--Governors have no right to interfere in matters of
religion--Nor are the governed bound to obey, where their consciences
are oppressed by doing it--but they are to be willing to suffer the
penalties annexed to their disobedience--and they are on no account to
resist them by force of arms,_
CHAPTER II.
_Oaths--Christians are not to take civil oaths--Reasons of the Quakers
for their disuse of them,_
CHAPTER III.
SECT. I. _War--Unlawful for Christians to fight--Scriptural passages in
support of this tenet--Answers to these and replies,_
SECT. II. _These passages supported by the opinions and practice of the
early Christians,_
SECT. III. _Objection to the motive assigned for this practice--Reply to
this objection--Motive confirmed,_
SECT. IV. _Conduct of the early Christians further examined--While
Christianity continued pure, they held it unlawful to fight--As it
became less pure, their scruples against it declined--As it became
corrupt, they ceased,_
SECT. V. _Reflections of the author on the foregoing subject--Supposed
conversation with a superior being in another region--New arguments from
thence,_
SECT. VI. _Subject further considered--Erroneous conceptions of those
who argue in favor of the necessity of war--This necessary only where
the policy of the world is pursued--Nature of this policy--But not
necessary where men act on the policy of the Gospel,_
SECT. VII. _This doctrine confirmed by historical cases,_
SECT. VIII. _Final examination of the subject,_
CHAPTER IV.
SECT. I. _Maintenance of a Gospel ministry--Quakers hold it unlawful to
pay their own ministers, or those of any other denomination, for their
Gospel labours--Scriptural passages and historical facts relative to
this doctrine,_
SECT. II. _Additional reasons against the payment of those of another
denomination, as collected from a history of tithes,_
SECT. III. _A more particular statement of these reasons,_
* * * * *
CHARACTER.
CHAPTER I.
_Character of the Quakers--Difficulties in the proper estimation of
character--These removable in the present case,_
CHAPTER II. _Character general or particular--General is that of a moral
people,_
CHAPTER III.
SECT. I. _Character particular--First of the particular traits is
benevolence to man in his temporal capacity,_
SECT. II. _Second is benevolence to man in his religious capacity,_
SECT. III. _Third is benevolence, or a tender feeling for the brute
creation,_
CHAPTER IV.
_Fourth is complacency of mind and manners,_
CHAPTER V.
_Fifth is, that they do not sacrifice their consciences, as a body of
Christians, where they believe a compliance with any law or custom to be
wrong,_
CHAPTER VI.
_Sixth is, that in political affairs they reason upon principle, and not
upon consequences,_
CHAPTER VII.
_Seventh is independence of mind,_
CHAPTER VIII.
SECT. I. _Eighth is courage in life,_
SECT. II. _Ninth is courage in death,_
CHAPTER IX.
_Tenth is punctuality to words and engagements,_
CHAPTER X.
_Imperfect traits--These are either intellectually or morally
defective--First of these is a deficiency in literature and science,
when compared with other people,_
CHAPTER XI.
_Second is superstition--Distinctions on this subject,_
CHAPTER XII.
_Third is obstinacy--No foundation for this trait,_
CHAPTER XIII.
SECT. I. _Fourth is a money-getting spirit--This spirit seldom
chargeable with avarice,_
SECT. II. _Practicable methods suggested for the extirpation of it,_
CHAPTER XIV.
Fifth is a want of animation or affection--This an appearance only.
CHAPTER XV.
Sixth is evasiveness in speech--No foundation for this trait.
CHAPTER XVI. Seventh is shyness--This an appearance only.
CHAPTER XVII.
Eighth is a disregard of truth--Inconsistency of the imputation of this
trait.
CHAPTER XVIII.
SECT. I. Character of the Quaker women--Women share in the virtues of
the men, but do not partake of all their reputed imperfections.
SECT. II. Quaker women have a public character--Influence of this upon
their minds.
* * * * *
MISCELLANEOUS PARTICULARS.
CHAPTER I.
Quakers a happy people--Subordinate causes of this happiness.
CHAPTER II.
Good, which the Quakers have done as a society upon earth.
CHAPTER III.
Quakers in England on the decline in point of numbers, as a religious
society--Certain causes of this decline.
CHAPTER IV.
