that a more beautiful instance of liberality is not to be found in the
records of any religious society. Hitherto, all sects, even of Christians,
were disposed to regard, with jealousy and hatred, all those members who
embraced any pursuit that might tend to alienate them from their
particular modes of discipline. The Quakers have, therefore, the honour of
having been the first to allow, by a public act, that their conception of
the religious duties of man was liable to the errors of the human
judgment, and was not to be maintained on the presumption of being
actually according to the will of God. There is something at once simple
and venerable in the humility with which they regarded their own peculiar
principles, especially contrasted with the sublime view they appeared to
take of the wisdom and providence of the Deity. But, with whatever
delightful feelings strangers and posterity may contemplate this beautiful
example of Christian magnanimity, it would be impossible to convey any
idea of the sentiments with which it affected the youth who was the object
of its exercise. He must have been less than man had he not endeavoured,
without ceasing, to attain an honourable eminence in his profession; or,
had he forgotten, in the honours which he has since received from all
polished nations, that he was authorized by his friends and his religion,
to cultivate the art by which he obtained such distinctions, not for his
own sake, but as an instrument chosen by Providence to disseminate the
arts of peace in the world.




Chap. IV.