A Portraiture of Quakerism, Volume III (of 3) by Thomas Clarkson

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They value no man again on account of the antiquity of his family
exploits. They believe, that there are people now living in low and
obscure situations, whose ancestors performed in the childhood of
history, when it was ignorant and incapable of perpetuating traditions,
as great feats as those, which in its greater maturity it has recorded.
And as far as these exploits of antiquity may be such as were performed
in wars, they would not be valued by them as ornaments to men, of whose
worth they can only judge by their virtuous or their Christian
character.

They value no man again on account of the antiquity of his ancestry.
Believing revelation to contain the best account of the rise of man,
they consider all families as equally old in their origin, because they
believe them to have sprung from the same two parents, as their common
source.

But this independence of mind, which is said to belong to the Quakers,
may be fostered again by other circumstances, some of which are peculiar
to themselves.

Many men allow the independence of their minds to be broken by an
acceptance of the honours offered to them by the governments, under
which they live; but no Quaker could accept of any of the honours of the
world.

Others allow the independence of their minds to be invaded by the
acceptance of places and pensions from the same quarter. But Quakers,
generally speaking, are in a situation too independent in consequence
of their industry, to need any support of this kind; and no Quaker could
accept it on the terms on which it is usually given.

Others again suffer their opinions to be fettered by the authority of
ecclesiastical dominion, but the Quakers have broken all such chains.
They depend upon no minister of the Gospel for their religion, nor do
they consider the priesthood, as others do, as a distinct order of men.

Others again come under the dominion of fashion and of popular opinion,
so that they dare only do that which they see others do, or are hurried
from one folly to another, without having the courage to try to resist
the stream. But the life of a Quaker is a continual state of
independence in this respect, being a continual protest against many of
the customs and opinions of the world.

I shall now only observe upon this subject, that this trait of
independence of mind, which is likely to be generated by some, and which
is preserved by other of the causes which have been mentioned, is not
confined to a few members, but runs through the society. It belongs to
the poor as well as to the rich, and to the servants of a family as well
as to those who live in poverty by themselves. If a poor Quaker were to
be introduced to a man of rank, he would neither degrade himself by
flattery on the one hand, nor by any unbecoming submission on the
other. He would neither be seduced into that which was wrong, nor
intimidated from doing that which was right, by the splendour or
authority of appearances about him. He would still preserve the
independence of his mind, though he would behave with respect. You would
never be able to convince him, that he had been talking with a person,
who had been fashioned differently from himself. This trait of
independence cannot but extend itself to the poor. For having the same
rights and privileges in the discipline, and the same peculiar customs,
and the same views of men and manners as the rest of the society, a
similar disposition must be found in these, unless it be counteracted by
other causes. But as Quaker servants, who live in genuine Quaker
families, wear no liveries, nor any badges of poverty or servitude,
there is nothing in the opposite scale to produce an opposite feature in
their character.

CHAP. VIII.

SECT. I.

_A sixth trait is that of courage--This includes, first, courage in
life--Courage not confined to military exploits--Quakers seldom
intimidated or abashed--dare to say what they think--and to do what
they believe to be right--This trait may arise from that of bearing
their testimony--and from those circumstances which produced
independence of mind--and from the peculiar customs of the society_.

Another trait in the character of the Quakers, which is nearly allied to
independence of mind, is courage. This courage is conspicuous both in
life and in the hour of death. That, which belongs to the former
instance, I shall consider first.

If courage in life were confined solely to military exploits, the
Quakers would have no pretensions to this character. But courage
consists of presence of mind in many situations of peril different from
those in war. It consists often in refusing to do that which is wrong,
in spite of popular opinion. Hence the man, who refuses a challenge, and
whom men of honour would brand with cowardice on that account, may have
more real courage in so doing, and would have it in the estimation of
moral men, than the person who sends it. It may consist also in an
inflexible perseverance in doing that which is right, when persecution
is to follow. Such was the courage of martyrdom. As courage then may
consist in qualities different from that of heroism, we shall see what
kind of courage it is that has been assigned to the Quakers, and how far
they may be expected to be entitled to such a trait.

