of the Christian religion; and that while such a system, when followed, restores the abandoned to usefulness in society, it diminishes the number of crimes *.

They have shown, again, by their own example, that it is not so difficult for men to live peaceably together, as has been usually believed; and they have exhibited the means by which they have effected this desirable end in life. And as they have proved that this is practicable in private, so they have proved, as has appeared in this volume, that it is practicable in public life; or, which is the same thing, they have shown, that in the intercourse which exists between nations there is no necessity for

wars.

They have shown, and established, again, by the two latter instances, both of which relate to civil government, a proposition, which seems scarcely to be believed if we judge by the practice of statesmen, but the truth of which ought for ever to be insisted upon, that the policy of the Gospel is superior to the policy of the world.

This is a portion of the good which the Quakers have done since their appearance as a Society in the world. What other good they have done it is not necessary to specify. And as to what they would yet do, if they were permitted to become universal legislators, it may be a pleasing subject for contemplation; but it does not fall within the limits of the present chapter.

CHAP

CHAPTER III.

General opinion, that the Quakers are on the decline as a Society-observations upon this subject-opinion believed upon the whole to be truecauses of this supposed declension-Mixed marriages tithes pursuit of trade as connected with the peculiar habits of the Society, and a residence in the towns-education.

I HAVE often heard it suggested as matter for conversation, whether the Quakers were increasing or decreasing in their number; and the result has always been an opinion that they were a declining body.

When we consider the simplicity and even philosophy of the Quaker-religion, the preservation it affords against the follies and difficulties of life, and the happiness to which it ultimately leads, we shall wonder that the progress of the Society in point of number has not been greater than we find it. And when we consider, on the other hand, how difficult it is to be a Quaker, how much it is against the temper and dis

position

position of man to be singular, or to resist the tide of custom and fashion, and to undergo an ordeal of suffering on these accounts, we shall wonder that it has not been long ago extinct.

That many are disowned by the Society, in consequence of which its numbers are diminished, is true. That others come into it from other quarters, by which an increase is given to it independently of its own natural population, is true also. But whether the new members exceed the disowned, or the disowned the new, is the question to be resolved. Now no people have had better opportunities of ascertaining this point than the Quakers themselves. By means of their monthly meetings they might with ease have instituted a census on a given day. They might have renewed such a census. They might have compared the returns in every case. But as no such census has ever been made, the Quakers themselves, though they have their ideas, cannot speak with particular accuracy on this subject.

The general opinion however is, and the Quakers, I apprehend, will not deny but lament it, that those who go out of the So

VOL. III.

Y

ciety,

ciety, are upon the whole more numerous than those who come into it by convincement; and therefore that there is, upon the whole, a decrease among them.

Of the truth of this opinion some have adduced as a proof, that the quarterly meetings have been reduced to three-fourths of their original number. But this is not to be considered as a certain criterion of the fact. For it is by no means uncommon to find, if the Quakers decrease in one county, that they increase in another. It has also been adduced, that many particular meetings have been broken up, or that meetinghouses in the country are standing deserted, or without Quakers to worship in them. But neither can this be considered as any infallible proof of the point. For it frequently happens, that if the Quakers become less numerous in any particular village, they become more so in some of the towns of the same county. Thus no true judgment can be formed upon these principles. The Quaker-population in this respect, on account of its movements, resembles the sea, which, while it loses on one part of its shores or boundaries, gains upon another.

There