Journal of John Woolman
| CHAPTER
I. | CHAPTER II. | CHAPTER III.
| CHAPTER IV. |
| CHAPTER V. | CHAPTER VI. | CHAPTER VII. | CHAPTER VIII. |
| CHAPTER IX. | CHAPTER X. | CHAPTER XI. | CHAPTER XII. |
Note on the e-text: this Renascence Editions
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1998 The
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A
J O
U R N A L
OF
THE
LIFE,
GOSPEL LABOURS,
AND
CHRISTIAN
EXPERIENCES
OF
THAT
FAITHFUL
MINISTER
O[F]
J E S U
S C H R I S T,
J O
H N W O O L M A N,
Late of MOUNT-HOLLY,
in the province of
NEW-JERSEY.
____________________________
ISAIAH
xxxiii. 17.
The work of righteousness shall be peace: and
the effect of
righteous-
ness, quietness and assurance for ever.
____________________________
PHILADELPHIA:
Printed by Joseph Crukshank, in Market-
Street, between
Second and Third Streets.
_____________
M.DCC.LXXXIV.
C H A
P T E R
I.
1720-1742.
His Birth
and Parentage -- Some Account of the Operations of Divine Grace on his
Mind in his
Youth -- His first Appearance in the Ministry -- And his
Considerations, while Young,
on the Keeping of Slaves.
HAVE often felt a motion of love to leave some hints in
writing
of my experience of the goodness of God, and now, in the thirty-sixth
year of my age, I
begin this work.
I was born in Northampton, in
Burlington County, West Jersey, in the year 1720. Before I was seven
years old I began to
be acquainted with the operations of Divine love. Through the care of
my parents, I was
taught to read nearly as soon as I was capable of it; and as I went
from school one day, I
remember that while my companions were playing by the way, I went
forward out of
sight, and, sitting down, I read the twenty-second chapter of
Revelation: "He showed me
a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the
throne of God and of
the Lamb, &c." In reading it, my mind was drawn to seek after that
pure
habitation which I then believed God had prepared for his servants. The
place where I
sat, and the sweetness that attended my mind, remain fresh in my
memory. This, and
the like gracious visitations, had such an effect upon me that when
boys used ill
language it troubled me; and, through the continued mercies of God, I
was preserved
from that evil.
The pious instructions of my parents
were often fresh in my mind, when I happened to be among wicked
children, and were
of use to me. Having a large family of children, they used frequently,
on first-days, after
meeting, to set us one after another to read the Holy Scriptures, or
some religious books,
the rest sitting by without much conversation; I have since often
thought it was a good
practice. From what I had read and heard, I believed there had been, in
past ages,
people who walked in uprightness before God in a degree exceeding any
that I knew or
heard of now living: and the apprehension of there being less
steadiness and firmness
amongst people in the present age often troubled me while I was a
child.
I may here mention a remarkable circumstance
that
occurred in my childhood. On going to a neighbor's house, I saw on the
way a robin
sitting on her nest, and as I came near she went off ; but having young
ones, she flew
about, and with many cries expressed her concern for them. I stood and
threw stones at
her, and one striking her she fell down dead. At first I was pleased
with the exploit, but
after a few minutes was seized with horror, at having, in a sportive
way, killed an
innocent creature while she was careful for her young. I beheld her
lying dead, and
thought those young ones, for which she was so careful, must now perish
for want of
their dam to nourish them. After some painful considerations on the
subject, I climbed
up the tree, took all the young birds, and killed them, supposing that
better than to leave
them to pine away and die miserably. In this case I believed that
Scripture proverb was
fulfilled, "The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." I then went on
my
errand, and for some hours could think of little else but the cruelties
I had committed,
and was much troubled. Thus He whose tender mercies are over all his
works hath
placed a principle in the human mind, which incites to exercise
goodness towards every
living creature; and this being singly attended to, people become
tender-hearted and
sympathizing; but when frequently and totally rejected, the mind
becomes shut up in a
contrary disposition.
About the twelfth year of my age,
my father being abroad, my mother reproved me for some misconduct, to
which I made
an undutiful reply. The next first-day, as I was with my father
returning from meeting,
he told me that he understood I had behaved amiss to my mother, and
advised me to be
more careful in future. I knew myself blamable, and in shame and
confusion remained
silent. Being thus awakened to a sense of my wickedness, I felt remorse
in my mind, and
on getting home I retired and prayed to the Lord to forgive me, and I
do not remember
that I ever afterwards spoke unhandsomely to either of my parents,
however foolish in
some other things.
Having attained the age of sixteen
years, I began to love wanton company and though I was preserved from
profane
language or scandalous conduct, yet I perceived a plant in me which
produced much
wild grapes; my merciful Father did not, however, forsake me utterly,
but at times,
through his grace, I was brought seriously to consider my ways; and the
sight of my
backslidings affected me with sorrow, yet for want of rightly attending
to the reproofs of
instruction, vanity was added to vanity, and repentance to repentance.
Upon the whole,
my mind became more and more alienated from the truth, and I hastened
toward
destruction. While I meditate on the gulf towards which I travelled,
and reflect on my
youthful disobedience, for these things I weep, mine eye runneth down
with water.
Advancing in age, the number of my
acquaintance
increased, and thereby my way grew more difficult. Though I had found
comfort in
reading the Holy Scriptures and thinking on heavenly things, I was now
estranged
therefrom. I knew I was going from the flock of Christ and had no
resolution to return,
hence serious reflections were uneasy to me, and youthful vanities and
diversions were
my greatest pleasure. In this road I found many like myself, and we
associated in that
which is adverse to true friendship.
In this swift race it
pleased God to visit me with sickness, so that I doubted of recovery;
then did darkness,
horror, and amazement with full force seize me, even when my pain and
distress of
body were very great. I thought it would have been better for me never
to have had
being, than to see the day which I now saw. I was filled with
confusion, and in great
affliction, both of mind and body, I lay and bewailed myself. I had not
confidence to lift
up my cries to God, whom I had thus offended; but in a deep sense of my
great folly I
was humbled before him. At length that word which is as a fire and a
hammer broke
and dissolved my rebellious heart; my cries were put up in contrition;
and in the
multitude of his mercies I found inward relief, and a close engagement
that if he was
pleased to restore my health I might walk humbly before him.
After my recovery this exercise remained with
me a
considerable time, but by degrees giving way to youthful vanities, and
associating with
wanton young people, I lost ground. The Lord had been very gracious,
and spoke peace
to me in the time of my distress, and I now most ungratefully turned
again to folly; at
times I felt sharp reproof, but I did not get low enough to cry for
help. I was not so hardy
as to commit things scandalous, but to exceed in vanity and to promote
mirth was my
chief study. Still I retained a love and esteem for pious people, and
their company
brought an awe upon me. My dear parents several times admonished me in
the fear of
the Lord, and their admonition entered into my heart and had a good
effect for a season;
but not getting deep enough to pray rightly, the tempter, when he came,
found entrance.
Once having spent a part of the day in wantonness, when I went to bed
at night there lay
in a window near my bed a Bible, which I opened, and first cast my eye
on the text,
"We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us." This I knew
to
be my case, and meeting with so unexpected a reproof I was somewhat
affected with it,
and went to bed under remorse of conscience, which I soon cast off
again.
Thus time passed on; my heart was replenished
with
mirth and wantonness, while pleasing scenes of vanity were presented to
my
imagination, till I attained the age of eighteen years, near which time
I felt the
judgments of God in my soul, like a consuming fire, and looking over my
past life the
prospect was moving. I was often sad, and longed to be delivered from
those vanities;
then again my heart was strongly inclined to them, and there was in me
a sore conflict.
At times I turned to folly, and then again sorrow and confusion took
hold of me. In a
while I resolved totally to leave off some of my vanities, but there
was a secret reserve
in my heart of the more refined part of them, and I was not low enough
to find true
peace. Thus for some months I had great troubles; my will was
unsubjected, which
rendered my labors fruitless. At length, through the merciful
continuance of heavenly
visitations, I was made to bow down in spirit before the Lord. One
evening I had spent
some time in reading a pious author, and walking out alone I humbly
prayed to the
Lord for his help, that I might be delivered from all those vanities
which so ensnared
me. Thus being brought low, he helped me, and as I learned to bear the
cross I felt
refreshment to come from his presence, but not keeping in that strength
which gave
victory I lost ground again, the sense of which greatly affected me. I
sought deserts and
lonely places, and there with tears did confess my sins to God and
humbly craved his
help. And I may say with reverence, he was near to me in my troubles,
and in those
times of humiliation opened my ear to discipline. I was now led to look
seriously at the
means by which I was drawn from the pure truth, and learned that if I
would live such a
life as the faithful servants of God lived, I must not go into company
as heretofore in
my own will, but all the cravings of sense must be governed by a Divine
principle. In
times of sorrow and abasement these instructions were sealed upon me,
and I felt the
power of Christ prevail over selfish desires, so that I was preserved
in a good degree of
steadiness, and being young, and believing at that time that a single
life was best for me,
I was strengthened to keep from such company as had often been a snare
to me.
I kept steadily to meetings, spent first-day
afternoons
chiefly in reading the Scriptures and other good books, and was early
convinced in my
mind that true religion consisted in an inward life, wherein the heart
does love and
reverence God the Creator, and learns to exercise true justice and
goodness, not only
toward all men, but also toward the brute creatures; that, as the mind
was moved by an
inward principle to love God as an invisible, incomprehensible Being,
so, by the same
principle, it was moved to love him in all his manifestations in the
visible world; that,
as by his breath the flame of life was kindled in all animal sensible
creatures, to say we
love God as unseen, and at the same time exercise cruelty toward the
least creature
moving by his life, or by life derived from him, was a contradiction in
itself. I found no
narrowness respecting sects and opinions, but believed that sincere,
upright-hearted
people, in every society, who truly love God, were accepted of him.
As I lived under the cross, and simply
followed the
opening of truth, my mind, from day to day, was more enlightened, my
former
acquaintance were left to judge of me as they would, for I found it
safest for me to live in
private, and keep these things sealed up in my own breast. While I
silently ponder on
that change wrought in me, I find no language equal to convey to
another a clear idea of
it. I looked upon the works of God in this visible creation, and an
awfulness covered
me. My heart was tender and often contrite, and universal love to my
fellow-creatures
increased in me. This will be understood by such as have trodden in the
same path.
Some glances of real beauty may be seen in their faces who dwell in
true meekness.
There is a harmony in the sound of that voice to which Divine love
gives utterance,
and some appearance of right order in their temper and conduct whose
passions are
regulated; yet these do not fully show forth that inward life to those
who have not felt it;
this white stone and new name is only known rightly by such as receive
it.
Now, though I had been thus strengthened to
bear the
cross, I still found myself in great danger, having many weaknesses
attending me, and
strong temptations to wrestle with; in the feeling whereof I frequently
withdrew into
private places, and often with tears besought the Lord to help me, and
his gracious ear
was open to my cry.
All this time I lived with my
parents, and wrought on the plantation; and having had schooling pretty
well for a
planter, I used to improve myself in winter evenings, and other leisure
times. Being
now in the twenty-first year of my age, with my father's consent I
engaged with a man,
in much business as a shop-keeper and baker, to tend shop and keep
books. At home I
had lived retired; and now having a prospect of being much in the way
of company, I
felt frequent and fervent cries in my heart to God, the Father of
Mercies, that he would
preserve me from all taint and corruption; that, in this more public
employment, I
might serve him, my gracious Redeemer, in that humility and selfdenial
which I had in
a small degree exercised in a more private life.
The
man who employed me furnished a shop in Mount Holly, about five miles
from my
father's house, and six from his own, and there I lived alone and
tended his shop.
Shortly after my settlement here I was visited by several young people,
my former
acquaintance, who supposed that vanities would be as agreeable to me
now as ever. At
these times I cried to the Lord in secret for wisdom and strength; for
I felt myself
encompassed with difficulties, and had fresh occasion to bewail the
follies of times past,
in contracting a familiarity with libertine people; and as I had now
left my father's
house outwardly, I found my Heavenly Father to be merciful to me beyond
what I can
express.
By day I was much amongst people, and had
many trials to go through; but in the evenings I was mostly alone, and
I may with
thankfulness acknowledge, that in those times the spirit of
supplication was often
poured upon me; under which I was frequently exercised, and felt my
strength renewed.
After a while, my former acquaintance gave
over
expecting me as one of their company, and I began to be known to some
whose
conversation was helpful to me. And now, as I had experienced the love
of God,
through Jesus Christ, to redeem me from many pollutions, and to be a
succor to me
through a sea of conflicts, with which no person was fully acquainted,
and as my heart
was often enlarged in this heavenly principle, I felt a tender
compassion for the youth
who remained entangled in snares like those which had entangled me.
This love and
tenderness increased, and my mind was strongly engaged for the good of
my fellow-
creatures. I went to meetings in an awful frame of mind, and endeavored
to be inwardly
acquainted with the language of the true Shepherd. One day, being under
a strong
exercise of spirit, I stood up and said some words in a meeting; but
not keeping close to
the Divine opening, I said more than was required of me. Being soon
sensible of my
error, I was afflicted in mind some weeks, without any light or
comfort, even to that
degree that I could not take satisfaction in anything. I remembered
God, and was
troubled, and in the depth of my distress he had pity upon me, and sent
the Comforter. I
then felt forgiveness for my offence; my mind became calm and quiet,
and I was truly
thankful to my gracious Redeemer for his mercies. About six weeks after
this, feeling
the spring of Divine love opened, and a concern to speak, I said a few
words in a
meeting, in which I found peace. Being thus humbled and disciplined
under the cross,
my understanding became more strengthened to distinguish the pure
spirit which
inwardly moves upon the heart, and which taught me to wait in silence
sometimes
many weeks together, until I felt that rise which prepares the creature
to stand like a
trumpet, through which the Lord speaks to his flock.
From an inward purifying, and steadfast abiding under it springs a
lively operative
desire for the good of others. All the faithful are not called to the
public ministry; but
whoever are, are called to minister of that which they have tasted and
handled
spiritually. The outward modes of worship are various; but whenever any
are true
ministers of Jesus Christ, it is from the operation of his Spirit upon
their hearts, first
purifying them, and thus giving them a just sense of the conditions of
others. This truth
was early fixed in my mind, and I was taught to watch the pure opening,
and to take
heed lest, while I was standing to speak, my own will should get
uppermost, and cause
me to utter words from worldly wisdom, and depart from the channel of
the true gospel
ministry.
In the management of my outward affairs, I
may say with thankfulness, I found truth to be my support; and I was
respected in my
master's family, who came to live in Mount Holly within two years after
my going
there.
In a few months after I came here, my master
bought several Scotchmen servants, from on board a vessel, and brought
them to
Mount Holly to sell, one of whom was taken sick and died. In the latter
part of his
sickness, being delirious, he used to curse and swear most sorrowfully;
and the next
night after his burial I was left to sleep alone in the chamber where
he died. I perceived
in me a timorousness; I knew, however, I had not injured the man, but
assisted in
taking care of him according to my capacity. I was not free to ask any
one on that
occasion to sleep with me. Nature was feeble; but every trial was a
fresh incitement to
give myself up wholly to the service of God, for I found no helper like
him in times of
trouble.
About the twenty-third year of my age, I had
many fresh and heavenly openings, in respect to the care and providence
of the
Almighty over his creatures in general, and over man as the most noble
amongst those
which are visible. And being clearly convinced in my judgment that to
place my whole
trust in God was best for me, I felt renewed engagements that in all
things I might act on
an inward principle of virtue, and pursue worldly business no further
than as truth
opened my way.
About the time called Christmas I
observed many people, both in town and from the country, resorting to
public- houses,
and spending their time in drinking and vain sports, tending to corrupt
one another; on
which account I was much troubled. At one house in particular there was
much
disorder; and I believed it was a duty incumbent on me to speak to the
master of that
house. I considered I was young, and that several elderly friends in
town had
opportunity to see these things; but though I would gladly have been
excused, yet I could
not feel my mind clear.
The exercise was heavy; and as
I was reading what the Almighty said to Ezekiel, respecting his duty as
a watchman, the
matter was set home more clearly. With prayers and tears I besought the
Lord for his
assistance, and He, in loving-kindness, gave me a resigned heart. At a
suitable
opportunity I went to the public-house; and seeing the man amongst much
company, I
called him aside, and in the fear and dread of the Almighty expressed
to him what
rested on my mind. He took it kindly, and afterwards showed more regard
to me than
before. In a few years afterwards he died, middle-aged; and I often
thought that had I
neglected my duty in that case it would have given me great trouble;
and I was humbly
thankful to my gracious Father, who had supported me herein.
My employer, having a negro woman, sold her,
and
desired me to write a bill of sale, the man being waiting who bought
her. The thing was
sudden; and though I felt uneasy at the thoughts of writing an
instrument of slavery for
one of my fellow-creatures, yet I remembered that I was hired by the
year, that it was my
master who directed me to do it, and that it was an elderly man, a
member of our
Society, who bought her; so through weakness I gave way, and wrote it;
but at the
executing of it I was so afflicted in my mind, that I said before my
master and the Friend
that I believed slave-keeping to be a practice inconsistent with the
Christian religion.
This, in some degree, abated my uneasiness; yet as often as I reflected
seriously upon it I
thought I should have been clearer if I had desired to be excused from
it, as a thing
against my conscience; for such it was. Some time after this a young
man of our Society
spoke to me to write a conveyance of a slave to him, he having lately
taken a negro into
his house. I told him I was not easy to write it; for, though many of
our meeting and in
other places kept slaves, I still believed the practice was not right,
and desired to be
excused from the writing.I spoke to him in goodwill; and he told me
that keeping slaves
was not altogether agreeable to his mind; but that the slave being a
gift made to his wife
he had accepted her.
C H A
P T E R II.
1743-1748.
His first Journey, on a Religious Visit, in East Jersey -- Thoughts on
Merchandising, and Learning a Trade -- Second Journey into
Pennsylvania, Maryland,
Virginia, and North Carolina -- Third Journey through part of West and
East Jersey --
Fourth Journey through New York and Long Island, to New England -- And
his fifth
Journey to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and the Lower Counties on
Delaware.
Y esteemed friend
Abraham Farrington being about to make a visit to Friends on the
eastern side of this
province, and having no companion, he proposed to me to go with him;
and after a
conference with some elderly Friends I agreed to go. We set out on the
5th of ninth
month, 1743; had an evening meeting at a tavern in Brunswick, a town in
which none
of our Society dwelt; the room was full, and the people quiet. Thence
to Amboy, and had
an evening meeting in the court-house, to which came many people,
amongst whom
were several members of Assembly, they being in town on the public
affairs of the
province. In both these meetings my ancient companion was engaged to
preach largely
in the love of the gospel. Thence we went to Woodbridge, Rahway, and
Plainfield, and
had six or seven meetings in places where Friends' meetings are not
usually held,
chiefly attended by Presbyterians, and my beloved companion was
frequently
strengthened to publish the word of life amongst them. As for me, I was
often silent
through the meetings, and when I spake it was with much care, that I
might speak only
what truth opened. My mind was often tender, and I learned some
profitable lessons.
We were out about two weeks.
Near this time, being on
some outward business in which several families were concerned, and
which was
attended with difficulties, some things relating thereto not being
clearly stated, nor
rightly understood by all, there arose some heat in the minds of the
parties, and one
valuable friend got off his watch. I had a great regard for him, and
felt a strong
inclination, after matters were settled, to speak to him concerning his
conduct in that
case; but being a youth, and he far advanced in age and experience, my
way appeared
difficult; after some days' deliberation, and inward seeking to the
Lord for assistance, I
was made subject, so that I expressed what lay upon me in a way which
became my
youth and his years; and though it was a hard task to me it was well
taken, and I believe
was useful to us both.
Having now been several years
with my employer, and he doing less in merchandise than heretofore, I
was thoughtful
about some other way of business, perceiving merchandise to be attended
with much
cumber in the way of trading in these parts.
My mind,
through the power of truth, was in a good degree weaned from the desire
of outward
greatness, and I was learning to be content with real conveniences,
that were not costly,
so that a way of life free from much entanglement appeared best for me,
though the
income might be small. I had several offers of business that appeared
profitable, but I did
not see my way clear to accept of them, believing they would be
attended with more
outward care and cumber than was required of me to engage in. I saw
that an humble
man, with the blessing of the Lord, might live on a little, and that
where the heart was
set on greatness, success in business did not satisfy the craving; but
that commonly with
an increase of wealth the desire of wealth increased. There was a care
on my mind so to
pass my time that nothing might hinder me from the most steady
attention to the voice
of the true Shepherd.
My employer, though now a
retailer of goods, was by trade a tailor, and kept a servant-man at
that business; and I
began to think about learning the trade, expecting that if I should
settle I might by this
trade and a little retailing of goods get a living in a plain way,
without the load of great
business. I mentioned it to my employer, and we soon agreed on terms,
and when I had
leisure from the affairs of merchandise I worked with his man. I
believed the hand of
Providence pointed out this business for me, and I was taught to be
content with it,
though I felt at times a disposition that would have sought for
something greater; but
through the revelation of Jesus Christ I had seen the happiness of
humility, and there
was an earnest desire in me to enter deeply into it; at times this
desire arose to a degree
of fervent supplication, wherein my soul was so environed with heavenly
light and
consolation that things were made easy to me which had been otherwise.
After some time my employer's wife died; she
was a
virtuous woman, and generally beloved of her neighbors. Soon after this
he left
shop-keeping, and we parted. I then wrought at my trade as a tailor;
carefully attended
meetings for worship and discipline; and found an enlargement of gospel
love in my
mind, and therein a concern to visit Friends in some of the back
settlements of
Pennsylvania and Virginia. Being thoughtful about a companion, I
expressed it to my
beloved friend, Isaac Andrews, who told me that he had drawings to the
same places,
and also to go through Maryland, Virginia, and Carolina. After a
considerable time, and
several conferences with him, I felt easy to accompany him throughout,
if way opened
for it. I opened the case in our Monthly Meeting, and, Friends
expressing their unity
therewith, we obtained certificates to travel as companions, -- he from
Haddonfield, and
I from Burlington.
We left our province on the 12th of
third month, 1746, and had several meetings in the upper part of
Chester County, and
near Lancaster; in some of which the love of Christ prevailed, uniting
us together in his
service. We then crossed the river Susquehanna, and had several
meetings in a new
settlement, called the Red Lands. It is the poorer sort of people that
commonly begin to
improve remote deserts; with a small stock they have houses to build,
lands to clear and
fence, corn to raise, clothes to provide, and children to educate, so
that Friends who visit
such may well sympathize with them in their hardships in the
wilderness; and though
the best entertainment that they can give may seem coarse to some who
are used to
cities or old settled places, it becomes the disciples of Christ to be
therewith content. Our
hearts were sometimes enlarged in the love of our Heavenly Father
amongst these
people, and the sweet influence of his Spirit supported us through some
difficulties: to
him be the praise.
We passed on to Manoquacy, Fairfax,
Hopewell, and Shanando, and had meetings, some of which were
comfortable and
edifying. From Shanando, we set off in the afternoon for the
settlements of Friends in
Virginia; the first night we, with our guide, lodged in the woods, our
horses feeding
near us; but he being poorly provided with a horse, and we young, and
having good
horses, were free the next day to part with him. In two days after we
reached our friend
John Cheagle's, in Virginia. We took the meetings in our way through
Virginia; were in
some degree baptized into a feeling sense of the conditions of the
people, and our
exercise in general was more painful in these old settlements than it
had been amongst
the back inhabitants; yet through the goodness of our Heavenly Father
the well of living
waters was at times opened to our encouragement, and the refreshment of
the
sincere-hearted. We went on to Perquimans, in North Carolina; had
several large
meetings, and found some openness in those parts, and a hopeful
appearance amongst
the young people. Afterwards we turned again to Virginia, and attended
most of the
meetings which we had not been at before, laboring amongst Friends in
the love of Jesus
Christ, as ability was given; thence went to the mountains, up James
River to a new
settlement, and had several meetings amongst the people, some of whom
had lately
joined in membership with our Society. In our journeying to and fro, we
found some
honest-hearted Friends, who appeared to be concerned for the cause of
truth among a
backsliding people.
From Virginia, we crossed over the
river Potomac, at Hoe's Ferry, and made a general visit to the meetings
of Friends on
the western shore of Maryland, and were at their Quarterly Meeting. We
had some hard
labor amongst them, endeavoring to discharge our duty honestly as way
opened, in the
love of truth. Thence, taking sundry meetings in our way, we passed
towards home,
which, through the favor of Divine Providence, we reached the 16th of
sixth month,
1746; and I may say, that through the assistance of the Holy Spirit,
which mortifies
selfish desires, my companion and I travelled in harmony, and parted in
the nearness of
true brotherly love.
Two things were remarkable to me
in this journey: first, in regard to my entertainment. When I ate,
drank, and lodged
free-cost with people who lived in ease on the hard labor of their
slaves I felt uneasy;
and as my mind was inward to the Lord, I found this uneasiness return
upon me, at
times, through the whole visit. Where the masters bore a good share of
the burden, and
lived frugally, so that their servants were well provided for, and
their labor moderate, I
felt more easy; but where they lived in a costly way, and laid heavy
burdens on their
slaves, my exercise was often great, and I frequently had conversation
with them in
private concerning it. Secondly, this trade of importing slaves from
their native country
being much encouraged amongst them, and the white people and their
children so
generally living without much labor, was frequently the subject of my
serious thoughts.
I saw in these southern provinces so many vices and corruptions,
increased by this trade
and this way of life, that it appeared to me as a dark gloominess
hanging over the land;
and though now many willingly run into it, yet in future the
consequence will be
grievous to posterity. I express it as it hath appeared to me, not
once, nor twice, but as a
matter fixed on my mind.
Soon after my return home I
felt an increasing concern for Friends on our seacoast; and on the 8th
of eighth month,
1746, I left home with the unity of Friends, and in company with my
beloved friend and
neighbor Peter Andrews, brother to my companion before mentioned, and
visited them
in their meetings generally about Salem, Cape May, Great and Little Egg
Harbor; we had
meetings also at Barnagat, Manahockin, and Mane Squan, and so to the
Yearly Meeting
at Shrewsbury. Through the goodness of the Lord way was opened, and the
strength of
Divine love was sometimes felt in our assemblies, to the comfort and
help of those who
were rightly concerned before him. We were out twenty-two days, and
rode, by
computation, three hundred and forty miles. At Shrewsbury Yearly
Meeting we met
with our dear friends Michael Lightfoot and Abraham Farrington, who had
good service
there.
The winter following died my eldest sister
Elizabeth Woolman, of the small-pox, aged thirty-one years.
Of late I found drawings in my mind to visit
Friends in
New England, and having an opportunity of joining in company with my
beloved
friend Peter Andrews, we obtained certificates from our Monthly
Meeting, and set
forward on the 16th of third month, 1747. We reached the Yearly Meeting
at Long
Island, at which were our friends, Samuel Nottingham from England, John
Griffith,
Jane Hoskins, and Elizabeth Hudson from Pennsylvania, and Jacob Andrews
from
Chesterfield, several of whom were favored in their public exercise;
and, through the
goodness of the Lord, we had some edifying meetings. After this my
companion and I
visited Friends on Long Island; and through the mercies of God we were
helped in the
work.
Besides going to the settled meetings of
Friends,
we were at a general meeting at Setawket, chiefly made up of other
societies; we had also
a meeting at Oyster Bay in a dwelling-house, at which were many people.
At the former
there was not much said by way of testimony, but it was, I believe, a
good meeting; at the
latter, through the springing up of living waters, it was a day to be
thankfully
remembered. Having visited the island, we went over to the main, taking
meetings in
our way, to Oblong, Nine-partners, and New Milford. In these back
settlements, we met
with several people who, through the immediate workings of the Spirit
of Christ on
their minds, were drawn from the vanities of the world to an inward
acquaintance with
him. They were educated in the way of the Presbyterians. A considerable
number of the
youth, members of that society, used often to spend their time together
in merriment,
but some of the principal young men of the company, being visited by
the powerful
workings of the Spirit of Christ, and thereby led humbly to take up his
cross, could no
longer join in those vanities. As these stood steadfast to that inward
convincement, they
were made a blessing to some of their former companions; so that
through the power of
truth several were brought into a close exercise concerning the eternal
well-being of
their souls. These young people continued for a time to frequent their
public worship;
and, besides that, had meetings of their own, which meetings were
awhile allowed by
their preacher, who sometimes met with them; but in time their judgment
in matters of
religion disagreeing with some of the articles of the Presbyterians
their meetings were
disapproved by that society; and such of them as stood firm to their
duty, as it was
inwardly manifested, had many difficulties to go through. In a while
their meetings
were dropped; some of them returned to the Presbyterians, and others
joined to our
religious society.
I had conversation with some of the
latter to my help and edification, and believe several of them are
acquainted with the
nature of that worship which is performed in spirit and in truth. Amos
Powel, a friend
from Long Island, accompanied me through Connecticut, which is chiefly
inhabited by
Presbyterians, who were generally civil to us. After three days'
riding, we came amongst
Friends in the colony of Rhode Island, and visited them in and about
Newport,
Dartmouth, and generally in those parts; we then went to Boston, and
proceeded
eastward as far as Dover. Not far from thence we met our friend Thomas
Gawthrop,
from England, who was then on a visit to these provinces. From Newport
we sailed to
Nantucket; were there nearly a week; and from thence came over to
Dartmouth. Having
finished our visit in these parts, we crossed the Sound from New London
to Long
Island, and taking some meetings on the island proceeded towards home,
which we
reached the 13th of seventh month, 1747, having rode about fifteen
hundred miles, and
sailed about one hundred and fifty.
In this journey, I
may say in general, we were sometimes in much weakness, and labored
under
discouragements, and at other times, through the renewed manifestations
of Divine
love, we had seasons of refreshment wherein the power of truth
prevailed. We were
taught by renewed experience to labor for an inward stillness; at no
time to seek for
words, but to live in the spirit of truth, and utter that to the people
which truth opened
in us. My beloved companion and I belonged both to one meeting, came
forth in the
ministry near the same time, and were inwardly united in the work. He
was about
thirteen years older than I, bore the heaviest burden, and was an
instrument of the
greatest use.
Finding a concern to visit Friends in the
lower counties of Delaware, and on the eastern shore of Maryland, and
having an
opportunity to join with my well-beloved ancient friend, John Sykes, we
obtained
certificates, and set off the 7th of eighth month, 1748, were at the
meetings of Friends in
the lower counties, attended the Yearly Meeting at Little Creek, and
made a visit to most
of the meetings on the eastern shore, and so home by the way of
Nottingham. We were
abroad about six weeks, and rode, by computation, about five hundred
and fifty miles.
Our exercise at times was heavy, but through
the
goodness of the Lord we were often refreshed, and I may say by
experience "he is a
stronghold in the day of trouble." Though our Society in these parts
appeared to
me to be in a declining condition, yet I believe the Lord hath a people
amongst them
who labor to serve him uprightly, but they have many difficulties to
encounter.
C H A P T E R
III.
1749-1756. His
Marriage -- The Death of his Father -- His Journeys into the upper part
of New jersey,
and afterwards into Pennsylvania -- Considerations on keeping Slaves,
and Visits to the
Families of Friends at several times and places -- An Epistle from the
General Meeting --
His journey to Long Island -- Considerations on Trading and on the Use
of Spirituous
Liquors and Costly Apparel -- Letter to a Friend.
BOUT this time, believing it good for me to settle, and
thinking
seriously about a companion, my heart was turned to the Lord with
desires that he
would give me wisdom to proceed therein agreeably to his will, and he
was pleased to
give me a well-inclined damsel, Sarah Ellis, to whom I was married the
18th of eighth
month, 1749.
In the fall of the year 1750 died my father,
Samuel Woolman, of a fever, aged about sixty years. In his lifetime he
manifested much
care for us his children, that in our youth we might learn to fear the
Lord; and often
endeavored to imprint in our minds the true principles of virtue, and
particularly to
cherish in us a spirit of tenderness, not only towards poor people, but
also towards all
creatures of which we had the command.
