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 AN ADDRESS 
 
 QUARTERLY, MONTHLY AND PREPARATIVE MEETINGS, 
 AND THE MEMBERS THEREOF, 
 
 COMPOSING THE 
 
 YEARLY MEETING OF FRIENDS, 
 
 HELD IN PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 BY THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED AT THE LATE YEARLY MEETING, 
 TO HAVE CHARGE OF THE 
 
 SUBJECT OF SLAVERY. 
 
 1839. 
 
£¥4 ., 
 
 At a meeting of the Acting Committee of " The New -York 
 Association of Friends for the rehef of those held in bondage, and 
 the improvement of the free people of color," held 9th mo. 3d, 
 1839. 
 
 " An Address to the Quarterly, Monthly and Preparative 
 Meetings, and the Members thereof, composing the Yearly Meet- 
 ing of Friends, held in Philadelphia, by the Committee appointed 
 at the late Yearly Meeting, to have charge of the subject of 
 Slavery," was now produced ; and it is believed that its deeply 
 interesting contents would have a beneficial effect, if it was gene- 
 rally diffused among our members : — it was therefore, on considera- 
 tion, agreed to have 1000 copies printed for distribution. 
 
 Extracted from the minutes, 
 
 Samuel Brown, 
 
 Sarah H. Marshall, ^ 
 
§ 
 
 ^' 
 
 Minutes of the Yearly Meeting of Men and Women 
 Friends, appointing the Co?nmittee to have charge 
 of the subject of Slavery. 
 
 Seventeenth of the 5th mo. 1839. 
 " A concern being spread before this meeting on 
 subjects connected with the welfare of the people 
 of color, both bond and free ; and it being believed 
 that an advantage would arise not only to that 
 deeply injured people, but also to those who hold 
 them in bondage, as well as to the support of our 
 Christian testimony against Slavery, from the ap- 
 pointment of a Committee tu take charge of the 
 subject generally ; upon consideration, a Committee 
 of four Friends from each Quarterly Meeting was 
 appointed, to unite with women Friends in attend- 
 ing to the concern as way may open, and to report 
 to our next iTearly Meeting." 
 
 Extracted from the Minutes, 
 
 Benjamin Pkice, Jr., Clerk. 
 
 " By a deputation from the men's meeting, we 
 are informed that the deeply interesting subject of 
 Slavery, in its various aspects, has claimed its atten- 
 
tion, and that the exercise produced thereby has 
 resulted in a beUef that it will conduce to the benefit 
 of our Society, and the aavancement of its testimony 
 in this respect, to appoint a Committee to have charge 
 of this concern the ensuing year ; much unity has 
 been expressed with it in this meeting, and a Com- 
 mittee was appointed to unite with our brethren 
 therein." 
 
 Extracted from the Minutes of the Yearly Meet- 
 ing of women Friends, 
 
 Deborah F. Wharton, Clerh, 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 Dear Fhiends, 
 
 In accordance with the object of our appoint- 
 ment, we feel engaged affectionately to address you. 
 In referring to the history of our Religious Society, 
 from its rise to the present day, abundant evidence 
 is given that it was called to maintain Christian tes- 
 timonies, which are eminently designed to exalt the 
 standard of truth and righteousness, and to promote 
 the present and everlasting welfare of the human 
 family. Yet, on the very threshold of this subject, 
 we are arrested with a fact, calculated to clothe us 
 with an humbling evidence of human weakness, 
 and to inculcate a lesson of charity. J\lany of our 
 forefathers were slave-holders, and the unrighteous 
 practice of holding our fellow-creatures in bondage, 
 was not then forbidden by our discipline. 
 