There is no question, in the first place, that Quakers have great
presence of mind on difficult and trying occasions. To frighten or to
put them off their guard would be no easy task. Few people have ever
seen an innocent Quaker disconcerted or abashed.

They have the courage also to dare to say, at all times and in all
places, what they believe to be right.

I might appeal for the truth of this, as far as the early Quakers are
concerned, to the different conversations which George Fox had with
Oliver Cromwell, or to the different letters which be wrote to him as
protector, or to those which he afterwards wrote to king Charles the
second.

I might appeal again to the address of Edward Burroughs to the same
monarch.

I might appeal again to the bold but respectful language, which the
early Quakers used to the magistrates, when they were carried before
them, and to the intrepid and dignified manner in which they spoke to
their judges, in the coarse of the numerous trials to which they were
brought in those early times.

I might appeal also to Barclay's address to the king, which stands at
the head of his Apology.

"As it is inconsistent, says Barclay to king Charles the second, with
the truth I bear, so it is far from me to use this letter as an engine
to flatter thee, the usual design of such works, and therefore I can
neither dedicate it to thee, nor crave thy patronage, as if thereby I
might have more confidence to present it to the world, or be more
hopeful of its success. To God alone I owe what I have, and that more
immediately in matters spiritual, and therefore to him alone, and the
service of his truth, I dedicate whatever work he may bring forth in me,
to whom only the praise and honour appertain, whose truth needs not the
patronage of worldly princes; his arm and power being that alone by
which it is propagated, established, and confirmed."

And farther on, he says, "Thou hast tasted of prosperity and adversity;
thou knowest what it is to be banished thy native country, to be
overruled, as well as to rule, and to sit upon the throne; and, being
oppressed, thou hast reason to know how hateful the oppression is both
to God and man. If, after all these warnings and advertisements, thou
dost not turn unto the Lord with all thy heart, but forget him who
remembered thee in distress, and give up thyself to follow lust and
vanity; surely great will be thy condemnation."

And this courage to dare to say what they believe to be right, as it was
an eminent feature in the character of the primitive, so it is
unquestionably a trait in that of the modern Quakers. They use no
flattery even in the presence of the king; and when the nation has
addressed him in favour of new wars, the Quakers have sometimes had the
courage to oppose the national voice on such an occasion, and to go
before the same great personage, and in a respectful and dignified
manner, to deliver a religious petition against the shedding of human
blood.

They have the courage also to dare to do as well as to say what they
consider to be right.

It is recorded of the early Quakers, that, in the times of the hottest
persecution, they stood to their testimony in the places appointed for
their worship. They never assembled in private rooms, or held private
conventicles, employing persons to watch at the doors, to keep out spies
and informers, or to prevent surprise from the magistrates. But they
worshipped always in public, and with their doors open. Nor, when armed
men were sent to dissolve their meetings, did they ever fly, but, on
the summons to break up and depart, they sat motionless, and, regardless
of threats and blows, never left their devotions, but were obliged to be
dragged out, one by one, from their places. And even when their
meeting-houses were totally destroyed by the magistrates, they sometimes
met the next meeting-day, and worshipped publicly on the ruins,
notwithstanding, they knew that they were subject by so doing, to fines,
and scourges, and confinements, and banishment, and that, like many
others of their members who had been persecuted, they might die in
prison.

This courage of the early Quakers has descended as far as circumstances
will allow us to judge, to their posterity, or to those who profess the
same faith. For happily, on account of the superior knowledge which has
been diffused among us since those times, and on account of the progress
of the benign influence of Christianity, both of which may be supposed
to have produced among the members of our legislature a spirit of
liberality in religion, neither the same trials; nor the same number of
them, can be afforded for the courage of the modern Quakers, as were
afforded for that of the Quakers of former days. But as far as there are
trials, the former exhibit courage proportioned to their weight. This
has been already conspicuous in the bearing of their testimony, either
in those cases where they run the hazard of suffering by opposing the
customs of the world, or where, by refusing a compliance with legal
demands which they believe to be antichristian, they actually suffer.
Nor are these sufferings often slight, when we consider that they may be
made, even in these days of toleration, to consist of confinement, as
the law now stands, for years, and it may happen even for life, in
prison.