After my
return from Carolina in 1746, I made some observations on keeping
slaves, which some
time before his decease I showed to him; he perused the manuscript,
proposed a few
alterations, and appeared well satisfied that I found a concern on that
account. In his last
sickness, as I was watching with him one night, he being so far spent
that there was no
expectation of his recovery, though he had the perfect use of his
understanding, he
asked me concerning the manuscript, and whether I expected soon to
proceed to take the
advice of friends in publishing it? After some further conversation
thereon, he said,
"I have all along been deeply affected with the oppression of the poor
negroes; and
now, at last, my concern for them is as great as ever."
By his direction I had written his will in a
time of
health, and that night he desired me to read it to him, which I did;
and he said it was
agreeable to his mind. He then made mention of his end, which he
believed was near;
and signified that though he was sensible of many imperfections in the
course of his
life, yet his experience of the power of truth, and of the love and
goodness of God from
time to time, even till now, was such that he had no doubt that on
leaving this life he
should enter into one more happy.
The next day his
sister Elizabeth came to see him, and told him of the decease of their
sister Anne, who
died a few days before; he then said, "I reckon Sister Anne was free to
leave this
world?" Elizabeth said she was. He then said, "I also am free to leave
it"; and being in great weakness of body said, "I hope I shall shortly
go to
rest." He continued in a weighty frame of mind, and was sensible till
near the last.
Second of ninth month, 1751. -- Feeling
drawings in
my mind to visit Friends at the Great Meadows, in the upper part of
West Jersey, with
the unity of our Monthly Meeting, I went there, and had some searching
laborious
exercise amongst Friends in those parts, and found inward peace
therein.
Ninth month, 1753. -- In company with my
well-esteemed friend, John Sykes, and with the unity of Friends, I
travelled about two
weeks, visiting Friends in Buck's County. We labored in the love of the
gospel,
according to the measure received; and through the mercies of Him who
is strength to
the poor who trust in him, we found satisfaction in our visit. In the
next winter, way
opening to visit Friends' families within the compass of our Monthly
Meeting, partly by
the labors of two Friends from Pennsylvania, I joined in some part of
the work, having
had a desire some time that it might go forward amongst us.
About this time, a person at some distance
lying sick,
his brother came to me to write his will. I knew he had slaves, and,
asking his brother,
was told he intended to leave them as slaves to his children. As
writing is a profitable
employ, and as offending sober people was disagreeable to my
inclination, I was
straitened in my mind; but as I looked to the Lord, he inclined my
heart to his
testimony. I told the man that I believed the practice of continuing
slavery to this people
was not right, and that I had a scruple in my mind against doing
writings of that kind;
that though many in our Society kept them as slaves, still I was not
easy to be concerned
in it, and desired to be excused from going to write the will. I spake
to him in the fear of
the Lord, and he made no reply to what I said, but went away; he also
had some
concerns in the practice, and I thought he was displeased with me. In
this case I had
fresh confirmation that acting contrary to present outward interest,
from a motive of
Divine love and in regard to truth and righteousness, and thereby
incurring the
resentments of people, opens the way to a treasure better than silver,
and to a friendship
exceeding the friendship of men.
The manuscript
before mentioned having laid by me several years, the publication of it
rested weightily
upon me, and this year I offered it to the revisal of my friends, who,
having examined
and made some small alterations in it, directed a number of copies
thereof to be
published and dispersed amongst members of our Society.
In the year 1754 I found my mind drawn to join
in a
visit to Friends' families belonging to Chesterfield Monthly Meeting,
and having the
approbation of our own, I went to their Monthly meeting in order to
confer with
Friends, and see if way opened for it. I had conference with some of
their members, the
proposal having been opened before in their meeting, and one Friend
agreed to join
with me as a companion for a beginning; but when meeting was ended, I
felt great
distress of mind, and doubted what way to take, or whether to go home
and wait for
greater clearness. I kept my distress secret, and going with a friend
to his house, my
desires were to the great Shepherd for his heavenly instruction. In the
morning I felt
easy to proceed on the visit, though very low in my mind. As mine eye
was turned to
the Lord, waiting in families in deep reverence before him, he was
pleased graciously to
afford help, so that we had many comfortable opportunities, and it
appeared as a fresh
visitation to some young people. I spent several weeks this winter in
the service, part of
which time was employed near home. And again in the following winter I
was several
weeks in the same service; some part of the time at Shrewsbury, in
company with my
beloved friend, John Sykes; and I have cause humbly to acknowledge that
through the
goodness of the Lord our hearts were at times enlarged in his love, and
strength was
given to go through the trials which, in the course of our visit,
attended us.
From a disagreement between the powers of
England
and France, it was now a time of trouble on this continent, and an
epistle to Friends
went forth from our general spring meeting, which I thought good to
give a place in this
Journal.
An
Epistle from our general Spring Meeting of ministers and elders for
Pennsylvania and New Jersey, held at Philadelphia, from the 29th of the
third month to
the 1st of the fourth month, inclusive, 1755.
To
FRIENDS ON THE
CONTINENT OF AMERICA: --
DEAR FRIENDS, --
In an humble sense of Divine goodness, and the gracious continuation of
God's love to
his people, we tenderly salute you, and are at this time therein
engaged in mind, that all
of us who profess the truth, as held forth and published by our worthy
predecessors in
this latter age of the world, may keep near to that Life which is the
light of men, and be
strengthened to hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering,
that our trust
may not be in man, but in the Lord alone, who ruleth in the army of
heaven and in the
kingdoms of men, before whom the earth is "as the dust of the balance,
and her
inhabitants as grass- hoppers." (Isa. xl. 22.)
Being
convinced that the gracious design of the Almighty in sending his Son
into the world
was to repair the breach made by disobedience, to finish sin and
transgression, that his
kingdom might come, and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven,
we have found it
to be our duty to cease from those national contests which are
productive of misery and
bloodshed, and submit our cause to him, the Most High, whose tender
love to his
children exceeds the most warm affections of natural parents, and who
hath promised
to his seed throughout the earth, as to one individual, "I will never
leave thee,
nor forsake thee." (Heb. xiii. 5.) And we, through the gracious
dealings of the Lord
our God, have had experience of that work which is carried on, not by
earthly might,
"nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." (Zech. iv.
6.) By
which operation that spiritual kingdom is set up, which is to subdue
and break in pieces
all kingdoms that oppose it, and shall stand forever. In a deep sense
thereof, and of the
safety, stability, and peace that are in it, we are desirous that all
who profess the truth
may be inwardly acquainted with it, and thereby be qualified to conduct
ourselves in all
parts of our life as becomes our peaceable profession; and we trust as
there is a faithful
continuance to depend wholly upon the almighty arm, from one generation
to another,
the peaceable kingdom will gradually be extended "from sea to sea, and
from the
river to the ends of the earth" (Zech. ix. 10), to the completion of
those prophecies
already begun, that "nation shall not lift up a sword against nation,
nor learn war
any more." (Isa. ii. 4. Micah iv. 3.)
And, dearly
beloved friends, seeing that we have these promises, and believe that
God is beginning
to fulfil them, let us constantly endeavor to have our minds
sufficiently disentangled
from the surfeiting cares of this life, and redeemed from the love of
the world, that no
earthly possessions nor enjoyments may bias our judgments, or turn us
from that
resignation and entire trust in God to which his blessing is most
surely annexed; then
may we say, "Our Redeemer is mighty, he will plead our cause for us."
(Jer. l.
34.) And if, for the further promoting of his most gracious purposes in
the earth, he
should give us to taste of that bitter cup of which his faithful ones
have often partaken,
O that we might be rightly prepared to receive it!
And
now, dear friends, with respect to the commotions and stirrings of the
powers of the
earth at this time near us, we are desirous that none of us may be
moved thereat, but
repose ourselves in the munition of that rock which all these shakings
shall not move,
even in the knowledge and feeling of the eternal power of God, keeping
us subjectly
given up to his heavenly will, and feeling it daily to mortify that
which remains in any
of us which is of this world; for the worldly part in any is the
changeable part, and that is
up and down, full and empty, joyful and sorrowful, as things go well or
ill in this world.
For as the truth is but one, and many are made partakers of its spirit,
so the world is but
one, and many are made partakers of the spirit of it; and so many as do
partake of it, so
many will be straitened and perplexed with it. But they who are single
to the truth,
waiting daily to feel the life and virtue of it in their hearts, shall
rejoice in the midst of
adversity, and have to experience with the prophet, that, "although the
fig-tree
shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of
the olive shall fail, and
the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the
fold, and there shall be
no herd in the stalls; yet will they rejoice in the Lord, and joy in
the God of their
salvation." (Hab. iii. 17, 18.)
If, contrary to this, we
profess the truth, and, not living under the power and influence of it,
are producing
fruits disagreeable to the purity thereof, and trust to the strength of
man to support
ourselves, our confidence therein will be vain. For he who removed the
hedge from his
vineyard, and gave it to be trodden under foot by reason of the wild
grapes it produced
(Isa. v. 6), remains unchangeable; and if, for the chastisement of
wickedness and the
further promoting of his own glory, he doth arise, even to shake
terribly the earth, who
then may oppose him, and prosper?
We remain, in the
love of the gospel, your friends and brethren.
(Signed by fourteen
Friends.)
Scrupling to do writings relative to
keeping slaves has been a means of sundry small trials to me, in which
I have so
evidently felt my own will set aside that I think it good to mention a
few of them.
Tradesmen and retailers of goods, who depend on their business for a
living, are
naturally inclined to keep the good-will of their customers; nor is it
a pleasant thing for
young men to be under any necessity to question the judgment or honesty
of elderly
men, and more especially of such as have a fair reputation. Deep-rooted
customs,
though wrong, are not easily altered; but it is the duty of all to be
firm in that which they
certainly know is right for them. A charitable, benevolent man, well
acquainted with a
negro, may, I believe, under some circumstances, keep him in his family
as a servant,
on no other motives than the negro's good; but man, as man, knows not
what shall be
after him, nor hath he any assurance that his children will attain to
that perfection in
wisdom and goodness necessary rightly to exercise such power; hence it
is clear to me,
that I ought not to be the scribe where wills are drawn in which some
children are made
ales masters over others during life.
About this time an
ancient man of good esteem in the neighborhood came to my house to get
his will
written. He had young negroes, and I asked him privately how he
purposed to dispose
of them. He told me; I then said, "I cannot write thy will without
breaking my
own peace," and respectfully gave him my reasons for it. He signified
that he had a
choice that I should have written it, but as I could not, consistently
with my conscience,
he did not desire it, and so he got it written by some other person. A
few years after,
there being great alterations in his family, he came again to get me to
write his will. His
negroes were yet young, and his son, to whom he intended to give them,
was, since he
first spoke to me, from a libertine become a sober young man, and he
supposed that I
would have been free on that account to write it. We had much friendly
talk on the
subject, and then deferred it. A few days after he came again and
directed their freedom,
and I then wrote his will.
Near the time that the
last-mentioned Friend first spoke to me, a neighbor received a bad
bruise in his body
and sent for me to bleed him, which having done, he desired me to write
his will. I took
notes, and amongst other things he told me to which of his children he
gave his young
negro. I considered the pain and distress he was in, and knew not how
it would end, so I
wrote his will, save only that part concerning his slave, and carrying
it to his bedside
read it to him. I then told him in a friendly way that I could not
write any instruments
by which my fellow-creatures were made slaves, without bringing trouble
on my own
mind. I let him know that I charged nothing for what I had done, and
desired to be
excused from doing the other part in the way he proposed. We then had a
serious
conference on the subject; at length, he agreeing to set her free, I
finished his will.
Having found drawings in my mind to visit
Friends on
Long Island, after obtaining a certificate from our Monthly Meeting, I
set off 12th of fifth
month, 1756. When I reached the island, I lodged the first night at the
house of my dear
friend, Richard Hallett. The next day being the first of the week, I
was at the meeting in
New Town, in which we experienced the renewed manifestations of the
love of Jesus
Christ to the comfort of the honest-hearted. I went that night to
Flushing, and the next
day I and my beloved friend, Matthew Franklin, crossed the ferry at
White Stone; were
at three meetings on the main, and then returned to the island, where I
spent the
remainder of the week in visiting meetings. The Lord, I believe, hath a
people in those
parts who are honestly inclined to serve him; but many I fear, are too
much clogged
with the things of this life, and do not come forward bearing the cross
in such
faithfulness as he calls for.
My mind was deeply
engaged in this visit, both in public and private, and at several
places where I was, on
observing that they had slaves, I found myself under a necessity, in a
friendly way, to
labor with them on that subject; expressing, as way opened, the
inconsistency of that
practice with the purity of the Christian religion, and the ill effects
of it manifested
amongst us.
The latter end of the week their Yearly
Meeting began; at which were our friends, John Scarborough, Jane
Hoskins, and
Susannah Brown, from Pennsylvania. The public meetings were large, and
measurably
favored with Divine goodness. The exercise of my mind at this meeting
was chiefly on
account of those who were considered as the foremost rank in the
Society; and in a
meeting of ministers and elders way opened for me to express in some
measure what
lay upon me; and when Friends were met for transacting the affairs of
the church,
having sat awhile silent, I felt a weight on my mind, and stood up; and
through the
gracious regard of our Heavenly Father, strength was given fully to
clear myself of a
burden which for some days had been increasing upon me.
Through the humbling dispensations of Divine
Providence, men are sometimes fitted for his service. The messages of
the prophet
Jeremiah were so disagreeable to the people, and so adverse to the
spirit they lived in,
that he became the object of their reproach, and in the weakness of
nature he thought of
desisting from his prophetic office; but saith he, "His word was in my
heart as a
burning fire shut up in my bones; and I was weary with forbearing, and
could not
stay." I saw at this time that if I was honest in declaring that which
truth opened in
me, I could not please all men; and I labored to be content in the way
of my duty,
however disagreeable to my own inclination. After this I went homeward,
taking
Woodbridge and Plainfield in my way, in both which meetings the pure
influence of
Divine love was manifested, in an humbling sense whereof I went home. I
had been
out about twenty-four days, and rode about three hundred and sixteen
miles.
While I was out on this journey my heart was
much
affected with a sense of the state of the churches in our southern
provinces; and
believing the Lord was calling me to some further labor amongst them, I
was bowed in
reverence before him, with fervent desires that I might find strength
to resign myself to
his heavenly will.
Until this year, 1756, I continued to
retail goods, besides following my trade as a tailor; about which time
I grew uneasy on
account of my business growing too cumbersome. I had begun with selling
trimmings
for garments, and from thence proceeded to sell cloths and linens; and
at length, having
got a considerable shop of goods, my trade increased every year, and
the way to large
business appeared open, but I felt a stop in my mind.
Through the mercies of the Almighty, I had, in
a good
degree, learned to be content with a plain way of living. I had but a
small family; and, on
serious consideration, believed truth did not require me to engage much
in cumbering
affairs. It had been my general practice to buy and sell things really
useful. Things that
served chiefly to please the vain mind in people, I was not easy to
trade in; seldom did
it; and whenever I did I found it weaken me as a Christian.
The increase of business became my burden; for
though
my natural inclination was toward merchandise, yet I believed truth
required me to live
more free from outward cumbers; and there was now a strife in my mind
between the
two. In this exercise my prayers were put up to the Lord, who
graciously heard me, and
gave me a heart resigned to his holy will. Then I lessened my outward
business, and, as I
had opportunity, told my customers of my intentions, that they might
consider what
shop to turn to; and in a while I wholly laid down merchandise, and
followed my trade
as a tailor by myself, having no apprentice. I also had a nursery of
apple-trees, in which I
employed some of my time in hoeing, grafting, trimming, and
inoculating. In
merchandise it is the custom where I lived to sell chiefly on credit,
and poor people
often get in debt; when payment is expected, not having wherewith to
pay, their
creditors often sue for it at law. Having frequently observed
occurrences of this kind, I
found it good for me to advise poor people to take such goods as were
most useful, and
not costly.
In the time of trading I had an opportunity
of seeing that the too liberal use of spirituous liquors and the custom
of wearing too
costly apparel led some people into great inconveniences; and that
these two things
appear to be often connected with each other. By not attending to that
use of things
which is consistent with universal righteousness, there is an increase
of labor which
extends beyond what our Heavenly Father intends for us. And by great
labor, and often
of much sweating, there is even among such as are not drunkards a
craving of liquors to
revive the spirits; that partly by the luxurious drinking of some, and
partly by the
drinking of others (led to it through immoderate labor), very great
quantities of rum are
every year expended in our colonies; the greater part of which we
should have no need
of, did we steadily attend to pure wisdom.
When men
take pleasure in feeling their minds elevated with strong drink, and so
indulge their
appetite as to disorder their understandings, neglect their duty as
members of a family or
civil society, and cast off all regard to religion, their case is much
to be pitied. And where
those whose lives are for the most part regular, and whose examples
have a strong
influence on the minds of others, adhere to some customs which
powerfully draw to
the use of more strong liquor than pure wisdom allows, it hinders the
spreading of the
spirit of meekness, and strengthens the hands of the more excessive
drinkers. This is a
case to be lamented.
Every degree of luxury hath some
connection with evil; and if those who profess to be disciples of
Christ, and are looked
upon as leaders of the people, have that mind in them which was also in
Christ, and so
stand separate from every wrong way, it is a means of help to the
weaker. As I have
sometimes been much spent in the heat and have taken spirits to revive
me, I have
found by experience, that in such circumstances the mind is not so
calm, nor so fitly
disposed for Divine meditation, as when all such extremes are avoided.
I have felt an
increasing care to attend to that Holy Spirit which sets right bounds
to our desires, and
leads those who faithfully follow it to apply all the gifts of Divine
Providence to the
purposes for which they were intended. Did those who have the care of
great estates
attend with singleness of heart to this heavenly Instructor, which so
opens and enlarges
the mind as to cause men to love their neighbors as themselves, they
would have
wisdom given them to manage their concerns, without employing some
people in
providing luxuries of life, or others in laboring too hard; but for
want of steadily
regarding this principle of Divine love, a selfish spirit takes place
in the minds of
people, which is attended with darkness and manifold confusions in the
world.
Though trading in things useful is an honest
employ,
yet through the great number of superfluities which are bought and
sold, and through
the corruption of the times, they who apply to merchandise for a living
have great need
to be well experienced in that precept which the Prophet Jeremiah laid
down for his
scribe: "Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not."
In the winter this year I was engaged with
friends in
visiting families, and through the goodness of the Lord we often- times
experienced his
heart-tendering presence amongst us.
A
Copy of a Letter
written to a Friend.
"In this, thy late affliction, I have found a
deep
fellow- feeling with thee, and have had a secret hope throughout that
it might please
the Father of Mercies to raise thee up and sanctify thy troubles to
thee; that thou being
more fully acquainted with that way which the world esteems foolish,
mayst feel the
clothing of Divine fortitude, and be strengthened to resist that spirit
which leads from
the simplicity of the everlasting truth.
"We may
see ourselves crippled and halting, and from a strong bias to things
pleasant and easy
find an impossibility to advance forward; but things impossible with
men are possible
with God; and our wills being made subject to his, all temptations are
surmountable.
"This work of subjecting the will is compared
to
the mineral in the furnace, which, through fervent heat, is reduced
from its first
principle: 'He refines them as silver is refined; he shall sit as a
refiner and purifier of
silver.' By these comparisons we are instructed in the necessity of the
melting operation
of the hand of God upon us, to prepare our hearts truly to adore him,
and manifest that
adoration by inwardly turning away from that spirit, in all its
workings, which is not of
him. To forward this work the all-wise God is sometimes pleased,
through outward
distress, to bring us near the gates of death; that life being painful
and afflicting, and the
prospect of eternity opened before us, all earthly bonds may be
loosened, and the mind
prepared for that deep and sacred instruction which otherwise would not
be received. If
kind parents love their children and delight in their happiness, then
he who is perfect
goodness in sending abroad mortal contagions doth assuredly direct
their use. Are the
righteous removed by it? their change is happy. Are the wicked taken
away in their
wickedness? the Almighty is clear. Do we pass through with anguish and
great
bitterness, and yet recover? He intends that we should be purged from
dross, and our ear
opened to discipline.
"And now, as thou art again
restored, after thy sore affliction and doubts of recovery, forget not
Him who hath
helped thee, but in humble gratitude hold fast his instructions, and
thereby shun those
by-paths which lead from the firm foundation. I am sensible of that
variety of company
to which one in thy business must be exposed; I have painfully felt the
force of
conversation proceeding from men deeply rooted in an earthly mind, and
can
sympathize with others in such conflicts, because much weakness still
attends me.
"I find that to be a fool as to worldly wisdom,
and
to commit my cause to God, not fearing to offend men, who take offence
at the
simplicity of truth, is the only way to remain unmoved at the
sentiments of others.
"The fear of man brings a snare. By halting in
our
duty, and giving back in the time of trial, our hands grow weaker, our
spirits get
mingled with the people, our ears grow dull as to hearing the language
of the true
Shepherd, so that when we look at the way of the righteous, it seems as
though it was
not for us to follow them.
"A love clothes my
mind while I write, which is superior to all expression; and I find my
heart open to
encourage to a holy emulation, to advance forward in Christian
firmness. Deep
humility is a strong bulwark, and as we enter into it we find safety
and true exaltation.
The foolishness of God is wiser than man, and the weakness of God is
stronger than
man. Being unclothed of our own wisdom, and knowing the abasement of
the creature,
we find that power to arise which gives health and vigor to us."
C H A P T E R
IV.
1757, 1758. Visit to
the Families of Friends at Burlington -- Journey to Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Virginia,
and North Carolina -- Considerations on the State of Friends there, and
the Exercise he
was under in Travelling among those so generally concerned in keeping
Slaves, with
some Observations on this Subject -- Epistle to Friends at New Garden
and Crane Creek
-- Thoughts on the Neglect of a Religious Care in the Education of the
Negroes.
HIRTEENTH fifth month, 1757. -- Being in
good health, and abroad with Friends visiting families, I lodged at a
Friend's house in
Burlington. Going to bed about the time usual with me, I awoke in the
night, and my
meditations, as I lay, were on the goodness and mercy of the Lord, in a
sense whereof
my heart was contrited. After this I went to sleep again; in a short
time I awoke; it was
yet dark, and no appearance of day or moonshine, and as I opened mine
eyes I saw a
light in my chamber, at the apparent distance of five feet, about nine
inches in diameter,
of a clear, easy brightness, and near its centre the most radiant. As I
lay still looking
upon it without any surprise, words were spoken to my inward ear, which
filled my
whole inward man. They were not the effect of thought, nor any
conclusion in relation
to the appearance, but as the language of the Holy One spoken in my
mind. The words
were, CERTAIN EVIDENCE OF DIVINE TRUTH. They were again repeated
exactly in
the same manner, and then the light disappeared.
Feeling the exercise in relation to a visit to
the
Southern Provinces to increase upon me, I acquainted our Monthly
Meeting therewith,
and obtained their certificate. Expecting to go alone, one of my
brothers who lived in
Philadelphia, having some business in North Carolina, proposed going
with me part of
the way; but as he had a view of some outward affairs, to accept of him
as a companion
was some difficulty with me, whereupon I had conversation with him at
sundry times.
At length feeling easy in my mind, I had conversation with several
elderly Friends of
Philadelphia on the subject, and he obtaining a certificate suitable to
the occasion, we set
off in the fifth month, 1757. Coming to Nottingham week-day meeting, we
lodged at
John Churchman's, where I met with our friend, Benjamin Buffington,
from New
England, who was returning from a visit to the Southern Provinces.
Thence we crossed
the river Susquehanna, and lodged at William Cox's in Maryland.
Soon after I entered this province a deep and
painful
exercise came upon me, which I often had some feeling of, since my mind
was drawn
toward these parts, and with which I had acquainted my brother before
we agreed to join
as companions. As the people in this and the Southern Provinces live
much on the
labor of slaves, many of whom are used hardly, my concern was that I
might attend with
singleness of heart to the voice of the true Shepherd and be so
supported as to remain
unmoved at the faces of men.
As it is common for
Friends on such a visit to have entertainment free of cost, a
difficulty arose in my mind
with respect to saving my money by kindness received from what appeared
to me to be
the gain of oppression. Receiving a gift, considered as a gift, brings
the receiver under
obligations to the benefactor, and has a natural tendency to draw the
obliged into a party
with the giver. To prevent difficulties of this kind, and to preserve
the minds of judges
from any bias, was that Divine prohibition: "Thou shalt not receive any
gift; for a
gift bindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous."
(Exod. xxiii. 8.)
As the disciples were sent forth without any provision for their
journey, and our Lord
said the workman is worthy of his meat, their labor in the gospel was
considered as a
reward for their entertainment, and therefore not received as a gift;
yet, in regard to my
present journey, I could not see my way clear in that respect. The
difference appeared
thus: the entertainment the disciples met with was from them whose
hearts God had
opened to receive them, from a love to them and the truth they
published; but we,
considered as members of the same religious society, look upon it as a
piece of civility to
receive each other in such visits; and such receptions, at times, is
partly in regard to
reputation, and not from an inward unity of heart and spirit. Conduct
is more
convincing than language, and where people, by their actions, manifest
that the
slave-trade is not so disagreeable to their principles but that it may
be encouraged, there
is not a sound uniting with some Friends who visit them.
The prospect of so weighty a work, and of being
so
distinguished from many whom I esteemed before myself, brought me very
low, and
such were the conflicts of my soul that I had a near sympathy with the
Prophet, in the
time of his weakness, when he said: "If thou deal thus with me, kill
me, I pray
thee, if I have found favor in thy sight." (Num. xi. 15.) But I soon
saw that this
proceeded from the want of a full resignation to the Divine will. Many
were the
afflictions which attended me, and in great abasement, with many tears,
my cries were
to the Almighty for his gracious and fatherly assistance, and after a
time of deep trial I
was favored to understand the state mentioned by the Psalmist more
clearly than ever I
had done before; to wit: "My soul is even as a weaned child." (Psalm
cxxxi. 2.)
Being thus helped to sink down into resignation, I felt a deliverance
from that tempest
in which I had been sorely exercised, and in calmness of mind went
forward, trusting
that the Lord Jesus Christ, as I faithfully attended to him, would be a
counsellor to me in
all difficulties, and that by His strength I should be enabled even to
leave money with
the members of society where I had entertainment, when I found that
omitting it would
obstruct that work to which I believed He had called me. As I copy this
after my return, I
may here add, that oftentimes I did so under a sense of duty. The way
in which I did it
was thus: when I expected soon to leave a Friend's house where I had
entertainment, if I
believed that I should not keep clear from the gain of oppression
without leaving
money, I spoke to one of the heads of the family privately, and desired
them to accept of
those pieces of silver, and give them to such of their negroes as they
believed would
make the best use of them; and at other times I gave them to the
negroes myself, as the
way looked clearest to me. Before I came out, I had provided a large
number of small
pieces for this purpose and thus offering them to some who appeared to
be wealthy
people was a trial both to me and them. But the fear of the Lord so
covered me at times
that my way was made easier than I expected; and few, if any,
manifested any
resentment at the offer, and most of them, after some conversation,
accepted of them.
Ninth of fifth month. -- A Friend at whose
house we
breakfasted setting us a little on our way, I had conversation with
him, in the fear of the
Lord, concerning his slaves, in which my heart was tender; I used much
plainness of
speech with him, and he appeared to take it kindly. We pursued our
journey without
appointing meetings, being pressed in my mind to be at the Yearly
Meeting in Virginia.
In my travelling on the road, I often felt a cry rise from the centre
of my mind, thus:
"O Lord, I am a stranger on the earth, hide not thy face from me." On
the
11th, we crossed the rivers Patowmack and Rapahannock, and lodged at
Port Royal. On
the way we had the company of a colonel of the militia, who appeared to
be a thoughtful
man. I took occasion to remark on the difference in general betwixt a
people used to
labor moderately for their living, training up their children in
frugality and business,
and those who live on the labor of slaves; the former, in my view,
being the most happy
life. He concurred in the remark, and mentioned the trouble arising
from the untoward,
slothful disposition of the negroes, adding that one of our laborers
would do as much in
a day as two of their slaves. I replied, that free men, whose minds
were properly on their
business, found a satisfaction in improving, cultivating, and providing
for their
families; but negroes, laboring to support others who claim them as
their property, and
expecting nothing but slavery during life, had not the like inducement
to be
industrious.
After some further conversation I said,
that men having power too often misapplied it; that though we made
slaves of the
negroes, and the Turks made slaves of the Christians, I believed that
liberty was the
natural right of all men equally. This he did not deny, but said the
lives of the negroes
were so wretched in their own country that many of them lived better
here than there. I
replied, "There is great odds in regard to us on what principle we
act"; and so
the conversation on that subject ended. I may here add that another
person, some time
afterwards, mentioned the wretchedness of the negroes, occasioned by
their intestine
wars, as an argument in favor of our fetching them away for slaves. To
which I replied,
if compassion for the Africans, on account of their domestic troubles,
was the real
motive of our purchasing them, that spirit of tenderness being attended
to, would incite
us to use them kindly that, as strangers brought out of affliction,
their lives might be
happy among us. And as they are human creatures, whose souls are as
precious as ours,
and who may receive the same help and comfort from the Holy Scriptures
as we do, we
could not omit suitable endeavors to instruct them therein; but that
while we manifest
by our conduct that our views in purchasing them are to advance
ourselves, and while
our buying captives taken in war animates those parties to push on the
war, and
increase desolation amongst them, to say they live unhappily in Africa
is far from being
an argument in our favor. I further said, the present circumstances of
these provinces to
me appear difficult; the slaves look like a burdensome stone to such as
burden
themselves with them; and that if the white people retain a resolution
to prefer their
outward prospects of gain to all other considerations, and do not act
conscientiously
toward them as fellow-creatures, I believe that burden will grow
heavier and heavier,
until times change in a way disagreeable to us. The person appeared
very serious, and
owned that in considering their condition and the manner of their
treatment in these
provinces he had sometimes thought it might be just in the Almighty so
to order it.
Having travelled through Maryland, we came
amongst
Friends at Cedar Creek in Virginia, on the 12th; and the next day rode,
in company with
several of them, a day's journey to Camp Creek. As I was riding along
in the morning,
my mind was deeply affected in a sense I had of the need of Divine aid
to support me in
the various difficulties which attended me, and in uncommon distress of
mind I cried
in secret to the Most High, "O Lord be merciful, I beseech thee, to thy
poor afflicted
creature!" After some time, I felt inward relief, and, soon after, a
Friend in
company began to talk in support of the slave-trade, and said the
negroes were
understood to be the offspring of Cain, their blackness being the mark
which God set
upon him after he murdered Abel his brother; that it was the design of
Providence they
should be slaves, as a condition proper to the race of so wicked a man
as Cain was. Then
another spake in support of what had been said. To all which I replied
in substance as
follows: that Noah and his family were all who survived the flood,
according to
Scripture; and as Noah was of Seth's race, the family of Cain was
wholly destroyed. One
of them said that after the flood Ham went to the land of Nod and took
a wife; that Nod
was a land far distant, inhabited by Cain's race, and that the flood
did not reach it; and as
Ham was sentenced to be a servant of servants to his brethren, these
two families, being
thus joined, were undoubtedly fit only for slaves. I replied, the flood
was a judgment
upon the world for their abominations, and it was granted that Cain's
stock was the
most wicked, and therefore unreasonable to suppose that they were
spared. As to Ham's
going to the land of Nod for a wife, no time being fixed, Nod might be
inhabited by
some of Noah's family before Ham married a second time; moreover the
text saith
"That all flesh died that moved upon the earth." (Gen. vii. 21.) I
further
reminded them how the prophets repeatedly declare "that the son shall
not suffer
for the iniquity of the father, but every one be answerable for his own
sins." I was
troubled to perceive the darkness of their imaginations, and in some
pressure of spirit
said, "The love of ease and gain are the motives in general of keeping
slaves, and
men are wont to take hold of weak arguments to support a cause which is
unreasonable.
I have no interest on either side, save only the interest which I
desire to have in the
truth I believe liberty is their right, and as I see they are not only
deprived of it, but
treated in other respects with inhumanity in many places, I believe He
who is a refuge
for the oppressed will, in his own time, plead their cause, and happy
will it be for such
as walk in uprightness before him." And thus our conversation ended.
