The journal of John Woolman

W 8*5.

Presented to the

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
LIBRARY

by the

ONTARIO LEGISLATIVE
LIBRARY

1980

-Get the writings of John Woolman

by heart?

CHARLES LAMB.

THE JOURNAL OF
JOHN WOOLMAN

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

JOHN G. WHITTIER)

I,-

" The work of righteousness shall be peace ; and
of righteousness, quietness and
se forever." — ISAIAH.

-l^L

1

.

BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871,

BY JAMES R. OSGOOD & CO.,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

77%"

NINETEENTH IMPRESSION

LIBRARY
orf

15

\ U'J 0

CONTENTS.

Page

INTRODUCTION • ,

CHAPTER I.
1720-1742.

His Birth and Parentage. — Some Account of the Operations of Di
vine Grace on his Mind in his Youth. — His first Appearance in the
Ministry. —And his Considerations, while Young, on the Keeping
of Slaves .

CHAPTER II.

1743-1748.

His first Journey, on a Religious Visit, in East Jersey. — Thoughts on
Merchandising and Learning a Trade. — Second Journey into Penn
sylvania, 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 Jour
ney to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and the Lower Counties on
Delaware 66

CHAPTER 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 Fhend 78

vi Contents.

CHAPTER IV.

1757. 1758.

Visit to the Families of Friends at Burlington. — Journey to Penn
sylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. — Considera*
tions 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 .... 98

CHAPTER 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 124

CHAPTER 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 139

CHAPTER VII.
1760.

Visit, in Company with Samuel Eastburn, to Long Island, Rhode
Island, Boston, etc. — Remarks on the Slave-Trade at Newport ;
also on Lotteries. — Some Observations on the Island of Nantucket 158

Contents. vii

CHAPTER VIII.

1761, 1762.

Visits Pennsylvania, Shrewsbury, and Squan. — Publishes the Sec
ond 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 1 76

CHAPTER 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 Proceed
ings of a Committee at the Yearly Meeting in 1764. — Contempla
tions 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 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 Mary
land. — 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 . . 208

CHAPTER X.

1769, 1770.

Bodily Indisposition. — Exercise of his Mind for the Good of the
People in the West Indies. — Communicates to Friends his Con
cern 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. — Sick
ness, and Exercise of his Mind therein 227

CHAPTER XI.

1772.

Embarks at Chester, with Samuel Emlen, in a Ship bound for Lon
don. — 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 . 837

viii Contents.

CHAPTER XII.

1772.

Attends the Yearly Meeting in London. — Then proceeds toward
Yorkshire, — Visits Quarterly and other Meetings in the Counties
of Hertford, Warwick, Oxford, Nottingham, York, and Westmore
land. — Returns to Yorkshire. — Instructive Observations and Let
ters. — Hears of the Decease of William Hunt. — Some Account
of him. — The Author's last Illness and Death at York . . 257

APPENDIX.

TESTIMONY OF FRIENDS IN YORKSHIRE CONCERNING JOHN WOOL-
MAN 281

TESTIMONY OF FRIENDS IN BURLINGTON CONCERNING JOHN

WOOLMAN 285

A WORD OF REMEMBRANCE AND CAUTION TO THE RICH . 290

INTRODUCTION.

'HT^O those who judge by the outward appear-
A ance, nothing is more difficult of explana
tion than the strength of moral influence often
exerted by obscure and uneventful lives. Some
great reform which lifts the world to a higher level,
some mighty change for which the ages have waited
in anxious expectancy, takes place before our eyes,
and, in seeking to trace it back to its origin, we are
often surprised to find the initial link in the chain
of causes to be some comparatively obscure indi
vidual, the divine commission and significance of
whose life were scarcely understood by his contem
poraries, and perhaps not even by himself. The
little one has become a thousand • the handful of
corn shakes like Lebanon. " The kingdom of God
cometh not by observation " ; and the only solu
tion of the mystery is in the reflection that through
the humble instrumentality Divine power was mani
fested, and that the Everlasting Arm was beneath
the human one.

The abolition of human slavery now in process
of consummation throughout the world furnishes

2 Introduction.

one of the most striking illustrations of this truth.
A far-reaching moral, social, and political revolu
tion, undoing the evil work of centuries, unques
tionably owes much of its original impulse to the
life and labors of a poor, unlearned workingman
of New Jersey, whose very existence was scarcely
known beyond the narrow circle of his religious
society.

