Another trait conspicuous in the character of the Quaker-poor, is the
morality of their lives.
This circumstance may easily be accounted for. For, in the first place,
they are hindered in common with other Quakers, by means of their
discipline, from doing many things, that are morally injurious to
themselves. The poor of the world are addicted to profane swearing. But
no person can bring the name of the creator of the Universe into
frequent and ordinary use, without losing a sense of the veneration that
is due to him. The poor of the world, again, frequently spend their
time in public houses. They fight and quarrel with one another. They run
after horse-racings, bull-baitings, cock-fightings, and the still more
unnatural battles between man and man. But, by encouraging such habits,
they cannot but obstruct in time, the natural risings of benevolence
both towards their fellow-creatures and to those of the animal creation.
Nor can they do otherwise than lose a sense of the dignity of their own
minds, and weaken the moral principle. But the Quaker-poor, who are
principled against such customs, can of course suffer no moral injury on
these accounts. To which it may be added, that their superior knowledge
both leads and attaches them to a superior conduct. It is a false, as
well as a barbarous maxim, and a maxim very injurious both to the
interests of the rich and poor, as well as of the states to which they
belong, that knowledge is unpropitious to virtue.
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