“He would not go so far as to say they should be
tied to dead bodies for punishment, as was sometimes done in ancient
Rome; nor did he think that they should be sold, as debtors were
according to the provisions of the civil law. But he did think that they
should be compelled to pay in the same way as the law compels the
payment of all other dues.”
Thomas S.
Bell, delegate from Chester
“Should we set up a standard for other men’s
consciences, and pronounce that this or that scruple of conscience is
unreasonable?”
James
C. Biddle, delegate from
Philadelphia
“Sir, are we prepared to constitute ourselves here
into judges of their consciences?”
“If they were conscientious in relation to the
bearing of arms, they were equally so in relation to the payment of
money for personal services. It was, therefore, no relief at
all.”
“They may truly say to those who call upon them to
bear arms, — we need no defense; we wish none; we made none of
these laws; and you that come since our fathers came, have no right to
coerce us to obey them, whatever you may do among yourselves.”
Andrew J.
Cline, delegate from Bedford
“There was something in the character of these
scruples which he could not understand. They were not palpable and
tangible. He could not grasp their meaning.”
Thomas P.
Cope, delegate from Philadelphia
“It is alleged, that if the Quakers will not fight,
they should pay an equivalent. Now, will any casuist here or elsewhere,
tell me the difference between my shooting a man myself, and hiring
another to shoot him! It is because Friends cannot perceive this
difference, that they seek relief at your hands.”
John Cummin, delegate from Juniata
“Does not this government depend upon the payment
of taxes? And is not the payment of taxes the very sinew of
war?”
“If there were any who entertained conscientious
scruples, he hoped these scruples would be protected and respected
unless they should come in competition with the public safety.”
James Dunlop, delegate from Franklin
“If we do not insist upon the payment of an
equivalent, every fellow that chooses, may relieve himself of the duty
by saying that he has scruples of conscience. We might just as well say
at once, that every man who chooses may fight for his country and that
if he does not choose he may let it alone.”
“What right had he, or any other man, to substitute
his own opinions for the consciences of other men, and to bring charges
of fraud and deceit against them, simply because their opinions differed
from his own?”
John Fuller, delegate from Fayette
“Do not the Friends pay one man to kill another,
when they pay their share of the general tax towards the support of the
government, and the means of national defense?”
Benjamin Martin, delegate from
Philadelphia county
“They were made to appear as a privileged class, or
being exempted for military service, while other people had to fight for
them; but yet they were subjected by the non-performance of the duty, to
the most odious, fraudulent, and oppressive exactions, from the
collectors of militia fines.”
John J.
M’Cahen, delegate from Philadelphia county
“Conscience is a matter that lies in every
man’s bosom, and it is for him to determine how far his conscience
will allow him to go. A man may be conscientious, scrupulous about
paying taxes, or about obeying the law of the Commonwealth, but it does
not follow that his conscience is entitled to respect. Every man is
bound to respect the laws.”
James Merrill, delegate from Union
“Shall we say that no one has a right to claim
protection in matters of conscience; that his protection shall depend
upon the discretion of the Legislature; that the rights of the minority
shall be left to the decision of a fluctuating majority; and that every
thing which the minority does shall be wrong, and every thing done by
the majority shall be right?”
“No man more sincerely respected conscientious
scruples than he did, and where a man sincerely entertained such
scruples, the principles of our Government said that they should be
respected”
“He could not regard this question in any other
light than as a question of toleration, and on that ground and that
alone, he hoped the amendment might be agreed to which would grant them
the relief which they asked.”
Emanuel
C. Reigart, delegate from Lancaster
“I wish the whole matter to be left clear and
intelligible. It is undoubtedly the right of every citizen to receive
protection at the hands of his country for his person and property; but
this protection must be reciprocal.”
William Smyth, delegate from Centre
“They have undoubtedly rights as well as other men,
but I apprehend it is not the duty of this Convention to enact laws
which shall exempt them entirely from being called upon to defend the
soil on which they live. I think it would be wrong to do so.”
Ebenezer
W. Sturdevant, delegate from Luzerne
“Can it be expected that men will go and learn
military tactics, losing some three or four days in the year, at an
expense of perhaps fifty dollars, to support a system which their more
wealthy favored and conscientious neighbor is entirely free
from?”
“Conscience! Sir, I can not understand it if such be conscience. I thought I had some knowledge of it; I thought I felt its monitions; but if it be made of such stuff as some gentlemen seem to think it is, I confess myself a stranger to it. If its purpose is to seal men’s purses against taxation, it will not be wanting popularity, and the pulpit need not longer exhort to its cultivation.”