This trait of courage in life, which has been attached to the character
of the Quakers, is the genuine offspring of the trait of "the bearing of
their testimony." For by their testimony it becomes their religion to
suffer, rather than comply with many of the laws and customs of the
land. But every time they get through their sufferings, if they suffer
conscientiously, they gain a victory, which gives them courage to look
other sufferings in the face, and to bid defiance to other persecutions.

This trait is generated again by all those circumstances which have been
enumerated, as producing the quality of independence of mind, and it is
promoted again by the peculiar customs of the society. For a Quaker is a
singular object among his countrymen. His dress, his language, and his
customs mark him. One person looks at him. Another perhaps derides him.
He must summon resolution, or he cannot stir out of doors and be
comfortable. Resolution, once summoned, begets resolution again, till at
length he acquires habits superior to the looks and frowns, and
ridicule, of the world.

SECT. II.

_The trait of courage includes also courage in death--This trait
probably--from the lives which the Quakers lead--and from circumstances
connected with their religious faith_.

The trait of courage includes also courage in death, or it belongs to
the character of the Quakers, that they shew great indifference with
respect to death, or that they possess great intrepidity, when sensible
of the approach of it.

I shall do no more on this subject, than state what may be the causes of
this trait.

The dissolution of all our vital organs, and of the cessation to be, so
that we move no longer upon the face of the earth, and that our places
know us no more, or the idea of being swept away suddenly into eternal
oblivion, and of being as though we had never been, cannot fail of
itself of producing awful sensations upon our minds. But still more
awful will these be, where men believe in a future state, and where,
believing in future rewards and punishments, they contemplate what may
be their allotment in eternity. There are considerations, however, which
have been found to support men, even under these awful reflections, and
to enable them to meet with intrepidity their approaching end.

It may certainly be admitted, that, in proportion as we cling to the
things of the world, we shall be less willing to leave them, which may
induce an appearance of fear with respect to departing out of life; and
that, in proportion as we deny the world and its pleasures, or mortify
the affections of the flesh, we shall be more willing to exchange our
earthly for spiritual enjoyments, which may induce an appearance of
courage with respect to death.

It may be admitted again, that, in proportion as we have filled our
moral stations in life, that is, as we have done justly, and loved
mercy, and this not only with respect to our fellow-creature man, but to
the different creatures of God, there will be a conscious rectitude
within us, which will supply us with courage, when we believe ourselves
called upon to leave them.

It may be admitted again, that, in proportion as we have endeavoured to
follow the divine commands, as contained in the sacred writings, and as
we have followed these through faith, fearless of the opinions and
persecutions of men, so as to have become sufferers for the truth, we
shall have less fear or more courage, when we suppose the hour of our
dissolution to be approaching.

Now, without making any inviduous comparisons, I think it will follow
from hence, when we consider the Quakers to be persons of acknowledged
moral character, when we know that they deny themselves for the sake of
becoming purer beings, the ordinary pleasures and gratifications of the
world, and when almost daily experience testifies to us, that they
prefer bearing their testimony, or suffering as a Christian body, to a
compliance with customs, which they conceive the Christian religion to
disapprove, that they will have as fair pretensions to courage in the
hour of death, as any other people, as a body, from the same causes.

There are other circumstances, however, which may be taken into
consideration in this account, and, in looking over these, I find none
of more importance than those which relate to the religious creeds which
may be professed by individuals or communities of men.

