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

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Others again, by indulging their anger, are often hurried into actions
of which the consequences vex and torment them, and of which they often
bitterly repent. But the Quakers endeavour to avoid quarrelling, and
therefore they often steer clear of the party and family feuds of
others. They avoid also, as much as possible, the law, so that they have
seldom any of the lawsuits to harass and disturb them, which interrupt
the tranquillity of others by the heavy expence, and by the lasting
enmities they occasion.

The Quakers again are exempt from many of the other passions which
contribute to the unhappiness of the world at large. Some men have an
almost boundless ambition. They are desirous of worldly honours, or of
eminent stations, or of a public name, and pursue these objects in their
passage through life with an avidity which disturbs the repose of their
minds. But the Quakers scarcely know any such feeling as that of
ambition, and of course scarcely any of the torments that belong to it.
They are less captivated by the splendour of honours than any other
people, and they had rather live in the memory of a few valuable
friends, than be handed down to posterity for those deeds, which
generally constitute the basis of public character.

Others again, who cannot obtain these honourable distractions, envy
those who possess them. They envy the very coronet upon the coach, as it
passes by. But the Quakers can have no such feelings as these. They pass
in their pilgrimage through life regardless of such distinctions, or
they estimate them but as the baubles of the, day. It would be folly
therefore to suppose, that they could be envious of that which they do
not covet.

The Quakers again are exempt from some of the occasions of uneasiness
which arise to others from considerations on the subject of religion.
Some people, for example, pry into what are denominated mysteries. The
more they look into these, the less they understand them, or rather, the
more they are perplexed and confounded. Such an enquiry too, while it
bewilders the understanding, generally affects the mind. But the Quakers
avoid all such curious enquiries as these, and therefore they suffer no
interruption of their enjoyment from this source. Others again, by the
adoption of gloomy creeds, give rise frequently to melancholy, and thus
lay in for themselves a store of fuel for the torment of their own
minds. But the Quakers espouse no doctrines, which, while they conduct
themselves uprightly, can interrupt the tranquillity of their lives. It
is possible there may be here and mere an instance where their feelings
may be unduly affected, in consequence of having carried the doctrine of
the influence of the Spirit, as far as it relates to their own
condition, beyond its proper bounds. But individuals, who may fell into
errors of this nature, are, it is to be hoped, but few; because any
melancholy, which may arise from these causes, must be the effect, not
of genuine Quakerism, but of a degenerate superstition.

CHAP. II.

_Good, which the Quakers have done as a society upon earth--by their
general good example--by shewing that persecution for religion is
ineffectual--by shewing the practicability of the subjugation of the
will of man--the influence of Christianity on character--the inefficacy
of capital punishments--the best object of punishment--the
practicability of living, either in a private or a public capacity, in
harmony and peace--the superiority of the policy of the Gospel over the
policy of the world._

When we consider man as distinguished from other animals by the rational
and spiritual faculties which he possesses, we cannot but conceive it to
be a reproach to his nature, if he does not distinguish himself from
these, or, if he does not leave some trace behind him, that he has
existed rationally and profitably both to himself and others. But if
this be expected of man, considered abstractedly as man, much more will
it be expected of him, if he has had the advantages of knowing the
doctrines of Christianity, and the sublime example of the great Author
of that religion. And the same observation, I apprehend, will hold true
with respect to societies of men. For if they have done no good during
their existence, we cannot see how they can escape censure, or that it
would not have been better that they had not existed at all. This
consideration leads me to enquire, what good the Quakers have done since
their institution, as a society, upon earth.