Fourteenth of fifth month. -- I was this day at
Camp
Creek Monthly Meeting, and then rode to the mountains up James River,
and had a
meeting at a Friend's house, in both which I felt sorrow of heart, and
my tears were
poured out before the Lord, who was pleased to afford a degree of
strength by which way
was opened to clear my mind amongst Friends in those places. From
thence I went to
Fork Creek, and so to Cedar Creek again, at which place I now had a
meeting. Here I
found a tender seed, and as I was preserved in the ministry to keep low
with the truth,
the same truth in their hearts answered it, that it was a time of
mutual refreshment
from the presence of the Lord. I lodged at James Standley's, father of
William Standley,
one of the young men who suffered imprisonment at Winchester last
summer on
account of their testimony against fighting, and I had some
satisfactory conversation
with him concerning it. Hence I went to the Swamp Meeting, and to
Wayanoke
Meeting, and then crossed James River, and lodged near Burleigh. From
the time of my
entering Maryland I have been much under sorrow, which of late so
increased upon me
that my mind was almost overwhelmed, and I may say with the Psalmist,
"In my
distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God," who, in infinite
goodness,
looked upon my affliction, and in my private retirement sent the
Comforter for my
relief, for which I humbly bless His holy name.
The
sense I had of the state of the churches brought a weight of distress
upon me. The gold to
me appeared dim, and the fine gold changed, and though this is the case
too generally,
yet the sense of it in these parts hath in a particular manner borne
heavy upon me. It
appeared to me that through the prevailing of the spirit of this world
the minds of
many were brought to an inward desolation, and instead of the spirit of
meekness,
gentleness, and heavenly wisdom, which are the necessary companions of
the true
sheep of Christ, a spirit of fierceness and the love of dominion too
generally prevailed.
From small beginnings in error great buildings by degrees are raised,
and from one age
to another are more and more strengthened by the general concurrence of
the people;
and as men obtain reputation by their profession of the truth, their
virtues are
mentioned as arguments in favor of general error; and those of less
note, to justify
themselves, say, such and such good men did the like. By what other
steps could the
people of Judah arise to that height in wickedness as to give just
ground for the Prophet
Isaiah to declare, in the name of the Lord, "that none calleth for
justice, nor any
pleadeth for truth" (Isa. lix. 4), or for the Almighty to call upon the
great city of
Jerusalem just before the Babylonish captivity, "If ye can find a man,
if there be
any who executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth, and I will pardon
it"? (Jer. v.
1.)
The prospect of a way being open to the same
degeneracy, in some parts of this newly settled land of America, in
respect to our
conduct towards the negroes, hath deeply bowed my mind in this journey,
and though
briefly to relate how these people are treated is no agreeable work,
yet, after often reading
over the notes I made as I travelled, I find my mind engaged to
preserve them. Many of
the white people in those provinces take little or no care of negro
marriages; and when
negroes marry after their own way, some make so little account of those
marriages that
with views of outward interest they often part men from their wives by
selling them far
asunder, which is common when estates are sold by executors at vendue.
Many whose
labor is heavy being followed at their business in the field by a man
with a whip, hired
for that purpose, have in common little else allowed but one peck of
Indian corn and
some salt, for one week, with a few potatoes; the potatoes they
commonly raise by their
labor on the first day of the week. The correction ensuing on their
disobedience to
overseers, or slothfulness in business, is often very severe, and
sometimes desperate.
Men and women have many times scarcely clothes
sufficient to hide their nakedness, and boys and girls ten and twelve
years old are often
quite naked amongst their master's children. Some of our Society, and
some of the
society called Newlights, use some endeavors to instruct those they
have in reading; but
in common this is not only neglected, but disapproved. These are the
people by whose
labor the other inhabitants are in a great measure supported, and many
of them in the
luxuries of life. These are the people who have made no agreement to
serve us, and
who have not forfeited their liberty that we know of. These are the
souls for whom
Christ died, and for our conduct towards them we must answer before Him
who is no
respecter of persons. They who know the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom he hath
sent, and are thus acquainted with the merciful, benevolent, gospel
spirit, will therein
perceive that the indignation of God is kindled against oppression and
cruelty, and in
beholding the great distress of so numerous a people will find cause
for mourning.
From my lodgings I went to Burleigh Meeting,
where I
felt my mind drawn in a quiet, resigned state. After a long silence I
felt an engagement
to stand up, and through the powerful operation of Divine love we were
favored with
an edifying meeting. The next meeting we had was at Black- Water, and
from thence
went to the Yearly Meeting at the Western Branch. When business began,
some queries
were introduced by some of their members for consideration, and, if
approved, they
were to be answered hereafter by their respective Monthly Meetings.
They were the
Pennsylvania queries, which had been examined by a committee of
Virginia Yearly
Meeting appointed the last year, who made some alterations in them, one
of which
alterations was made in favor of a custom which troubled me. The query
was,
"Are there any concerned in the importation of negroes, or in buying
them after
imported?" which was thus altered, "Are there any concerned in the
importation of negroes, or buying them to trade in?" As one query
admitted with
unanimity was, "Are any concerned in buying or vending goods unlawfully
imported, or prize goods?" I found my mind engaged to say that as we
profess the
truth, and were there assembled to support the testimony of it, it was
necessary for us to
dwell deep and act in that wisdom which is pure, or otherwise we could
not prosper. I
then mentioned their alteration, and referring to the last-mentioned
query, added, that
as purchasing any merchandise taken by the sword was always allowed to
be
inconsistent with our principles, so negroes being captives of war, or
taken by stealth, it
was inconsistent with our testimony to buy them; and their being our
fellow-creatures,
and sold as slaves, added greatly to the iniquity. Friends appeared
attentive to what was
said; some expressed a care and concern about their negroes; none made
any objection,
by way of reply to what I said, but the query was admitted as they had
altered it.
As some of their members have heretofore traded
in
negroes, as in other merchandise, this query being admitted will be one
step further
than they have hitherto gone, and I did not see it my duty to press for
an alteration, but
felt easy to leave it all to Him who alone is able to turn the hearts
of the mighty, and
make way for the spreading of truth on the earth, by means agreeable to
his infinite
wisdom. In regard to those they already had, I felt my mind engaged to
labor with them.
and said that as we believe the Scriptures were given forth by holy
men, as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost, and many of us know by experience that they
are often
helpful and comfortable, and believe ourselves bound in duty to teach
our children to
read them; I believed that if we were divested of all selfish views,
the same good spirit
that gave them forth would engage us to teach the negroes to read, that
they might have
the benefit of them. Some present manifested a concern to take more
care in the
education of their negroes.
Twenty-ninth fifth month.
-- At the house where I lodged was a meeting of ministers and elders. I
found an
engagement to speak freely and plainly to them concerning their slaves;
mentioning
how they as the first rank in the society, whose conduct in that case
was much noticed by
others, were under the stronger obligations to look carefully to
themselves. Expressing
how needful it was for them in that situation to be thoroughly divested
of all selfish
views; that, living in the pure truth, and acting conscientiously
towards those people in
their education and otherwise, they might be instrumental in helping
forward a work so
exceedingly necessary, and so much neglected amongst them. At the
twelfth hour the
meeting of worship began, which was a solid meeting.
The next day, about the tenth hour, Friends met
to
finish their business, and then the meeting for worship ensued, which
to me was a
laborious time; but through the goodness of the Lord, truth, I
believed, gained some
ground, and it was a strengthening opportunity to the honest-hearted.
About this time I wrote an epistle to Friends
in the back
settlements of North Carolina, as follows: --
TO
FRIENDS
AT THEIR MONTHLY MEETING AT NEW GAR-
DEN AND CANE CREEK, IN
NORTH CAROLINA: --
DEAR FRIENDS, -- It having pleased the Lord to
draw
me forth on a visit to some parts of Virginia and Carolina, you have
often been in my
mind; and though my way is not clear to come in person to visit you,
yet I feel it in my
heart to communicate a few things, as they arise in the love of truth.
First, my dear
friends, dwell in humility; and take heed that no views of outward gain
get too deep
hold of you, that so your eyes being single to the Lord, you may be
preserved in the way
of safety. Where people let loose their minds after the love of outward
things, and are
more engaged in pursuing the profits and seeking the friendships of
this world than to
be inwardly acquainted with the way of true peace, they walk in a vain
shadow, while
the true comfort of life is wanting. Their examples are often hurtful
to others; and their
treasures thus collected do many times prove dangerous snares to their
children.
But where people are sincerely devoted to
follow
Christ, and dwell under the influence of his Holy Spirit, their
stability and firmness,
through a Divine blessing, is at times like dew on the tender plants
round about them,
and the weightiness of their spirits secretly works on the minds of
others. In this
condition, through the spreading influence of Divine love, they feel a
care over the
flock, and way is opened for maintaining good order in the Society. And
though we may
meet with opposition from another spirit, yet, as there is a dwelling
in meekness,
feeling our spirits subject, and moving only in the gentle, peaceable
wisdom, the inward
reward of quietness will be greater than all our difficulties. Where
the pure life is kept
to, and meetings of discipline are held in the authority of it, we find
by experience that
they are comfortable, and tend to the health of the body.
While I write, the youth come fresh in my way.
Dear
young people, choose God for your portion; love his truth, and be not
ashamed of it;
choose for your company such as serve him in uprightness; and shun as
most
dangerous the conversation of those whose lives are of an ill savor;
for by frequenting
such company some hopeful young people have come to great loss, and
been drawn
from less evils to greater, to their utter ruin. In the bloom of youth
no ornament is so
lovely as that of virtue, nor any enjoyments equal to those which we
partake of in fully
resigning ourselves to the Divine will. These enjoyments add sweetness
to all other
comforts, and give true satisfaction in company and conversation, where
people are
mutually acquainted with it; and as your minds are thus seasoned with
the truth, you
will find strength to abide steadfast to the testimony of it, and be
prepared for services in
the church.
And now, dear friends and brethren, as you
are improving a wilderness, and may be numbered amongst the first
planters in one
part of a province, I beseech you, in the love of Jesus Christ, wisely
to consider the force
of your examples, and think how much your successors may be thereby
affected. It is a
help in a country, yea, and a great favor and blessing, when customs
first settled are
agreeable to sound wisdom; but when they are otherwise the effect of
them is grievous;
and children feel themselves encompassed with difficulties prepared for
them by their
predecessors.
As moderate care and exercise, under the
direction of true wisdom, are useful both to mind and body, so by these
means in
general the real wants of life are easily supplied, our gracious Father
having so
proportioned one to the other that keeping in the medium we may pass on
quietly.
Where slaves are purchased to do our labor numerous difficulties attend
it. To rational
creatures bondage is uneasy, and frequently occasions sourness and
discontent in them;
which affects the family and such as claim the mastery over them. Thus
people and
their children are many times encompassed with vexations, which arise
from their
applying to wrong methods to get a living.
I have been
informed that there is a large number of Friends in your parts who have
no slaves; and
in tender and most affectionate love I beseech you to keep clear from
purchasing any.
Look, my dear friends, to Divine Providence, and follow in simplicity
that exercise of
body, that plainness and frugality, which true wisdom leads to; so may
you be preserved
from those dangers which attend such as are aiming at outward ease and
greatness.
Treasures, though small, attained on a true
principle of
virtue, are sweet; and while we walk in the light of the Lord there is
true comfort and
satisfaction in the possession; neither the murmurs of an oppressed
people, nor a
throbbing, uneasy conscience, nor anxious thoughts about the events of
things, hinder
the enjoyment of them.
When we look towards the
end of life, and think on the division of our substance among our
successors, if we
know that it was collected in the fear of the Lord, in honesty, in
equity, and in
uprightness of heart before him, we may consider it as his gift to us,
and with a single
eye to his blessing, bestow it on those we leave behind us. Such is the
happiness of the
plain ways of true virtue. "The work of righteousness shall be peace;
and the effect
of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever." (Isa. xxxii. 17.)
Dwell here, my dear friends; and then in remote
and
solitary deserts you may find true peace and satisfaction. If the Lord
be our God, in truth
and reality, there is safety for us: for he is a stronghold in the day
of trouble, and
knoweth them that trust in him.
ISLE
OF WIGHT COUNTY, in Virginia,
20th
of the 5th month, 1757.
From
the Yearly Meeting in Virginia I went to Carolina, and on the first of
sixth month was at
Wells Monthly Meeting, where the spring of the gospel ministry was
opened, and the
love of Jesus Christ experienced among us; to his name be the praise.
Here my brother joined with some Friends from
New
Garden who were going homeward; and I went next to Simons Creek Monthly
Meeting,
where I was silent during the meeting for worship. When business came
on, my mind
was exercised concerning the poor slaves, but I did not feel my way
clear to speak. In this
condition I was bowed in spirit before the Lord, and with tears and
inward supplication
besought him so to open my understanding that I might know his will
concerning me;
and, at length, my mind was settled in silence. Near the end of their
business a member
of their meeting expressed a concern that had some time lain upon him,
on account of
Friends so much neglecting their duty in the education of their slaves,
and proposed
having meetings sometimes appointed for them on a weekday, to be
attended only by
some Friends to be named in their Monthly Meetings. Many present
appeared to unite
with the proposal. One said he had often wondered that they, being our
fellow-creatures,
and capable of religious understanding, had been so exceedingly
neglected; another
expressed the like concern, and appeared zealous that in future it
might be more closely
considered. At length a minute was made, and the further consideration
of it referred to
their next Monthly Meeting. The Friend who made this proposal hath
negroes; he told
me that he was at New Garden, about two hundred and fifty miles from
home, and
came back alone; that in this solitary journey this exercise, in regard
to the education of
their negroes, was from time to time renewed in his mind. A Friend of
some note in
Virginia, who hath slaves, told me that he being far from home on a
lonesome journey
had many serious thoughts about them; and his mind was so impressed
therewith that
he believed he saw a time coming when Divine Providence would alter the
circumstance of these people, respecting their condition as slaves.
From hence I went to a meeting at Newbegun
Creek,
and sat a considerable time in much weakness; then I felt truth open
the way to speak a
little in much plainness and simplicity, till at length, through the
increase of Divine
love amongst us, we had a seasoning opportunity. This was also the case
at the head of
Little River, where we had a crowded meeting on a first-day. I went
thence to the Old
Neck, where I was led into a careful searching out of the secret
workings of the mystery
of iniquity, which, under a cover of religion exalts itself against
that pure spirit which
leads in the way of meekness and self-denial. Pineywoods was the last
meeting I was at
in Carolina; it was large, and my heart being deeply engaged, I was
drawn forth into a
fervent labor amongst them.
When I was at Newbegun
Creek a Friend was there who labored for his living, having no negroes,
and who had
been a minister many years. He came to me the next day, and as we rode
together, he
signified that he wanted to talk with me concerning a difficulty he had
been under,
which he related nearly as follows: That as moneys had of late years
been raised by a tax
to carry on the wars, he had a scruple in his mind in regard to paying
it, and chose rather
to suffer restraint of his goods; but as he was the only person who
refused it in those
parts, and knew not that any one else was in the like circumstances, he
signified that it
had been a heavy trial to him, especially as some of his brethren had
been uneasy with
his conduct in that case. He added, that from a sympathy he felt with
me yesterday in
meeting, he found freedom thus to open the matter in the way of
querying concerning
Friends in our parts; I told him the state of Friends amongst us as
well as I was able, and
also that I had for some time been under the like scruple. I believed
him to be one who
was concerned to walk uprightly before the Lord, and esteemed it my
duty to preserve
this note concerning him, Samuel Newby.
From hence
I went back into Virginia, and had a meeting near James Cowpland's; it
was a time of
inward suffering, but through the goodness of the Lord I was made
content; at another
meeting, through the renewings of pure love, we had a very comfortable
season.
Travelling up and down of late, I have had
renewed
evidences that to be faithful to the Lord, and content with his will
concerning me, is a
most necessary and useful lesson for me to be learning; looking less at
the effects of my
labor than at the pure motion and reality of the concern, as it arises
from heavenly love.
In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength; and as the mind, by humble
resignation, is
united to Him, and we utter words from an inward knowledge that they
arise from the
heavenly spring, though our way may be difficult, and it may require
close attention to
keep in it, and though the matter in which we may be led may tend to
our own
abasement; yet, if we continue in patience and meekness, heavenly peace
will be the
reward of our labors.
I attended Curles Meeting, which,
though small, was reviving to the honest-hearted. Afterwards I went to
Black Creek and
Caroline Meetings, from whence, accompanied by William Standley before
mentioned, I
rode to Goose Creek, being much through the woods, and about one
hundred miles. We
lodged the first night at a public-house; the second in the woods; and
the next day we
reached a Friend's house at Goose Creek. In the woods we were under
some
disadvantage, having no fire-works nor bells for our horses, but we
stopped a little
before night and let them feed on the wild grass, which was plentiful,
in the mean time
cutting with our knives a store against night. We then secured our
horses, and
gathering some bushes under an oak we lay down; but the mosquitoes
being numerous
and the ground damp I slept but little. Thus lying in the wilderness,
and looking at the
stars, I was led to contemplate on the condition of our first parents
when they were sent
forth from the garden; how the Almighty, though they had been
disobedient, continued
to be a father to them, and showed them what tended to their felicity
as intelligent
creatures, and was acceptable to him. To provide things relative to our
outward living,
in the way of true wisdom, is good, and the gift of improving in things
useful is a good
gift, and comes from the Father of Lights. Many have had this gift; and
from age to age
there have been improvements of this kind made in the world. But some,
not keeping
to the pure gift, have in the creaturely cunning and self-exaltation
sought out many
inventions. As the first motive to these inventions of men, as distinct
from that
uprightness in which man was created, was evil, so the effects have
been and are evil. It
is, therefore, as necessary for us at this day constantly to attend on
the heavenly gift, to
be qualified to use rightly the good things in this life, amidst great
improvements, as it
was for our first parents when they were without any improvements,
without any
friend or father but God only.
I was at a meeting at
Goose Creek, and next at a Monthly Meeting at Fairfax, where, through
the gracious
dealing of the Almighty with us, his power prevailed over many hearts.
From thence I
went to Monoquacy and Pipe Creek in Maryland; at both places I had
cause humbly to
adore Him who had supported me through many exercises, and by whose
help I was
enabled to reach the true witness in the hearts of others. There were
some hopeful
young people in those parts. I had meetings afterwards at John
Everit's, in Monalen, and
at Huntingdon, and I was made humbly thankful to the Lord, who opened
my heart
amongst the people in these new settlements, so that it was a time of
encouragement to
the honest-minded.
At Monalen a Friend gave me
some account of a religious society among the Dutch called Mennonists,
and amongst
other things related a passage in substance as follows: One of the
Mennonists having
acquaintance with a man of another society at a considerable distance,
and being with
his wagon on business near the house of his said acquaintance, and
night coming on, he
had thoughts of putting up with him, but passing by his fields, and
observing the
distressed appearance of his slaves, he kindled a fire in the woods
hard by, and lay there
that night. His said acquaintance hearing where he lodged, and
afterward meeting the
Mennonist, told him of it, adding he should have been heartily welcome
at his house,
and from their acquaintance in former time wondered at his conduct in
that case. The
Mennonist replied, "Ever since I lodged by thy field I have wanted an
opportunity
to speak with thee. I had intended to come to thy house for
entertainment, but seeing
thy slaves at their work, and observing the manner of their dress, I
had no liking to
come to partake with thee." He then admonished him to use them with
more
humanity, and added, "As I lay by the fire that night, I thought that
as I was a man
of substance thou wouldst have received me freely; but if I had been as
poor as one of
thy slaves, and had no power to help myself, I should have received
from thy hand no
kinder usage than they."
In this journey I was out
about two months, and travelled about eleven hundred and fifty miles. I
returned home
under an humbling sense of the gracious dealings of the Lord with me,
in preserving
me through many trials and afflictions.
C H A P T E R
V.
1757, 1758.
Considerations on the Payment of a Tax laid for Carrying on the War
against the Indians
-- Meetings of the Committee of the Yearly Meeting at Philadelphia --
Some Notes on
Thomas a Kempis and John Huss -- The present Circumstances of Friends
in
Pennsylvania and New Jersey very Different from those of our
Predecessors -- The
Drafting of the Militia in New Jersey to serve in the Army, with some
Observations on
the State of the Members of our Society at that time -- Visit to
Friends in Pennsylvania,
accompanied by Benjamin Jones -- Proceedings at the Monthly, Quarterly,
and Yearly
Meetings in Philadelphia, respecting those who keep Slaves.
FEW years past, money being made current in our
province for
carrying on wars, and to be called in again by taxes laid on the
inhabitants, my mind was
often affected with the thoughts of paying such taxes; and I believe it
right for me to
preserve a memorandum concerning it. I was told that Friends in England
frequently
paid taxes, when the money was applied to such purposes. I had
conversation with
several noted Friends on the subject, who all favored the payment of
such taxes; some of
them I preferred before myself, and this made me easier for a time; yet
there was in the
depth of my mind a scruple which I never could get over; and at certain
times I was
greatly distressed on that account.
I believed that there
were some upright-hearted men who paid such taxes, yet could not see
that their
example was a sufficient reason for me to do so, while I believe that
the spirit of truth
required of me, as an individual, to suffer patiently the distress of
goods, rather than pay
actively.
To refuse the active payment of a tax which
our Society generally paid was exceedingly disagreeable; but to do a
thing contrary to my
conscience appeared yet more dreadful. When this exercise came upon me,
I knew of
none under the like difficulty; and in my distress I besought the Lord
to enable me to
give up all that so I might follow him wheresoever he was pleased to
lead me. Under
this exercise I went to our Yearly Meeting at Philadelphia in the year
1755; at which a
committee was appointed of some from each Quarterly Meeting, to
correspond with the
meeting for sufferers in London; and another to visit our Monthly and
Quarterly
Meetings. After their appointment, before the last adjournment of the
meeting, it was
agreed that these two committees should meet together in Friends'
school-house in the
city, to consider some things in which the cause of truth was
concerned. They
accordingly had a weighty conference in the fear of the Lord; at which
time I perceived
there were many Friends under a scruple like that before mentioned.
As scrupling to pay a tax on account of the
application
hath seldom been heard of heretofore, even amongst men of integrity,
who have
steadily borne their testimony against outward wars in their time, I
may therefore note
some things which have occurred to my mind, as I have been inwardly
exercised on that
account. From the steady opposition which faithful Friends in early
times made to
wrong things then approved, they were hated and persecuted by men
living in the spirit
of this world, and suffering with firmness, they were made a blessing
to the church, and
the work prospered. It equally concerns men in every age to take heed
to their own
spirits; and in comparing their situation with ours, to me it appears
that there was less
danger of their being infected with the spirit of this world, in paying
such taxes, than is
the case with us now. They had little or no share in civil government,
and many of
them declared that they were, through the power of God, separated from
the spirit in
which wars were, and being afflicted by the rulers on account of their
testimony, there
was less likelihood of their uniting in spirit with them in things
inconsistent with the
purity of truth. We, from the first settlement of this land, have known
little or no
troubles of that sort. The profession of our predecessors was for a
time accounted
reproachful, but at length their uprightness being understood by the
rulers, and their
innocent sufferings moving them, our way of worship was tolerated, and
many of our
members in these colonies became active in civil government. Being thus
tried with
favor and prosperity, this world appeared inviting; our minds have been
turned to the
improvement of our country, to merchandise and the sciences, amongst
which are
many things useful, if followed in pure wisdom; but in our present
condition I believe it
will not be denied that a carnal mind is gaining upon us. Some of our
members, who
are officers in civil government, are in one case or other, called upon
in their respective
stations to assist in things relative to the wars; but being in doubt
whether to act or to
crave to be excused from their office, if they see their brethren
united in the payment of
a tax to carry on the said wars, may think their case not much
different, and so might
quench the tender movings of the Holy Spirit in their minds. Thus, by
small degrees, we
might approach so near to fighting that the distinction would be little
else than the
name of a peaceable people.
It requires great self-denial
and resignation of ourselves to God, to attain that state wherein we
can freely cease from
fighting when wrongfully invaded, if, by our fighting, there were a
probability of
overcoming the invaders. Whoever rightly attains to it does in some
degree feel that
spirit in which our Redeemer gave his life for us; and through Divine
goodness many
of our predecessors, and many now living, have learned this blessed
lesson; but many
others, having their religion chiefly by education, and not being
enough acquainted
with that cross which crucifies to the world, do manifest a temper
distinguishable from
that of an entire trust in God. In calmly considering these things, it
hath not appeared
strange to me that an exercise hath now fallen upon some, which, with
respect to the
outward means, is different from what was known to many of those who
went before
us.
Some time after the Yearly Meeting, the said
committees met at Philadelphia, and, by adjournments, continued sitting
several days.
The calamities of war were now increasing; the frontier inhabitants of
Pennsylvania
were frequently surprised; some were slain, and many taken captive by
the Indians; and
while these committees sat, the corpse of one so slain was brought in a
wagon, and
taken through the streets of the city in his bloody garments, to alarm
the people and
rouse them to war.
Friends thus met were not all of
one mind in relation to the tax, which, to those who scrupled it, made
the way more
difficult. To refuse an active payment at such a time might be
construed into an act of
disloyalty, and appeared likely to displease the rulers, not only here
but in England; still
there was a scruple so fixed on the minds of many Friends that nothing
moved it. It was
a conference the most weighty that ever I was at, and the hearts of
many were bowed in
reverence before the Most High. Some Friends of the said committees who
appeared
easy to pay the tax, after several adjournments, withdrew; others of
them continued till
the last. At length an epistle of tender love and caution to Friends in
Pennsylvania was
drawn up, and being read several times and corrected, was signed by
such as were free to
sign it, and afterward sent to the Monthly and Quarterly Meetings.
Ninth of eight month, 1757. -- Orders came at
night to
the military officers in our county (Burlington), directing them to
draft the militia, and
prepare a number of men to go off as soldiers, to the relief of the
English at Fort William
Henry, in New York government; a few days after which, there was a
general review of
the militia at Mount Holly, and a number of men were chosen and sent
off under some
officers. Shortly after, there came orders to draft three times as
many, who were to hold
themselves in readiness to march when fresh orders came. On the 17th
there was a
meeting of the military officers at Mount Holly, who agreed on draft;
orders were sent to
the men so chosen to meet their respective captains at set times and
places, those in our
township to meet at Mount Holly, amongst whom were a considerable
number of our
Society. My mind being affected herewith, I had fresh opportunity to
see and consider
the advantage of living in the real substance of religion, where
practice doth harmonize
with principle. Amongst the officers are men of understanding, who have
some regard
to sincerity where they see it; and when such in the execution of their
office have men
to deal with whom they believe to be upright-hearted, it is a painful
task to put them to
trouble on account of scruples of conscience, and they will be likely
to avoid it as much
as easily may be. But where men profess to be so meek and
heavenly-minded, and to
have their trust so firmly settled in God that they cannot join in
wars, and yet by their
spirit and conduct in common life manifest a contrary disposition,
their difficulties are
great at such a time.
When officers who are anxiously
endeavoring to get troops to answer the demands of their superiors see
men who are
insincere pretend scruple of conscience in hopes of being excused from
a dangerous
employment, it is likely they will be roughly handled. In this time of
commotion some
of our young men left these parts and tarried abroad till it was over;
some came, and
proposed to go as soldiers; others appeared to have a real tender
scruple in their minds
against joining in wars, and were much humbled under the apprehension
of a trial so
near. I had conversation with several of them to my satisfaction. When
the captain
came to town, some of the last-mentioned went and told him in substance
as follows:
That they could not bear arms for conscience' sake; nor could they hire
any to go in their
places, being resigned as to the event. At length the captain
acquainted them all that
they might return home for the present, but he required them to provide
themselves as
soldiers, and be in readiness to march when called upon. This was such
a time as I had
not seen before; and yet I may say, with thankfulness to the Lord, that
I believed the trial
was intended for our good; and I was favored with resignation to him.
The French army
having taken the fort they were besieging, destroyed it and went away;
the company of
men who were first drafted, after some days' march, had orders to
return home, and
those on the second draft were no more called upon on that occasion.
Fourth of fourth month, 1758. -- Orders came to
some
officers in Mount Holly to prepare quarters for a short time for about
one hundred
soldiers. An officer and two other men, all inhabitants of our town
came to my house.
The officer told me that he came to desire me to provide lodging and
entertainment for
two soldiers, and that six shillings a week per man would be allowed as
pay for it. The
case being new and unexpected I made no answer suddenly, but sat a time
silent, my
mind being inward. I was fully convinced that the proceedings in wars
are inconsistent
with the purity of the Christian religion; and to be hired to entertain
men, who were
then under pay as soldiers, was a difficulty with me. I expected they
had legal authority
for what they did; and after a short time I said to the officer, if the
men are sent here for
entertainment I believe I shall not refuse to admit them into my house,
but the nature
of the case is such that I expect I cannot keep them on hire; one of
the men intimated
that he thought I might do it consistently with my religious
principles. To which I made
no reply, believing silence at that time best for me. Though they spake
of two, there
came only one, who tarried at my house about two weeks, and behaved
himself civilly.
When the officer came to pay me, I told him I could not take pay,
having admitted him
into my house in a passive obedience to authority. I was on horseback
when he spake to
me, and as I turned from him, he said he was obliged to me; to which I
said nothing;
but, thinking on the expression, I grew uneasy; and afterwards, being
near where he
lived, I went and told him on what grounds I refused taking pay for
keeping the soldier.
I have been informed that Thomas a Kempis lived
and
died in the profession of the Roman Catholic religion; and, in reading
his writings, I
have believed him to be a man of a true Christian spirit, as fully so
as many who died
martyrs because they could not join with some superstitions in that
church. All true
Christians are of the same spirit, but their gifts are diverse, Jesus
Christ appointing to
each one his peculiar office, agreeably to his infinite wisdom.
John Huss contended against the errors which
had
crept into the church, in opposition to the Council of Constance, which
the historian
reports to have consisted of some thousand persons. He modestly
vindicated the cause
which he believed was right; and though his language and conduct
towards his judges
appear to have been respectful, yet he never could be moved from the
principles settled
in his mind. To use his own words: "This I most humbly require and
desire of you
all, even for his sake who is the God of us all, that I be not
compelled to the thing which
my conscience doth repugn or strive against." And again, in his answer
to the
Emperor: "I refuse nothing, most noble Emperor, whatsoever the council
shall
decree or determine upon me, only this one thing I except, that I do
not offend God and
my conscience." At length, rather than act contrary to that which he
believed the
Lord required of him, he chose to suffer death by fire. Thomas a
Kempis, without
disputing against the articles then generally agreed to, appears to
have labored, by a
pious example as well as by preaching and writing, to promote virtue
and the inward
spiritual religion; and I believe they were both sincere-hearted
followers of Christ. True
charity is an excellent virtue; and sincerely to labor for their good,
whose belief in all
points doth not agree with ours, is a happy state.
Near
the beginning of the year 1758, I went one evening, in company with a
friend, to visit a
sick person; and before our return we were told of a woman living near,
who had for
several days been disconsolate, occasioned by a dream, wherein death,
and the
judgments of the Almighty after death, were represented to her mind in
a moving
manner. Her sadness on that account being worn off, the friend with
whom I was in
company went to see her, and had some religious conversation with her
and her
husband. With this visit they were somewhat affected, and the man, with
many tears,
expressed his satisfaction. In a short time after the poor man, being
on the river in a
storm of wind, was with one more drowned.
Eighth
month, 1758. -- Having had drawings in my mind to be at the Quarterly
Meeting in
Chester County, and at some meetings in the county of Philadelphia, I
went first to said
Quarterly Meeting, which was large. Several weighty matters came under
consideration
and debate, and the Lord was pleased to qualify some of his servants
with strength and
firmness to bear the burden of the day. Though I said but little, my
mind was deeply
exercised; and, under a sense of God's love, in the anointing and
fitting of some young
men for his work, I was comforted, and my heart was tendered before
him. From hence
I went to the Youth's Meeting at Darby, where my beloved friend and
brother Benjamin
Jones met me by appointment before I left home, to join in the visit.
We were at
Radnor, Merion, Richland, North Wales, Plymouth, and Abington meetings,
and had
cause to bow in reverence before the Lord, our gracious God, by whose
help way was
opened for us from day to day. I was out about two weeks, and rode
about two hundred
miles.
