SECT. II.

_Trait of benevolence includes again good will towards man in his
religious capacity--Quakers said to have no spirit of persecution, nor
to talk with bitterness, with respect to other religious sects--This
trait probable--because nothing in their doctrines that narrows
love--their sufferings on the other hand--and their law against
detraction--and their aversion to making religion a subject of common
talk--all in favour of this trait._

The word benevolence, when mentioned as a trait in the character of the
Quakers, includes also good will to man in his religious capacity.

It has often been observed of the Quakers, that they shew no spirit of
persecution, and that you seldom hear them talk with bitterness, with
respect to other religious societies.

On the first part of this trait it may be observed, that the Quakers
have never had any great power of exercising dominion over others in
matters of religion. In America, where they have had the greatest, they
have conducted themselves well. William Penn secured to every colonist
the full rights of men as to religious opinion and worship. If the
spirit of persecution is ever to be traced to the Quakers, it must be
found in their writings on the subject of religion. In one or two of the
productions of their first authors, who were obliged to support their
opinions by controversy, there is certainly an appearance of an improper
warmth of temper; but it remarkable that, since these times, scarcely a
book has appeal written by a Quaker against the religion of another.
Satisfied with their own religious belief, they seem to have wished only
to be allowed to enjoy it in peace. For when they have appeared as
polemical writers, it has been principally in the defence of themselves.

On the second part of the trait I may remark, that it is possible, in
the case of tithes, where their temper has been tried by expensive
distraints, and hard imprisonments, that they may utter a harsh
expression against a system which they believe to be anti-Christian, and
which they consider also as repugnant to equity, inasmuch as it compels
them to pay labourers, who perform work in their own harvest; but this
feeling is only temporary, and is seldom extended beyond the object
that produces it. They have never, to my knowledge, spoken with
bitterness against churchmen on this account. Nor have I ever heard
them, in such a season of suffering, pass the slightest reflection upon
th