 In process of time, individuals were raised up in 
 the Society, who saw with clearness the injustice 
 1* 
 
and cruelty of this practice, and endeavored to con- 
 vince their brethren. Among these we find An- 
 thony Benezet and John Woohnan. The calm and 
 cogent reasoning of the latter, as manifested in his 
 appeal to slave-holders, must have exerted a pow- 
 erful influence. He addressed his "Considerations" 
 to the understanding and inward sense of right, 
 aiming to reach the judgment and awaken the con- 
 science, being clothed in an eminent degree with the 
 benign and peaceable spirit of his Divine Master. 
 After years of patient and faithful exercise, the efforts 
 of himself and his co-laborers were signally blessed ; 
 the scales fell from the eyes of their fellow members, 
 and the Religious Society of Friends cleared itself 
 from the enormous evil of holding their fellow- 
 creatures in unconditional bondage. 
 
 Having liberated their own slaves, they felt reli- 
 giously concerned to labor with others, and the voice 
 of the Society was repeatedly heard on behalf of the 
 oppressed, in the state legislatures, and in the Con- 
 gress of the United States. The public and private 
 labors of some members, at this period, were very 
 arduous, and they devoted much time in pleading 
 the cause of the slave. Purity, integrity, and Chris- 
 tian meekness, adorned, to a great extent, the lives 
 of these early advocates of human rights. The long 
 known and established principles of peace which 
 marked the Society of Friends as a body, placed 
 
them in a position peculiarly calculated to gain the 
 attention and confidence of slave-holders. Added 
 to this, their honesty of purpose, and, in pursuance 
 of this object, their exemption from political plans 
 and personal aggrandizement, were undoubted ; and 
 their faithful efforts had an important influence over 
 the minds of many oppressors. 
 
 For some years, this interesting subject has taken 
 a deeper hold of many friends of humanity, who are 
 not associated with us in religious fellowship. It 
 has risen like a stream that at first reached only to 
 the ankles, but is now become as a mighty river, 
 apparently resistless in its course. Not only within 
 our own land, but from Isles and Nations afar off, 
 the responsive voice of Philanthropy is borne as on 
 the wings of the wind, enforcing the practical injunc- 
 tion of our blessed Lord, " Whatsoever ye would 
 that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." 
 
 The advancement of this righteous concern, and 
 the increase of light upon the subject of human 
 rights, are causing this system of iniquity to totter 
 to its base. Hence, under the influence of fearful 
 excitement, many are putting forth their strength to 
 impede the progress of principles, which, if ultimately 
 triumphant, will break the fetters of the slave. A 
 part of the trading interests at the North is evidently 
 involved with those of the South, and an influence 
 
is in this way exerted against the onward course 
 of Emancipation ; thus h'ght and darkness antagonize 
 each other. 
 
 While all around us exhibits awful collisions, and 
 the inflamed and angry passions of men, are com- 
 parable to the troubled sea casting up mire and dirt, 
 we, as a body of Christians, are imperiously called 
 upon, to seek and rely upon that Almighty Power 
 which can alone " control the whirlwind and direct 
 the storm." The mantle which covered our fore- 
 fathers in their labors in the cause of human rights, 
 we humbly hope has fallen on us. Let us then stand 
 at the mouth of the cave, as the warring elements 
 are passing before us, let us wrap the face in the 
 mantle, waiting to hear that still small voice, which 
 speaks from heaven. 
 
 That conflicting opinions, as to the course proper 
 to be pursued, do now exist in our Society, is obvi- 
 ous. But if we, as a people, dwell near the fountain 
 of Divine Goodness, we shall be equally preserved 
 from apathy and negligence on the one hand, as 
 from intemperate zeal and creaturely activity on the 
 other ; so that in the peaceable spirit and wisdom 
 of Jesus, all may join in harmonious labor, as with 
 the heart of one man. 
 
 Within a few years, great events have occurred 
 
in relation to Slavery, and much light has been 
 spread on the subject. The experience derived 
 from Emancipation in the British West Indies, has 
 opened a new era. In the midst of violent opposi- 
 tion, the great truth has been successfully realised, 
 that liberated slaves may v^ith safety immediately 
 become freemen ; and that the actual interests of 
 their former masters, as well as their own, may be 
 greatly promoted by the change. 
 