Supposed remedies for the diminution of some of these causes--These of
various kinds--One of these a superior education--Supposed effect of
this education.
CHAPTER V.
_Component parts of this education--Favourable state of the society for
the admission of it,_
CHAPTER VI.
_Various arguments against it--These examined,_
CHAPTER VII.
_Conclusory remarks, as they relate to those who may have had thoughts
of leaving the society,_
CHAPTER VIII.
_Conclusory remarks, as they relate to those who may be called the
world,_
GREAT TENETS
OF THE
QUAKERS.
CHAP. I.
_Civil government--First tenet is, that governors have no right to
interfere with the governed on the subject of Religion--and that if they
interfere, and insist upon things which the conscience disapproves, the
governed ought to refuse a compliance with them, and to bear patiently
all the penalties annexed to such a refusal, but never to resist the
governors by violence on this or any other account._
The Quakers hold four principles, which I shall distinguish by the name
of Great Tenets. These are considered as arising out of the implied or
positive injunctions of Christianity, and were insisted upon as
essentials on the formation of the society. The first of these is on the
subject of Civil Government.
Civil Government had existed long before the appearance of Christianity
in the world. Legislators since that era, as they have imbibed its
spirit, so they have introduced this spirit more or less into their
respective codes. But, no nation has ever professed to change its system
of jurisprudence, or to model it anew, in consequence of the new light
which Christianity has afforded: neither have the alterations been so
numerous in any nation, however high its profession of Christianity,
with respect to laws, as to enable us to say, that there is any
government in the known world, of Christian origin, or any government
wholly upon the principles of the gospel.
If all men were to become real Christians, civil government would become
less necessary. As there would be then no offences, there would be no
need of magistracy or of punishment. As men would then settle any
differences between them amicably, there would be no necessity for
courts of law. As they would then never fight, there would be no need of
armies. As they would then consider their fellow-creatures as brethren,
they would relieve them as such, and there would be no occasion of laws
for the poor. As men would then have more solicitude for the public
good, and more large and liberal notions, than at any former time, they
would of themselves conceive and raise all necessary public institutions
and works. Government then is not so necessary for real Christians. It
is necessary principally, as the apostle says, for evil-doers. But if it
be chiefly necessary for evil-doers, then governors ought to be careful
how they make laws, which may vex, harrass, and embarrass Christians,
whom they will always find to be the best part of their communities, or,
in other words, how they make laws, which Christians, on account of
their religious scruples, cannot conscientiously obey.
It is a tenet of the Quakers, on the subject of government, that the
civil magistrate has no right to interfere in religious matters, so as
either to force any particular doctrines upon men, or to hinder them
from worshipping God in their own way, provided that, by their creeds
and worship, they do no detriment to others. The Quakers believe,
however, that Christian churches may admonish such members as fall into
error, and may even cut them off from membership, but this must be done
not by the temporal, but by the spiritual sword.
This tenet the Quakers support, first, by reason. Religion, they say, is
a matter solely, between God and man, that is, between God and that man
who worships him. This must be obvious, they conceive, because man is
not accountable to man for his religious opinions, except he binds
himself to the discipline of any religious society, but to God alone. It
must be obvious again, they say, because no man can be a judge over the
conscience of another. He can know nothing of the sincerity or hypocrisy
of his heart. He can be neither an infallible judge, nor an infallible
correcter of his religious errors. "The conscience of man, says Barclay,
is the seat and throne of God in him, of which he alone is the proper
and infallible judge, who, by his power and spirit, can rectify its
mistakes." It must be obvious again, they say, from the consideration
that, if it were even possible for one man to discern the conscience of
another, it is impossible for him to bend or controul it. But conscience
is placed both out of his sight and of his reach. It is neither visible
nor tangible. It is inaccessible by stripes or torments. Thus, while the
body is in bondage, on account of the religion of the soul, the soul
itself is free, and, while it suffers under torture, it enjoys the
divinity, and feels felicity in his presence. But if all these things
are so, it cannot be within the province either of individual
magistrates or of governments, consisting of fallible men, to fetter the
consciences of those who may live under them. And any attempt to this
end is considered by the Quakers as a direct usurpation of the
prerogative of God.