Much, in the first place, will depend upon the circumstance, how far men
are doubtful and wavering in their creeds, or how far they depend upon
others for their faith, or how far, in consequence of reasoning or
feeling, they depend upon themselves. If their creeds are not in their
own power, they will be liable to be troubled with every wind of
doctrine that blows, and to be unhappy, when the thought of their
dissolution is brought before them. But the Quakers, having broken the
power or dominion of the priesthood, what terrors can fanaticism hold
out to them, which shall appal their courage in their later hours?

It is also of great importance to men what may be the nature of their
creeds. Some creeds are unquestionably more comfortable to the mind than
others. To those, who believe in the doctrine of election and
reprobation, and imagine themselves to be of the elect, no creed can
give greater courage in the hour of death; and to those who either doubt
or despair of their election, none can inspire more fear. But the
Quakers, on the other hand, encourage the doctrine of perfection, or
that all may do the will of God, if they attend to the monitions of his
grace. They believe that God is good, and just, and merciful; that he
visits all with a view to this perfection without exception of persons;
that he enables all, through the sacrifice of Christ, to be saved; and
that he will make an allowance for all according to his attributes; for
that he is not willing that any should perish, but that all should
inherit eternal life.

CHAP. IX.

_Last good trait is that of punctuality to words and engagements--This
probable from the operation of all those principles, which have produced
for the Quakers the character of a moral people--and from the operation
of their discipline._

The last good trait, which I shall notice in the character of the
Quakers, is that of punctuality to their words and engagements.

This is a very ancient trait. Judge Forster entertained this opinion of
George Fox, that if he would consent to give his word for his
appearance, he would keep it. Trusted to go at large without any bail,
and solely on his bare word, that he would be forth coming on a given
day, he never violated his promise. And he was known also to carry his
own commitment himself. In those days also, it was not unusual for
Quakers to carry their own warrants, unaccompanied by constables or
others, which were to consign them to a prison.

But it was not only in matters which related to the laws of the land,
where the early Quakers held their words and engagements sacred. This
trait was remarked to be true of them in their concerns in trade. On
their first appearance as a society, they suffered as tradesmen,
because others, displeased with the peculiarity of their manners,
withdrew their custom from their shops. But in a little time, the great
outcry against them was, that they got the trade of the country into
their hands. This outcry arose in part from a strict execution of all
commercial appointments and agreements between them and others, and
because they never asked two prices for the commodities which they sold.
And the same character attaches to them as a commercial body, though
there may be individual exceptions, at the present day.

Neither has this trait been confined to them as the inhabitants of their
own country. They have carried it with them wherever they have gone. The
treaty of William Penn was never violated. And the estimation, which the
Indians put upon the word of this great man and his companions,
continues to be put by them upon that of the modern Quakers in America,
so that they now come in deputations, out of their own settlements, to
consult them on important occasions.

The existence of this trait is probable both from general and from
particular considerations.

If, for example, any number of principles should have acted so forcibly
and in such a manner upon individuals, as to have procured for them as a
body the reputation of a moral people, they must have produced in them a
disposition to keep their faith.[37]

[Footnote 37: This character was given by Pliny to the first Christians.
They were to avoid fraud, theft, and adultery. They were never to deny
any trust, when required to deliver it up, nor to falsify their word on
any occasion.]

But the discipline of the Quakers has a direct tendency to produce this
feature in their character, and to make it an appendage of Quakerism.
For punctuality to words and engagements is a subject of one of the
periodical enquiries. It is therefore publicly handed to the notice of
the members, as a Christian virtue, that is expected of them, in their
public meetings for discipline. And any violation in this respect would
be deemed a breach, and cognizable as such, of the Quaker laws.

CHAP. X.

_Imperfect traits in the Quaker character--Some of these may be called
intellectually defective traits--First imputation of this kind is, that
the Quakers are deficient in learning compared with other people--This
trait not improbable on account of their devotion to trade--and on
account of their controversies and notions about human learning--and of
other causes._

The world, while it has given to the Quakers as a body, as it will have
now appeared, a more than ordinary share of virtue, has not been without
the belief that there are blemishes in their character. What these
traits or blemishes are, may be collected partly from books, partly from
conversation, and partly from vulgar sayings. They are divisible into
two kinds, into intellectually defective, and into morally defective
traits; the former relating to the understanding, the latter to the
heart.

