And here I think the Quakers would particularly condemn music, if they thought it could be resorted to in the hour of affliction, in as much as it would then have a tendency to divert the mind from its true and only support.
Music, again, does not appear to them to be productive of elevated thoughts, that is, of such thoughts as raise the mind to sublime and spiritual things, abstracted from the inclinations, the temper, and the prejudices of the world.

The most melodious sounds that human instruments can make, are from the earth earthly.

But nothing can rise higher than its own origin.

All true elevation therefore can only come, in the opinion of the Quakers, from the divine source.
The Quakers therefore, seeing no moral utility in music, cannot make it a part of their education.

But there are other considerations, of a different nature, which influence them in the same way.
Music, in the first place, is a sensual gratification.