A Portraiture of Quakerism, Volume 3

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Publié par	epsae
Publié le	08 décembre 2010
Nombre de lectures	52
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The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Portraiture of Quakerism, Volume III (of 3), by Thomas Clarkson This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: A Portraiture of Quakerism, Volume III (of 3) Author: Thomas Clarkson Release Date: March 9, 2005 [EBook #15304] Language: English *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PORTRAITURE OF QUAKERISM, *** Produced by Carlo Traverso, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. This file was produced from images generously made available by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr. 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 andscience, 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