The Monthly Meeting of Philadelphia having
been under a concern on account of some Friends who this summer (1758)
had bought
negro slaves, proposed to their Quarterly Meeting to have the minute
reconsidered in
the Yearly Meeting, which was made last on that subject, and the said
Quarterly Meeting
appointed a committee to consider it, and to report to their next. This
committee having
met once and adjourned, and I, going to Philadelphia to meet a
committee of the Yearly
Meeting, was in town the evening on which the Quarterly Meeting's
committee met the
second time, and finding an inclination to sit with them, I, with some
others, was
admitted, and Friends had a weighty conference on the subject. Soon
after their next
Quarterly meeting I heard that the case was coming to our Yearly
Meeting. This brought
a weighty exercise upon me, and under a sense of my own infirmities,
and the great
danger I felt of turning aside from perfect purity, my mind was often
drawn to retire
alone, and put up my prayers to the Lord that he would be graciously
pleased to
strengthen me; that setting aside all views of self-interest and the
friendship of this
world, I might stand fully resigned to his holy will.
In
this Yearly Meeting several weighty matters were considered, and toward
the last that in
relation to dealing with persons who purchase slaves. During the
several sittings of the
said meeting, my mind was frequently covered with inward prayer, and I
could say with
David, "that tears were my meat day and night." The case of
slave-keeping
lay heavy upon me, nor did I find any engagement to speak directly to
any other matter
before the meeting. Now when this case was opened several faithful
Friends spake
weightily thereto, with which I was comforted; and feeling a concern to
cast in my mite,
I said in substance as follows: "In the difficulties attending us in
this life nothing is
more precious than the mind of truth inwardly manifested; and it is my
earnest desire
that in this weighty matter we may be so truly humbled as to be favored
with a clear
understanding of the mind of truth, and follow it; this would be of
more advantage to
the Society than any medium not in the clearness of Divine wisdom. The
case is
difficult to some who have slaves, but if such set aside all
self-interest, and come to be
weaned from the desire of getting estates, or even from holding them
together, when
truth requires the contrary, I believe way will so open that they will
know how to steer
through those difficulties."
Many Friends
appeared to be deeply bowed under the weight of the work, and
manifested much
firmness in their love to the cause of truth and universal
righteousness on the earth.
And though none did openly justify the practice of slave-keeping in
general, yet some
appeared concerned lest the meeting should go into such measures as
might give
uneasiness to many brethren, alleging that if Friends patiently
continued under the
exercise the Lord in his time might open a way for the deliverance of
these people.
Finding an engagement to speak, I said, "My mind is often led to
consider the
purity of the Divine Being, and the justice of his judgments; and
herein my soul is
covered with awfulness. I cannot omit to hint of some cases where
people have not
been treated with the purity of justice, and the event hath been
lamentable. Many slaves
on this continent are oppressed, and their cries have reached the ears
of the Most High.
Such are the purity and certainty of his judgments, that he cannot be
partial in our
favor. In infinite love and goodness he hath opened our understanding
from one time
to another concerning our duty towards this people, and it is not a
time for delay.
Should we now be sensible of what be requires of us, and through a
respect to the
private interest of some persons, or through a regard to some friend
ships which do not
stand on an immutable foundation, neglect to do our duty in firmness
and constancy,
still waiting for some extraordinary means to bring about their
deliverance, God may by
terrible things in righteousness answer us in this matter."
Many faithful brethren labored with great
firmness,
and the love of truth in a good degree prevailed. Several who had
negroes expressed
their desire that a rule might be made to deal with such Friends as
offenders who
bought slaves in future. To this it was answered that the root of this
evil would never be
effectually struck at until a thorough search was made in the
circumstances of such
Friends as kept negroes, with respect to the righteousness of their
motives in keeping
them, that impartial justice might be administered throughout. Several
Friends
expressed their desire that a visit might be made to such Friends as
kept slaves, and
many others said that they believed liberty was the negro's right; to
which, at length, no
opposition was publicly made. A minute was made more full on that
subject than any
heretofore; and the names of several Friends entered who were free to
join in a visit to
such as kept slaves.
C H A P T E R VI.
1758, 1759. Visit to the Quarterly
Meetings in Chester County -- Joins Daniel Stanton
and John Scarborough in a Visit to such as kept Slaves there -- Some
Observations on
the Conduct which those should maintain who speak in Meetings for
Discipline -- More
Visits to such as kept Slaves, and to Friends near Salem -- Account of
the Yearly Meeting
in the Year 1759, and of the increasing Concern in Divers Provinces to
Labor against
Buying and Keeping Slaves -- The Yearly Meeting Epistle -- Thoughts on
the Small- pox
spreading, and on Inoculation.
LEVENTH of
eleventh month, 1758. -- This day I set out for Concord; the Quarterly
Meeting
heretofore held there was now, by reason of a great increase of
members, divided into
two by the agreement of Friends at our last Yearly Meeting. Here I met
with our beloved
friends Samuel Spavold and Mary Kirby from England, and with Joseph
White from
Buck's County; the latter had taken leave of his family in order to go
on a religious visit
to Friends in England, and, through Divine goodness, we were favored
with a
strengthening opportunity together.
After this meeting
I joined with my friends, Daniel Stanton and John Scarborough, in
visiting Friends who
had slaves. At night we had a family meeting at William Trimble's, many
young people
being there; and it was a precious, reviving opportunity. Next morning
we had a
comfortable sitting with a sick neighbor, and thence to the burial of
the corpse of a
Friend at Uwchland Meeting, at which were many people, and it was a
time of Divine
favor, after which we visited some who had slaves. In the evening we
had a family
meeting at a Friend's house, where the channel of the gospel love was
opened, and my
mind was comforted after a hard day's labor. The next day we were at
Goshen Monthly
Meeting, and on the 18th attended the Quarterly Meeting at London
Grove, it being first
held at that place. Here we met again with all the before-mentioned
Friends, and had
some edifying meetings. Near the conclusion of the meeting for
business, Friends were
incited to constancy in supporting the testimony of truth, and reminded
of the necessity
which the disciples of Christ are under to attend principally to his
business as he is
pleased to open it to us, and to be particularly careful to have our
minds redeemed from
the love of wealth, and our outward affairs in as little room as may
be, that no temporal
concerns may entangle our affections or hinder us from diligently
following the dictates
of truth in laboring to promote the pure spirit of meekness and
heavenly-mindedness
amongst the children of men in these days of calamity and distress,
wherein God is
visiting our land with his just judgments.
Each of these
Quarterly Meetings was large and sat near eight hours. I had occasion
to consider that it
is a weighty thing to speak much in large meetings for business, for
except our minds
are rightly prepared, and we clearly understand the case we speak to,
instead of
forwarding, we hinder business, and make more labor for those on whom
the burden of
the work is laid. If selfish views or a partial spirit have any room in
our minds, we are
unfit for the Lord's work; if we have a clear prospect of the business,
and proper weight
on our minds to speak, we should avoid useless apologies and
repetitions. Where
people are gathered from far, and adjourning a meeting of business is
attended with
great difficulty, it behoves all to be cautious how they detain a
meeting, especially when
they have sat six or seven hours, and have a great distance to ride
home. After this
meeting I rode home.
In the beginning of the twelfth
month I joined, in company with my friends John Sykes and Daniel
Stanton, in visiting
such as had slaves. Some whose hearts were rightly exercised about them
appeared to be
glad of our visit, but in some places our way was more difficult. I
often saw the necessity
of keeping down to that root from whence our concern proceeded, and
have cause, in
reverent thankfulness, humbly to bow down before the Lord, who was near
to me, and
preserved my mind in calmness under some sharp con flicts, and begat a
spirit of
sympathy and tenderness in me towards some who were grievously
entangled by the
spirit of this world.
First month, 1759. -- Having found
my mind drawn to visit some of the more active members in our Society
at
Philadelphia, who had slaves, I met my friend John Churchman there by
agreement,
and we continued about a week in the city. We visited some that were
sick, and some
widows and their families, and the other part of our time was mostly
employed in
visiting such as had slaves. It was a time of deep exercise, but
looking often to the Lord
for his assistance, he in unspeakable kindness favored us with the
influence of that
spirit which crucifies to the greatness and splendor of this world, and
enabling us to go
through some heavy labors, in which we found peace.
Twenty-fourth of third month, 1759. -- After
attending
our general Spring Meeting at Philadelphia I again joined with John
Churchman on a
visit to some who had slaves in Philadelphia, and with thankfulness to
our Heavenly
Father I may say that Divine love and a true sympathizing tenderness of
heart prevailed
at times in this service.
Having at times perceived a
shyness in some Friends of considerable note towards me, I found an
engagement in
gospel love to pay a visit to one of them; and as I dwelt under the
exercise, I felt a
resignedness in my mind to go and tell him privately that I had a
desire to have an
opportunity with him alone; to this proposal he readily agreed, and
then, in the fear of
the Lord, things relating to that shyness were searched to the bottom,
and we had a large
conference, which, I believe was of use to both of us, and I am
thankful that way was
opened for it.
Fourteenth of sixth month. -- Having felt
drawings in my mind to visit Friends about Salem, and having the
approbation of our
Monthly Meeting, I attended their Quarterly Meeting, and was out seven
days, and
attended seven meetings; in some of them I was chiefly silent; in
others, through the
baptizing power of truth, my heart was enlarged in heavenly love, and I
found a near
fellowship with the brethren and sisters, in the manifold trials
attending their Christian
progress through this world.
Seventh month. -- I have
found an increasing concern on my mind to visit some active members in
our Society
who have slaves, and having no opportunity of the company of such as
were named in
the minutes of the Yearly Meeting, I went alone to their houses, and,
in the fear of the
Lord, acquainted them with the exercise I was under; and, thus,
sometimes by a few
words, I found myself discharged from a heavy burden. After this, our
friend John
Churchman coming into our province with a view to be at some meetings,
and to join
again in the visit to those who had slaves, I bore him company in the
said visit to some
active members, and found inward satisfaction.
At our
Yearly Meeting this year, we had some weighty seasons, in which the
power of truth was
largely extended, to the strengthening of the honest-minded. As the
epistles which were
to be sent to the Yearly Meetings on this continent were read, I
observed that in most of
them, both this year and the last, it was recommended to Friends to
labor against buying
and keeping slaves, and in some of them the subject was closely treated
upon. As this
practice hath long been a heavy exercise to me, and I have often waded
through
mortifying labors on that account, and at times in some meetings have
been almost
alone therein, I was humbly bowed in thankfulness in observing the
increasing concern
in our religious society, and seeing how the Lord was raising up and
qualifying servants
for his work, not only in this respect, but for promoting the cause of
truth in general.
This meeting continued near a week. For several
days,
in the fore part of it, my mind was drawn into a deep inward stillness,
and being at
times covered with the spirit of supplication, my heart was secretly
poured out before
the Lord. Near the conclusion of the meeting for business, way opened
in the pure
flowings of Divine love for me to express what lay upon me, which, as
it then arose in
my mind, was first to show how deep answers to deep in the hearts of
the sincere and
upright; though, in their different growths, they may not all have
attained to the same
clearness in some points relating to our testimony. And I was then led
to mention the
integrity and constancy of many martyrs who gave their lives for the
testimony of Jesus,
and yet, in some points, they held doctrines distinguishable from some
which we hold,
that, in all ages, where people were faithful to the light and
understanding which the
Most High afforded them, they found acceptance with Him, and though
there may be
different ways of thinking amongst us in some particulars, yet, if we
mutually keep to
that spirit and power which crucifies to the world, which teaches us to
be content with
things really needful, and to avoid all superfluities, and give up our
hearts to fear and
serve the Lord, true unity may still be preserved amongst us; that if
those who were at
times under sufferings on account of some scruples of conscience kept
low and humble,
and in their conduct in life manifested a spirit of true charity, it
would be more likely to
reach the witness in others, and be of more service in the church, than
if their sufferings
were attended with a contrary spirit and conduct. In this exercise I
was drawn into a
sympathizing tenderness with the sheep of Christ, however distinguished
one from
another in this world, and the like disposition appeared to spread over
others in the
meeting. Great is the goodness of the Lord towards his poor creatures.
An epistle went forth from this Yearly Meeting
which I
think good to give a place in this Journal. It is as follows.
From the Yearly
Meeting, held at Philadelphia, for Pennsylvania and New Jersey, from
the
twenty-second day of the ninth month to the twenty-eighth of the same,
inclusive,
1759.
TO THE QUARTERLY AND MONTHLY
MEETINGS OF
FRIENDS BELONGING TO THE SAID YEARLY
MEETING.
DEARLY
BELOVED FRIENDS AND BRETHREN, -- In an awful sense of the wisdom and
goodness of the Lord our God, whose tender mercies have been continued
to us in this
land, we affectionately salute you, with sincere and fervent desires
that we may
reverently regard the dispensations of his providence, and improve
under them.
The empires and kingdoms of the earth are
subject to
his almighty power. He is the God of the spirits of all flesh, and
deals with his people
agreeable to that wisdom, the depth whereof is to us unsearchable. We
in these
provinces may say, He hath, as a gracious and tender parent, dealt
bountifully with us,
even from the days of our fathers. It was he who strengthened them to
labor through
the difficulties attending the improvement of a wilderness, and made
way for them in
the hearts of the natives, so that by them they were comforted in times
of want and
distress. It was by the gracious influences of his Holy Spirit that
they were disposed to
work righteousness, and walk uprightly towards each other, and towards
the natives; in
life and conversation to manifest the excellency of the principles and
doctrines of the
Christian religion whereby they retain their esteem and friendship.
Whilst they were
laboring for the necessaries of life, many of them were fervently
engaged to promote
pity and virtue in the earth, and to educate their children in the fear
of the Lord.
If we carefully consider the peaceable measures
pursued in the first settlement of land, and that freedom from the
desolations of wars
which for a long time we enjoyed, we shall find ourselves under strong
obligations to
the Almighty, who, when the earth is so generally polluted with
wickedness, gives us a
being in a part so signally favored with tranquillity and plenty, and
in which the glad
tidings of the gospel of Christ are so freely published that we may
justly say with the
Psalmist, "What shall we render unto the Lord for all his benefits?"
Our own real good, and the good of our
posterity, in
some measure depends on the part we act, and it nearly concerns us to
try our
foundations impartially. Such are the different rewards of the just and
unjust in a
future state, that to attend diligently to the dictates of the spirit
of Christ, to devote
ourselves to his service, and to engage fervently in his cause, during
our short stay in
this world, is a choice well becoming a free, intelligent creature. We
shall thus clearly
see and consider that the dealings of God with mankind, in a national
capacity, as
recorded in Holy Writ, do sufficiently evidence the truth of that
saying, "It is
righteousness which exalteth a nation"; and though he doth not at all
times
suddenly execute his judgments on a sinful people in this life, yet we
see in many
instances that when "men follow lying vanities they forsake their own
mercies"; and as a proud, selfish spirit prevails and spreads among a
people, so
partial judgment, oppression, discord, envy, and confusions increase,
and provinces and
kingdoms are made to drink the cup of adversity as a reward of their
own doings. Thus
the inspired prophet, reasoning with the degenerated Jews, saith,
"Thine own
wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backsliding shall reprove thee;
know, therefore,
that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord
thy God, and that my
fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of Hosts." (Jeremiah ii. 19.)
The God of our fathers, who hath bestowed on us
many benefits furnished a table for us in the wilderness, and made the
deserts and
solitary places to rejoice. He doth now mercifully call upon us to
serve him more
faithfully. We may truly say with the Prophet, "It is his voice which
crieth to the
city, and men of wisdom see his name. They regard the rod, and Him who
hath
appointed it." People who look chiefly at things outward, too little
consider the
original cause of the present troubles; but they who fear the Lord and
think often upon
his name, see and feel that a wrong spirit is spreading amongst the
inhabitants of our
country; that the hearts of many are waxed fat, and their ears dull of
hearing; that the
Most High, in his visitations to us, instead of calling, lifteth up his
voice and crieth: he
crieth to our country, and his voice waxeth louder and louder. In
former wars between
the English and other nations, since the settlement of our provinces,
the calamities
attending them have fallen chiefly on other places, but now of late
they have reached to
our borders; many of our fellow-subjects have suffered on and near our
frontiers, some
have been slain in battle, some killed in their houses, and some in
their fields, some
wounded and left in great misery, and others separated from their wives
and little
children, who have been carried captives among the Indians. We have
seen men and
women who have been witnesses of these scenes of sorrow, and, being
reduced to want,
have come to our houses asking relief. It is not long since that many
young men in one
of these provinces were drafted, in order to be taken as soldiers; some
were at that time
in great distress, and had occasion to consider that their lives had
been too little
conformable to the purity and spirituality of that religion which we
profess, and found
themselves too little acquainted with that inward humility, in which
true fortitude to
endure hardness for the truth's sake is experienced. Many parents were
concerned for
their children, and in that time of trial were led to consider that
their care to get outward
treasure for them had been greater than their care for their settlement
in that religion
which crucifieth to the world, and enableth to bear testimony to the
peaceable
government of the Messiah. These troubles are removed, and for a time
we are released
from them.
Let us not forget that "The Most High
hath his way in the deep, in clouds, and in thick darkness"; that it is
his voice
which crieth to the city and to the country, and O! that these loud and
awakening cries
may have a proper effect upon us, that heavier chastisement may not
become necessary!
For though things, as to the outward, may for a short time afford a
pleasing prospect, yet,
while a selfish spirit, that is not subject to the cross of Christ,
continueth to spread and
prevail, there can be no long continuance in outward peace and
tranquillity. If we desire
an inheritance incorruptible, and to be at rest in that state of peace
and happiness which
ever continues; if we desire in this life to dwell under the favor and
protection of that
Almighty Being whose habitation is in holiness, whose ways are all
equal, and whose
anger is now kindled because of our backslidings, -- let us then
awfully regard these
beginnings of his sore judgments, and with abasement and humiliation
turn to him
whom we have offended.
Contending with one equal
in strength is an uneasy exercise; but if the Lord is become our enemy,
if we persist in
contending with him who is omnipotent, our overthrow will be
unavoidable.
Do we feel an affectionate regard to posterity?
and are
we employed to promote their happiness? Do our minds, in things
outward, look
beyond our own dissolution? and are we contriving for the prosperity of
our children
after us? Let us then, like wise builders, lay the foundation deep, and
by our constant
uniform regard to an inward piety and virtue let them see that we
really value it. Let us
labor in the fear of the Lord, that their innocent minds, while young
and tender, may be
preserved from corruptions; that as they advance in age they may
rightly understand
their true interest, may consider the uncertainty of temporal things,
and, above all, have
their hope and confidence firmly settled in the blessing of that
Almighty Being who
inhabits eternity and preserves and supports the world.
In all our cares about worldly treasures, let
us steadily
bear in mind that riches possessed by children who do not truly serve
God are likely to
prove snares that may more grievously entangle them in that spirit of
selfishness and
exaltation which stands in opposition to real peace and happiness, and
renders those
who submit to the influence of it enemies to the cross of Christ.
To keep a watchful eye towards real objects of
charity,
to visit the poor in their lonesome dwelling-places, to comfort those
who, through the
dispensations of Divine Providence, are in strait and painful
circumstances in this life,
and steadily to endeavor to honor God with our substance, from a real
sense of the love
of Christ influencing our minds, is more likely to bring a blessing to
our children, and
will afford more satisfaction to a Christian favored with plenty, than
an earnest desire to
collect much wealth to leave behind us; for, "here we have no
continuing
city"; may we therefore diligently "seek one that is to come, whose
builder
and maker is God."
"Finally, brethren,
whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever
things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if
there be any
virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things, and do them, and
the God of peace
shall be with you."
(Signed by appointment, and
on behalf of said meeting.)
Twenty-eighth eleventh
month. -- This day I attended the Quarterly Meeting in Bucks County. In
the meeting of
ministers and elders my heart was enlarged in the love of Jesus Christ,
and the favor of
the Most High was extended to us in that and the ensuing meeting.
I had conversation at my lodging with my
beloved
friend Samuel Eastburn, who expressed a concern to join in a visit to
some Friends in
that county who had negroes, and as I had felt a drawing in my mind to
the said work, I
came home and put things in order. On 11th of twelfth month I went over
the river,
and on the next day was at Buckingham Meeting, where, through the
descendings of
heavenly dew, my mind was comforted and drawn into a near unity with
the flock of
Jesus Christ.
Entering upon this business appeared
weighty, and before I left home my mind was often sad, under which
exercise I felt at
times the Holy Spirit which helps our infirmities, and through which my
prayers were
at times put up to God in private that he would be pleased to purge me
from all
selfishness, that I might be strengthened to discharge my duty
faithfully, how hard
soever to the natural part. We proceeded on the visit in a weighty
frame of spirit, and
went to the houses of the most active members who had negroes
throughout the
county. Through the goodness of the Lord my mind was preserved in
resignation in
times of trial, and though the work was hard to nature, yet through the
strength of that
love which is stronger than death, tenderness of heart was often felt
amongst us in our
visits, and we parted from several families with greater satisfaction
than we expected.
We visited Joseph White's family, he being in
England;
we had also a family-sitting at the house of an elder who bore us
company, and were at
Makefield on a first day: at all which times my heart was truly
thankful to the Lord who
was graciously pleased to renew his loving-kindness to us, his poor
servants, uniting us
together in his work.
In the winter of this year, the
small-pox being in our town, and many being inoculated, of whom a few
died, some
things were opened in my mind, which I wrote as follows: -- The more
fully our lives
are conformable to the will of God, the better it is for us; I have
looked on the small- pox
as a messenger from the Almighty, to be an assistant in the cause of
virtue, and to incite
us to consider whether we employ our time only in such things as are
consistent with
perfect wisdom and goodness. Building houses suitable to dwell in, for
ourselves and
our creatures; preparing clothing suitable for the climate and season,
and food
convenient, are all duties incumbent on us. And under these general
heads are many
branches of business in which we may venture health and life, as
necessity may require.
This disease being in a house, and my business
calling
me to go near it, incites me to consider whether this is a real
indispensable duty;
whether it is not in conformity to some custom which would be better
laid aside, or,
whether it does not proceed from too eager a pursuit after some outward
treasure. If the
business before me springs not from a clear understanding and a regard
to that use of
things which perfect wisdom approves, to be brought to a sense of it
and stopped in my
pursuit is a kindness, for when I proceed to business without some
evidence of duty, I
have found by experience that it tends to weakness.
If I
am so situated that there appears no probability of missing the
infection, it tends to
make me think whether my manner of life in things outward has nothing
in it which
may unfit my body to receive this messenger in a way the most favorable
to me. Do I use
food and drink in no other sort and in no other degree than was
designed by Him who
gave these creatures for our sustenance? Do I never abuse my body by
inordinate labor,
striving to accomplish some end which I have unwisely proposed? Do I
use action
enough in some useful employ, or do I sit too much idle while some
persons who labor
to support me have too great a share of it? If in any of these things I
am deficient, to be
incited to consider it is a favor to me. Employment is necessary in
social life, and this
infection, which often proves mortal, incites me to think whether these
social acts of
mine are real duties. If I go on a visit to the widows and fatherless,
do I go purely on a
principle of charity, free from any selfish views? If I go to a
religious meeting it puts me
on thinking whether I go in sincerity and in a clear sense of duty, or
whether it is not
partly in conformity to custom, or partly from a sensible delight which
my animal
spirits feel in the company of other people, and whether to support my
reputation as a
religious man has no share in it.
Do affairs relating to
civil society call me near this infection? If I go, it is at the hazard
of my health and life,
and it becomes me to think seriously whether love to truth and
righteousness is the
motive of my attending; whether the mannner of proceeding is altogether
equitable, or
whether aught of narrowness, party interest, respect to outward
dignities, names, or
distinctions among men, do not stain the beauty of those assemblies,
and render it
doubtful; in point of duty, whether a disciple of Christ ought to
attend as a member
united to the body or not. Whenever there are blemishes which for a
series of time
remain such, that which is a means of stirring us up to look
attentively on these
blemishes, and to labor according to our capacities, to have health and
soundness
restored in our country, we may justly account a kindness from our
gracious Father,
who appointed that means.
The care of a wise and good
man for his only son is inferior to the regard of the great Parent of
the universe for his
creatures. He hath the command of all the powers and operations in
nature, and
"doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men."
Chastisement is
intended for instruction, and instruction being received by gentle
chastisement, greater
calamities are prevented. By an earthquake hundreds of houses are
sometimes shaken
down in a few minutes, multitudes of people perish suddenly, and many
more, being
crushed and bruised in the ruins of the buildings, pine away and die in
great misery.
By the breaking in of enraged merciless armies,
flourishing countries have been laid waste, great numbers of people
have perished in a
short time, and many more have been pressed with poverty and grief. By
the pestilence,
people have died so fast in a city, that, through fear, grief, and
confusion, those in health
have found great difficulty in burying the dead, even without coffins.
By famine, great
numbers of people in some places have been brought to the utmost
distress, and have
pined away from want of the necessaries of life. Thus, when the kind
invitations and
gentle chastisements of a gracious God have not been attended to, his
sore judgments
have at times been poured out upon people.
While
some rules approved in civil society and conformable to human policy,
so called, are
distinguishable from the purity of truth and righteousness, -- while
many professing the
truth are declining from that ardent love and heavenly- mindedness
which was
amongst the primitive followers of Jesus Christ, it is time for us to
attend diligently to
the intent of every chastisement, and to consider the most deep and
inward design of
them.
The Most High doth not often speak with an
outward voice to our outward ears, but if we humbly meditate on his
perfections,
consider that he is perfect wisdom and goodness, and that to afflict
his creatures to no
purpose would be utterly averse to his nature, we shall hear and
understand his
language both in his gentle and more heavy chastisements, and shall
take heed that we
do not, in the wisdom of this world, endeavor to escape his hand by
means too powerful
for us.
Had he endowed men with understanding to
prevent this disease (the small-pox) by means which had never proved
hurtful nor
mortal, such a discovery might be considered as the period of
chastisement by this
distemper, where that knowledge extended. But as life and health are
his gifts, and are
not to be disposed of in our own wills, to take upon us by inoculation
when in health a
disorder of which some die, requires great clearness of knowledge that
it is our duty to
do so.
C H A
P T E R VII.
1760. Visit,
in Company with Samuel Eastburn, to Long Island, Rhode Island, Boston,
etc. --
Remarks on the Slave-Trade at New- port; also on Lotteries -- Some
Observations on the
Island of Nantucket.
OURTH month, 1760.
-- Having for some time past felt a sympathy in my mind with Friends
eastward, I
opened my concern in our Monthly Meeting, and, obtaining a certificate,
set forward on
the 17th of this month, in company with my beloved friend Samuel
Eastburn. We had
meetings at Woodbridge, Rahway, and Plainfield, and were at their
Monthly Meeting of
ministers and elders in Rahway. We labored under some discouragement,
but through
the invisible power of truth our visit was made reviving to the
lowly-minded, with
whom I felt a near unity of spirit, being much reduced in my mind. We
passed on and
visited most of the meetings on Long Island. It was my concern from day
to day to say
neither more nor less than what the spirit of truth opened in me, being
jealous over
myself lest I should say anything to make my testimony look agreeable
to that mind in
people which is not in pure obedience to the cross of Christ.
The spring of the ministry was often low, and
through
the subjecting power of truth we were kept low with it; from place to
place they whose
hearts were truly concerned for the cause of Christ appeared to be
comforted in our
labors, and though it was in general a time of abasement of the
creature, yet through his
goodness who is a helper of the poor we had some truly edifying seasons
both in
meetings and in families where we tarried; sometimes we found strength
to labor
earnestly with the unfaithful, especially with those whose station in
families or in the
Society was such that their example had a powerful tendency to open the
way for others
to go aside from the purity and sound- ness of the blessed truth.
At Jericho, on Long Island, I wrote home as
follows:
--
24th of the fourth
month, 1760.
DEARLY BELOVED WIFE!
We are favored with health;
have been at sundry meetings in East Jersey and on this island. My mind
hath been
much in an inward, watchful frame since I left thee, greatly desiring
that our
proceedings may be singly in the will of our Heavenly Father.
As the present appearance of things is not
joyous, I
have been much shut up from outward cheerfulness, remembering that
promise,
"Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord"; as this from day to day
has
been revived in my memory, I have considered that his internal presence
in our minds
is a delight of all others the most pure, and that the honest- hearted
not only delight in
this, but in the effect of it upon them. He regards the helpless and
distressed, and reveals
his love to his children under affliction, who delight in beholding his
benevolence, and
in feeling Divine charity moving in them. Of this I may speak a little,
for though since I
left you I have often an engaging love and affection towards thee and
my daughter, and
friends about home, and going out at this time, when sickness is so
great amongst you,
is a trial upon me; yet I often remember there are many widows and
fatherless, many
who have poor tutors, many who have evil examples before them, and many
whose
minds are in captivity; for whose sake my heart is at times moved with
compassion, so
that I feel my mind resigned to leave you for a season, to exercise
that gift which the
Lord hath bestowed on me, which though small compared with some, yet in
this I
rejoice, that I feel love unfeigned towards my fellow-creatures. I
recommend you to the
Almighty, who I trust, cares for you, and under a sense of his heavenly
love remain,
Thy loving
husband,
J. W.
We crossed from the east end of Long Island to
New
London, about thirty miles, in a large open boat; while we were out,
the wind rising
high, the waves several times beat over us, so that to me it appeared
dangerous, but my
mind was at that time turned to Him who made and governs the deep, and
my life was
resigned to him; as he was mercifully pleased to preserve us I had
fresh occasion to
consider every day as a day lent to me, and felt a renewed engagement
to devote my
time, and all I had, to him who gave it.
We had five
meetings in Narraganset, and went thence to Newport on Rhode Island.
Our gracious
Father preserved us in an humble dependence on him through deep
exercises that were
mortifying to the creaturely will. In several families in the country
where we lodged, I
felt an engagement on my mind to have a conference with them in
private, concerning
their slaves; and through Divine aid I was favored to give up thereto.
Though in this
concern I differ from many whose service in travelling is, I believe,
greater than mine,
yet I do not think hardly of them for omitting it; I do not repine at
having so unpleasant
a task assigned me, but look with awfulness to him who appoints to his
servants their
respective employments, and is good to all who serve him sincerely.
We got to Newport in the evening, and on the
next day
visited two sick persons, with whom we had comfortable sittings, and in
the afternoon
attended the burial of a Friend. The next day we were at meetings at
Newport, in the
fore- noon and afternoon; the spring of the ministry was opened, and
strength was
given to declare the Word of Life to the people.
The day
following we went on our journey, but the great number of slaves in
these parts, and
the continuance of that trade from thence to Guinea, made a deep
impression on me,
and my cries were often put up to my Heavenly Father in secret, that he
would enable
me to discharge my duty faith- fully in such way as he might be pleased
to point out to
me.
We took Swansea, Freetown, and Taunton in our
way to Boston, where also we had a meeting; our exercise was deep, and
the love of
truth prevailed, for which I bless the Lord. We went eastward about
eighty miles beyond
Boston, taking meetings, and were in a good degree preserved in an
humble dependence
on that arm which drew us out; and though we had some hard labor with
the
disobedient, by laying things home and close to such as were stout
against the truth, yet
through the goodness of God we had at times to partake of heavenly
comfort with those
who were meek, and were often favored to part with Friends in the
nearness of true
gospel fellowship. We returned to Boston and bad another comfortable
opportunity
with Friends there, and thence rode back a day's journey eastward of
Boston. Our guide
being a heavy man, and the weather hot, my companion and I expressed
our freedom to
go on without him, to which he consented, and we respectfully took our
leave of him;
this we did as believing the journey would have been hard to him and
his horse.
In visiting the meetings in those parts we were
measurably baptized into a feeling of the state of the Society, and in
bowedness of spirit
went to the Yearly Meeting at Newport, where we met with John Storer
from England,
Elizabeth Shipley, Ann Gaunt, Hannah Foster, and Mercy Redman, from our
parts, all
ministers of the gospel, of whose company I was glad. Understanding
that a large
number of slaves had been imported from Africa into that town and were
then on sale
by a member of our Society, my appetite failed, and I grew outwardly
weak, and had a
feeling of the condition of Habakkuk, as thus expressed, "When I heard,
my belly
trembled, my lips quivered, I trembled in myself, that I might rest in
the day of
trouble." I had many cogitations, and was sorely distressed. I was
desirous that
Friends might petition the Legislature to use their endeavors to
discourage the future
importation of slaves, for I saw that this trade was a great evil, and
tended to multiply
troubles, and to bring distresses on the people for whose welfare my
heart was deeply
concerned. But I perceived several difficulties in regard to
petitioning, and such was the
exercise of my mind that I thought of endeavoring to get an opportunity
to speak a few
words in the House of Assembly, then sitting in town.
