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I have now stated the principal prohibitions, that are to be found in
the moral education of the Quakers, and I have annexed to these the
various reasons, which the Quakers themselves give, why they were
introduced into their society. I have therefore finished this part of my
task, and the reader will expect me to proceed to the next subject. But
as I am certain that many objections will be started here, I shall stop
for a few minutes to state, and to consider them.
The Quakers differ on the subject of moral education, very materially
from the world, and indeed from those of the world, who having had a
more than ordinarily liberal education, may be supposed to have, in most
cases, a more than ordinarily correct judgment. The Quaker system, as we
have seen, consists principally of specific prohibitions. These
prohibitions again, are extended occasionally to things, which are not
in themselves vicious. They are extended, again, to these, because it is
possible that they may be made productive, of evil. And they are
founded apparently on the principle, that ignorance of such things
secures innocence, or that ignorance, in such cases, has the operation
of a preventive of vice, or a preservative of virtue.
Philosophical moralists on the other hand, are friends to occasional
indulgences.
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