The first of the intellectually defective traits consists in the
imputation, that the Quakers are deficient in the cultivation of the
intellect of their children, or that, when they grow up in life, they
are found to have less knowledge than others in the higher branches of
learning. By this I mean, that they are understood to have but a
moderate classical education, to know but little of the different
branches of philosophy, and to have, upon the whole, less variety of
knowledge than others of their countrymen in the corresponding stations
of life.

This trait seems to have originated with the world in two supposed
facts. The first is, that there has never been any literary writer of
eminence born in the society, Penn, Barclay and others having come into
it by convincement, and brought their learning with them. The second is,
that the society has never yet furnished a philosopher, or produced any
material discovery. It is rather a common remark, that if the education
of others had been as limited as that of the Quaker, we should have been
probably at this day without a Newton, and might have been strangers to
those great discoveries, whether of the art of navigation, or of the
circulation of the blood, or of any other kind, which have proved so
eminently useful to the comfort, health, and safety of many of the human
race.

This trait will be true, or it will be false, as it is applied to the
different classes, which may be found in the society of the Quakers. The
poor, who belong to it, are all taught to read, and are therefore better
educated than the poor belonging to other bodies of men. They who
spring from parents whose situation does not entitle them to rank with
the middle class, but yet keeps them out of the former, are generally
educated, by the help of a[38] subscription, at Ackworth school, and may
be said to have more school learning than others in a similar situation
in life. The rest, whatever may be their situation, are educated wholly
at the expence of their parents, who send them either to private Quaker
seminaries, or to schools in the neighbourhood, as they judge it to be
convenient or proper. It is upon this body of the Quakers that the
imputation can only fall; and as far as these are concerned, I think it
may be said with truth, that they possess a less portion of what is
usually called liberal knowledge than others in a corresponding station
in life. There may be here and there a good classical, or a good
mathematical scholar. But in general there are but few Quakers, who
excel in these branches of learning. I ought, however, to add, that this
character is not likely to remain long with the society. For the young
Quakers of the present day seem to me to be sensible of the inferiority
of their own education, and to be making an attempt towards the
improvement of their minds, by engaging in those, which are the most
entertaining, instructive, and useful, I mean, philosophical pursuits.

[Footnote 38: Their parents pay a small annual sum towards their board
and clothing. The rest is made up by a subscription among the society,
and by the funds of the school.]

That deficiency in literature and science is likely to be a trait in the
character of the Quakers, we may pronounce, if we take into
consideration circumstances which have happened, and notions which have
prevailed, in this society.

The Quakers, like the Jews of old, whether they be rich or poor, are
brought up, in obedience to their own laws, to some employment. They are
called of course at an early age from their books. It cannot therefore
be expected of them, that they should possess the same literary
character as those who spend years at our universities, or whose time is
not taken up by the concerns of trade.

It happens also in this society, that persons of the poor and middle
classes are frequently through industry becoming rich. While these were
gaining but a moderate support, they gave their children but a moderate
education. But when they came into possession of a greater substance,
their children had finished their education, having grown up to men.

The ancient controversy too, relative to the necessity of human learning
as a qualification for ministers of the Gospel, has been detrimental to
the promotion of literature and science among the Quakers. This
controversy was maintained with great warmth and obstinacy on both
sides, that is, by the early Quakers, who were men of learning, on the
one hand, and by the divines of our universities on the other. The less
learned in the society, who read this controversy, did not make the
proper distinction concerning it. They were so interested in keeping up
the doctrine, that learning was not necessary for the priesthood, that
they seemed to have forgotten that it was necessary at all. Hence
knowledge began to be cried down in the society; and though the
proposition was always meant to be true with respect to the priesthood
only, yet many mistook or confounded its meaning, so that they gave
their children but a limited education on that account.

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