This exercise came upon me in the afternoon on
the
second day of the Yearly Meeting, and on going to bed I got no sleep
till my mind was
wholly resigned thereto. In the morning I inquired of a Friend how long
the Assembly
was likely to continue sitting, who told me it was expected to be
prorogued that day or
the next. As I was desirous to attend the business of the meeting, and
perceived the
Assembly was likely to separate before the business was over, after
considerable exercise,
humbly seeking to the Lord for instruction, my mind settled to attend
on the business of
the meeting; on the last day of which I had prepared a short essay of a
petition to be
presented to the Legislature, if way opened. And being informed that
there were some
appointed by that Yearly Meeting to speak with those in authority on
cases relating to
the Society, I opened my mind to several of them, and showed them the
essay I had
made, and afterwards I opened the case in the meeting for business, in
substance as
follows: --
"I have been under a concern for some
time on account of the great number of slaves which are imported into
this colony. I am
aware that it is a tender point to speak to, but apprehend I am not
clear in the sight of
Heaven without doing so. I have prepared an essay of a petition to be
presented to the
Legislature, if way open; and what I have to propose to this meeting is
that some Friends
may be named to withdraw and look over it, and report whether they
believe it suitable
to be read in the meeting. If they should think well of reading it, it
will remain for the
meeting to consider whether to take any further notice of it, as a
meeting, or not."
After a short conference some Friends went out, and, looking over it,
expressed their
willingness to have it read, which being done, many expressed their
unity with the
proposal, and some signified that to have the subjects of the petition
enlarged upon, and
signed out of meeting by such as were free, would be more suitable than
to do it there.
Though I expected at first that if it was done it would be in that way,
yet such was the
exercise of my mind that to move it in the hearing of Friends when
assembled appeared
to me as a duty, for my heart yearned towards the inhabitants of these
parts, believing
that by this trade there had been an increase of inquietude amongst
them, and way had
been made for the spreading of a spirit opposite to that meekness and
humility which is
a sure resting-place for the soul; and that the continuance of this
trade would not only
render their healing more difficult, but would increase their malady.
Having proceeded thus far, I felt easy to leave
the essay
amongst Friends, for them to proceed in it as they believed best. And
now an exercise
revived in my mind in relation to lotteries, which were common in those
parts. I had
mentioned the subject in a former sitting of this meeting, when
arguments were used in
favor of Friends being held excused who were only concerned in such
lotteries as were
agreeable to law. And now, on moving it again, it was opposed as
before; but the hearts
of some solid Friends appeared to be united to discourage the practice
amongst their
members, and the matter was zealously handled by some on both sides. In
this debate it
appeared very clear to me that the spirit of lotteries was a spirit of
selfishness, which
tended to confuse and darken the understanding, and that pleading for
it in our
meetings, which were set apart for the Lord's work, was not right. In
the heat of zeal, I
made reply to what an ancient Friend said, and when I sat down I saw
that my words
were not enough seasoned with charity. After this I spoke no more on
the subject. At
length a minute was made, a copy of which was to be sent to their
several Quarterly
Meetings, inciting Friends to labor to discourage the practice amongst
all professing with
us.
Some time after this minute was made I remained
uneasy with the manner of my speaking to the ancient Friend, and could
not see my
way clear to conceal my uneasiness, though I was concerned that I might
say nothing to
weaken the cause in which I had labored. After some close exercise and
hearty
repentence for not having attended closely to the safe guide, I stood
up, and, reciting the
passage, acquainted Friends that though I durst not go from what I had
said as to the
matter, yet I was uneasy with the manner of my speaking, believing
milder language
would have been better. As this was uttered in some degree of
creaturely abasement
after a warm debate, it appeared to have a good savor amongst us.
The Yearly Meeting being now over, there yet
remained on my mind a secret though heavy exercise, in regard to some
leading active
members about Newport, who were in the practice of keeping slaves. This
I mentioned
to two ancient Friends who came out of the country, and proposed to
them, if way
opened, to have some conversation with those members. One of them and
I, having
consulted one of the most noted elders who had slaves, he, in a
respectful manner,
encouraged me to proceed to clear myself of what lay upon me. Near the
beginning of
the Yearly Meeting, I had had a private conference with this said elder
and his wife,
concerning their slaves, so that the way seemed clear to me to advise
with him about
the manner of proceeding. I told him I was free to have a conference
with them all
together in a private house; or if he thought they would take it unkind
to be asked to
come together, and to be spoken with in the hearing of one another, I
was free to spend
some time amongst them, and to visit them all in their own houses. He
expressed his
liking to the first proposal, not doubting their willingness to come
together; and, as I
proposed a visit to only ministers, elders, and overseers, he named
some others whom
he desired might also be present. A careful messenger being wanted to
acquaint them in
a proper manner, he offered to go to all their houses, to open the
matter to them, -- and
did so. About the eighth hour the next morning we met in the
meeting-house chamber,
the last- mentioned country Friend, my companion, and John Storer being
with us.
After a short time of retirement, I acquainted them with the steps I
had taken in
procuring that meeting, and opened the concern I was under, and we then
proceeded to
a free conference upon the subject. My exercise was heavy, and I was
deeply bowed in
spirit before the Lord, who was pleased to favor with the seasoning
virtue of truth,
which wrought a tenderness amongst us; and the subject was mutually
handled in a
calm and peaceable spirit. At length, feeling my mind released from the
burden which I
had been under, I took my leave of them in a good degree of
satisfaction; and by the
tenderness they manifested in regard to the practice, and the concern
several of them
expressed in relation to the manner of disposing of their negroes after
their decease, I
believed that a good exercise was spreading amongst them; and I am
humbly thankful to
God, who supported my mind and preserved me in a good degree of
resignation
through these trials.
Thou who sometimes travellest in
the work of the ministry, and art made very welcome by thy friends,
seest many tokens
of their satisfaction in having thee for their guest. It is good for
thee to dwell deep, that
thou mayest feel and understand the spirits of people. If we believe
truth points towards
a conference on some subjects in a private way, it is needful for us to
take heed that their
kindness, their freedom, and affability do not hinder us from the
Lord's work. I have
experienced that, in the midst of kindness and smooth conduct, to speak
close and home
to them who entertain us, on points that relate to outward interest, is
hard labor.
Sometimes, when I have felt truth lead towards it, I have found myself
disqualified by a
superficial friendship; and as the sense thereof hath abased me, and my
cries have been
to the Lord, so I have been humbled and made content to appear weak, or
as a fool for
his sake; and thus a door hath been opened to enter upon it. To attempt
to do the Lord's
work in our own way, and to speak of that which is the burden of the
Word, in a way
easy to the natural part, doth not reach the bottom of the disorder. To
see the failings of
our friends, and think hard of them without opening that which we ought
to open, and
still carry a face of friendship, tends to undermine the foundation of
true unity. The
office of a minister of Christ is weighty. And they who now go forth as
watchmen have
need to be steadily on their guard against the snares of prosperity and
an outside
friendship.
After the Yearly Meeting we were at
meetings at New- town, Cushnet, Long Plain, Rochester, and Dartmouth.
From thence
we sailed for Nantucket, in company with Ann Gaunt, Mercy Redman, and
several
other Friends. The wind being slack we only reached Tarpawling Cove the
first day;
where, going on shore, we found room in a public-house, and beds for a
few of us, -- the
rest slept on the floor. We went on board again about break of day, and
though the wind
was small, we were favored to come within about four miles of
Nantucket; and then
about ten of us got into our boat and rowed to the harbor before dark;
a large boat went
off and brought in the rest of the passengers about midnight. The next
day but one was
their Yearly Meeting, which held four days, the last of which was their
Monthly Meeting
for business. We had a laborious time amongst them; our minds were
closely exercised,
and I believe it was a time of great searching of heart. The longer I
was on the Island the
more I became sensible that there was a considerable number of valuable
Friends there,
though an evil spirit, tending to strife, had been at work amongst
them. I was cautious
of making any visits except as my mind was particularly drawn to them;
and in that way
we had some sittings in Friends' houses, where the heavenly wing was at
times spread
over us, to our mutual comfort. My beloved companion had very
acceptable service on
this island.
When meeting was over we all agreed to
sail the next day if the weather was suitable and we were well; and
being called up the
latter part of the night, about fifty of us went on board a vessel;
but, the wind changing,
the seamen thought best to stay in the harbor till it altered, so we
returned on shore.
Feeling clear as to any further visits, I spent my time in my chamber,
chiefly alone; and
after some hours, my heart being filled with the spirit of
supplication, my prayers and
tears were poured out before my Heavenly Father for his help and
instruction in the
manifold difficulties which attended me in life. While I was waiting
upon the Lord,
there came a messenger from the women Friends who lodged at another
house,
desiring to confer with us about appointing a meeting, which to me
appeared weighty,
as we had been at so many before; but after a short conference, and
advising with some
elderly Friends, a meeting was appointed, in which the Friend who first
moved it, and
who had been much shut up before, was largely opened in the love of the
gospel. The
next morning about break of day going again on board the vessel, we
reached Falmouth
on the Main before night, where our horses being brought, we proceeded
towards
Sandwich Quarterly Meeting.
Being two days in going
to Nantucket, and having been there once before, I observed many shoals
in their bay,
which make sailing more dangerous, especially in stormy nights; also,
that a great shoal,
which encloses their harbor, prevents the entrance of sloops except
when the tide is up.
Waiting without for the rising of the tide is sometimes hazardous in
storms, and by
waiting within they sometimes miss a fair wind. I took notice that
there was on that
small island a great number of inhabitants, and the soil not very
fertile, the timber being
so gone that for vessels, fences, and firewood, they depend chiefly on
buying from the
Main, for the cost whereof, with most of their other expenses, they
depend principally
upon the whale fishery. I considered that as towns grew larger, and
lands near navigable
waters were more cleared, it would require more labor to get timber and
wood. I
understood that the whales, being much hunted and sometimes wounded and
not
killed, grow more shy and difficult to come at. I considered that the
formation of the
earth, the seas, the islands, bays, and rivers, the motions of the
winds, and great waters,
which cause bars and shoals in particular places, were all the works of
Him who is
perfect wisdom and goodness; and as people attend to his heavenly
instruction, and put
their trust in him, he provides for them in all parts where he gives
them a being; and as
in this visit to these people I felt a strong desire for their firm
establishment on the sure
foundation, besides what was said more publicly, I was concerned to
speak with the
women Friends in their Monthly Meeting of business, many being present,
and in the
fresh spring of pure love to open before them the advantage, both
inwardly and
outwardly, of attending singly to the pure guidance of the Holy Spirit,
and therein to
educate their children in true humility and the disuse of all
superfluities. I reminded
them of the difficulties their husbands and sons were frequently
exposed to at sea, and
that the more plain and simple their way of living was the less need
there would be of
running great hazards to support them. I also encouraged the young
women to continue
their neat, decent way of attending themselves on the affairs of the
house; showing, as
the way opened, that where people were truly humble, used themselves to
business, and
were content with a plain way of life, they had ever had more true
peace and calmness
of mind than they who, aspiring to greatness and outward show, have
grasped hard for
an income to support themselves therein. And as I observed they had so
few or no
slaves, I had to encourage them to be content without them, making
mention of the
numerous troubles and vexations which frequently attended the minds of
the people
who depend on slaves to do their labor.
We attended
the Quarterly Meeting at Sandwich, in company with Ann Gaunt and Mercy
Redman,
which was preceded by a Monthly Meeting, and in the whole held three
days. We were
in various ways exercised amongst them, in gospel love, according to
the several gifts
bestowed on us, and were at times overshadowed with the virtue of
truth, to the
comfort of the sincere and stirring up of the negligent. Here we parted
with Ann and
Mercy, and went to Rhode Island, taking one meeting in our way, which
was a
satisfactory time. Reaching Newport the evening before their Quarterly
Meeting, we
attended it, and after that had a meeting with our young people,
separated from those of
other societies. We went through much labor in this town; and now, in
taking leave of
it, though I felt close inward exercise to the last, I found inward
peace, and was in some
degree comforted in a belief that a good number remain in that place
who retain a sense
of truth, and that there are some young people attentive to the voice
of the Heavenly
Shepherd. The last meeting, in which Friends from the several parts of
the quarter came
together, was a select meeting, and through the renewed manifestation
of the Father's
love the hearts of the sincere were united together.
The
poverty of spirit and inward weakness, with which I was much tried the
fore part of this
journey, has of late appeared to me a dispensation of kindness.
Appointing meetings
never appeared more weighty to me, and I was led into a deep search,
whether in all
things my mind was resigned to the will of God; often querying with
myself what
should be the cause of such inward poverty, and greatly desiring that
no secret reserve
in my heart might hinder my access to the Divine fountain. In these
humbling times I
was made watchful, and excited to attend to the secret movings of the
heavenly
principle in my mind, which prepared the way to some duties that in
more easy and
prosperous times as to the outward, I believe I should have been in
danger of omitting.
From Newport we went to Greenwich, Shanticut,
and
Warwick, and were helped to labor amongst Friends in the love of our
gracious
Redeemer. Afterwards, accompanied by our friend John Casey from
Newport, we rode
through Connecticut to Oblong, visited the meetings in those parts, and
thence
proceeded to the Quarterly Meeting at Ryewoods. Through the gracious
extendings of
Divine help, we had some seasoning opportunities in those places. We
also visited
Friends at New York and Flushing, and thence to Rahway. Here our roads
parting, I
took leave of my beloved companion and true yokemate Samuel Eastburn,
and reached
home the 10th of eighth month, where I found my family well. For the
favors and
protection of the Lord, both inward and outward, extended to me in this
journey, my
heart is humbled in grateful acknowledgments, and I find renewed
desires to dwell and
walk in resignedness before him.
C H A P T E R
VIII.
1761, 1762. Visits
Pennsylvania, Shrewsbury, and Squan -- Publishes the Second Part of his
Considerations
on keeping Negroes -- The Grounds of his appearing in some Respects
singular in his
Dress -- Visit to the Families of Friends of Ancocas and Mount Holly
Meetings -- Visits
to the Indians at Wehaloosing on the River Susquehanna.
AVING felt my mind drawn towards a visit to a few
meetings in
Pennsylvania, I was very desirous to be rightly instructed as to the
time of setting off. On
the 10th of the fifth month, 1761, being the first day of the week, I
went to Haddonfield
Meeting, concluding to seek for heavenly instruction, and come home, or
go on as I
might then believe best for me, and there through the springing up of
pure love I felt
encouragement, and so crossed the river. In this visit I was at two
quarterly and three
monthly meetings, and in the love of truth I felt my way open to labor
with some noted
Friends who kept negroes. As I was favored to keep to the root, and
endeavor to
discharge what I believed was required of me, I found inward peace
therein, from time
to time, and thankfulness of heart to the Lord, who was graciously
pleased to be a guide
to me.
Eighth month, 1761. -- Having felt drawings in
my mind to visit Friends in and about Shrewsbury, I went there, and was
at their
Monthly Meeting, and their first-day meeting; I had also a meeting at
Squan, and
another at Squanquam, and, as way opened, had conversation with some
noted Friends
concerning their slaves. I returned home in a thankful sense of the
goodness of the
Lord.
From the concern I felt growing in me for some
years, I wrote part the second of a work entitled "Considerations on
keeping
Negroes," which was printed this year, 1762. When the overseers of the
press had
done with it, they offered to get a number printed, to be paid for out
of the Yearly
Meeting's stock, to be given away; but I being most easy to publish it
at my own expense,
and offering my reasons, they appeared satisfied.
This
stock is the contribution of the members of our religious society in
general, among
whom are some who keep negroes, and, being inclined to continue them in
slavery, are
not likely to be satisfied with such books being spread among a people,
especially at their
own expense, many of whose slaves are taught to read, and such,
receiving them as a
gift, often conceal them. But as they who make a purchase generally buy
that which they
have a mind for, I believed it best to sell them, expecting by that
means they would
more generally be read with attention. Advertisements were signed by
order of the
overseers of the press, and directed to be read in the Monthly Meetings
of business
within our own Yearly Meeting, informing where the books were, and that
the price
was no more than the cost of printing and binding them. Many were taken
off in our
parts; some I sent to Virginia, some to New York, some to my
acquaintance at Newport,
and some I kept, intending to give part of them away, where there
appeared a prospect
of service.
In my youth I was used to hard labor, and
though I was middling healthy, yet my nature was not fitted to endure
so much as many
others. Being often weary, I was prepared to sympathize with those
whose circumstances
in life, as free men, required constant labor to answer the demands of
their creditors, as
well as with others under oppression. In the uneasiness of body which I
have many
times felt by too much labor, not as a forced but a voluntary
oppression, I have often
been excited to think on the original cause of that oppression which is
imposed on
many in the world. The latter part of the time wherein I labored on our
plantation, my
heart, through the fresh visitations of heavenly love, being often
tender, and my leisure
time being frequently spent in reading the life and doctrines of our
blessed Redeemer,
the account of the sufferings of martyrs, and the history of the first
rise of our Society, a
belief was gradually settled in my mind, that if such as had great
estates generally lived
in that humility and plainness which belong to a Christian life, and
laid much easier
rents and interests on their lands and moneys, and thus led the way to
a right use of
things, so great a number of people might be employed in things useful,
that labor both
for men and other creatures would need to be no more than an agreeable
employ, and
divers branches of business, which serve chiefly to please the natural
inclinations of our
minds, and which at present seem necessary to circulate that wealth
which some gather,
might, in this way of pure wisdom, be discontinued. As I have thus
considered these
things, a query at times hath arisen: Do I, in all my proceedings, keep
to that use of
things which is agreeable to universal righteousness? And then there
hath some degree
of sadness at times come over me, because I accustomed myself to some
things which
have occasioned more labor than I believe Divine wisdom intended for
us.
From my early acquaintance with truth I have
often
felt an inward distress, occasioned by the striving of a spirit in me
against the operation
of the heavenly principle; and in this state I have been affected with
a sense of my own
wretchedness, and in a mourning condition have felt earnest longings
for that Divine
help which brings the soul into true liberty. Sometimes, on retiring
into private places,
the spirit of supplication hath been given me, and under a heavenly
covering I have
asked my gracious Father to give me a heart in all things resigned to
the direction of his
wisdom; in uttering language like this, the thought of my wearing hats
and garments
dyed with a dye hurtful to them, has made lasting impression on me.
In visiting people of note in the Society who
had
slaves, and laboring with them in brotherly love on that account, I
have seen, and the
sight has affected me, that a conformity to some customs
distinguishable from pure
wisdom has entangled many, and that the desire of gain to support these
customs has
greatly opposed the work of truth. Sometimes when the prospect of the
work before me
has been such that in bowedness of spirit I have been drawn into
retired places, and
have besought the Lord with tears that he would take me wholly under
his direction,
and show me the way in which I ought to walk, it hath revived with
strength of
conviction that if I would be his faithful servant I must in all things
attend to his
wisdom, and be teachable, and so cease from all customs contrary
thereto, however used
among religious people.
As he is the perfection of
power, of wisdom, and of goodness, so I believe he hath provided that
so much labor
shall be necessary for men's support in this world as would, being
rightly divided, be a
suitable employment of their time; and that we cannot go into
superfluities, or grasp
after wealth in a way contrary to his wisdom, without having connection
with some
degree of oppression, and with that spirit which leads to
self-exaltation and strife, and
which frequently brings calamities on countries by parties contending
about their
claims.
Being thus fully convinced, and feeling an
increasing desire to live in the spirit of peace, I have often been
sorrow- fully affected
with thinking on the unquiet spirit in which wars are generally carried
on, and with the
miseries of many of my fellow-creatures engaged therein; some suddenly
destroyed;
some wounded, and after much pain remaining cripples; some deprived of
all their
outward substance and reduced to want; and some carried into captivity.
Thinking often
on these things, the use of hats and garments dyed with a dye hurtful
to them, and
wearing more clothes in summer than are useful, grew more uneasy to me,
believing
them to be customs which have not their foundation in pure wisdom. The
apprehension of being singular from my beloved friends was a strait
upon me, and thus
I continued in the use of some things contrary to my judgment.
On the 31st of fifth month, 1761, I was taken
ill of a
fever, and after it had continued near a week I was in great distress
of body. One day
there was a cry raised in me that I might understand the cause of my
affliction, and
improve under it, and my conformity to some customs which I believed
were not right
was brought to my remembrance. In the continuance of this exercise I
felt all the powers
in me yield themselves up into the hands of Him who gave me being, and
was made
thankful that he had taken hold of me by his chastisements. Feeling the
necessity of
further purifying, there was now no desire in me for health until the
design of my
correction was answered. Thus I lay in abasement and brokenness of
spirit, and as I felt a
sinking down into a calm resignation, so I felt, as in an instant, an
inward healing in my
nature, and from that time forward I grew better.
Though my mind was thus settled in relation to
hurtful dyes, I felt easy to wear my garments heretofore made, and
continued to do so
about nine months. Then I thought of getting a hat the natural color of
the fur, but the
apprehension of being looked upon as one affecting singularity felt
uneasy to me. Here I
had occasion to consider that things, though small in themselves, being
clearly enjoined
by Divine authority, become great things to us; and I trusted that the
Lord would
support me in the trials that might attend singularity, so long as
singularity was only for
his sake. On this account I was under close exercise of mind in the
time of our General
Spring Meeting, 1762, greatly desiring to be rightly directed; when,
being deeply bowed in
spirit before the Lord, I was made willing to submit to what I
apprehended was required
of me, and when I returned home got a hat of the natural color of the
fur.
In attending meetings this singularity was a
trial to me,
and more especially at this time, as white hats were used by some who
were fond of
following the changeable modes of dress, and as some Friends who knew
not from what
motives I wore it grew shy of me, I felt my way for a time shut up in
the exercise of the
ministry. In this condition, my mind being turned toward my Heavenly
Father with
fervent cries that I might be preserved to walk before him in the
meekness of wisdom,
my heart was often tender in meetings, and I felt an inward consolation
which to me
was very precious under these difficulties.
I had several
dyed garments fit for use which I believed it best to wear till I had
occasion for new ones.
Some Friends were apprehensive that my wearing such a hat savored of an
affected
singularity; those who spoke with me in a friendly way I generally
informed, in a few
words, that I believed my wearing it was not in my own will. I had at
times been
sensible that a superficial friendship had been dangerous to me; and
many Friends being
now uneasy with me, I had an inclination to acquaint some with the
manner of my
being led into these things; yet upon a deeper thought I was for a time
most easy to omit
it, believing the present dispensation was profitable, and trusting
that if I kept my place
the Lord in his own time would open the hearts of Friends towards me. I
have since had
cause to admire his goodness and loving-kindness in leading about and
instructing me,
and in opening and enlarging my heart in some of our meetings.
In the eleventh month this year, feeling an
engagement of mind to visit some families in Mansfield, I joined my
beloved friend
Benjamin Jones, and we spent a few days together in that service. In
the second month,
1763, I joined, in company with Elizabeth Smith and Mary Noble, in a
visit to the
families of Friends at Ancocas. In both these visits, through the
baptizing power of
truth, the sincere laborers were often comforted, and the hearts of
Friends opened to
receive us. In the fourth month following, I accompanied some Friends
in a visit to the
families of Friends in Mount Holly; during this visit my mind was often
drawn into an
inward awfulness, wherein strong desires were raised for the
everlasting welfare of my
fellow-creatures, and through the kindness of our Heavenly Father our
hearts were at
times enlarged, and Friends were invited, in the flowings of Divine
love, to attend to
that which would settle them on the sure foundation.
Having for many years felt love in my heart
towards
the natives of this land who dwell far back in the wilderness, whose
ancestors were
formerly the owners and possessors of the land where we dwell, and who
for a small
consideration assigned their inheritance to us, and being at
Philadelphia in the 8th
month, 1761, on a visit to some Friends who had slaves, I fell in
company with some of
those natives who lived on the east branch of the river Susquehanna, at
an Indian town
called Wehaloosing, two hundred miles from Philadelphia. In
conversation with them
by an interpreter, as also by observations on their countenances and
conduct, I believed
some of them were measurably acquainted with that Divine power which
subjects the
rough and froward will of the creature. At times I felt inward drawings
towards a visit to
that place, which I mentioned to none except my dear wife until it came
to some
ripeness. In the winter of 1762 I laid my prospects before my friends
at our Monthly and
Quarterly, and afterwards at our General Spring Meeting; and having the
unity of
Friends, and being thoughtful about an Indian pilot, there came a man
and three
women from a little beyond that town to Philadelphia on business. Being
informed
thereof by letter, I met them in town in the 5th month, 1763; and after
some
conversation, finding they were sober people, I, with the concurrence
of Friends in that
place, agreed to join them as companions in their return, and we
appointed to meet at
Samuel Foulk's, at Richland, in Bucks County, on the 7th of sixth
month. Now, as this
visit felt weighty, and was performed at a time when travelling
appeared perilous, so
the dispensations of Divine Providence in preparing my mind for it have
been
memorable, and I believe it good for me to give some account thereof.
After I had given up to go, the thoughts of the
journey
were often attended with unusual sadness, at which times my heart was
frequently
turned to the Lord with inward breathings for his heavenly support,
that I might not fail
to follow him wheresoever he might lead me. Being at our youth's
meeting at
Chesterfield, about a week before the time I expected to set off, I was
there led to speak
on that prayer of our Redeemer to the Father: "I pray not that thou
shouldest take
them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the
evil." And in
attending to the pure openings of truth, I had to mention what he
elsewhere said to his
Father: "I know that thou hearest me at all times"; so, as some of his
followers kept their places, and as his prayer was granted, it followed
necessarily that
they were kept from evil; and as some of those met with great hardships
and afflictions
in this world, and at last suffered death by cruel men, so it appears
that whatsoever
befalls men while they live in pure obedience to God certainly works
for their good, and
may not be considered an evil as it relates to them. As I spake on this
subject my heart
was much tendered, and great awfulness came over me. On the first day
of the week,
being at our own afternoon meeting, and my heart being enlarged in
love, I was led to
speak on the care and protection of the Lord over his people, and to
make mention of
that passage where a band of Syrians, who were endeavoring to take
captive the prophet,
were disappointed; and how the Psalmist said, "The angel of the Lord
encampeth
round about them that fear him." Thus, in true love and tenderness, I
parted from
Friends, expecting the next morning to proceed on my journey. Being
weary I went early
to bed. After I had been asleep a short time I was awoke by a man
calling at my door, and
inviting me to meet some Friends at a public-house in our town, who
came from
Philadelphia so late that Friends were generally gone to bed. These
Friends informed me
that an express had arrived the last morning from Pittsburg, and
brought news that the
Indians had taken a fort from the English westward, and had slain and
scalped some
English people near the said Pittsburg, and in divers places. Some
elderly Friends in
Philadelphia, knowing the time of my intending to set off, had
conferred together, and
thought good to inform me of these things before I left home, that I
might consider
them and proceed as I believed best. Going to bed again, I told not my
wife till morning.
My heart was turned to the Lord for his heavenly instruction; and it
was an humbling
time to me. When I told my dear wife, she appeared to be deeply
concerned about it; but
in a few hours' time my mind became settled in a belief that it was my
duty to proceed
on my journey, and she bore it with a good degree of resignation. In
this conflict of spirit
there were great searchings of heart and strong cries to the Lord, that
no motion might
in the least degree be attended to but that of the pure spirit of
truth.
The subjects before mentioned, on which I had
so lately
spoken in public, were now fresh before me, and I was brought inwardly
to commit
myself to the Lord, to be disposed of as he saw best. I took leave of
my family and
neighbors in much bowedness of spirit, and went to our Monthly Meeting
at
Burlington. After taking leave of Friends there, I crossed the river,
accompanied by my
friends Israel and John Pemberton; and parting the next morning with
Israel, John bore
me company to Samuel Foulk's, where I met the before-mentioned Indians;
and we
were glad to see each other. Here my friend Benjamin Parvin met me, and
proposed
joining me as a companion, -- we had before exchanged some letters on
the subject, --
and now I had a sharp trial on his account; for, as the journey
appeared perilous, I
thought if he went chiefly to bear me company, and we should be taken
captive, my
having been the means of drawing him into these difficulties would add
to my own
afflictions; so I told him my mind freely, and let him know that I was
resigned to go
alone; but after all, if he really believed it to be his duty to go on,
I believed his company
would be very comfortable to me. It was, indeed, a time of deep
exercise, and Benjamin
appeared to be so fastened to the visit that he could not be easy to
leave me; so we went
on, accompanied by our friends John Pemberton and William Lightfoot of
Pikeland. We
lodged at Bethlehem, and there parting with John, William and we went
forward on the
9th of the sixth month, and got lodging on the floor of a house, about
five miles from
Fort Allen. Here we parted with William, and at this place we met with
an Indian trader
lately come from Wyoming. In conversation with him, I perceived that
many white
people often sell rum to the Indians, which I believe is a great evil.
In the first place,
they are thereby deprived of the use of reason, and their spirits being
violently agitated,
quarrels often arise which end in mischief, and the bitterness and
resentment
occasioned hereby are frequently of long continuance. Again, their
skins and furs, gotten
through much fatigue and hard travels in hunting, with which they
intended to buy
clothing, they often sell at a low rate for more rum, when they become
intoxicated; and
afterward, when they suffer for want of the necessaries of life, are
angry with those who,
for the sake of gain, took advantage of their weakness. Their chiefs
have often
complained of this in their treaties with the English. Where cunning
people pass
counterfeits and impose on others that which is good for nothing, it is
considered as
wickedness; but for the sake of gain to sell that which we know does
people harm, and
which often works their ruin, manifests a hardened and corrupt heart,
and is an evil
which demands the care of all true lovers of virtue to suppress. While
my mind this
evening was thus employed, I also remembered that the people on the
frontiers, among
whom this evil is too common, are often poor; and that they venture to
the outside of a
colony in order to live more independently of the wealthy, who often
set high rents on
their land. I was renewedly confirmed in a belief, that if all our
inhabitants lived
according to sound wisdom, laboring to promote universal love and
righteousness, and
ceased from every inordinate desire after wealth, and from all customs
which are
tinctured with luxury, the way would be easy for our inhabitants,
though they might be
much more numerous than at present, to live comfortably on honest
employments,
without the temptation they are so often under of being drawn into
schemes to make
settlements on lands which have not been purchased of the Indians, or
of applying to
that wicked practice of selling rum to them.
Tenth of
sixth month. -- We set out early this morning and crossed the western
branch of
Delaware, called the Great Lehie, near Fort Allen. The water being
high, we went over
in a canoe. Here we met an Indian, had friendly conversation with him,
and gave him
some biscuit; and he, having killed a deer, gave some of it to the
Indians with us. After
travelling some miles, we met several Indian men and women with a cow
and horse,
and some household goods, who were lately come from their dwelling at
Wyoming,
and were going to settle at another place. We made them some small
presents, and, as
some of them understood English, I told them my motive for coming into
their
country, with which they appeared satisfied. One of our guides talking
awhile with an
ancient woman concerning us, the poor old woman came to my companion
and me
and took her leave of us with an appearance of sincere affection. We
pitched our tent
near the banks of the same river, having labored hard in crossing some
of those
mountains called the Blue Ridge. The roughness of the stones and the
cavities between
them, with the steepness of the hills, made it appear dangerous. But we
were preserved
in safety, through the kindness of Him whose works in these mountainous
deserts
appeared awful, and towards whom my heart was turned during this day's
travel.
Near our tent, on the sides of large trees
peeled for that
purpose, were various representations of men going to and returning
from the wars,
and of some being killed in battle. This was a path heretofore used by
warriors, and as I
walked about viewing those Indian histories, which were painted mostly
in red or black,
and thinking on the innumerable afflictions which the proud, fierce
spirit produceth in
the world, also on the toils and fatigues of warriors in travelling
over mountains and
deserts; on their miseries and distresses when far from home and
wounded by their
enemies; of their bruises and great weariness in chasing one another
over the rocks and
mountains; of the restless, unquiet state of mind of those who live in
this spirit, and of
the hatred which mutually grows up in the minds of their children, --
the desire to
cherish the spirit of love and peace among these people arose very
fresh in me. This was
the first night that we lodged in the woods, and being wet with
travelling in the rain, as
were also our blankets, the ground, our tent, and the bushes under
which we purposed
to lay, all looked discouraging; but I believed that it was the Lord
who had thus far
brought me forward, and that he would dispose of me as he saw good, and
so I felt easy.