It was said of the Quakers in George Fox's time, after their character
had been established, that, "if they did not stand, the nation would run
into debauchery." By this I apprehend it was meant, that it was a
desirable thing to have a people to look up to, who, residing in the
'midst of a vicious community, professed to be followers of that which
was right, and to resist the current of bad example in their own times;
or that such a people might be considered as a leaven, that might leaven
the whole lump, but that, if this leaven were lost, the community might
lose one of its visible incitements to virtue. Now in this way the
Quakers have had a certain general usefulness in the world. They have
kept more, I apprehend, to first principles, than any other people. They
have afforded a moral example. This example ought to have been useful to
others. To those who were well inclined, it should have been as a torch
to have lighted up their virtue, and it should have been a perpetual
monument for reproof to others, who were entering upon a career of vice.

The first particular good, after the general one now stated, which the
Quakers have done, has been, that they have shewn to those who have been
spectators of their conduct, that all persecution for matters of
religion, as it is highly criminal in the eyes of the Supreme Being, so
it is inadequate to the end proposed. This proposition, indeed, seems to
be tolerably Well understood at the present day. At least they whose
minds have been well informed, acknowledge it. The history of martyrdom,
by which we learn how religion soars above all suffering, how the
torments inflicted on the body are unable to reach the mind, how the
moral Governor of the world reigns triumphant upon earth, how tyranny
and oppression fall prostrate before virtue, losing their malignant aim,
has been one, among other causes, of this knowledge. But as history is
known but to few, and is not remembered by all, the Quakers are
particularly useful by holding up the truth of the proposition to our
daily sight, that is, by the example they continue to afford us of
bearing their testimony in all cases where the civil magistrate is
concerned on the one hand, and their consciences on the other.

A second good, which the Quakers have done, is by shewing, as a whole
body, the power of Christianity in the subjugation of the will of men,
and its influence on their character.

They are living proofs, in the first instance, that human nature is not
the stubborn thing, which many have imagined it to be; that, however it
may be depraved, it is still corrigible; and that this correction is
universally practicable, for that there are as various dispositions in
this society as in any other in proportion to its numbers. They shew,
that Christianity can alter the temper, that it can level enmities, and
that there is no just occasion for any to despair. And they are living
proofs, in the second, as to what kind of character Christianity, where
it is rightly received, will produce; They are living proofs, that it
can produce sobriety, inoffensiveness, simplicity, charity, peace, and
the domestic and other virtues. Now though every private Christian can
shew in himself an example of these effects, yet the Quakers shew it,
not by producing solitary instances, but as a body; the temper of the
great mass of their members being apparently cast in the same mould, and
their character, as a society, being acknowledged to be that of a moral
people.

And here I cannot but stop for a moment to pay a just tribute to the
Quaker system, as one of the best modes of the Christian Religion; for
whether the doctrines which belong to it, or whether the discipline
which it promotes, or whether both of them conjointly, produce the
effects which have been just related, certain it is, that they are
produced.[44] But that system of religion is surely the most excellent,
which produces, first, the greatest, and, secondly, the most universal
effect upon those who profess it. For what is the use of any particular
creed, or where is the advantage of any one creed above another, if it
cannot give the great characteristic marks of a Christian, a subjugated
mind and a moral character? What signifies the creed of any particular
description of Christian professors, if it has no influence on the
heart, or if we see professors among these giving way to their passions,
or affording an inconsistent example to the world.

[Footnote 44: Many of the Quakers in America, influenced by custom,
Adopted the practice of holding slaves. But on a due recurrence to their
principles they gave freedom to these unconditionally, thus doing
another public good in the world, and giving another example of the
power of religion on the mind.]

The Quakers have given, again, in the reforms, which, in the first
volume, I described them to have introduced into legislation, a
beautiful and practical lesson of jurisprudence to the governors of all
nations. They have shewn the inefficacy of capital punishments; that the
best object in the punishment of offenders is their reformation; that
this accords best with the genius and spirit of the Christian Religion;
and that while such a system, when followed, restores the abandoned to
usefulness in society, it diminishes the number of crimes.[45]

[Footnote 45: See Vol. I, Sect. 4, p. 198.]