 On this point as well as others, it is thought much 
 benefit would result from spreading correct informa- 
 tion among all our members ; fully believing that 
 as Friends are apprized of well authenticated facts, 
 connected with this deeply affecting question as it 
 now stands, that their interest and zeal will also in- 
 crease in the promotion of our righteous testimony 
 against Slavery ; and as we reverendy seek for Di- 
 vine direction under an humbling sense of our own 
 weakness, we shall be brought near to each other 
 in the unity of the Spirit, which is the bond of 
 peace. 
 
 Although we would avoid entering far into par- 
 ticular views, yet there is one portion of our south- 
 ern brethren on whose account our sympathetic 
 feelings are called forth. While we have painful 
 evidence that a great body of slave-holders are in- 
 fluenced by injustice and cruelty, while they stiffen 
 
10 
 
 their necks, and harden their hearts, against all en- 
 treaties on behalf of their oppressed slaves, we believe 
 this is far from being the case with all who hold iheir 
 fellow-creatures in bondage. There are many whose 
 consciences are burdened by a system which they 
 derived from their ancestors, who find themselves 
 surrounded by iniquitous and restraining laws against 
 Emancipation. A swift witness in the soul assures 
 them that their obedience in this instance to the laws 
 of man, is a fearful violation of the law of God. 
 These feel the want of kind and judicious advisers 
 to aid in extricating them from their tried situation. 
 
 Self-interest might prompt them speedily to free 
 themselves from difficulty ; the money of the slave- 
 trader is temptingly held up before them ; but hu- 
 manity shudders at the thought : they cannot sepa- 
 rate the tender ties of family connection among their 
 slaves ; they dare not receive the price of blood. 
 They look on the right hand and there is none to 
 help, on the left, and there is none to uphold. We 
 believe they are fervently desiring the deliverance 
 of master and slave, from the bondage to which both 
 are subjected. Their hearts have bounded with joy 
 at the success of emancipation in the British West 
 Indies ; it has opened a door of hope that they also 
 may be legally permitted to prove the advantage of 
 requited labor, over that which is extorted by the 
 lash of the oppressor. 
 
11 
 
 As the secret exercises and prayers of these as- 
 cend before the Lord of Sabaoth, whose ear is open 
 to their cry, and as they are faithful to the convic- 
 tions of duty, they will become as a city set on an 
 hill ; their example will aid in dispelling the cloud of 
 thick darkness which now envelopes so many in 
 their various neighborhoods. 
 
 Thus, dear brethren and sisters, we have entered 
 on the duties assigned us by our late Yearly Meet- 
 ing. We trust we are aware of the responsibility 
 involved in our appointment, and are sensible of our 
 own weakness and insufficiency for the work before 
 us. But this work is the Lord's, and as we conse- 
 crate ourselves to his service, attentively watching 
 the pointings of duty, and moving under the banner 
 of the Prince of Peace, we may hope that a blessing 
 will attend our labors. 
 
 Believing an advantage will arise in reviving the 
 exercise which prevailed in our Yearly Meeting in 
 1837, we subjoin the report w^hich was read and 
 united with, and sent down in the Extracts of that 
 year, viz : 
 
 '* The Committee appointed by the Yearly Meet- 
 ing to take into consideration the subject of Slavery, 
 brought up from last year, report, 
 
12 
 
 " That having deliberated on this interesting sub- 
 ject, the Committee are free to propose that the 
 Yearly Meeting recommend to our members, to 
 embrace every right opening to maintain and exalt 
 our righteous testimony against Slavery ; and where 
 any of our members feel any religious scruples as 
 to the use of the products of slave labor, that they 
 faithfully attend thereto ; and also that the attention 
 of Friends be directed to the education and moral 
 improvement of the people of color in their several 
 neighborhoods." 
 
 In closing, we desire the aid of your spirits, and 
 ask your earnest and faithful co-operation in the 
 promotion of a cause so deeply interesting to the 
 welfare of the human family. 
 
 Signed by direction and on behalf of the Com- 
 mittee, by 
 
 John Jackson, Clerk, 
 
 54 IP 
 
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