[A Portraiture of Quakerism, Volume I (of 3) by Thomas Clarkson]@TWC D-Link book
A Portraiture of Quakerism, Volume I (of 3)

INTRODUCTION
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Dream after dream ensues; And still they dream, that they shall still succeed And still are disappointed." [Footnote 14: Cowper.] Thus after having wasted a considerable portion of his time, he is driven at last by positive experience into the truth of those maxims, which philosophy and religion have established, and in the pursuit of which alone he now sees that true happiness is to be found.

Thus, in consequence of his education, he looses two thirds of his time in tedious and unprofitable, if not in baneful pursuits.

The young Quaker, on the other hand, comes, by means of his education, to the same maxims of philosophy and religion, as the foundation of his happiness, at a very early period of life, and therefore saves the time, and preserves the constitution which the other has been wasting for want of this early knowledge.

I know of no fact more striking, or more true in the Quaker-history, than this, namely, that the young Quaker, who is educated as a Quaker, gets such a knowledge of human nature, and of the paths to wisdom and happiness, at an early age, that, though he is known to be a young mariner by the youth displayed in his countenance, he is enabled to conduct his bark through the dangerous rocks and shoals of life, with greater safety than many others, who have been longer on the ocean of this probationary world.
I may observe again, as the second fact, that it is not unusual to hear persons say, that you seldom see a disorderly Quaker, or, that a Quaker-prostitute or a Quaker criminal is unknown.

These declarations, frequently and openly made, shew at least that there is an opinion among the world at large, that the Quakers are a moral people.
The mention of this last fact leads me to the notice, and the correction, of an error, which I have found to have been taken up by individuals.


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