[A Portraiture of Quakerism, Volume I (of 3) by Thomas Clarkson]@TWC D-Link bookA Portraiture of Quakerism, Volume I (of 3) INTRODUCTION 330/423
And who are the makers of language, but the world? Words change their meaning, as the leaves their colour in autumn, and custom has always been found powerful enough to give authority for a change." With respect to these objections, it may be observed, that the word you has certainly so far lost its meaning, as to be no longer a mark of flattery.
The Quakers also are occasionally found in the use of the ungrammatical expressions, that have been brought against them.
And unquestionably, except they mean to give up the grammatical part of the defence by Penn and Barclay, these ought to be done away.
That you, however, is of the singular number, is not quite so clear.
For while thou is used in the singular number in the Bible, and in the liturgy, and in the prayers of individuals, and while it is the language, as it is, of a great portion of the inhabitants of the northern part of the kingdom, it will be a standing monument against the usurpation and mutilated dominion of you. SECT.
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