They would
attribute any morality, they might be supposed to have, _to the Supreme
Being_, whose will having been discovered by means of the scriptures,
and of religious impressions upon the mind, when it has been calm, and
still, and abstracted from the world, they have endeavoured to obey. But
there is no doubt, that we may add, _auxiliary causes_ of this morality,
and such as the Quakers themselves would allow to have had their share
in producing it, under the same influence. The first of these may be
called their moral education. The second their discipline. The third may
be said to consist of those domestic, or other customs, which are
peculiar to them, as a society of christians. The fourth of their
_peculiar tenets of religion_. In fact, there are many circumstances
interwoven into the constitution of the society of the Quakers, each of
which has a separate effect, and all of which have a combined tendency,
towards the production of moral character.
These auxiliary causes I shall consider and explain in their turn. In
the course of this explanation the reader will see, that, if other
people were to resort to the same means as the Quakers, they would
obtain the same reputation, or that human nature is not so stubborn, but
that it will yield to a given force.
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