This tenet the Quakers adopt again on a contemplation of the conduct and
doctrines of Jesus Christ and of his apostles. They find nothing in
these, which can give the least handle to any man to use force in the
religious concerns of another. During the life of Jesus Christ upon
earth, it is no where recorded of him, that he censured any man for his
religion. It is true that he reproved the Scribes and Pharisees, but
this was on account of their hypocrisy, because they pretended to be
what they were not. But he no where condemned the devout Jew, who was
sincere in his faith. But if he be found no where to have censured
another for a difference in religious opinions, much less was it ever
said of him, that he forced him to the adoption of his own. In the
memorable instance, where James and John were willing to have called
fire from Heaven, to burn those who refused to receive him, he rebuked
them by an assurance, that "they knew not what spirit they were of."
And, with respect to his doctrines, nothing can be more full to the
point than his saying, that "his kingdom was not of this world," by
which he meant that his dominion was wholly of a spiritual nature, and
that men must cast off all worldly imaginations, and become spiritually
minded, before, they could belong to him. But no application of outward
force, in the opinion of the Quakers, can thus alter the internal man.
Nor can even the creeds and doctrines of others produce this effect,
except they become sanctioned by the divine influence on the heart.
Neither is it recorded of any of the apostles, that they used any other
weapons than those of persuasion and the power of God in the propagation
of their doctrines, leaving such as did not choose to follow them to
their own way. They were explicit also in stating the spiritual nature
of Christ's kingdom, from whence an inference similar to the former is
deducible, namely, that no compulsory interference can be effectual in
matters of religion. And St. Paul, in particular, tells the Corinthians,
that, in his spiritual services to them, he does not consider himself
[1]"as having any dominion over their faith, but as helpers of their
joy."
[Footnote 1: 2 Cor. i. 24.]
But if neither Jesus Christ, who was the author of that religion, which
many civil governments have established, nor the apostles, who
afterwards propagated it, forced their doctrines upon other men, or
hindered them by force from worshipping in their own way, even though
the former could have called legions of angels to his support, it
certainly does not become weak, ignorant, and fallible men, because they
are placed in the situation of governors, to set up their own creeds as
supreme, and to throw penalties and restrictions in the way of the
religious exercise of others.
But if governors, contrary to the example of Jesus Christ and of his
apostles, should interfere in religious matters, and impose laws upon
the governed, of which, as Christians, they cannot but disapprove, then
the Quakers are of opinion, that the governed ought always to obey the
laws of Jesus Christ, rather than the laws of any governors, who are
only men. Thus when Peter and John were commanded by the rulers of the
Jews to speak no more in the name of Jesus, they dared not yield
obedience to their commands, reasoning thus,[2] "Whether it be right in
the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye."
[Footnote 2: Acts iv. 19.]
And as the governed in such case ought, in obedience to God, the Supreme
Ruler of the Universe, and the King of Kings, to refuse a compliance
with the laws of their own governors, so they ought to be prepared
patiently to submit to the penalties which are annexed to such refusal,
and on no account, if just representations made in the meek and quiet
spirit of their religion, are not likely to be effectual, to take up
arms or resist them by force. And this doctrine they ground, first, on
the principle, that it is not only more noble, but more consistent with
their duty as Christians, to suffer, than to give growth to the passions
of revenge, or by open resistance to become the occasion of loss of life
to others. And, secondly, on the example of Jesus Christ, and of the
apostles and primitive Christians, all of whom patiently submitted to
the pains and penalties inflicted upon them by the governments of their
respective times for the exercise of their religion.
CHAP. II.
_Oaths--Quakers conceive it unlawful for Christians to take an
oath--their sufferings on this account--Consider oaths as
unnecessary--as having an immoral tendency, which even the Heathens
allowed--and as having been forbidden by Jesus Christ--Explanation of
the scriptural passages cited on this occasion--Christianity not so
perfect with the lawfulness of oaths as without it--Other reasons taken
from considerations relative to the ancient oath "by the name of God"_
A second tenet, which the Quakers hold, is, that it is unlawful for
Christians to take a civil oath.