We kindled a fire, with our tent open to it, then laid some bushes next
the ground, and
put our blankets upon them for our bed, and, lying down, got some
sleep. In the
morning, feeling a little unwell, I went into the river; the water was
cold, but soon after
I felt fresh and well. About eight o'clock we set forward and crossed a
high mountain
supposed to be upward of four miles over, the north side being the
steepest. About noon
we were overtaken by one of the Moravian brethren going to Wehaloosing,
and an
Indian man with him who could talk English; and we being together while
our horses
ate grass had some friendly conversation; but they, travelling faster
than we, soon left
us. This Moravian, I understood, has this spring spent some time at
Wehaloosing, and
was invited by some of the Indians to come again.
Twelfth of sixth month being the first of the
week and
rainy day, we continued in our tent, and I was led to think on the
nature of the exercise
which hath attended me. Love was the first motion, and thence a concern
arose to spend
some time with the Indians, that I might feel and understand their life
and the spirit
they live in, if haply I might receive some instruction from them, or
they might be in
any degree helped forward by my following the leadings of truth among
them; and as it
pleased the Lord to make way for my going at a time when the troubles
of war were
increasing, and when, by reason of much wet weather, travelling was
more difficult
than usual at that season, I looked upon is as a more favorable
opportunity to season my
mind, and to bring me into a nearer sympathy with them. As mine eye was
to the great
Father of Mercies, humbly desiring to learn his will concerning me, I
was made quiet
and content.
Our guide's horse strayed, though
hoppled, in the night, and after searching some time for him his
footsteps were
discovered in the path going back, whereupon my kind companion went off
in the rain,
and after about seven hours returned with him. Here we lodged again,
tying up our
horses before we went to bed, and loosing them to feed about break of
day.
Thirteenth of sixth month. -- The sun
appearing, we set
forward, and as I rode over the barren hills my meditations were on the
alterations in
the circumstances of the natives of this land since the coming in of
the English. The
lands near the sea are conveniently situated for fishing; the lands
near the rivers, where
the tides flow, and some above, are in many places fertile, and not
mountainous, while
the changing of the tides makes passing up and down easy with any kind
of traffic. The
natives have in some places, for trifling considerations, sold their
inheritance so
favorably situated, and in other places have been driven back by
superior force; their
way of clothing themselves is also altered from what it was, and they
being far removed
from us have to pass over mountains, swamps, and barren deserts, so
that travelling is
very troublesome in bringing their skins and furs to trade with us. By
the extension of
English settlements, and partly by the increase of English hunters, the
wild beasts on
which the natives chiefly depend for subsistence are not so plentiful
as they were, and
people too often, for the sake of gain, induce them to waste their
skins and furs in
purchasing a liquor which tends to the ruin of them and their families.
My own will and desires were now very much
broken,
and my heart was with much earnestness turned to the Lord, to whom
alone I looked
for help in the dangers before me. I had a prospect of the English
along the coast for
upwards of nine hundred miles, where I travelled, and their favorable
situation and the
difficulties attending the natives as well as the negroes in many
places were open before
me. A weighty and heavenly care came over my mind, and love filled my
heart towards
all mankind, in which I felt a strong engagement that we might be
obedient to the Lord
while in tender mercy he is yet calling to us, and that we might so
attend to pure
universal righteousness as to give no just cause of offence to the
gentiles, who do not
profess Christianity, whether they be the blacks from Africa, or the
native inhabitants of
this continent. Here I was led into a close and laborious inquiry
whether I, as an
individual, kept clear from all things which tended to stir up or were
connected with
wars, either in this land or in Africa; my heart was deeply concerned
that in future I
might in all things keep steadily to the pure truth, and live and walk
in the plainness
and simplicity of a sincere follower of Christ. In this lonely journey
I did greatly bewail
the spreading of a wrong spirit, believing that the prosperous,
convenient situation of
the English would require a constant attention in us to Divine love and
wisdom, in
order to their being guided and supported in a way answerable to the
will of that good,
gracious, and Almighty Being, who hath an equal regard to all mankind.
And here
luxury and covetousness, with the numerous oppressions and other evils
attending
them, appeared very afflicting to me, and I felt in that which is
immutable that the seeds
of great calamity and desolation are sown and growing fast on this
continent. Nor have I
words sufficient to set forth the longing I then felt, that we who are
placed along the
coast, and have tasted the love and goodness of God, might arise in the
strength thereof,
and like faithful messengers labor to check the growth of these seeds,
that they may not
ripen to the ruin of our posterity.
On reaching the
Indian settlement at Wyoming, we were told that an Indian runner had
been at that
place a day or two before us, and brought news of the Indians having
taken an English
fort westward, and destroyed the people, and that they were endeavoring
to take
another; also that another Indian runner came there about the middle of
the previous
night from a town about ten miles from Wehaloosing, and brought the
news that some
Indian warriors from distant parts came to that town with two English
scalps, and told
the people that it was war with the English.
Our guides
took us to the house of a very ancient man. Soon after we had put in
our baggage there
came a man from another Indian house some distance off. Perceiving
there was a man
near the door I went out; the man had a tomahawk wrapped under his
match-coat out
of sight. As I approached him he took it in his hand; I went forward,
and, speaking to
him in a friendly way, perceived he understood some English. My
companion joining
me, we had some talk with him concerning the nature of our visit in
these parts; he
then went into the house with us, and, talking with our guides, soon
appeared friendly,
sat down and smoked his pipe. Though taking his hatchet in his hand at
the instant I
drew near to him had a disagreeable appearance, I believe he had no
other intent than to
be in readiness in case any violence were offered to him.
On hearing the news brought by these Indian
runners,
and being told by the Indians where we lodged, that the Indians about
Wyoming
expected in a few days to move to some larger towns, I thought, to all
outward
appearance, it would be dangerous travelling at this time. After a hard
day's journey I
was brought into a painful exercise at night, in which I had to trace
back and view the
steps I had taken from my first moving in the visit; and though I had
to bewail some
weakness which at times had attended me, yet I could not find that I
had ever given way
to wilful disobedience. Believing I had, under a sense of duty, come
thus far, I was now
earnest in spirit, beseeching the Lord to show me what I ought to do.
In this great
distress I grew jealous of myself, lest the desire of reputation as a
man firmly settled to
persevere through dangers, or the fear of disgrace from my returning
without
performing the visit, might have some place in me. Full of these
thoughts, I lay great
part of the night, while my beloved companion slept by me, till the
Lord, my gracious
Father, who saw the conflicts of my soul, was pleased to give
quietness. Then I was again
strengthened to commit my life, and all things relating thereto, into
his heavenly
hands, and got a little sleep towards day.
Fourteenth of
sixth month. -- We sought out and visited all the Indians hereabouts
that we could meet
with, in number about twenty. They were chiefly in one place, about a
mile from where
we lodged. I expressed to them the care I had on my mind for their
good, and told them
that true love had made me willing thus to leave my family to come and
see the Indians
and speak with them in their houses. Some of them appeared kind and
friendly. After
taking leave of them, we went up the river Susquehanna about three
miles, to the
house of an Indian called Jacob January. He had killed his hog, and the
women were
making store of bread and preparing to move up the river. Here our
pilots had left their
canoe when they came down in the spring, and lying dry it had become
leaky. This
detained us some hours, so that we had a good deal of friendly
conversation with the
family; and, eating dinner with them, we made them some small presents.
Then
putting our baggage into the canoe, some of them pushed slowly up the
stream, and the
rest of us rode our horses. We swam them over a creek called
Lahawahamunk, and
pitched our tent above it in the evening. In a sense of God's goodness
in helping me in
my distress, sustaining me under trials, and inclining my heart to
trust in him, I lay
down in an humble, bowed frame of mind, and had a comfortable night's
lodging.
Fifteenth of sixth month. -- We proceeded
forward till
the afternoon, when, a storm appearing, we met our canoe at an
appointed place and
stayed all night, the rain continuing so heavy that it beat through our
tent and wet both
us and our baggage. The next day we found abundance of trees blown down
by the storm
yesterday, and had occasion reverently to consider the kind dealings of
the Lord who
provided a safe place for us in a valley while this storm continued. We
were much
hindered by the trees which had fallen across our path, and in some
swamps our way
was so stopped that we got through with extreme difficulty. I had this
day often to
consider myself as a sojourner in this world. A belief in the
all-sufficiency of God to
support his people in their pilgrimage felt comfortable to me, and I
was industriously
employed to get to a state of perfect resignation.
We
seldom saw our canoe but at appointed places, by reason of the path
going off from the
river. This afternoon Job Chilaway, an Indian from Wehaloosing, who
talks good
English and is acquainted with several people in and about
Philadelphia, met our
people on the river. Understanding where we expected to lodge, he
pushed back about
six miles, and came to us after night; and in a while our own canoe
arrived, it being
hard work pushing up the stream. Job told us that an Indian came in
haste to their town
yesterday and told them that three warriors from a distance lodged in a
town above
Wehaloosing a few nights past, and that these three men were going
against the English
at Juniata. Job was going down the river to the provincestore at
Shamokin. Though I
was so far favored with health as to continue travelling, yet, through
the various
difficulties in our journey, and the different way of living from which
I had been used
to, I grew sick. The news of these warriors being on their march so
near us, and not
knowing whether we might not fall in with them, was a fresh trial of my
faith; , and
though, through the strength of Divine love, I had several times been
enabled to
commit myself to the Divine disposal, I still found the want of a
renewal of my strength,
that I might be able to persevere therein; and my cries for help were
put up to the Lord,
who, in great mercy, gave me a resigned heart, in which I found
quietness.
Parting from Job Chilaway on the 17th, we went
on and
reached Wehaloosing about the middle of the afternoon. The first Indian
that we saw
was a woman of a modest countenance, with a Bible, who spake first to
our guide, and
then with an harmonious voice expressed her gladness at seeing us,
having before
heard of our coming. By the direction of our guide we sat down on a log
while he went
to the town to tell the people we were come. My companion and I,
sitting thus together
in a deep inward stillness, the poor woman came and sat near us; and,
great awfulness
coming over us, we rejoiced in a sense of God's love manifested to our
poor souls. After
a while we heard a conch- shell blow several times, and then came John
Curtis and
another Indian man, who kindly invited us into a house near the town,
where we
found about sixty people sitting in silence. After sitting with them a
short time I stood
up, and in some tenderness of spirit acquainted them, in a few short
sentences, with the
nature of my visit, and that a concern for their good had made me
willing to come thus
far to see them; which some of them understanding interpreted to the
others, and there
appeared gladness among them. I then showed them my certificate, which
was
explained to them; and the Moravian who overtook us on the way, being
now here,
bade me welcome. But the Indians knowing that this Moravian and I were
of different
religious societies, and as some of their people had encouraged him to
come and stay
awhile with them, they were, I believe, concerned that there might be
no jarring or
discord in their meetings; and having, I suppose, conferred together,
they acquainted me
that the people, at my request, would at any time come together and
hold meetings.
They also told me that they expected the Moravian would speak in their
settled
meetings, which are commonly held in the morning and near evening. So
finding
liberty in my heart to speak to the Moravian, I told him of the care I
felt on my mind for
the good of these people, and my belief that no ill effects would
follow if I sometimes
spake in their meetings when love engaged me thereto, without calling
them together
at times when they did not meet of course. He expressed his goodwill
towards my
speaking at any time all that I found in my heart to say.
On the evening of the 18th I was at their
meeting,
where pure gospel love was felt, to the tendering of some of our
hearts. The interpreters
endeavored to acquaint the people with what I said, in short sentences,
but found some
difficulty, as none of them were quite perfect in the English and
Delaware tongues, so
they helped one another, and we labored along, Divine love attending.
Afterwards,
feeling my mind covered with the spirit of prayer, I told the
interpreters that I found it
in my heart to pray to God, and believed, if I prayed aright, he would
hear me; and I
expressed my willingness for them to omit interpreting; so our meeting
ended with a
degree of Divine love. Before the people went out, I observed
Papunehang (the man
who had been zealous in laboring for a reformation in that town, being
then very
tender) speaking to one of the interpreters, and I was afterwards told
that he said in
substance as follows: "I love to feel where words come from."
Nineteenth of sixth month and first of the
week. --
This morning the Indian who came with the Moravian, being also a member
of that
society, prayed in the meeting, and then the Moravian spake a short
time to the people.
In the afternoon, my heart being filled with a heavenly care for their
good, I spake to
them awhile by interpreters; but none of them being perfect in the
work, and I feeling
the current of love run strong, told the interpreters that I believed
some of the people
would understand me, and so I proceeded without them; and I believe the
Holy Ghost
wrought on some hearts to edification where all the words were not
understood. I
looked upon it as a time of Divine favor, and my heart was tendered and
truly thankful
before the Lord. After I sat down, one of the interpreters seemed
spirited to give the
Indians the substance of what I said.
Before our first
meeting this morning, I was led to meditate on the manifold
difficulties of these Indians
who, by the permission of the Six Nations, dwell in these parts. A near
sympathy with
them was raised in me, and, my heart being enlarged in the love of
Christ, I thought
that the affectionate care of a good man for his only brother in
affliction does not exceed
what I then felt for that people. I came to this place through much
trouble; and though
through the mercies of God I believed that if I died in the journey it
would be well with
me, yet the thoughts of falling into the hands of Indian warriors were,
in times of
weakness, afflicting to me; and being of a tender constitution of body,
the thoughts of
captivity among them were also grievous; supposing that as they were
strong and hardy
they might demand service of me beyond what I could well bear. But the
Lord alone was
my keeper, and I believed that if I went into captivity it would be for
some good end.
Thus, from time to time, my mind was centred in resignation, in which I
always found
quietness. And this day, though I had the same dangerous wilderness
between me and
home, I was inwardly joyful that the Lord had strengthened me to come
on this visit,
and had manifested a fatherly care over me in my poor lowly condition,
when, in mine
own eyes, I appeared inferior to many among the Indians.
When the last-mentioned meeting was ended, it
being
night, Papunehang went to bed; and hearing him speak with an harmonious
voice, I
suppose for a minute or two, I asked the interpreter, who told me that
he was expressing
his thankfulness to God for the favors he had received that day, and
prayed that he
would continue to favor him with the same, which he had experienced in
that meeting.
Though Papunehang had before agreed to receive the Moravian and join
with them, he
still appeared kind and loving to us.
I was at two
meetings on the 20th, and silent in them. The following morning, in
meeting, my heart
was enlarged in pure love among them, and in short plain sentences I
expressed several
things that rested upon me, which one of the interpreters gave the
people pretty readily.
The meeting ended in supplication, and I had cause humbly to
acknowledge the
loving-kindness of the Lord towards us; and then I believed that a door
remained open
for the faithful disciples of Jesus Christ to labor among these People.
And now, feeling
my mind at liberty to return, I took my leave of them in general at the
conclusion of
what I said in meeting, and we then prepared to go homeward. But some
of their most
active men told us that when we were ready to move the people would
choose to come
and shake hands with us. Those who usually came to meeting did so; and
from a secret
draught in my mind I went among some who did not usually go to meeting,
and took
my leave of them also. The Moravian and his Indian interpreter appeared
respectful to
us at parting. This town, Wehaloosing, stands on the bank of the
Susquehanna, and
consists, I believe, of about forty houses, mostly compact together,
some about thirty feet
long and eighteen wide, -- some bigger, some less. They are built
mostly of split plank,
one end being set in the ground, and the other pinned to a plate on
which rafters are
laid, and then covered with bark. I understand a great flood last
winter overflowed the
greater part of the ground where the town stands, and some were now
about moving
their houses to higher ground.
We expected only two
Indians to be of our company, but when we were ready to go we found
many of them
were going to Bethlehem with skins and furs, and chose to go in company
with us. So
they loaded two canoes in which they desired us to go, telling us that
the waters were so
raised with the rains that the horses should be taken by such as were
better acquainted
with the fording-places. We, therefore, with, several Indians, went in
the canoes, and
others went on horses, there being seven besides ours. We met with the
horsemen once
on the way by appointment, and at night we lodged a little below a
branch called
Tankhannah, and some of the young men, going out a little before dusk
with their
guns, brought in a deer.
Through diligence we reached
Wyoming before night, the 22d, and understood that the Indians were
mostly gone from
this place. We went up a small creek into the woods with our canoes,
and, pitching our
tent, carried out our baggage, and before dark our horses came to us.
Next morning, the
horses being loaded and our baggage prepared, we set forward, being in
all fourteen, and
with diligent travelling were favored to get near half-way to Fort
Allen. The land on
this road from Wyoming to our frontier being mostly poor, and good
grass being scarce,
the Indians chose a piece of low ground to lodge on, as the best for
grazing. I had sweat
much in travelling, and, being weary, slept soundly. In the night I
perceived that I had
taken cold, of which I was favored soon to get better.
Twenty-fourth of sixth month. -- This day we
passed
Fort Allen and lodged near it in the woods. We forded the westerly
branch of the
Delaware three times, which was a shorter way than going over the top
of the Blue
Mountains called the Second Ridge. In the second time of fording where
the river cuts
through the mountain, the waters being rapid and pretty deep, my
companion's mare,
being a tall, tractable animal, was sundry times driven back through
the river, being
laden with the burdens of some small horses which were thought unable
to come
through with their loads. The troubles westward, and the difficulty for
Indians to pass
through our frontier, was, I apprehend, one reason why so many came,
expecting that
our being in company would prevent the outside inhabitants being
surprised. We
reached Bethlehem on the 25th, taking care to keep foremost, and to
acquaint people on
and near the road who these Indians were. This we found very needful,
for the frontier
inhabitants were often alarmed at the report of the English being
killed by Indians
westward. Among our company were some whom I did not remember to have
seen at
meeting, and some of these at first were very reserved; but we being
several days
together, and behaving in a friendly manner towards them, and making
them suitable
return for the services they did us, they became more free and
sociable.
Twenty-sixth of sixth month. -- Having
carefully
endeavored to settle all affairs with the Indians relative to our
journey, we took leave of
them, and I thought they generally parted from us affectionately. We
went forward to
Richland and had a very comfortable meeting among our friends, it being
the first day of
the week. Here I parted with my kind friend and companion Benjamin
Parvin, and,
accompanied by my friend Samuel Foulk, we rode to John Cadwallader's,
from whence I
reached home the next day, and found my family tolerably well. They and
my friends
appeared glad to see me return from a journey which they apprehended
would be
dangerous; but my mind, while I was out, had been so employed in
striving for perfect
resignation, and had so often been confirmed in a belief, that,
whatever the Lord might
be pleased to allot for me, it would work for good, that I was careful
lest I should admit
any degree of selfishness in being glad overmuch, and labored to
improve by those trials
in such a manner as my gracious Father and Protector designed. Between
the English
settlements and Wehaloosing we had only a narrow path, which in many
places is
much grown up with bushes, and interrupted by abundance of trees lying
across it.
These, together with the mountain swamps and rough stones, make it a
difficult road to
travel, and the more so because rattle-snakes abound here, of which we
killed four.
People who have never been in such places have but an imperfect idea of
them; and I
was not only taught patience, but also made thankful to God, who thus
led about and
instructed me, that I might have a quick and lively feeling of the
afflictions of my
fellow-creatures, whose situation in life is difficult.
C H A P T E R
IX.
1763-1769. Religious
Conversation with a Company met to see the Tricks of a Juggler --
Account of John
Smith's Advice and of the Proceeding of a Committee at the Yearly
Meeting in 1764 --
Contemplations on the Nature of True Wisdom -- Visit to the Families of
Friends at
Mount Holly, Mansfield, and Burlington, and to the Meetings on the
Sea-Coast from
Cape May towards Squan -- Some Account of Joseph Nichols and his
Followers -- On the
different State of the First Settlers in Pennsylvania who de depended
on their own
Labor, compared with those of the Southern Provinces who kept Negroes
-- Visit to the
Northern Parts of New Jersey and the Western Parts of Maryland and
Pennsylvania;
also to the Families of Friends at Mount Holly and several Parts of
Maryland -- Further
Considerations on keeping Slaves, and his Concern for having been a
Party to the Sale
of One -- Thoughts on Friends exercising Offices in Civil Government.
HE latter part of the summer, 1763, there came a man to
Mount
Holly who had previously published a printed advertisement that at a
certain
public-house he would show many wonderful operations, which were
therein
enumerated. At the appointed time he did, by sleight of hand, perform
sundry things
which appeared strange to the spectators. Understanding that the show
was to be
repeated the next night, and that the people were to meet about sunset,
I felt an exercise
on that account. So I went to the public-house in the evening, and told
the man of the
house that I had an inclination to spend a part of the evening there;
with which he
signified that he was content. Then, sitting down by the door, I spoke
to the people in
the fear of the Lord, as they came together, concerning this show, and
labored to
convince them that their thus assembling to see these sleight-of-hand
tricks, and
bestowing their money to support men who, in that capacity, were of no
use to the
world, was contrary to the nature of the Christian religion. One of the
company
endeavored to show by arguments the reasonableness of their proceedings
herein; but
after considering some texts of Scripture and calmly debating the
matter he gave up the
point. After spending about an hour among them, and feeling my mind
easy, I departed.
Twenty-fifth* of ninth month, 1764. -- At our
Yearly
Meeting at Philadelphia this day, John Smith, of Marlborough, aged
upwards of eighty
years, a faithful minister, though not eloquent, stood up in our
meeting of ministers
and elders, and, appearing to be under a great exercise of spirit,
informed Friends in
substance as follows: "That he had been a member of our Society upwards
of sixty
years, and he well remembered, that, in those early times, Friends were
a plain,
lowly-minded people, and that there was much tenderness and contrition
in their
meetings. That, at twenty years from that time, the Society increasing
in wealth and in
some degree conforming to the fashions of the world, true humility was
less apparent,
and their meetings in general were not so lively and edifying. That at
the end of forty
years many of them were grown very rich, and many of the Society made a
specious
appearance in the world; that wearing fine costly garments, and using
silver and other
watches, became customary with them, their sons, and their daughters.
These marks of
outward wealth and greatness appeared on some in our meetings of
ministers and
elders; and, as such things became more prevalent, so the powerful
overshadowings of
the Holy Ghost were less manifest in the Society. That there had been a
continued
increase of such ways of life, even until the present time; and that
the weakness which
hath now overspread the Society and the barrenness manifest among us is
matter of
much sorrow." He then mentioned the uncertainty of his attending these
meetings in future, expecting his dissolution was near; and, having
tenderly expressed
his concern for us, signified that he had seen in the true light that
the Lord would bring
back his people from these things, into which they were thus
degenerated, but that his
faithful servants must go through great and heavy exercises.
Twentieth* of ninth month. -- The committee
appointed by the Yearly Meeting to visit the Quarterly and Monthly
Meetings gave an
account in writing of their proceedings in that service. They signified
that in the course
of the visit they had been apprehensive that some persons holding
offices in
government inconsistent with our principles, and others who kept
slaves, remaining
active members in our meetings for discipline, had been one means of
weakness
prevailing in some places. After this report was read, an exercise
revived in my mind
which had attended me for several years, and inward cries to the Lord
were raised in me
that the fear of man might not prevent me from doing what be required
of me, and,
standing up, I spoke in substance as follows: "I have felt a tenderness
in my mind
towards persons in two circumstances mentioned in that report; namely,
towards such
active members as keep slaves and such as hold offices in civil
government; and I have
desired that Friends, in all their conduct, may be kindly affectioned
one towards
another. Many Friends who keep slaves are under some exercise on that
account; and at
times think about trying them with freedom, but find many things in
their way. The
way of living and the annual expenses of some of them are such that it
seems
impracticable for them to set their slaves free without changing their
own way of life. It
has been my lot to be often abroad; and I have observed in some places,
at Quarterly and
Yearly Meetings, and at some houses where travelling Friends and their
horses are often
entertained, that the yearly expense of individuals therein is very
considerable. And
Friends in some places crowding much on persons in these circumstances
for
entertainment hath rested as a burden on my mind for some years past. I
now express it
in the fear of the Lord, greatly desiring that Friends here present may
duly consider
it."
In the fall of this year, having hired a man to
work, I perceived in conversation with him that he had been a soldier
in the late war on
this continent; and he informed me in the evening, in a narrative of
his captivity
among the Indians, that he saw two of his fellow-captives tortured to
death in a very
cruel manner. This relation affected me with sadness, under which I
went to bed; and
the next morning, soon after I awoke, a fresh and living sense of
Divine love
overspread my mind, in which I had a renewed prospect of the nature of
that wisdom
from above which leads to a right use of all gifts, both spiritual and
temporal, and gives
content therein. Under a feeling thereof, I wrote as follows:- "Hath He
who gave
me a being attended with many wants unknown to brute creatures given me
a capacity
superior to theirs, and shown me that a moderate application to
business is suitable to
my present condition; and that this, attended with his blessing, may
supply all my
outward wants while they remain within the bounds he hath fixed, and
while no
imaginary wants proceeding from an evil spirit have any place in me?
Attend then, O
my soul! to this pure wisdom as thy sure conductor through the manifold
dangers of
this world.
"Doth pride lead to vanity? Doth
vanity form imaginary wants? Do these wants prompt men to exert their
power in
requiring more from others than they would be willing to perform
themselves, were
the same required of them? Do these proceedings beget hard thoughts? Do
hard
thoughts, when ripe, become malice? Does malice, when ripe, become
revengeful, and
in the end inflict terrible pains on our fellow-creatures and spread
desolations in the
world?
"Do mankind, walking in uprightness,
delight in each other's happiness? And do those who are capable of this
attainment, by
giving way to an evil spirit, employ their skill and strength to
afflict and destroy one
another? Remember then, O my soul! the quietude of those in whom Christ
governs,
and in all thy proceedings feel after it.
"Doth he
condescend to bless thee with his presence? To move and influence thee
to action? To
dwell and to walk in thee? Remember then thy station as being sacred to
God. Accept of
the strength freely offered to thee, and take heed that no weakness in
conforming to
unwise, expensive, and hard-hearted customs, gendering to discord and
strife, be given
way to. Doth he claim my body as his temple, and graciously require
that I may be sacred
to him? O that I may prize this favor, and that my whole life may be
conformable to this
character! Remember, O my soul! that the Prince of Peace is thy Lord;
that he
communicates his unmixed wisdom to his family, that they, living in
perfect simplicity,
may give no just cause of offence to any creature, but that they may
walk as He
walked!"
Having felt an openness in my heart
towards visiting families in our own meeting, and especially in the
town of Mount
Holly, the place of my abode, I mentioned it at our Monthly Meeting in
the fore part of
the winter of 1764, which being agreed to, and several Friends of our
meeting being
united in the exercise, we proceeded therein; and through Divine favor
we were helped
in the work, so that it appeared to me as a fresh reviving of godly
care among Friends.
The latter part of the same winter I joined my friend William Jones in
a visit to Friends'
families in Mansfield, in which labor I had cause to admire the
goodness of the Lord
toward us.
My mind being drawn towards Friends
along the seacoast from Cape May to near Squan, and also to visit some
people in those
parts, among whom there is no settled worship, I joined with my beloved
friend
Benjamin Jones in a visit to them, having Friends' unity therein. We
set off the 24th of
tenth month, 1765, and had a prosperous and very satisfactory journey,
feeling at times,
through the goodness of the Heavenly Shepherd, the gospel to flow
freely towards a
poor people scattered in these places. Soon after our return I joined
my friends John
Sleeper and Elizabeth Smith in a visit to Friends' families at
Burlington, there being at
this time about fifty families of our Society in that city; and we had
cause humbly to
adore our Heavenly Father, who baptized us into a feeling of the state
of the people, and
strengthened us to labor in true gospel love among them.
Having had a concern at times for several years
to pay a
religious visit to Friends on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and to
travel on foot among
them, that by so travelling I might have a more lively feeling of the
condition of the
oppressed slaves, set an example of lowliness before the eyes of their
masters, and be
more out of the way of temptation to unprofitable converse; and the
time drawing near
in which I believed it my duty to lay my concern before our Monthly
Meeting, I
perceived, in conversation with my beloved friend John Sleeper, that he
also was under
similar concern to travel on foot in the form of a servant among them,
as he expressed
it. This he told me before he knew aught of my exercise. Being thus
drawn the same
way, we laid our exercise and the nature of it before Friends; and,
obtaining certificates,
we set off the 6th of fifth month, 1766, and were at meetings with
Friends at
Wilmington, Duck Creek, Little Creek, and Motherkill. My heart was
often tendered
under the Divine influence, and enlarged in love towards the people
among whom we
travelled.
From Motherkill we crossed the country
about thirty-five miles to Tuckahoe, in Maryland, and had a meeting
there, and also at
Marshy Creek. At the last three meetings there were a considerable
number of the
followers of one Joseph Nichols, a preacher, who, I understand, is not
in outward
fellowship with any religious society, but professeth nearly the same
principles as those
of our Society, and often travels up and down, appointing meetings
which many people
attend. I heard of some who had been irreligious people that were now
his followers,
and were become sober, well- behaved men and women. Some
irregularities, I hear,
have been among the people at several of his meetings; but from what I
have perceived
I believe the man and some of his followers are honestly disposed, but
that skilful
fathers are wanting among them.
We then went to
Choptank and Third Haven, and thence to Queen Anne's. The weather for
some days
past having been hot and dry, and we having travelled pretty steadily
and having hard
labor in meetings, I grew weakly, at which I was for a time
discouraged; but looking over
our journey and considering how the Lord had supported our minds and
bodies, so that
we had gone forward much faster than I expected before we came out, I
saw that I had
been in danger of too strongly desiring to get quickly through the
journey, and that the
bodily weakness now attending me was a kindness; and then, in
contrition of spirit, I
became very thankful to my gracious Father for this manifestation of
His love, and in
humble submission to His will my trust in Him was renewed.
In this part of our journey I had many thoughts
on the
different circumstances of Friends who inhabit Pennsylvania and Jersey
from those who
dwell in Maryland, Virginia,and Carolina. Pennsylvania and New Jersey
were settled by
Friends who were convinced of our principles in England in times of
suffering; these,
coming over, bought lands of the natives, and applied to husbandry in a
peaceable way,
and many of their children were taught to labor for their living. Few
of these, I believe,
settled in any of the southern provinces; but by the faithful labors of
travelling Friends
in early times there was considerable convincement among the
inhabitants of these
parts. I also remembered having read of the warlike disposition of many
of the first
settlers in those provinces, and of their numerous engagements with the
natives in
which much blood was shed even in the infancy of the colonies. Some of
the people
inhabiting those places, being grounded in customs contrary to the pure
truth, were
affected with the powerful preaching of the Word of Life and joined in
fellowship with
our Society, and in so doing they had a great work to go through. In
the history of the
reformation from Popery it is observable that the progress was gradual
from age to age.
The uprightness of the first reformers in attending to the light and
understanding given
to them opened the way for sincere- hearted people to proceed further
afterwards; and
thus each one truly fearing God and laboring in the works of
righteousness appointed
for him in his day findeth acceptance with Him. Through the darkness of
the times and
the corruption of manners and customs, some upright men may have had
little more
for their day's work than to attend to the righteous principle in their
minds as it related
to their own conduct in life without pointing out to others the whole
extent of that into
which the same principle would lead succeeding ages. Thus, for
instance, among an
imperious, warlike people, supported by oppressed slaves, some of these
masters, I
suppose, are awakened to feel and to see their error, and through
sincere repentance
cease from oppression and become like fathers to their servants,
showing by their
example a pattern of humility in living, and moderation in governing,
for the
instruction and admonition of their oppressing neighbors; these,
without carrying the
reformation further, have, I believe, found acceptance with the Lord.
Such was the
beginning; and those who succeeded them, and who faithfully attended to
the nature
and spirit of the reformation, have seen the necessity of proceeding
forward, and have
not only to instruct others by their own example in governing well, but
have also to use
means to prevent their successors from having so much power to oppress
others.