They have shewn again, by their own example, that it is not so difficult
for men to live peaceably together, as has been usually believed; and
they have exhibited the means by which they have effected this desirable
end in life. And as they have proved, that this is practicable in
private, so they have proved, as has appeared in this volume, that it is
practicable in public life, or, which is the same thing, they have
shewn, that in the intercourse which exists between nations, there is no
necessity for wars.

They have shewn and established again by the two latter instances, both
of which relate to government, a proposition which seems scarcely to be
believed, if we judge by the practice of statesmen, but the truth of
which ought for ever to be insisted upon, that the policy of the Gospel
is superior to the policy of the world.

This is a portion of the good which the Quakers have done since their
appearance as a society in the world. What other good they have done it
is not necessary to specify. And as to what they would do, if they were
permitted to become universal legislators, it may be a pleasing subject
for contemplation, but it does not fall within the limits of the present
chapter.

CHAP. III.

_General opinion, that the Quakers are on the decline as a
society--Observations upon this subject--Opinion believed, upon the
whole, to be true--Causes of this supposed declension--Mixed
marriages--Tithes--Pursuit of trade, as connected with the peculiar
habits of the society, and a residence in the towns--Education._

I have often heard it suggested as matter for conversation, whether the
Quakers were increasing or decreasing in their number, and the result
has always been an opinion, that they were a declining body.

When we consider the simplicity and even philosophy of the Quaker
religion, the preservation it affords against the follies and
difficulties of life, and the happiness to which it ultimately leads, we
shall wonder that the progress of the society, in point of number, has
not been greater than we find it. And when we consider, on the other
hand, how difficult it is to be a Quaker, how much it is against the
temper and disposition of man to be singular, or to resist the tide of
custom and fashion, and to undergo an ordeal of suffering on these
accounts, we shall wonder that it has not been long ago extinct.

That many are disowned by the society, in consequence of which its
numbers are diminished, is true. That others come into it from other
quarters, by which an increase is given to it, independently of its own
natural population, is true also. But whether the new members exceed the
disowned, or the disowned the new, is the question to be resolved. Now
no people have had better opportunities of ascertaining this point,
than the Quakers themselves. By means of their monthly meetings they
might with ease have instituted a census on a given day. They might have
renewed such a census. They might have compared the returns in every
case. But as no such census has ever been made, the Quakers themselves,
though they have their ideas, cannot speak with particular accuracy, on
this subject.

The general opinion, however, is, and the Quakers, I apprehend, will not
deny but lament it, that those who go out of the society are upon the
whole more numerous than those who come into it by convincement, and
therefore that there is, upon the whole, a decrease among them.

Of the truth of this opinion, some have adduced as a proof, that the
quarterly meetings have been reduced to three fourths of their original
number. But this is not to be considered as a certain criterion of the
fact. For it is by no means uncommon to find, if the Quakers decrease in
one county, that they increase in another. It has also been adduced,
that many particular meetings have been broken up, or that
meeting-houses in the country are standing deserted, or without Quakers
to worship in them. But neither can this be considered as any
infallible proof of the point. For it frequently happens, that if the
Quakers become less numerous in any particular village, they become more
so in some of the towns of the same county. Thus no true judgment can be
formed upon these principles. The Quaker population, in this respect, on
account of its movements, resembles the sea, which, while it loses on
one part of its shores or boundaries, gains upon another.

There are, however, considerations, which may be more decisive of the
fact.

In the time of George Fox the number of those converted to his
principles was immense.[46] This number, if we consult all the facts
that might be adduced on the occasion, continued to be large in after
times. Now it must be observed, that the Quakers are a sober and
temperate people, that they generally marry at a proper age, and that
they have large families. It is therefore impossible, if the descendants
of the early Quakers had continued in the society, that their number
should not have been much larger than we find it at the present day,
and, if so, there must have been a secession or an expulsion, amounting,
notwithstanding all influx by conversion, to a decrease.