Many and grievous were the sufferings of the Quakers, in the early part
of their history, on account of their refusing to swear before the civil
magistrate. They were insulted, fined, and imprisoned. Some of the
judges too indulged a rancour against them on this account, unworthy of
their high office, which prescribed justice impartially to all. For when
they could not convict them of the offences laid to their charge, they
administered to them the oath of allegiance, knowing that they would not
take it, and that confiscation of property and imprisonment would
ensue. But neither ill usage, nor imprisonment, nor loss of property,
ever made any impression upon the Quakers, so as to induce them to swear
in judicial cases, and they continued to suffer, till the legislature,
tired out with the cries of their oppression, decreed, that their
affirmation should in all cases except criminal, or in that of serving
upon juries, or in that of qualifications for posts of honour or
emolument under government, be received as equivalent to their oath. And
this indulgence towards them is continued to them by law to the present
day.
The Quakers have an objection to oaths, as solemn appeals to God,
because they are unnecessary.
It is an old saying among the Quaker writers, that "truth was before all
oaths." By this they mean, there was a time, when men's words were
received as truths, without the intervention of an oath. Ancient fable,
indeed, tells us, that there were no oaths in the golden age, but that,
when men departed from their primitive simplicity, and began to quarrel
with one another, they had recourse to falsehood to substantiate their
own case, after which it became necessary, that some expedient should be
devised, in the case of disputes, for the ascertaining the truth. Hence
Hesiod makes the god of oaths the son of Esis or of contention. This,
account differs but little from that of Polybuis, who says, that the use
of oaths in judgment was rare among the ancients, but that, as perfidy
grew, oaths increased.
And as it is a saying of the Quakers, that "truth was before all oaths,"
so they believe, that truth would be spoken, if oaths were done away.
Thus, that which is called honour by the world, will bind men to the
truth, who perhaps know but little of religion. But if so, then he, who
makes Christianity his guide, will not be found knowingly in a
falsehood, though he be deprived of the opportunity of swearing.
But if it be true, that truth existed before the invention of oaths, and
that truth would still be spoken, even if all oaths were abolished, then
the Quakers say, that oaths are not so necessary as some have imagined,
because they have but a secondary effect in the production of the truth.
This conclusion they consider also as the result of reason. For good men
will speak truth without an oath, and bad men will hardly be influenced
by one. And where oaths are regarded, it is probable that truth is
forced out of men, not so much, because they consider them as solemn
appeals to God, as that they consider the penalties, which will follow
their violation; so that a simple affirmation, under the same pains and
penalties, would be equally productive of the truth.
The Quakers consider oaths again as very injurious to morality. For
first, they conceive it to be great presumption in men to summon God as
a witness in their trilling and earthly concerns.
They believe, secondly, that, if men accustom themselves to call upon
God on civil occasions, they render his name so familiar to them, that
they are likely to lose the reverence due to it, or so to blend
religious with secular considerations, that they become in danger of
losing sight of the dignity, solemnity, and awfulness of devotion. And
it is not an unusual remark, that persons, most accustomed to oaths, are
the most likely to perjury. A custom-house oath has become proverbial in
our own country. I do not mean by this to accuse mercantile men in
particular, but to state it as a received opinion, that, where men make
solemn things familiar, there is a danger of their moral degradation.
Hence the Quakers consider the common administration of oaths to have a
tendency that is injurious to the moral interests of men.
This notion relative to the bad tendency of oaths, the Quakers state to
have prevailed even in the Gentile world. As Heathen philosophy became
pure, it branded the system of swearing as pernicious to morals. It was
the practice of the Persians to give each other their right hand as a
token of their speaking the truth. He, who gave his hand deceitfully,
was accounted more detestable than if he had sworn the Scythians, in
their conference with Alexander the Great, addressed him thus: "Think
not that the Scythians confirm their friendship by an oath. They swear
by keeping their word." The Phrygians were wholly against oaths. They
neither took them themselves, nor required them of others. Among the
proverbs of the Arabs, this was a celebrated one, "Never swear, but let
thy word be yes or no." So religious was Hercules, says Plutarch, that
he never swore but once. Clinias, a Greek philosopher, and a scholar of
Pythagoras, is said to have dreaded an oath so much, that, when by
swearing he could have escaped a fine of three talents, he chose rather
to pay the money than do it, though he was to have sworn nothing but the
truth. Indeed, throughout all Greece, the system of swearing was
considered as of the most immoral tendency, the very word, which
signified "perjured," in the Greek language, meaning, when analysed, "he
that adds oath to oath," or "the taker of many oaths."