Here I was renewedly confirmed in my mind that
the
Lord (whose tender mercies are over all his works, and whose ear is
open to the cries
and groans of the oppressed) is graciously moving in the hearts of
people to draw them
off from the desire of wealth and to bring them into such an humble,
lowly way of
living that they may see their way clearly to repair to the standard of
true righteousness,
and may not only break the yoke of oppression, but may know him to be
their strength
and support in times of outward affliction.
We crossed
Chester River, had a meeting there, and also at Cecil and Sassafras. My
bodily weakness,
joined with a heavy exercise of mind, was to me an humbling
dispensation, and I had a
very lively feeling of the state of the oppressed; yet I often thought
that what I suffered
was little compared with the sufferings of the blessed Jesus and many
of his faithful
followers; and I may say with thankfulness that I was made content.
From Sassafras we
went pretty directly home, where we found our families well. For
several weeks after
our return I had often to look over our journey; and though to me it
appeared as a small
service, and that some faithful messengers will yet have more bitter
cups to drink in
those southern provinces for Christ's sake than we have had, yet I
found peace in that I
had been helped to walk in sincerity according to the understanding and
strength given
to me.
Thirteenth of eleventh month. -- With the
unity of Friends at our monthly meeting, and in company with my beloved
friend
Benjamin Jones, I set out on a visit to Friends in the upper part of
this province, having
had drawings of love in my heart that way for a considerable time. We
travelled as far as
Hardwick, and I had inward peace in my labors of love among them.
Through the
humbling dispensations of Divine Providence my mind hath been further
brought into
a feeling of the difficulties of Friends and their servants
southwestward; and being often
engaged in spirit on their account I believed it my duty to walk into
some parts of the
western shore of Maryland on a religious visit. Having obtained a
certificate from
Friends of our Monthly Meeting, I took leave of my family under the
heart-tendering
operation of truth, and on the 20th of fourth month, 1767, rode to the
ferry opposite to
Philadelphia, and thence walked to William Horne's, at Derby, the same
evening. Next
day I pursued my journey alone and reached Concord Week-Day Meeting.
Discouragements and a weight of distress had at
times
attended me in this lonesome walk, but through these afflictions I was
mercifully
preserved. Sitting down with Friends, my mind was turned towards the
Lord to wait for
his holy leadings; and in infinite love he was pleased to soften my
heart into humble
contrition, and renewedly to strengthen me to go forward, so that to me
it was a time of
heavenly refreshment in a silent meeting. The next day I came to New
Garden
Week-Day Meeting, in which I sat in bowedness of spirit, and being
baptized into a
feeling of the state of some present, the Lord gave us a
heart-tendering season; to his
name be the praise. Passing on, I was at Nottingham Monthly Meeting,
and at a meeting
at Little Britain on first-day; in the afternoon several Friends came
to the house where I
lodged and we had a little afternoon meeting, and through the humbling
power of truth
I had to admire the loving-kindness of the Lord manifested to us.
Twenty-sixth of fourth month. -- I crossed the
Susquehanna, and coming among people in outward ease and greatness,
supported
chiefly on the labor of slaves, my heart was much affected, and in
awful retiredness my
mind was gathered inward to the Lord, humbly desiring that in true
resignation I might
receive instruction from him respecting my duty among this people.
Though travelling
on foot was wearisome to my body, yet it was agreeable to the state of
my mind. Being
weakly, I was covered with sorrow and heaviness on account of the
prevailing spirit of
this world by which customs grievous and oppressive are introduced on
the one hand,
and pride and wantonness on the other.
In this lonely
walk and state of abasement and humiliation, the condition of the
church in these parts
was opened before me, and I may truly say with the Prophet, "I was
bowed down at
the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it." Under this
exercise I attended
the Quarterly Meeting at Gunpowder, and in bowedness of spirit I had to
express with
much plainness my feelings respecting Friends living in fulness on the
labors of the
poor oppressed negroes; and that promise of the Most High was now
revived, "I
will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see my
glory." Here
the sufferings of Christ and his tasting death for every man, and the
travels, sufferings,
and martyrdom of the Apostles and primitive Christians in laboring for
the conversion
of the Gentiles, were livingly revived in me, and according to the
measure of strength
afforded I labored in some tenderness of spirit, being deeply affected
among them. The
difference between the present treatment which these gentiles, the
negroes, receive at
our hands, and the labors of the primitive Christians for the
conversion of the Gentiles,
were pressed home, and the power of truth came over us, under a feeling
of which my
mind was united to a tender-hearted people in these parts. The meeting
concluded in a
sense of God's goodness towards his humble, dependent children.
The next day was a general meeting for worship,
much
crowded, in which I was deeply engaged in inward cries to the Lord for
help, that I might
stand wholly resigned, and move only as he might be pleased to lead me.
I was
mercifully helped to labor honestly and fervently among them, in which
I found
inward peace, and the sincere were comforted. From this place I turned
towards Pipe
Creek and the Red Lands, and had several meetings among Friends in
those parts. My
heart was often tenderly affected under a sense of the Lord's goodness
in sanctifying my
troubles and exercises, turning them to my comfort, and I believe to
the benefit of many
others, for I may say with thankfulness that in this visit it appeared
like a tendering
visitation in most places.
I passed on to the Western
Quarterly Meeting in Pennsylvania. During the several days of this
meeting I was
mercifully preserved in an inward feeling after the mind of truth, and
my public labors
tended to my humiliation, with which I was content. After the Quarterly
Meeting for
worship ended, I felt drawings to go to the women's meeting for
business, which was
very full; here the humility of Jesus Christ as a pattern for us to
walk by was livingly
opened before me, and in treating on it my heart was enlarged, and it
was a baptizing
time. I was afterwards at meetings at Concord, Middletown, Providence,
and
Haddonfield, whence I returned home and found my family well. A sense
of the Lord's
merciful preservation in this my journey excites reverent thankfulness
to him.
Second of ninth month, 1767. -- With the unity
of
Friends, I set off on a visit to Friends in the upper part of Berks and
Philadelphia
counties; was at eleven meetings in about two weeks, and have renewed
cause to bow in
reverence before the Lord, who, by the powerful extendings of his
humbling goodness,
opened my way among Friends, and I trust made the meetings profitable
to us. The
following winter I joined some Friends in a family visit to some part
of our meeting, in
which exercise the pure influence of Divine love made our visits
reviving.
Fifth of fifth month, 1768. -- I left home
under the
humbling hand of the Lord, with a certificate to visit some meetings in
Maryland, and
to proceed without a horse seemed clearest to me. I was at the
Quarterly Meetings at
Philadelphia and Concord, whence I proceeded to Chester River, and,
crossing the bay,
was at the Yearly Meeting at West River; I then returned to Chester
River, and, taking a
few meetings in my way, proceeded home. It was a journey of much inward
waiting,
and as my eye was to the Lord, way was several times opened to my
humbling
admiration when things appeared very difficult. On my return I felt a
very comfortable
relief of mind, having through Divine help labored in much plainness,
both with
Friends selected and in the more public meetings, so that I trust the
pure witness in
many minds was reached.
Eleventh of sixth month,
1769. -- There have been sundry cases of late years within the limits
of our Monthly
Meeting, respecting the exercising of pure righteousness towards the
negroes, in which I
have lived under a labor of heart that equity might be steadily
preserved. On this
account I have had some close exercises among Friends, in which, I may
thankfully say,
I find peace. And as my meditations have been on universal love, my own
conduct in
time past became of late very grievous to me. As persons setting
negroes free in our
province are bound by law to maintain them in case they have need of
relief, some in
the time of my youth who scrupled to keep slaves for term of life were
wont to detain
their young negroes in their service without wages till they were
thirty years of age.
With this custom I so far agreed that being joined with another Friend
in executing the
will of a deceased Friend, I once sold a negro lad till he might attain
the age of thirty
years, and applied the money to the use of the estate.
With abasement of heart I may now say that
sometimes as I have sat in a meeting with my heart exercised towards
that awful Being
who respecteth not persons nor colors, and have thought upon this lad,
I have felt that
all was not clear in my mind respecting him; and as I have attended to
this exercise and
fervently sought the Lord, it hath appeared to me that I should make
some restitution;
but in what way I saw not till lately, when being under some concern
that I might be
resigned to go on a visit to some part of the West Indies, and under
close engagement of
spirit seeking to the Lord for counsel herein, the aforesaid
transaction came heavily
upon me, and my mind for a time was covered with darkness and sorrow.
Under this
sore affliction my heart was softened to receive instruction, and I now
first perceived
that as I had been one of the two executors who had sold this lad for
nine years longer
than is common for our own children to serve, so I should now offer
part of my
substance to redeem the last half of the nine years; but as the time
was not yet come, I
executed a bond, binding myself and my executors to pay to the man to
whom he was
sold what to candid men might appear equitable for the last four and a
half years of his
time, in case the said youth should be living, and in a condition
likely to provide
comfortably for himself.
Ninth of tenth month. -- My
heart hath often been deeply afflicted under a feeling that the
standard of pure
righteousness is not lifted up to the people by us, as a society, in
that clearness which it
might have been, had we been as faithful as we ought to be to the
teachings of Christ.
And as my mind hath been inward to the Lord, the purity of Christ's
government hath
been made clear to my understanding, and I have believed, in the
opening of universal
love, that where a people who are convinced of the truth of the inward
teachings of
Christ are active in putting laws in execution which are not consistent
with pure
wisdom, it hath a necessary tendency to bring dimness over their minds.
My heart
having been thus exercised for several years with a tender sympathy
towards my
fellow-members, I have within a few months past expressed my concern on
this subject
in several meetings for discipline.
C H A P T E R
X.
1769, 1770. Bodily
Indisposition -- Exercise of his Mind for the Good of the People in the
West Indies --
Communicates to Friends his Concern to visit some of those Islands --
Preparations to
embark -- Considerations on the Trade to the West Indies -- Release
from his Concern
and return Home -- Religious Engagements -- Sickness, and Exercise of
his Mind
therein."
WELFTH of third
month, 1769. -- Having for some years past dieted myself on account of
illness and
weakness of body, and not having ability to travel by land as
heretofore, I was at times
favored to look with awfulness towards the Lord, before whom are all my
ways, who
alone hath the power of life and death, and to feel thankfulness raised
in me for this
fatherly chastisement, believing that if I was truly humbled under it
all would work for
good. While under this bodily weakness, my mind was at times exercised
for my
fellow-creatures in the West Indies, and I grew jealous over myself
lest the
disagreeableness of the prospect should hinder me from obediently
attending thereto;
for, though I knew not that the Lord required me to go there, yet I
believed that
resignation was now called for in that respect. Feeling a danger of not
being wholly
devoted to him, I was frequently engaged to watch unto prayer that I
might be
preserved; and upwards of a year having passed, as I one day walked in
a solitary wood,
my mind being covered with awfulness, cries were raised in me to my
merciful Father,
that he would graciously keep me in faithfulness; and it then settled
on my mind, as a
duty, to open my condition to Friends at our Monthly Meeting, which I
did soon after,
as follows: --
" An exercise hath attended me for some time past, and
of late
hath been more weighty upon me, which is, that I believe it is required
of me to be
resigned to go on a visit to some parts of the West Indies." In the
Quarterly and
General Spring Meetings I found no clearness to express anything
further than that I
believed resignation herein was required of me. Having obtained
certificates from all
the said meetings, I felt like a sojourner at my outward habitation,
and kept free from
worldly encumbrances, and I was often bowed in spirit before the Lord,
with inward
breathings to him that I might be rightly directed. I may here note
that the circumstance
before related of my having, when young, joined with another executor
in selling a
negro lad till he might attain the age of thirty years, was now the
cause of much sorrow
to me; and, after having settled matters relating to this youth, I
provided a sea-store and
bed, and things for the voyage. Hearing of a vessel likely to sail from
Philadelphia for
Barbadoes, I spake with one of the owners at Burlington, and soon after
went to
Philadelphia on purpose to speak to him again. He told me there was a
Friend in town
who was part owner of the said vessel. I felt no inclination to speak
with the latter, but
returned home. Awhile after I took leave of my family, and, going to
Philadelphia, had
some weighty conversation with thefirst-mentioned owner, and showed him
a writing,
as follows: --
"On the 25th of eleventh month, 1769, as an exercise
with respect
to a visit to Barbadoes hath been weighty on my mind, I may express
some of the trials
which have attended me, under which I have at times rejoiced that I
have felt my own
self-will subjected.
"Some years ago I retailed
rum, sugar, and molasses, the fruits of the labor of slaves, but had
not then much
concern about them save only that the rum might be used in moderation;
nor was this
concern so weightily attended to as I now believe it ought to have
been. Having of late
years been further informed respecting the oppressions too generally
exercised in these
islands, and thinking often on the dangers there are in connections of
interest and
fellowship with the works of darkness (Eph. v. 11), I have felt an
increasing concern to
be wholly given up to the leadings of the Holy Spirit, and it hath
seemed right that my
small gain from this branch of trade should be applied in promoting
righteousness on
the earth. This was the first motion towards a visit to Barbadoes. I
believed also that part
of my outward substance should be applied in paying my passage, if I
went, and
providing things in a lowly way for my subsistence; but when the time
drew near in
which I believed it required of me to be in readiness, a difficulty
arose which hath been a
continual trial for some months past, under which I have, with
abasement of mind
from day to day, sought the Lord for instruction, having often had a
feeling of the
condition of one formerly, who bewailed himself because the Lord hid
his face from
him. During these exercises my heart hath often been contrite, and I
have had a tender
feeling of the temptations of my fellow-creatures, laboring under
expensive customs not
agreeable to the simplicity that 'there is in Christ' (2 Cor. ii. 3),
and sometimes in the
renewings of gospel love I have been helped to minister to others.
"That which hath so closely engaged my mind, in
seeking to the Lord for instruction, is, whether, after the full
information I have had of
the oppression which the slaves lie under who raise the West India
produce, which I
have gained by reading a caution and warning to Great Britain and her
colonies, written
by Anthony Benezet, it is right for me to take passage in a vessel
employed in the West
India trade.
"To trade freely with oppressors
without laboring to dissuade them from such unkind treatment, and to
seek for gain by
such traffic, tends, I believe, to make them more easy respecting their
conduct than they
would be if the cause of universal righteousness was humbly and firmly
attended to by
those in general with whom they have commerce; and that complaint of
the Lord by his
prophet, "They have strengthened the hands of the wicked," hath very
often
revived in my mind. I may here add some circumstances which occurred to
me before I
had any prospect of a visit there. David longed for some water in a
well beyond an army
of Philistines who were at war with Israel, and some of his men, to
please him,
ventured their lives in passing through this army, and brought that
water.
"It doth not appear that the Israelites were
then
scarce of water, but rather that David gave way to delicacy of taste;
and having reflected
on the danger to which these men had been exposed, he considered this
water as their
blood, and his heart smote him that he could not drink it, but he
poured it out to the
Lord. The oppression of the slaves which I have seen in several
journeys southward on
this continent, and the report of their treatment in the West Indies,
have deeply affected
me, and a care to live in the spirit of peace and minister no just
cause of offence to my
fellow-creatures having from time to time livingly revived in my mind,
I have for
some years past declined to gratify my palate with those sugars.
"I do not censure my brethren in these things,
but
I believe the Father of Mercies, to whom all mankind by creation are
equally related,
hath heard the groans of this oppressed people and that he is preparing
some to have a
tender feeling of their condition. Trading in or the frequent use of
any produce known
to be raised by the labor of those who are under such lamentable
oppression hath
appeared to be a subject which may hereafter require the more serious
consideration of
the humble followers of Christ, the Prince of Peace.
"After long and mournful exercise I am now free
to mention how things have opened in my mind, with desires that if it
may please the
Lord further to open his will to any of his children in this matter
they may faithfully
follow him in such further manifestation.
"The
number of those who decline the use of West India produce, on account
of the hard
usage of the slaves who raise it, appears small, even among people
truly pious; and the
labors in Christian love on that subject of those who do are not very
extensive. Were
the trade from this continent to the West Indies to be stopped at once,
I believe many
there would suffer for want of bread. Did we on this continent and the
inhabitants of the
West Indies generally dwell in pure righteousness, I believe a small
trade between us
might be right. Under these considerations, when the thoughts of wholly
declining the
use of trading-vessels and of trying to hire a vessel to go under
ballast have arisen in my
mind, I have believed that the labors in gospel love hitherto bestowed
in the cause of
universal righteousness have not reached that height. If the trade to
the West Indies
were no more than was consistent with pure wisdom, I believe the
passage-money
would, for good reasons be higher than it is now; and therefore, under
deep exercise of
mind, I have believed that I should not take advantage of this great
trade and small
passage-money, but, as a testimony in favor of less trading, should pay
more than is
common for others to pay if I go at this time." The first-mentioned
owner, having
read the paper, went with me to the other owner, who also read over the
paper, and we
had some solid conversation, under which I felt my self bowed in
reverence before the
Most High. At length one of them asked me if I would go and see the
vessel. But not
having clearness in my mind to go, I went to my lodging and retired in
private under
great exercise of mind; and my tears were poured out before the Lord
with inward cries
that he would graciously help me under these trials. I believe my mind
was resigned,
but I did not feel clearness to proceed; and my own weakness and the
necessity of Divine
instruction were impressed upon me.
I was for a time
as one who knew not what to do and was tossed as in a tempest; under
which affliction
the doctrine of Christ, "Take no thought for the morrow," arose
livingly
before me, and I was favored to get into a good degree of stillness.
Having been near two
days in town, I believed my obedience to my Heavenly Father consisted
in returning
homeward; I therefore went over among Friends on the Jersey shore and
tarried till the
morning on which the vessel was appointed to sail. As I lay in bed the
latter part of that
night my mind was comforted, and I felt what I esteemed a fresh
confirmation that it
was the Lord's will that I should pass through some further exercises
near home; so I
went thither, and still felt like a sojourner with my family. In the
fresh spring of pure
love I had some labors in a private way among Friends on a subject
relating to truth's
testimony, under which I had frequently been exercised in heart for
some years. I
remember, as I walked on the road under this exercise, that passage in
Ezekiel came
fresh upon me, "Whithersoever their faces were turned thither they
went."
And I was graciously helped to discharge my duty in the fear and dread
of the Almighty.
In the course of a few weeks it pleased the
Lord to visit
me with a pleurisy; and after I had lain a few days and felt the
disorder very grievous, I
was thoughtful how it might end. I had of late, through various
exercises, been much
weaned from the pleasant things of this life; and I now thought if it
were the Lord's will
to put an end to my labors and graciously to receive me into the arms
of his mercy,
death would be acceptable to me; but if it were his will further to
refine me under
affliction, and to make me in any degree useful in his church, I
desired not to die. I may
with thankfulness say that in this case I felt resignedness wrought in
me and had no
inclination to send for a doctor, believing, if it were the Lord's will
through outward
means to raise me up, some sympathizing Friends would be sent to
minister to me;
which accordingly was the case. But though I was carefully attended,
yet the disorder was
at times so heavy that I had no expectation of recovery. One night in
particular my
bodily distress was great; my feet grew cold, and the cold increased up
my legs towards
my body; at that time I had no inclination to ask my nurse to apply
anything warm to
my feet, expecting my end was near. After I had lain near ten hours in
this condition, I
closed my eyes, thinking whether I might now be delivered out of the
body; but in these
awful moments my mind was livingly opened to behold the church; and
strong
engagements were begotten in me for the everlasting well-being of my
fellow-creatures.
I felt in the spring of pure love that I might remain some time longer
in the body, to fill
up according to my measure that which remains of the afflictions of
Christ, and to labor
for the good of the church; after which I requested my nurse to apply
warmth to my feet,
and I revived. The next night, feeling a weighty exercise of spirit and
having a solid
friend sitting up with me, I requested him to write what I said, which
he did as follows:
--
"Fourth day of the first month, 1770, about
five
in the morning. -- I have seen in the Light of the Lord that the day is
approaching when
the man that is most wise in human policy shall be the greatest fool;
and the arm that is
mighty to support injustice shall be broken to pieces; the enemies of
righteousness shall
make a terrible rattle, and shall mightily torment one another; for He
that is
omnipotent is rising up to judgment, and will plead the cause of the
oppressed; and He
commanded me to open the vision."
Near a
week after this, feeling my mind livingly opened, I sent for a
neighbor, who, at my
request, wrote as follows: --
"The place of prayer is
a precious habitation; for I now saw that the prayers of the saints
were precious incense;
and a trumpet was given to me that I might sound forth this language;
that the children
might hear it and be invited together to this precious habitation,
where the prayers of
the saints, as sweet incense, arise before the throne of God and the
Lamb. I saw this
habitation to be safe, -- to be inwardly quiet when there were great
stirrings and
commotions in the world.
"Prayer, at this day, in
pure resignation, is a precious place: the trumpet is sounded; the call
goes forth to the
church that she gather to the place of pure inward prayer; and her
habitation is
safe."
C H A P T E R XI.
1772. Embarks at Chester, with Samuel
Emlen, in a Ship bound for London -- Exercise
of Mind respecting the Hardships of the Sailors -- Considerations on
the Dangers of
training Youth to a Seafaring Life -- Thoughts during a Storm at Sea --
Arrival in
London.
AVING been some time under a religious
concern to prepare for crossing the seas, in order to visit Friends in
the northern parts of
England, and more particularly in Yorkshire, after consideration I
thought it expedient
to inform Friends of it at our Monthly Meeting at Burlington, who,
having unity with
me therein, gave me a certificate. I afterwards communicated the same
to our Quarterly
Meeting, and they likewise certified their concurrence. Some time
after, at the General
Spring Meeting of ministers and elders, I thought it my duty to
acquaint them with the
religious exercise which attended my mind; and they likewise signified
their unity
therewith by a certificate, dated the 24th of third month, 1772,
directed to Friends in
Great Britain.
In the fourth month following I thought
the time was come for me to make some inquiry for a suitable
conveyance; and as my
concern was principally towards the northern parts of England, it
seemed most proper to
go in a vessel bound to Liverpool or Whitehaven. While I was at
Philadelphia
deliberating on this subject I was informed that my beloved friend
Samuel Emlen,
junior, intended to go to London, and had taken a passage for himself
in the cabin of the
ship called the Mary and Elizabeth, of which James Sparks was master,
and John Head,
of the city of Philadelphia, one of the owners; and feeling a draught
in my mind towards
the steerage of the same ship, I went first and opened to Samuel the
feeling I had
concerning it.
My beloved friend wept when I spake to
him, and appeared glad that I had thoughts of going in the vessel with
him, though my
prospect was toward the steerage: and he offering to go with me, we
went on board, first
into the cabin, -- a commodious room, -- and then into the steerage,
where we sat down
on a chest, the sailors being busy about us. The owner of the ship also
came and sat
down with us. My mind was turned towards Christ, the Heavenly
Counsellor, and
feeling at this time my own will subjected, my heart was contrite
before him. A motion
was made by the owner to go and sit in the cabin, as a place more
retired; but I felt easy to
leave the ship, and making no agreement as to a passage in her, told
the owner if I took
a passage in the ship I believed it would be in the steerage; but did
not say much as to my
exercise in that case.
After I went to my lodgings, and
the case was a little known in town, a Friend laid before me the great
inconvenience
attending a passage in the steerage, which for a time appeared very
discouraging to me.
I soon after went to bed, and my mind was under
a
deep exercise before the Lord, whose helping hand was manifested to me
as I slept that
night, and his love strengthened my heart. In the morning I went with
two Friends on
board the vessel again, and after a short time spent therein, I went
with Samuel Emlen
to the house of the owner, to whom, in the hearing of Samuel only, I
opened my
exercise in relation to a scruple I felt with regard to a passage in
the cabin, in substance as
follows:- "That on the outside of that part of the ship where the cabin
was I
observed sundry sorts of carved work and imagery; that in the cabin I
observed some
superfluity of workmanship of several sorts; and that according to the
ways of men's
reckoning, the sum of money to be paid for a passage in that apartment
has some
relation to the expense of furnishing it to please the minds of such as
give way to a
conformity to this world; and that in this, as in other cases, the
moneys received from
the passengers are calculated to defray the cost of these
superfluities, as well as the other
expenses of their passage. I therefore felt a scruple with regard to
paying my money to be
applied to such purposes."
As my mind was now
opened, I told the owner that I had, at several times, in my travels,
seen great
oppressions on this continent, at which my heart had been much affected
and brought
into a feeling of the state of the sufferers; and having many times
been engaged in the
fear and love of God to labor with those under whom the oppressed have
been borne
down and afflicted, I have often perceived that with a view to get
riches and to provide
estates for children, that they may live conformably to the customs and
honors of this
world, many are entangled in the spirit of oppression, and the exercise
of my soul had
been such that I could not find peace in joining in anything which I
saw was against that
wisdom which is pure.
After this I agreed for a passage
in the steerage; and hearing that Joseph White had desired to see me, I
went to his
house, and the next day home, where I tarried two nights. Early the
next morning I
parted with my family under a sense of the humbling hand of God upon
me, and, going
to Philadelphia, had an opportunity with several of my beloved friends,
who appeared
to be concerned for me on account of the unpleasant situation of that
part of the vessel
in which I was likely to lodge. In these opportunities my mind, through
the mercies of
the Lord, was kept low in an inward waiting for his help; and Friends
having expressed
their desire that I might have a more convenient place than the
steerage, did not urge it,
but appeared disposed to leave me to the Lord.
Having
stayed two nights at Philadelphia, I went the next day to Derby Monthly
Meeting, where
through the strength of Divine love my heart was enlarged towards the
youth there
present, under which I was helped to labor in some tenderness of
spirit. I lodged at
William Horn's and afterwards went to Chester, where I met with Samuel
Emlen, and
we went on board 1st of fifth month, 1772. As I sat alone on the deck I
felt a satisfactory
evidence that my proceedings were not in my own will, but under the
power of the
cross of Christ.
Seventh of fifth month. -- We have had
rough weather mostly since I came on board, and the passengers, James
Reynolds, John
Till Adams, Sarah Logan and her hired maid, and John Bispham, all
sea-sick at times;
from which sickness, through the tender mercies of my Heavenly Father,
I have been
preserved, my afflictions now being of another kind. There appeared an
openness in the
minds of the master of the ship and in the cabin passengers towards me.
We are often
together on the deck, and sometimes in the cabin. My mind, through the
merciful help
of the Lord, hath been preserved in a good degree watchful and quiet,
for which I have
great cause to be thankful.
As my lodging in the
steerage, now near a week, hath afforded me sundry opportunities of
seeing, hearing,
and feeling with respect to the life and spirit of many poor sailors,
an exercise of soul
hath attended me in regard to placing our children and youth where they
may be likely
to be exampled and instructed in the pure fear of the Lord.
Being much among the seamen I have, from a
motion
of love, taken sundry opportunities with one of them at a time, and
have in free
conversation labored to turn their minds toward the fear of the Lord.
This day we had a
meeting in the cabin, where my heart was contrite under a feeling of
Divine love.
I believe a communication with different parts
of the
world by sea is at times consistent with the will of our Heavenly
Father, and to educate
some youth in the practice of sailing, I believe may be right; but how
lamentable is the
present corruption of the world! How impure are the channels through
which trade is
conducted! How great is the danger to which poor lads are exposed when
placed on
shipboard to learn the art of sailing! Five lads training up for the
seas were on board this
ship. Two of them were brought up in our Society, and the other, by
name James
Naylor, is a member, to whose father James Naylor, mentioned in Sewel's
history,
appears to have been uncle. I often feel a tenderness of heart towards
these poor lads,
and at times look at them as though they were my children according to
the flesh.
O that all may take heed and beware of
covetousness! O
that all may learn of Christ, who was meek and lowly of heart. Then in
faithfully
following him he will teach us to be content with food and raiment
without respect to
the customs or honors of this world. Men thus redeemed will feel a
tender concern for
their fellow-creatures, and a desire that those in the lowest stations
may be assisted and
encouraged, and where owners of ships attain to the perfect law of
liberty and are doers
of the Word, these will be blessed in their deeds.
A ship
at sea commonly sails all night, and the seamen take their watches four
hours at a time.
Rising to work in the night, it is not commonly pleasant in any case,
but in dark rainy
nights it is very disagreeable, even though each man were furnished
with all
conveniences. If, after having been on deck several hours in the night,
they come down
into the steerage soaking wet, and are so closely stowed that proper
convenience for
change of garments is not easily come at, but for want of proper room
their wet
garments are thrown in heaps, and sometimes, through much crowding, are
trodden
under foot in going to their lodgings and getting out of them, and it
is difficult at times
for each to find his own. Here are trials for the poor sailors.
Now, as I have been with them in my lodge, my
heart
hath often yearned for them, and tender desires have been raised in me
that all owners
and masters of vessels may dwell in the love of God and therein act
uprightly, and by
seeking less for gain and looking carefully to their ways they may
earnestly labor to
remove all cause of provocation from the poor seamen, so that they may
neither fret
nor use excess of strong drink; for, indeed, the poor creatures, in the
wet and cold, seem
to apply at times to strong drink to supply the want of other
convenience. Great
reformation is wanting in the world, and the necessity of it among
those who do
business on great waters hath at this time been abundantly opened
before me.
Eighth of fifth month. -- This morning the
clouds
gathered, the wind blew strong from the southeast, and before noon so
increased that
sailing appeared dangerous. The seamen then bound up some of their
sails and took
down others, and the storm increasing they put the dead-lights, so
called, into the cabin
windows and lighted a lamp as at night. The wind now blew vehemently,
and the sea
wrought to that degree that an awful seriousness prevailed in the
cabin, in which I
spent, I believe, about seventeen hours, for the cabin passengers had
given me frequent
invitations, and I thought the poor wet toiling seamen had need of all
the room in the
crowded steerage. They now ceased from sailing and put the vessel in
the posture called
lying to.
My mind during this tempest, through the
gracious assistance of the Lord, was preserved in a good degree of
resignation; and at
times I expressed a few words in his love to my shipmates in regard to
the all-sufficiency
of Him who formed the great deep, and whose care is so extensive that a
sparrow falls
not without his notice; and thus in a tender frame of mind I spoke to
them of the
necessity of our yielding in true obedience to the instructions of our
Heavenly Father,
who sometimes through adversities intendeth our refinement.
About eleven at night I went out on the deck.
The sea
wrought exceedingly, and the high, foaming waves round about had in
some sort the
appearance of fire, but did not give much if any light. The sailor at
the helm said he
lately saw a corposant at the head of the mast. I observed that the
master of the ship
ordered the carpenter to keep on the deck; and, though he said little,
I apprehended his
care was that the carpenter with his axe might be in readiness in case
of any emergency.
Soon after this the vehemency of the wind abated, and before morning
they again put
the ship under sail.
Tenth of fifth month. -- It being the
first day of the week and fine weather, we had a meeting in the cabin,
at which most of
the seamen were present; this meeting was to me a strengthening time.
13th. -- As I
continue to lodge in the steerage I feel an openness this morning to
express something
further of the state of my mind in respect to poor lads bound
apprentice to learn the art
of sailing. As I believe sailing is of use in the world, a labor of
soul attends me that the
pure counsel of truth may be humbly waited for in this case by all
concerned in the
business of the seas. A pious father whose mind is exercised for the
everlasting welfare
of his child may not with a peaceable mind place him out to an
employment among a
people whose common course of life is manifestly corrupt and profane.
Great is the
present defect among seafaring men in regard to virtue and piety; and,
by reason of an
abundant traffic and many ships being used for war, so many people are
employed on
the sea that the subject of placing lads to this employment appears
very weighty.
When I remember the saying of the Most High
through his prophet, "This people have I formed for myself; they shall
show forth
my praise," and think of placing children among such to learn the
practice of
sailing, the consistency of it with a pious education seems to me like
that mentioned by
the prophet, "There is no answer from God."
Profane examples are very corrupting and very
forcible.
And as my mind day after day and night after night hath been affected
with a
sympathizing tenderness towards poor children who are put to the
employment of
sailors, I have sometimes had weighty conversation with the sailors in
the steerage,
who were mostly respectful to me and became more so the longer I was
with them.
They mostly appeared to take kindly what I said to them; but their
minds were so deeply
impressed with the almost universal depravity among sailors that the
poor creatures in
their answers to me have revived in my remembrance that of the
degenerate Jews a
little before the captivity, as repeated by Jeremiah the prophet,
"There is no
hope."
