And as those things which were
spoken or represented, might corrupt the mind, so those which were
written and printed, might equally corrupt it also. He recommended
therefore, that the youth of his newly formed society should abstain
from the reading of romances. William Penn and others, expressed the
same sentiments on this subject. And the same opinion has been held by
the Quakers, as a body of christians, down to the present day. Hence
novels, as a particular species of romance, and as that which is
considered as of the worst tendency, have been particularly marked for
prohibition.
Some Quakers have been inclined to think, that novels ought to be
rejected on account of the fictitious nature of their contents. But this
consideration is, by no means, generally adopted by the society, as an
argument against them. Nor would it be a sound argument, if it were. If
novels contain no evil within themselves, or have no evil tendency, the
mere circumstance of the subject, names or characters being feigned,
will not stamp them as censurable. Such fiction will not be like the
fiction of the drama, where men act and personate characters that are
not their own. Different men, in different ages of the world, have had
recourse to different modes of writing, for the promotion of virtue.
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