[Footnote 46: Although the remark may be just, that in the time of
George Fox "a great number were converted to his principles," yet a
small portion of those were actually received into membership, and the
same remark may correctly be made even in the present day: as it is
believed that immense numbers are convinced of the truth as held by the
Quakers, but owing to their "not being willing to undergo an ordeal of
suffering on account of their principles," a small portion of those
apply to be admitted into the society. AMERICAN EDITOR.]

It is obvious again that the Quakers, in consequence of their industry
and their frugal habits, must almost unavoidably grow rich. Now if the
descendants of the early Quakers had remained in the society, we should
have seen more overgrown fortunes in it, than among others in proportion
to their numbers. But this is contrary to the fact. The very richest, as
the world now goes, would not be considered to be particularly rich; and
it is a truth that those who are affluent among them have generally been
the founders, by means of their industry and integrity, of their own
fortunes.

It is, again, a matter of observation among the Quakers, now grown into
a truth, that if men grow rich in the society, their grand-children
generally leave it. But surely this amounts to a confession, that in a
particular part of the society there are the seeds of a regular and
successive decrease.

That the Quakers then upon the whole are a declining body, there can be
no doubt.[47] While I state it, I lament it. I lament that there should
be any diminution of number among those who have done so much good in
the world, and who have so justly obtained the reputation of a moral
people. This consideration will lead me to enquire into the causes of
this decline. It will impel me also to enquire into the means of remedy.
How far I may be successful in the latter attempt, I am unable to say.
But it will always be a pleasing consideration to me, to have tried to
prevent the decrease of a virtuous people.

[Footnote 47: Against this decrease we cannot set off any great increase
by admission into membership. The dress, the language, the fear of being
singular, the discipline with its various restraints, the unwillingness
of men to suffer where suffering can be avoided, these and other
circumstances are great impediments in the way of an entrance into this
society; and to this I may add, that applications for admission into it
are not always complied with.]

With respect then to the causes of this decline, to which I shall
confine myself in this chapter, they will be found in the causes of
disownment. Now of these, some may be called original and immediate, and
others original and remote.

Of original and immediate, the first is what the Quakers call mixed
marriage. It has been before stated, that those who marry out of the
society are disowned, and the reasons for such disownments have been
given.

A second will be found in tithes. They who pay these are ultimately
disowned. And they are disowned as well for the payment of lay-tithes,
as of those which are ecclesiastical.

Of the original and remote, a very prolific cause is the pursuit of
trade, connected as it is with the peculiar habits of the society, and a
residence in the towns.[48]

[Footnote 48: Owing perhaps to the causes alleged by the author, the
society may have decreased in England, yet it is certain that in this
country the number of Quakers has very considerably increased. AMERICAN
EDITOR.]

To shew this I must observe, first, that the poor, comparatively
speaking, are seldom disowned, for they know that they[49] shall never
be so well provided for in any other society. I must observe again, that
the members of the middle classes are also, comparatively speaking, but
seldom disowned. These must live by trade, but if so, they cannot be
better off than as Quakers. The direct conclusion then, from these
observations, will be, that the greater number of those who are
disowned, will be found among the rich, or among such as are growing
rich. Hence it appears, that, as far as this original and remote cause
is concerned, my enquiry must be, how it happens, that members of this
particular class should be excluded from membership more than those of
any other.

[Footnote 49: I by no means intend to say, that the poor do not remain
in the society from an attachment to its principles, but that this may
be a political motive also.]