But, above all, the Quakers consider oaths as unlawful for Christians,
having been positively forbidden by Jesus Christ.
The words, in which they conceived this prohibition to have been
contained, they take from the sermon on the Mount.
[3] "Again, ye have heard, that it hath been said by them of old time,
Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shall perform unto the Lord thine
oaths."
[Footnote 3: Matt. v. 33.]
"But I say unto you, swear not at all, neither by heaven, because it is
God's throne."
"Nor by the earth, for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem, for it
is the city of the great King."
"Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one
hair white or black."
"But let your communication be yea, yea; nay, nay: for whatsoever is
more than this cometh of evil."
It is said by those, who oppose the Quakers on this subject, that these
words relate, not to civil oaths, but to such as are used by profane
persons in the course of their conversation. But the Quakers deny this,
because the disciples, as Jews, must have known that profane swearing
had been unlawful long before this prohibition of Jesus Christ. They
must relate, therefore, to something else, and to something, which had
not before been forbidden.
They deny it also on account of the construction of the sentences, and
of the meaning of the several words in these. For the words, "Swear not
at all," in the second of the verses, which have been quoted, have an
immediate reference to the words in the first. Thus they relate to the
word "forswear," in the first. But if they relate to the word
"forswear," they must relate to perjury, and if to perjury, then to a
civil oath, or to an oath, where an appeal is made to God by man, as to
something relating to himself. The word oath also is explicitly
mentioned in the first of these verses, and mentioned as an oath which
had been allowed. Now there was one oath, which had been allowed in
ancient time. The Jews had been permitted, in matters of judgment, to
swear by the name of God. This permission was given them, for one, among
other reasons, that they might be prevented from swearing by the name of
those idols by which their neighbours swore; for a solemn appeal to any
Heathen god necessarily includes an acknowledgment of the omnipresence
of the same.
That they related to this oath in particular, the Quakers conceive to be
obvious from the prohibition in the verses which have been cited, of
swearing by heaven, by earth, and by other things. The Jews, knowing the
sacredness of the name of God, had an awful notion of the consequences
of perjury, if committed after an appeal to it, and therefore had
recourse to the names of the creatures, in case they should swear
falsely. But even the oaths, thus substituted by them, are forbidden by
Jesus Christ; and they are forbidden upon this principle, as we find by
a subsequent explanation given by St. Matthew, that whosoever swore by
these creatures, really and positively swore by the name of God. But if
they are forbidden, because swearing by these creatures is the same
thing as swearing by God who made them, then the oath "by the name of
God," which had been permitted to the Jews of old, was intended by Jesus
Christ to be discontinued, or to have no place in his new religion.
The Quakers then, considering the words in question to have the meaning
now annexed to them, give the following larger explanation of what was
the intention of our Saviour upon this occasion.
In his sermon on the Mount, of which these words on the subject of oaths
are a part, he inculcated into his disciples a system of morality, far
exceeding that of the Jews, and therefore in the verses which precede
those upon this subject, he tells them, that whereas it was said of old,
"thou shall not kill," he expected of them, that they should not even
entertain the passion of revenge. And whereas it was said of old, "thou
shalt not commit adultery," he expected, that they should not even lust
after others, if they were married, or after those in a married state.
Thus he brings both murder and adultery from act to thought. He attaches
a criminality to unlawful feelings if not suppressed, or aims at the
subjugation of the passions, as the springs of the evil actions of men.
Going on to shew the farther superiority of his system of morality over
that of the Jews, he says again, whereas it was said of old, "thou
shall not forswear thyself," he expects that they should not swear at
all, not even by the name of God, which had been formerly allowed, for
that he came to abrogate the ancient law, and perjury with it. It was
his object to make the word of his true disciples equal to the ancient
oath. Thus he substituted truth for oaths. And he made this essential
difference between a Jew and a Christian, that, whereas the one swore in
order that he might be believed; the other was to speak truth in order
that he might not swear. Such was the intended advance from Jew to
Christian, or from Moses to Christ.
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