punctuality to words and engagements--Advise an annual inspection of
their own affairs--Regulations in case of bankruptcy._


I stated in the last chapter, that some of the Quakers, though these
were few in number, were manufacturers and mechanics; that others
followed the sea; that, others were to be found in the medical
profession, and in the law; and that others were occupied in the
concerns of a rural life. I believe with these few exceptions, that the
rest of the society may be considered as engaged in trade.

Trade is a subject, which seldom comes under the discussion of mankind
as a moral question. If men who follow it, are honest and punctual in
their dealings, little is thought of the nature of their occupations,
or of the influence of these upon their minds. It will hardly, however,
be denied by moralists, that the buying and selling of commodities for
profit, is surrounded with temptation, and is injurious to pure,
benevolent, or disinterested feelings; or that where the mind is
constantly intent upon the gaining of wealth, by traffic, it is
dangerously employed. Much less will it be denied, that trade is an
evil, if any of the branches of it through which men acquire their
wealth, are productive of mischief either to themselves or others. If
they are destructive to the health of the inferior agents, or to the
morality of any of the persons concerned in them, they can never be
sanctioned by Christianity.

The Quakers have thought it their duty, as a religious body, to make
several regulations on this subject.

In the first place they have made it a rule, that no person,