A Letter from Batista Angeloni - 2
FROM
Batista Angeloni to Manzoni.
Dear Sir,
Nothing has less truth in it than what Voltaire and abbe le Bland have said relating to the Quakers in this kingdom: it is plain from what the first has written, that he either was never in their company, or did not attend to their customs. He describes one of these gentry, with whom he dined, as taking off his hat, and asking a benediction on his repast; in which he must be absolutely mistaken: it being the established maxim of this fact, never to perform that ceremony. A Quaker asks no blessing from heaven before he eats, and has not gratitude enough to return thanks after he is fill’d. To say the truth, those of the church of England do both in a becoming manner.
If it was the spirit of religious enthusiasm that actuated the first Quakers; it is a spirit of another kind, which reigns amongst them at present. If simplicity of dress, and simplicity of speech, arose from the humble consideration of human nature, in the beginning; it is love of singularity, pride, and personal advantage, which has taken possession of their hearts, and which continues their dress and manners in this age.
No creature on this globe has half the arrogance of a Quaker; he accosts the king with Friend George, the minister with Neighbour William, and this without the least reluctance, distrust of himself, or mark of confusion. What can argue greater insolence than this of meeting those persons, upon equal terms, and treating them with the utmost
