Hence it is possible; that a poor man may find more
reluctance in entering the doors of a rich man to admonish him, than one
who is rich to enter the doors of the poor for the same purpose, men,
again, though they may be equally good, may not have all the same
strength of character. Some overseers may be more timid than others, and
this timidity may operate upon them more in the execution of their duty
upon one class of individuals, than upon another. Hence a rich man may
escape for a longer time without admonition, than a poorer member. But
when the ice is once broken; when admonition is once begun; when
respectable persons have been called in by overseers or others, those
causes, which might be preventive of justice, will decrease; and, if the
matter should be carried to a monthly or a quarterly meeting, they will
wholly vanish. For in these courts it is a truth, that those, who are
the most irreproachable for their lives, and the most likely of course
to decide justly on any occasion, are the most attended to, or carry the
most weight, when they speak publicly. Now these are to be found
principally in the low and middle classes, and these, in all societies,
contain the greatest number of individuals. As to the very rich, these
are few indeed compared with the rest, and these may be subdivided into
two classes for the farther elucidation of the point.
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