Now under this exercise a sense of the
desire of outward gain prevailing among us felt grievous; and a strong
call to the
professed followers of Christ was raised in me that all may take heed
lest, through
loving this present world, they be found in a continued neglect of duty
with respect to a
faithful labor for reformation.
To silence every motion
proceeding from the love of money and humbly to wait upon God to know
his will
concerning us have appeared necessary. He alone is able to strengthen
us to dig deep, to
remove all which lies between us and the safe foundation, and so to
direct us in our
outward employments, that pure universal love may shine forth in our
proceedings.
Desires arising from the spirit of truth are pure desires; and when a
mind divinely
opened towards a young generation is made sensible of corrupting
examples powerfully
working and extensively spreading among them, how moving is the
prospect! In a
world of dangers and difficulties, like a desolate, thorny wilderness,
how precious, how
comfortable, how safe, are the leadings of Christ the good Shepherd,
who said, "I
know my sheep, and am known of mine!"
Sixteenth of sixth* month. -- Wind for several
days
past often high, what the sailors call squally, with a rough sea and
frequent rains. This
last night has been a very trying one to the poor seamen, the water the
most part of the
night running over the main-deck, and sometimes breaking waves came on
the
quarter-deck. The latter part of the night, as I lay in bed, my mind
was humbled under
the power of Divine love; and resignedness to the great Creator of the
earth and the seas
was renewedly wrought in me, and his fatherly care over his children
felt precious to
my soul. I was now desirous to embrace every opportunity of being
inwardly acquainted
with the hardships and difficulties of my fellow-creatures, and to
labor in his love for
the spreading of pure righteousness on the earth. Opportunities were
frequent of
hearing conversation among the sailors respecting the voyages to Africa
and the
manner of bringing the deeply oppressed slaves into our islands. They
are frequently
brought on board the vessels in chains and fetters, with hearts loaded
with grief under
the apprehension of miserable slavery; so that my mind was frequently
engaged to
meditate on these things.
Seventeenth of fifth month
and first of the week. -- We had a meeting in the cabin, to which the
seamen generally
came. My spirit was contrite before the Lord, whose love at this time
affected my heart.
In the afternoon I felt a tender sympathy of soul with my poor wife and
family left
behind, in which state my heart was enlarged in desires that they may
walk in that
humble obedience wherein the everlasting Father may be their guide and
support
through all their difficulties in this world; and a sense of that
gracious assistance,
through which my mind hath been strengthened to take up the cross and
leave them to
travel in the love of truth, hath begotten thankfulness in my heart to
our great Helper.
Twenty-fourth of fifth month. -- A clear,
pleasant
morning. As I sat on deck I felt a reviving in my nature, which had
been weakened
through much rainy weather and high winds and being shut up in a close,
unhealthy
air. Several nights of late I have felt my breathing difficult; and a
little after the rising of
the second watch, which is about midnight, I have got up and stood near
an hour with
my face near the hatchway, to get the fresh air at the small vacancy
under the hatch
door, which is commonly shut down, partly to keep out rain and
sometimes to keep the
breaking waves from dashing into the steerage. I may with thankfulness
to the Father of
Mercies acknowledge that in my present weak state my mind hath been
supported to
bear this affliction with patience; and I have looked at the present
dispensation as a
kindness from the great Father of mankind, who, in this my floating
pilgrimage, is in
some degree bringing me to feel what many thousands of my
fellow-creatures often
suffer in a greater degree.
My appetite failing, the trial
hath been the heavier; and I have felt tender breathings in my soul
after God, the
fountain of comfort, whose inward help hath supplied at times the want
of outward
convenience; and strong desires have attended me that his family, who
are acquainted
with the movings of his Holy Spirit, may be so redeemed from the love
of money and
from that spirit in which men seek honor one of another, that in all
business, by sea or
land, they may constantly keep in view the coming of his kingdom on
earth as it is in
Heaven, and, by faithfully following this safe guide, may show forth
examples tending
to lead out of that under which the creation groans. This day we had a
meeting in the
cabin, in which I was favored in some degree to experience the
fulfilling of that saying of
the prophet, "The Lord hath been a strength to the poor, a strength to
the needy in
their distress"; for which my heart is bowed in thankfulness before
him.
Twenty-eighth of fifth month. -- Wet weather of
late
and small winds, inclining to calms. Our seamen cast a lead, I suppose
about one
hundred fathoms, but found no bottom. Foggy weather this morning.
Through the
kindness of the great Preserver of men my mind remains quiet; and a
degree of exercise
from day to day attends me, that the pure peaceable government of
Christ may spread
and prevail among mankind.
The leading of a young
generation in that pure way in which the wisdom of this world hath no
place, where
parents and tutors, humbly waiting for the heavenly Counsellor, may
example them in
the truth as it is in Jesus, hath for several days been the exercise of
my mind. O, how
safe, how quiet, is that state where the soul stands in pure obedience
to the voice of
Christ and a watchful care is maintained not to follow the voice of the
stranger! Here
Christ is felt to be our Shepherd, and under his leading people are
brought to a stability;
and where he doth not lead forward, we are bound in the bonds of pure
love to stand
still and wait upon him.
In the love of money and in
the wisdom of this world, business is proposed, then the urgency of
affairs push
forward, and the mind cannot in this state discern the good and perfect
will of God
concerning us. The love of God is manifested in graciously calling us
to come out of that
which stands in confusion; but if we bow not in the name of Jesus, if
we give not up
those prospects of gain which in the wisdom of this world are open
before us, but say in
our hearts, "I must needs go on; and in going on I hope to keep as near
the purity
of truth as the business before me will admit of," the mind remains
entangled and
the shining of the light of life into the soul is obstructed.
Surely the Lord calls to mourning and deep
humiliation that in his fear we may he instructed and led safely
through the great
difficulties and perplexities in this present age. In an entire
subjection of our wills the
Lord graciously opens a way for his people, where all their wants are
bounded by his
wisdom; and here we experience the substance of what Moses the prophet
figured out in
the water of separation as a purification from sin.
Esau
is mentioned as a child red all over like a hairy garment. In Esau is
represented the
natural will of man. In preparing the water of separation a red heifer
without blemish,
on which there had been no yoke, was to be slain and her blood
sprinkled by the priest
seven times towards the tabernacle of the congregation; then her skin,
her flesh, and all
pertaining to her, was to be burnt without the camp, and of her ashes
the water was
prepared. Thus, the crucifying of the old man, or natural will, is
represented; and hence
comes a separation from that carnal mind which is death. "He who
toucheth the
dead body of a man and purifieth not himself with the water of
separation, defileth the
tabernacle of the Lord; he is unclean." (Num. xix. 13.)
If any through the love of gain engage in
business
wherein they dwell as among the tombs and touch the bodies of those who
are dead
should through the infinite love of God feel the power of the cross of
Christ to crucify
them to the world, and therein learn humbly to follow the divine
Leader, here is the
judgment of this world, here the prince of this world is cast out. The
water of separation
is felt; and though we have been among the slain, and through the
desire of gain have
touched the dead body of a man, yet in the purifying love of Christ we
are washed in the
water of separation; we are brought off from that business, from that
gain and from that
fellowship which is not agreeable to his holy will. I have felt a
renewed confirmation in
the time of this voyage, that the Lord, in his infinite love, is
calling to his visited
children, so to give up all outward possessions and means of getting
treasures, that his
Holy Spirit may have free course in their hearts and direct them in all
their proceedings.
To feel the substance pointed at in this figure man must know death as
to his own will.
"No man can see God and live." This was
spoken by the Almighty to Moses the prophet and opened by our blessed
Redeemer. As
death comes on our own wills, and a new life is formed in us, the heart
is purified and
prepared to understand clearly, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for
they shall see
God." In purity of heart the mind is divinely opened to behold the
nature of
universal righteousness, or the righteousness of the kingdom of God.
"No man
hath seen the Father save he that is of God, he hath seen the Father."
The natural mind is active about the things of
this life,
and in this natural activity business is proposed and a will is formed
in us to go forward
in it. And so long as this natural will remains unsubjected, so long
there remains an
obstruction to the clearness of Divine light operating in us; but when
we love God with
all our heart and with all our strength, in this love we love our
neighbor as ourselves;
and a tenderness of heart is felt towards all people for whom Christ
died, even those
who, as to outward circumstances, may be to us as the Jews were to the
Samaritans.
"Who is my neighbor?" See this question answered by our Saviour, Luke
x.
30. In this love we can say that Jesus is the Lord; and in this
reformation in our souls,
manifested in a full reformation of our lives, wherein all things are
new, and all things
are of God (2 Cor. v. 18), the desire of gain is subjected.
When employment is honestly followed in the
light of
truth, and people become diligent in business, "fervent in spirit,
serving the
Lord" (Rom. xii. 11), the meaning of the name is opened to us: "This is
the
name by which he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." (Jer.
xxiii.
6.) O, how precious is this name! it is like ointment poured out. The
chaste virgins are
in love with the Redeemer; and for promoting his peaceable kingdom in
the world are
content to endure hardness like good soldiers; and are so separated in
spirit from the
desire of riches, that in their employments they become extensively
careful to give no
offence, either to Jew or Heathen, or to the church of Christ.
Thirty-first of fifth month and first of the
week. -- We
had a meeting in the cabin, with nearly all the ship's company, the
whole being near
thirty. In this meeting the Lord in mercy favored us with the extending
of his love.
Second of sixth month. -- Last evening the
seamen
found bottom at about seventy fathoms. This morning, a fair wind and
pleasant. I sat on
deck; my heart was overcome with the love of Christ, and melted into
contrition before
him. In this state the prospect of that work to which I found my mind
drawn when in
my native land being, in some degree, opened before me, I felt like a
little child; and my
cries were put up to my Heavenly Father for preservation that in an
humble
dependence on him my soul might be strengthened in his love and kept
inwardly
waiting for his counsel. This afternoon we saw that part of England
called the Lizard.
Some fowls yet remained of those the passengers
took
for their sea-store. 1 believe about fourteen perished in the storms at
sea, by the waves
breaking over the quarter-deck, and a considerable number with sickness
at different
times. I observed the cocks crew as we came down the Delaware, and
while we were
near the land, but afterwards I think I did not hear one of them crow
till we came near
the English coast, when they again crowed a few times. In observing
their dull
appearance at sea, and the pining sickness of some of them, I often
remembered the
Fountain of goodness, who gave being to all creatures, and whose love
extends to caring
for the sparrows. I believe where the love of God is verily perfected,
and the true spirit
of government watchfully attended to, a tenderness towards all
creatures made subject
to us will be experienced, and a care felt in us that we do not lessen
that sweetness of life
in the animal creation which the great Creator intends for them under
our government.
Fourth of sixth month. -- Wet weather, high
winds,
and so dark that we could see but a little way. I perceived our seamen
were
apprehensive of the danger of missing the channel, which I understood
was narrow. In
a while it grew lighter, and they saw the land and knew where we were.
Thus the Father
of Mercies was pleased to try us with the sight of dangers, and then
graciously, from
time to time, deliver us from them; thus sparing our lives, that in
humility and
reverence we might walk before him and put our trust in him. About noon
a pilot came
off from Dover, where my beloved friend Samuel Emlen went on shore and
thence to
London, about seventy-two miles by land; but I felt easy in staying in
the ship.
Seventh of sixth month and first of the week.
-- A clear
morning; we lay at anchor for the tide, and had a parting meeting with
the ship's
company, in which my heart was enlarged in a fervent concern for them,
that they may
come to experience salvation through Christ. Had a head- wind up the
Thames; lay
sometimes at anchor; saw many ships passing, and some at anchor near;
and I had large
opportunity of fueling the spirit in which the poor bewildered sailors
too generally live.
That lamentable degeneracy which so much prevails in the people
employed on the seas
so affected my heart that I cannot easily convey the feeling I had to
another.
The present state of the seafaring life in
general appears
so opposite to that of a pious education, so full of corruption and
extreme alienation
from God, so full of the most dangerous examples to young people that
in looking
towards a young generation I feel a care for them, that they may have
an education
different from the present one of lads at sea, and that all of us who
are acquainted with
the pure gospel spirit may lay this case to heart, may remember the
lamentable
corruptions which attend the conveyance of merchandise across the seas,
and so abide in
the love of Christ that, being delivered from the entangling expenses
of a curious,
delicate, and luxurious life, we may learn contentment with a little,
and promote the
seafaring life no further than that spirit which leads into all truth
attends us in our
proceedings.
C H A P T E R XII.
1772. Attends the Yearly Meeting in
London -- Then proceeds towards Yorkshire --
Visits Quarterly and other Meetings in the Counties of Hertford,
Warwick, Oxford,
Nottingham, York, and Westmoreland -- Returns to Yorkshire --
Instructive
Observations and Letters -- Hears of the Decease of William Hunt --
Some Account of
him -- The Author's Last Illness and Death at York.
N the 8th of sixth month, 1772, we landed at London, and
I went
straightway to the Yearly Meeting of ministers and elders, which had
been gathered, I
suppose, about half an hour.
In this meeting my mind
was humbly contrite. In the afternoon the meeting for business was
opened, which by
adjournments held near a week. In these meetings I often felt a living
concern for the
establishment of Friends in the pure life of truth. My heart was
enlarged in the meetings
of ministers, that for business, and in several meetings for public
worship, and I felt my
mind united in true love to the faithful laborers now gathered at this
Yearly Meeting.
On the 15th I went to a Quarterly Meeting at Hertford.
<1>There is a story told of his first
appearance in
England which I have from my friend, William J. Allinson, editor of the
Friends'
Review, and which he assures me is well authenticated. The vessel
reached London on
the morning of the fifth day of the week, and John Woolman, knowing
that the
meeting was then in Session, lost no time in reaching it. Coming in
late and
unannounced, his peculiar dress and manner excited attention and
apprehension that
he was an itinerant enthusiast. He presented his certificate from
Friends in America, but
the dissatisfaction still remained, and some one remarked that perhaps
the stranger
Friend might feel that his dedication of himself to this apprehended
service was
accepted, without further labor, and that he might now feel free to
return to his home.
John Woolman sat silent for a space, seeking the unerring counsel of
Divine Wisdom.
He was profoundly affected by the unfavorable reception he met with,
and his tears
flowed freely. In the love of Christ and his fellow-men he had, at a
painful sacrifice,
taken his life in his hands, and left behind the peace and endearments
of home. That
love still flowed out toward the people of England; must it henceforth
be pent up in his
own heart? He rose at last, and stated that he could not feel himself
released from his
prospect of labor in England. Yet he could not travel in the ministry
without the unity
of Friends; and while that was withheld he could not feel
First of seventh month. -- I have been at
Quarterly
Meetings at Sherrington, Northampton, Banbury, and Shipton, and have
had sundry
meetings between. My mind hath been bowed under a sense of Divine
goodness
manifested among us; my heart hath been often enlarged in true love,
both among
ministers and elders and in public meetings, and through the Lord's
goodness I believe
it hath been a fresh visitation to many, in particular, to the youth.
Seventeenth. -- I was this day at Birmingham; I
have
been at meetings at Coventry, Warwick, in Oxfordshire, and sundry other
places, and
have felt the humbling hand of the Lord upon me; but through his tender
mercies I find
peace in the labors I have gone through.
Twenty-sixth.
-- I have continued travelling northward, visiting meetings. Was this
day at
Nottingham; the fore- noon meeting was especially, through Divine love,
a heart-
tendering season. Next day I had a meeting in a Friend's family, which,
through the
strengthening arm of the Lord, was a time to be thankfully remembered.
Second of eighth month and first of the week.
-- I was
this day at Sheffield, a large inland town. I was at sundry meetings
last week, and feel
inward thankfulness for that Divine support which hath been graciously
extended to
me. On the 9th I was at Rushworth. I have lately passed through some
painful labor, but
have been comforted under a sense easy to be of any cost to them. He
could not go back
as had been suggested; but he was acquainted with a mechanical trade,
and while the
impediment to his services continued he hoped Friends would be kindly
willing to
employ him in such business as he was capable of, that he might not be
chargeable to
any.
A deep silence prevailed over the assembly,
many
of whom were touched by the wise simplicity of the stranger's words and
manner. After
a season of waiting, John Woolman felt that words were given him to
utter as a
minister of Christ. The spirit of his Master bore witness to them in
the hearts of his
hearers. When he closed, the Friend who had advised against his further
service rose up
and humbly confessed his error, and avowed his full unity with the
stranger. All doubt
was removed; there was a general expression of unity and sympathy, and
John
Woolman, owned by his brethren, passed on to his work.
There is no portrait of John Woolman; and had
photography been known in his day it is not at all probable that the
sun-artist would
have been permitted to delineate his features. That, while eschewing
all super- fluity
and expensive luxury, he was scrupulously neat in his dress and person
may be inferred
from his general character and from the fact that one of his serious
objections to dyed
clothing was that it served to conceal uncleanness, and was, therefore,
detrimental to
real purity. It is, however, quite probable that his outer man, on the
occasion referred to,
was suggestive of a hasty toilet in the crowded steerage. -- Note from
the edition
published by Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. of that Divine
visitation which I feel
extended towards many young people.
Sixteenth of
eighth month and the first of the week, I was at Settle. It hath of
late been a time of
inward poverty, under which my mind hath been preserved in a watchful,
tender state,
feeling for the mind of the Holy Leader, and I find peace in the labors
I have passed
through.
On inquiry in many places I find the price of
rye about five shillings; wheat, eight shillings per bushel; oatmeal,
twelve shillings for a
hundred and twenty pounds; mutton from threepence to fivepence per
pound; bacon
from sevenpence to ninepence; cheese from fourpence to sixpence; butter
from
eightpence to tenpence; house-rent for a poor man from twenty-five
shillings to forty
shillings per year, to be paid weekly; wood for fire very scarce and
dear; coal in some
places two shillings and sixpence per hundredweight; but near the pits
not a quarter so
much. O, may the wealthy consider the poor!
The
wages of laboring men in several counties toward London at tenpence per
day in
common business, the employer finds small beer and the laborer finds
his own food; but
in harvest and hay time wages are about one shilling per day, and the
laborer hath all
his diet. In some parts of the north of England poor laboring men have
their food where
they work, and appear in common to do rather better than nearer London.
Industrious
women who spin in the factories get some fourpence, some fivepence, and
so on to six,
seven, eight, nine, or ten pence per day, and find their own house-room
and diet. Great
numbers of poor people live chiefly on bread and water in the southern
parts of
England, as well as in the northern parts; and there are many poor
children not even
taught to read. May those who have abundance lay these things to heart!
Stage-coaches frequently go upwards of one
hundred
miles in twenty-four hours; and I have heard Friends say in several
places that it is
common for horses to be killed with hard driving, and that many others
are driven till
they grow blind. Post-boys pursue their business, each one to his
stage, all night through
the winter. Some boys who ride long stages suffer greatly in winter
nights, and at several
places I have heard of their being frozen to death. So great is the
hurry in the spirit of
this world, that in aiming to do business quickly and to gain wealth
the creation at this
day doth loudly groan.
As my journey hath been
without a horse, I have had several offers of being assisted on my way
in these
stagecoaches, but have not been in them; nor have I had freedom to send
letters by these
posts in the present way of riding, the stages being so fixed, and one
boy dependent on
another as to time, and going at great speed, that in long cold winter
nights the poor
boys suffer much. I heard in America of the way of these posts, and
cautioned Friends in
the General Meeting of ministers and elders at Philadelphia, and in the
Yearly Meeting
of ministers and elders in London, not to send letters to me on any
common occasion by
post. And though on this account I may be likely not to hear so often
from my family
left behind, yet for righteousness' sake I am, through Divine favor,
made content.
I have felt great distress of mind since I came
on this
island, on account of the members of our Society being mixed with the
world in various
sorts of traffic, carried on in impure channels. Great is the trade to
Africa for slaves; and
for the loading of these ships a great number of people are employed in
their factories,
among whom are many of our Society. Friends in early times refused on a
religious
principle to make or trade in superfluities, of which we have many
testimonies on
record; but for want of faithfulness, some, whose examples were of note
in our Society,
gave way, from which others took more liberty. Members of our Society
worked in
superfluities, and bought and sold them, and thus dimness of sight came
over many; at
length Friends got into the use of some superfluities in dress and in
the furniture of
their houses, which hath spread from less to more, till superfluity of
some kinds is
common among us.
In this declining state many look
at the example of others and too much neglect the pure feeling of
truth. Of late years a
deep exercise hath attended my mind, that Friends may dig deep, may
carefully cast
forth the loose matter and get down to the rock, the sure foundation,
and there hearken
to that Divine voice which gives a clear and certain sound; and I have
felt in that which
doth not receive, that if Friends who have known the truth keep in that
tenderness of
heart where all views of outward gain are given up, and their trust is
only in the Lord,
he will graciously lead some to be patterns of deep self-denial in
things relating to trade
and handicraft labor; and others who have plenty of the treasures of
this world will be
examples of a plain frugal life, and pay wages to such as they may hire
more liberally
than is now customary in some places.
Twenty-third of
eighth month. -- I was this day at Preston Patrick, and had a
comfortable meeting. I have
several times been entertained at the houses of Friends, who had sundry
things about
them that had the appearance of outward greatness, and as I have kept
inward, way hath
opened for conversation with such in private, in which Divine goodness
hath favored
us together with heart-tendering times.
Twenty-sixth of
eighth month. -- Being now at George Crosfield's, in the county of
Westmoreland, I feel
a concern to commit to writing the following uncommon circumstance.
In a time of sickness, a little more than two
years and a
half ago, I was brought so near the gates of death that I forgot my
name. Being then
desirous to know who I was, I saw a mass of matter of a dull gloomy
color between the
south and the east, and was informed that this mass was human beings in
as great
misery as they could be, and live, and that I was mixed with them, and
that henceforth I
might not consider myself as a distinct or separate being. In this
state I remained several
hours. I then heard a soft melodious voice, more pure and harmonious
than any I had
heard with my ears before; I believed it was the voice of an angel who
spake to the other
angels; the words were, "John Woolman is dead." I soon remembered that
I
was once John Woolman, and being assured that I was alive in the body,
I greatly
wondered what that heavenly voice could mean. I believed beyond
doubting that it was
the voice of an holy angel, but as yet it was a mystery to me.
I was then carried in spirit to the mines where
poor
oppressed people were digging rich treasures for those called
Christians, and heard them
blaspheme the name of Christ, at which I was grieved, for his name to
me was precious.
I was then informed that these heathens were told that those who
oppressed them were
the followers of Christ, and they said among themselves, "If Christ
directed them
to use us in this sort, then Christ is a cruel tyrant."
All this time the song of the angel remained a
mystery;
and in the morning, my dear wife and some others coming to my bedside,
I asked them
if they knew who I was, and they telling me I was John Woolman, thought
I was light-
headed, for I told them not what the angel said, nor was I disposed to
talk much to any
one, but was very desirous to get so deep that I might understand this
mystery.
My tongue was often so dry that I could not
speak till I
had moved it about and gathered some moisture, and as I lay still for a
time I at length
felt a Divine power prepare my mouth that I could speak, and I then
said, "I am
crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. And the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and
gave himself for me." Then the mystery was opened and I perceived there
was joy
in heaven over a sinner who had repented, and that the language "John
Woolman is dead," meant no more than the death of my own will.
My natural understanding now returned as
before, and
I saw that people setting off their tables with silver vessels at
entertainments was often
stained with worldly glory, and that in the present state of things I
should take heed
how I fed myself out of such vessels. Going to our Monthly Meeting soon
after my
recovery, I dined at a Friend's house where drink was brought in silver
vessels, and not
in any other. Wanting something to drink, I told him my case with
weeping, and he
ordered some drink for me in another vessel. I afterwards went through
the same
exercise in several Friends' houses in America, as well as in England,
and I have cause
to acknowledge with humble reverence the loving-kindness of my Heavenly
Father,
who hath preserved me in such a tender frame of mind, that none, I
believe, have ever
been offended at what I have said on that subject.
After
this sickness I spake not in public meetings for worship for nearly one
year, but my
mind was very often in company with the oppressed slaves as I sat in
meetings; and
though under his dispensation I was shut up from speaking, yet the
spring of the gospel
ministry was many times livingly opened in me, and the Divine gift
operated by
abundance of weeping, in feeling the oppression of this people. It
being so long since I
passed through this dispensation, and the matter remaining fresh and
lively in my
mind, I believe it safest for me to commit it to writing.
Thirtieth of eighth month. -- This morning I
wrote a
letter in substance as follows: --
BELOVED FRIEND, --
My mind is often affected as I pass along under a sense of the state of
many poor people
who sit under that sort of ministry which requires much outward labor
to support it;
and the loving-kindness of our Heavenly Father in opening a pure gospel
ministry in
this nation hath often raised thankfulness in my heart to him. I often
remember the
conflicts of the faithful under persecution, and now look at the free
exercise of the pure
gift uninterrupted by outward laws, as a trust committed to us, which
requires our
deepest gratitude and most careful attention. I feel a tender concern
that the work of
reformation so prosperously carried on in this land within a few ages
past may go
forward and spread among the nations, and may not go backward through
dust
gathering on our garments, who have been called to a work so great and
so precious.
Last evening during thy absence I had a little
opportunity with some of thy family, in which I rejoiced, and feeling a
sweetness on my
mind towards thee, I now endeavor to open a little of the feeling I had
there.
I have heard that you in these parts have at
certain
seasons Meetings of Conference in relation to Friends living up to our
principles, in
which several meetings unite in one. With this I feel unity, having in
some measure
felt truth lead that way among Friends in America, and I have found, my
dear friend,
that in these labors all superfluities in our own living are against
us. I feel that pure
love towards thee in which there is freedom.
I look at
that precious gift bestowed on thee with awfulness before Him who gave
it, and feel a
desire that we may be so separated to the gospel of Christ, that those
things which
proceed from the spirit of this world may have no place among us.
Thy friend,
JOHN
WOOLMAN.
I rested a few days in body
and mind
with our friend, Jane Crosfield, who was once in America. On the sixth
day of the week I
was at Kendal, in Westmoreland, and at Greyrig Meeting the 30th day of
the month, and
first of the week. I have known poverty of late, and have been
graciously supported to
keep in the patience, and am thankful under a sense of the goodness of
the Lord towards
those who are of a contrite spirit.
Sixth of ninth month
and first of the week. -- I was this day at Counterside, a large
meeting-house, and very
full. Through the opening of pure love, it was a strengthening time to
me, and I believe
to many more.
Thirteenth of ninth month. -- This day I
was at Leyburn, a small meeting; but, the towns-people coming in, the
house was
crowded. It was a time of heavy labor, and I believe was a profitable
meeting. At this
place I heard that my kinsman, William Hunt, from North Carolina, who
was on a
religious visit to Friends in England, departed this life on the 9th of
this month, of the
small-pox, at Newcastle. He appeared in the ministry when a youth, and
his labors
therein were of good savor. He travelled much in that work in America.
I once heard
him say in public testimony, that his concern in that visit was to be
devoted to the
service of Christ so fully that he might not spend one minute in
pleasing himself,
which words, joined with his example, was a means of stirring up the
pure mind in me.
Having of late often travelled in wet weather
through
narrow streets in towns and villages, where dirtiness under foot and
the scent arising
from that filth which more or less infects the air of all thickly
settled towns were
disagreeable; and, being but weakly, I have felt distress both in body
and mind with that
which is impure. In these journeys I have been where much cloth hath
been dyed, and
have, at sundry times, walked over ground where much of their
dye-stuffs has drained
away. This hath produced a longing in my mind that people might come
into cleanness
of spirit, cleanness of person, and cleanness about their houses and
garments.
Some of the great carry delicacy to a great
height
themselves, and yet real cleanliness is not generally promoted. Dyes
being invented
partly to please the eye and partly to hide dirt, I have felt in this
weak state, when
travelling in dirtiness, and affected with unwholesome scents, a strong
desire that the
nature of dyeing cloth to hide dirt may be more fully considered.
Washing our garments to keep them sweet is
cleanly,
but it is the opposite to real cleanliness to hide dirt in them.
Through giving way to
hiding dirt in our garments a spirit which would conceal that which is
disagreeable is
strengthened. Real cleanliness becometh a holy people; but hiding that
which is not
clean by coloring our garments seems contrary to the sweetness of
sincerity. Through
some sorts of dyes cloth is rendered less useful. And if the value of
dye- stuffs, and
expense of dyeing, and the damage done to cloth, were all added
together, and that cost
applied to keeping all sweet and clean, how much more would real
cleanliness prevail.
On this visit to England I have felt some
instructions
sealed on my mind, which I am concerned to leave in writing for the use
of such as are
called to the station of a minister of Christ.
Christ being
the Prince of Peace, and we being no more than ministers, it is
necessary for us not only
to feel a concern in our first going forth, but to experience the
renewing thereof in the
appointment of meetings. I felt a concern in America to prepare for
this voyage, and
being through the mercy of God brought safe hither, my heart was like a
vessel that
wanted vent. For several weeks after my arrival, when my mouth was
opened in
meetings, it was like the raising of a gate in a water-course when a
weight of water lay
upon it. In these labors there was a fresh visitation to many,
especially to the youth; but
sometimes I felt poor and empty, and yet there appeared a necessity to
appoint meetings.
In this I was exercised to abide in the pure life of truth, and in all
my labors to watch
diligently against the motions of self in my own mind.
I have frequently found a necessity to stand up
when
the spring of the ministry was low, and to speak from the necessity in
that which
subjecteth the will of the creature; and herein I was united with the
suffering seed, and
found inward sweetness in these mortifying labors. As I have been
preserved in a
watchful attention to the divine Leader, under these dispensations
enlargement at times
hath followed, and the power of truth hath risen higher in some
meetings than I ever
knew it before through me. Thus I have been more and more instructed as
to the
necessity of depending, not upon a concern which I felt in America to
come on a visit to
England, but upon the daily instructions of Christ, the Prince of
Peace.
Of late I have sometimes felt a stop in the
appointment
of meetings, not wholly, but in part: and I do not feel liberty to
appoint them so quickly,
one after another, as I have done heretofore. The work of the ministry
being a work of
Divine love, I feel that the openings thereof are to be waited for in
all our appointments.
O, how deep is Divine wisdom! Christ puts forth his ministers and goeth
before them;
and O, how great is the danger of departing from the pure feeling of
that which leadeth
safely! Christ knoweth the state of the people, and in the pure feeling
of the gospel
ministry their states are opened to his servants. Christ knoweth when
the fruit-bearing
branches themselves have need of purging. O that these lessons may be
remembered by
me! and that all who appoint meetings may proceed in the pure feeling
of duty!
I have sometimes felt a necessity to stand up,
but that
spirit which is of the world hath so much prevailed in many, and the
pure life of truth
hath been so pressed down, that I have gone forward, not as one
travelling in a road cast
up and well prepared, but as a man walking through a miry place in
which are stones
here and there safe to step on, but so situated that one step being
taken, time is necessary
to see where to step next. Now I find that in a state of pure obedience
the mind learns
contentment in appearing weak and foolish to that wisdom which is of
the world; and
in these lowly labors, they who stand in a low place and are rightly
exercised under the
cross will find nourishment. The gift is pure; and while the eye is
single in attending
thereto the understanding is preserved clear; self is kept out. We
rejoice in filling up
that which remains of the afflictions of Christ for his body's sake,
which is the church.
The natural man loveth eloquence, and many love
to
hear eloquent orations, and if there be not a careful attention to the
gift, men who have
once labored in the pure gospel ministry, growing weary of suffering,
and ashamed of
appearing weak, may kindle a fire, compass themselves about with
sparks, and walk in
the light, not of Christ, who is under suffering, but of that fire
which they in departing
from the gift have kindled, in order that those hearers who have left
the meek,
suffering state for worldly wisdom may be warmed with this fire and
speak highly of
their labors. That which is of God gathers to God, and that which is of
the world is
owned by the world.
In this journey a labor hath
attended my mind, that the ministers among us may be preserved in the
meek, feeling
life of truth, where we may have no desire but to follow Christ and to
be with him, that
when he is under suffering, we may suffer with him, and never desire to
rise up in
dominion, but as he, by the virtue of his own spirit, may raise us.
Typed by Judy Boss of
Omaha, Nebraska.
HTML coding by Risa S. Bear of Eugene, Oregon, January 1,
1998.
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