are called and do we sincerely desire that they may become heirs with us in glory, and that they may rejoice in the liberty of the sons of God, whilst we are withholding from them the common liberties of mankind? Or can the spirit of God, by which we have always professed to be led, be the author of these oppressive and unrighteous measures? Or do we not thereby manifest, that temporal interest hath more influence on our conduct herein, than the dictates of that merciful, holy, and unerring Guide?
And we, likewise, earnestly recommend to all who have slaves, to be careful to come up in the performance of their duty towards them, and to be particularly watchful over their own hearts, it being, by sorrowful experience, remarkable that custom and a familiarity with evil of any kind, have a tendency to bias the judgment and to deprave the mind; and it is obvious, that the future welfare of these poor slaves, who are now in bondage, is generally too much disregarded by those who keep them. If their daily task of labour be but fulfilled, little else, perhaps, is thought of: nay, even that which in others would be looked upon with horror and detestation, is little regarded in them by their masters; such as the frequent separation of husbands from wives, and wives from husbands, whereby they are tempted to break their marriage covenants, and live in adultery, in direct opposition to the laws of God and men, although we believe that Christ died for all men without respect of persons. How fearful then ought we to be of engaging in what hath so natural a tendency to lesson our humanity, and of suffering ourselves to be inured to the exercise of hard and cruel measures, lest thereby, in any degree, we lose our tender and feeling sense of the miseries of our fellow-creatures, and become worse than those who have not believed.
And, dear friends, you, who by inheritance have slaves born in your families, we beseech you to consider them as souls committed to your trust, whom the Lord will require at your hand, and who, as well as you, are made partakers of the Spirit of grace, and called to be heirs of salvation. And let it be your constant care to watch over them for good, instructing them in the fear of God and the knowledge of the Gospel of Christ, that they may answer the end of their creation, and that God may be glorified and honoured by them, as well as by us. And so train them up, that if you should come to behold their unhappy situation, in the same light that many worthy men who are at rest have done, and many of your brethren now do, and should think it your duty to set them free, they may be the more capable of making proper use of their liberty.
Finally, brethren, we intreat you, in the bowels of Gospel-love, seriously to weigh the Cause of detaining them in bondage. If it be for your own private gain, or any other motive than their good, it is much to be feared that the love of God, and the influence of the Holy Spirit, are not the prevailing principles in you, and that your hearts are not sufficiently redeemed from the world, which, that you with ourselves may more and more come to witness, through the cleansing virtue of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, is our earnest desire. With the salutation of our love we are your friends and brethren: —
"Signed, in behalf of the yearly meeting, by
| JOHN EVANS, | ABRAHAM FARRINGDON, |
| JOHN SMITH, | JOSEPH NOBLE, |
| THOMAS CARLETON, | JAMES DANIEL, |
| WILLIAM TRIMBLE, | JOSEPH GIBSON, |
| JOHN SCARBOROUGH, | JOHN SHOTWELL, |
| JOSEPH HAMPTON, | JOSEPH PARKER." |
This truly Christian letter, which was written in the year 1754, was designed, as we collect from the contents of it, to make the sentiments of the society better known and attended to on the subject of the Slave Trade. It contains, as we see, exhortations to all the members within the yearly meeting of Pennsylvania and the Jerseys, to desist from purchasing and importing slaves, and, where they possessed them, to have a tender consideration of their condition. But that the first part of the subject of this exhortation might be enforced, the yearly meeting for the same provinces came to a resolution in 1755, That if any of the members belonging to it bought or imported slaves, the overseers were to inform their respective monthly meetings of it, that "these might treat with them, as they might be directed in the wisdom of truth."
In the year 1774, we find the same yearly meeting legislating again on the same subject. By the preceding resolution they who became offenders, were subjected only to exclusion from the meetings for discipline, and from the privilege of contributing to the pecuniary occasions of the Society; but, by the resolution of the present year, all members concerned in importing, selling, purchasing, giving, or transferring negro or other slaves, or otherwise acting in such manner as to continue them in slavery beyond the term limited by law1 or custom, were directed to be excluded from membership or disowned. At this meeting also all the members of it were cautioned and advised against acting as executors or administrators to estates, where slaves were bequeathed, or likely to be detained in bondage.
In the year 1776, the same yearly meeting carried the matter still further. It was enacted, That the owners of slaves, who refused to execute proper instruments for giving them their freedom, were to be disowned likewise.
In 1778 it was enacted by the same meeting, that the children of those who had been set free by members, should be tenderly advised, and have a suitable education given them.
It is not necessary to proceed further on this subject. It may be sufficient to say, that from this time the minutes of the yearly meeting for Pennsylvania and the Jerseys exhibit proofs of an almost incessant attention, year after year2, to the means not only of wiping away the stain of slavery from their religious community, but of promoting the happiness of those restored to freedom, and of their posterity also; and as the yearly meeting of Pennsylvania and the Jerseys set this bright example, so those of New England, New York, Maryland, Virginia, and of the Carolinas and Georgia, in process of time followed it.
But, whilst the Quakers were making these exertions at their different yearly meetings in America, as a religious body, to get rid both of the commerce and slavery of their fellow-creatures, others, in the same profession; were acting as individuals, (that is, on their own grounds, and independently of any influence from their religious communion,) in the same cause, whose labours it will now be proper, in a separate narrative, to detail.
The first person of this description in the Society, was William Burling, of Long Island. He had conceived an abhorrence of slavery from early youth. In process of time he began to bear his testimony against it, by representing the unlawfulness of it to those of his own Society, when assembled at one of their yearly meetings. This expression of his public testimony, he continued annually on the same occasion. He wrote also several Tracts with the same design, one of which, published in the year 1718, he addressed to the elders of his own church, on the inconsistency of compelling people and their posterity to serve them continually and arbitrarily, and without any proper recompense for their services.
The next was Ralph Sandiford, a merchant in Philadelphia. This worthy person had many offers of pecuniary assistance, which would have advanced him in life, but he declined them all because they came from persons who had acquired their independence by the oppression of their slaves. He was very earnest in endeavouring to prevail upon his friends, both, in and out of the society, to liberate those whom they held in bondage. At length he determined upon a work called the Mystery of Iniquity, in a brief examination of the practice of the times. This he published in the year 1780, though the chief judge had threatened him if he should give it to the world, and he circulated it free of expense wherever he believed it would be useful. The above work was excellent as a composition; the language of it was correct; the style manly and energetic; and it abounded with facts, sentiments, and quotations, which, while, they showed the virtue and talents of the author, rendered it a valuable appeal in behalf of the African
