They consider
again, that political subjects frequently irritate people, and make them
warm. Now this is a temper, which they consider to be peculiarly
detrimental to their religion. They consider themselves also in this
life as but upon a journey to another, and that they should get through
it as quietly and as inoffensively as they can. They believe again with
George Fox, that, "in these lower regions, or in this airy life, all
news is uncertain. There is nothing stable. But in the higher regions,
or in the kingdom of Christ, all things are stable: and the news is
always good and certain." [56]
[Footnote 56: There is always an exception in favour of conversation on
politics, which is, when the government are agitating any question,
their interests or their religious freedom is involved.]
As politics do not afford matter for much conversation in the
Quaker-society, so neither do some other subjects, that may be
mentioned.
In a country town, where people daily visit, it is not uncommon to
observe, whether at the card, or at the tea-table, that what is usually
called scandal forms a part of the pleasures of conversation. The
hatching up of suspicions on the accidental occurrence of trivial
circumstances, the blowing up of these suspicions into substances and
forms, animadversions on character, these, and such like themes, wear
out a great part of the time of an afternoon or an evening visit.
Pages:
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320