In answer to this enquiry I must say, as I have observed before, that
Quakers in trade, having as good abilities, and as much diligence and
integrity as others, will succeed as well as others in it, but that,
having less sources of outgoings, their savings will be generally
greater. Hence they will have before their eyes the sight of a greater
accumulation of wealth. But in proportion as such accumulation of
substance is beheld, the love of it increases. Now while this love
increases, or while their hearts are unduly fixed on the mammon of the
world, they allow many little inconsistencies in their children to
escape their reproof. But, besides this, as the religion and the love of
the mammon of the world are at variance, they have a less spiritual
discernment than before. Hence they do not see the same irregularities
in the same light. From this omission to check these irregularities on
the one hand, and from this decay of their spiritual vision on the
other, their children have greater liberties allowed them than others in
the same society. But as these experience this indulgence, or as these
admit the customs and fashions of the world, they grow more fond of
them. Now, as they live in towns, the spark that is excited is soon
fanned into a flame. Fashions and fashionable things, which they cannot
but see daily before their eyes, begin to get the dominion. When they
are visited by wholesome advisers, they dislike the interference. They
know they shall be rich. They begin to think the discipline of the
society a cruel restraint. They begin to dislike the society itself,
and, committing irregularities, they are sometimes in consequence
disowned. But, if they should escape disownment themselves, they entail
it generally upon their children. These are brought up in a still looser
manner than themselves. The same process goes on with these as with
their parents, but in a still higher degree, till a conduct utterly
inconsistent with the principles of the society occasions them to be
separated from it. Thus in the same manner, as war, according to the old
saying, begets poverty, and poverty peace, so the pursuit of trade, with
the peculiar habits of the society, leads to riches, riches to fashion
and licentiousness, and fashion and licentiousness to disownment, so
that many Quakers educate their children as if there were to be no
Quakers in the second generation from themselves. And thus, though,
strictly speaking, irregularities are the immediate occasion of these
disownments, they are ultimately to be attributed to the original and
remote cause as now described.[50]

[Footnote 50: I hope I shall not be understood as involving the rich in
a promiscuous censure. I know as amiable examples among these and among
their children, as among others of the society. But we must naturally
expect more deviations among the rich, number for number, than among
others.]

That this is by no means an unreasonable account, I shall shew in some
measure by an appeal to facts. The American Quakers sprang from the
English. The English, though drained in consequence, were still
considerable, when compared with the former. But it is remarkable, that
the American Quakers exceed the English by at least five times their
number at the present day. Now it must undoubtedly be confessed, that
the Americans have advantages, as far as this fact is concerned, which
the English have not. They have no tithes as a cause of disownment.
Their families also, I believe, increase more rapidly. Many persons
also, as will be the case in a country that is not fully settled, live
in the neighbourhoods of the Quakers, but at a distance from those of
other religious denominations, and therefore, wishing to worship
somewhere, seek membership with them. But I apprehend that a great cause
of this disparity of number lies in this difference of the situation of
the two, that whereas the great Quaker population in England is in the
towns with but a remnant in the country, the great Quaker population in
America is in the country with but a remnant in the towns.[51] And that
the Americans themselves believe, that the place of the residence of
their members is connected in some measure with the increase and
decrease of their society, it is fair to presume, from this
circumstance, that, in several of the quarterly meetings in America,
advice has been given to parents to bring up their children in the
country, and, as little as possible, in the towns.

[Footnote 51: The number of the Quakers is undoubtedly great in one or
two of the cities in America, but the whole town-population is not
great, when compared with the whole country-population there.]

Another of the original and remote causes is education. This, as it
becomes promotive of the diminution of the society, is of two kinds. The
first may be called alien. The second is such as is afforded in the
society itself.

Some parents, growing rich, and wishing to give their children a better
education, than they can get in their own schools, send them to others
to be instructed. Now the result has not been desirable, where it has
been designed, that such children should be continued Quakers. For how
is a poor solitary Quaker boy to retain the peculiarities belonging to
his religious profession, in the face of the whole school? Will not his
opinions and manners be drowned as it were in the torrent of the
opinions and manners of the rest? How can he get out of this whirlpool
pure? How, on his return, will he harmonize with his own society? Will
not either he, or his descendants, leave it? Such an education may make
him undoubtedly both a good and an enlightened man, and so far one of
the most desirable objects in life will have been accomplished, but it
certainly tends to destroy the peculiar institution of Quakerism.

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