Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1849-04-13

year they published an address, exhorting
their members 10 refroin from the purchase or
importation Of slaves; and when they did
possess them, they were desired TO
Make it your constant care 10 watch over
them for good, instructing them in the fear
Of God, and the knowledge Of The gospel Of
Christ, that they may answe r the end Of their
creation, and that God may be glorifed and
honored by them as well as by US and so
train them up, that il you should come to
behold their unhappy situation, in the same
light that many worthy men, who are at rest,
have done, and many of your brethren now
do, and should think it your duty to set them
free, that they may be more capable of ma
king use Of their liberty. How can we be
said TO hre cur brethren, who bring, or for
selfish ends, keep them in bondagel Do we
act consistently with this noble principle who
lay such heavy burdens on our fellow crea-
lures. Do we consider that they are called,
and do we sincerely desire they may become
heirs with US in glory, and that they may re-
joice in the liberty Of the sons of God, whilst
we are Withholding from them The common
liberties Of mankind Or can the spirit of
God, by which we have always professed to
be led, be the author of these oppressive and
unrighteous measures! Or do we not lhere-
by manifest that temporal interest hath more
Influence on our cond uct herein, than the die
tates Of that m%erciful, holy, and u~nerring
Guide -
In 1915, twenty one years after the issu-
ing of their first address upon the subject,
they adopted a rule of Discipline, forbidding
their members 10 engage in the buying or
importation of slaves and in 1916, required
that all who were Shareholders should man.
unit their slaves or be disowned from men,
bership. The Yearly Meetings Of New-Eng-
land, New-Yofk, Maryland, Carolina and
Georgia in the course Of time followed the
example thus.set them, and the society be-
came purged Of slavehoIding members. The
position thus assumed by Friends was great
ly 10 ad yance Of the age and their tes,imo-
ny ag inst the buying and selling Of their fell
low men, shone all the brighter because ofthe
more than midnight darkness which prevail
| edit was a testimony, which, as much as
any other, marked the Friends of former days,
as "a peculiar people, Jealous Of good
works."
In America, as in England, members Of
the society were 10 be found, whose sphere
Of labor was not confined within the bounds
Of the religious organization with which they
" ere connected, who were not content with
its Official action, but felt their individual re.
sponsibiIiIies, and the need of individual la
Dor whenever and wherever they deemed il
would be useful. Among the first - en-
gage in the work was William Burling Of
Long Island, and Ralph Sandiford Of Phila-
deIphia. The latter wrote a work against
slavery in 1929, and though threatened by
the Chief Judge Of Pennsylvania if he should
publish it, he was not to be deferred from the
performance Of his duty, but printed and cir
culaied ii free of expense.
Soon after This, the eccentric Benjamin
Lay removed from Barbados TO Pennsylva-
MIA, and greatly aided to keep alive the anti
slavery agitation which was then beginning
to prevail among Friends. His pIainness of
speech, his energy Of character and his con-
slant testimony against the sinGulness of
slaveholding awakened many, who, under a
less energetic and peculiar preacher, would
have remained in "a state Of ndilference.-
His manner and his speech was truly pecu-
liar, as will be inferred from the following
facts. Lay used 10 be a constant attendant
at Monthly Meeting, and whenever any
slaveholding member attempted 10 speak, he
would cry out "There's another negro maSier,''
This was a "plainness of speech" which
many regarded as u%ncalled for by the Disci-
pline, and was extremely dislasteful 10 the
members generally. One of his neighbors
held a negro girl as a slave, and Lay, who
had labored with them uncessfulIy for her
redemption, at length adopted an e~fiectual
means 10 make them feel the wrongs they
were inllicting. He met their son, a lad of
six years, and coaxed him to go home with
him. The parents vainly sought their child,
and toward night came to Lay, exclaiming
in agony "Oh, Benjamin! Our child has
been missing all day" lie replied, " Your
child is safe in my house, and yOu may nOw
eonceire g The Sorro~ you iryfiet upon the pa
rents IF the negro girl you hold in sIauery for
she 'Oas torn from Item By acarice."
John Woolman, of New York, was anoth-
or unwearied advocate of the slaves cause =;
q, and The principles he e~spoused in youth, he
faithfully maintained ill death. Though
=. mild and gentle in language and in spirit, no
. one could stand frmer for the truth than did
he. His lninistrations were unlike those OF
Reniamin Law hnt as Iniher and Malann.