It is only within a comparatively recent period
that the journal and ethical essays of this remark
able man have attracted the attention to which they
are manifestly entitled. In one of my last inter
views with William Ellery Channing, he expressed
his very great surprise that they were so little
known. He had himself just read the book for the
first time, and I shall never forget how his counte
nance lighted up as he pronounced it beyond com
parison the sweetest and purest autobiography in
the language. He wished to see it placed within
the reach of all classes of readers ; it was not a
light to be hidden under the bushel of a sect.
Charles Lamb, probably from his friends, the Clark
sons, or from Bernard Barton, became acquainted
with it, and on more than one occasion, in his letters
and Essays of Elia, refers to it with warm com
mendation. Edward Irving pronounced it a god
send. Some idea of the lively interest which the
fine literary circle gathered around the hearth of
Lamb felt in the beautiful simplicity of Woolman's
pages may be had from the Diary of Henry Crabb
Robinson, one of their number, himself a man of

Introduction. 3

wide and varied culture, the intimate friend of
Goethe, Wordsworth, and Coleridge. In his notes
for First Month, 1824, he says, after a reference to a
sermon of his friend Irving, which he feared would
deter rather than promote belief : " How different
this from John Woolman's Journal I have been
reading at the same time ! A perfect gem ! His is
a schone Seek, a beautiful soul. An illiterate tailor,
he writes in a style of the most exquisite purity and
grace. His moral qualities are transferred to his
writings. Had he not been so very humble, he
would have written a still better book ; for, fearing
to indulge in vanity, he conceals the events in
which he was a great actor. His religion was love.
His whole existence and all his passions were love.
If one could venture to impute to his creed, and not
to his personal character, the delightful frame of
mind he exhibited, one could not hesitate to be a
convert. His Christianity is most inviting, — it is
fascinating ! " One of the leading British reviews
a few years ago, referring to this Journal, pro
nounced its author the man who, in all the cen
turies since the advent of Christ, lived nearest to
the Divine pattern. The author of The Patience
of Hope,* whose authority in devotional literature
is unquestioned, says of him : " John Woolman's

* It will be interesting to the thousands in this country
who have learned to admire and love this remarkable writer
to learn that she has in preparation an appreciative review
of the life and character of Woolman, which, it is to be
hoped, will soon be published.

4 Tntroduction.

gift was love, — a charity of which it does not enter
into the natural heart of man to conceive, and of
which the more ordinary experiences, even of re
newed nature, give but a faint shadow. Every now
and then, in the world's history, we meet with such
men, the kings and priests of Humanity, on whose
heads this precious ointment has been so poured
forth that it has run down to the skirts of their
clothing, and extended over the whole of the visible
creation ; men who have entered, like Francis of
Assisi, into the secret of that deep amity with God
and with his creatures which makes man to be in
league with the stones of the field, and the beasts
of the field to be at peace with him. In this pure,
universal charity there is nothing fitful or inter
mittent, nothing that comes and goes in showers
and gleams and sunbursts. Its springs are deep
and constant, its rising is like that of a mighty
river, its very overflow calm and steady, leaving
life and fertility behind it."

After all, anything like personal eulogy seems out
of place in speaking of one who in the humblest
self-abasement sought no place in the world's esti
mation, content to be only a passive instrument in
the hands of his Master; and who, as has been
remarked, through modesty concealed the events in
which he was an actor. A desire to supply in some
sort this deficiency in his Journal is my especial
excuse for this introductory paper.

It is instructive to study the history of the moral
progress of individuals or communities ; to mark

Introduction. 5

the gradual development of truth, to watch the slow
germination of its seed sown in simple obedience
to the command of the Great Husbandman, while
yet its green promise, as well as its golden fruition,
was hidden from the eyes of the sower ; to go back
to the well-springs and fountain-heads, tracing the
small streamlet from its hidden source, and noting
the tributaries which swell its waters, as it moves
onward, until it becomes a broad river, fertilizing
and gladdening our present humanity. To this
end it is my purpose, as briefly as possible, to nar
rate the circumstances attending the relinquishment
of slaveholding by the Society of Friends, and to
hint at the effect of that act of justice and humanity
upon the abolition of slavery throughout the world.
At an early period after the organization of the
Society, members of it emigrated to the Maryland,
Carolina, Virginia, and New England colonies. The
act of banishment enforced against dissenters under
Charles II. consigned others of the sect to the
West Indies, where their frugality, temperance, and
thrift transmuted their intended punishment into
a blessing. Andrew Marvell, the inflexible repub
lican statesman, in some of the sweetest and ten-
derest lines in the English tongue, has happily
described their condition : —

" ' What shall we do but sing His praise
Who led us through the watery maze,
Unto an isle so long unknown,
And yet far kinder than our own ?
He lands us on a grassy stage,

6 Introduction.

Safe from the storms and prelates' rage ;
He gives us this eternal spring,
Which here enamels everything,
And sends the fowls to us in care,
On daily visits through the air.
He hangs in shades the orange bright,
Like golden lamps, in a green night,
And doth in the pomegranate close
Jewels more rich than Ormus shows.

And in these rocks for us did frame
A temple where to sound His name.
Oh ! let our voice His praise exalt,
Till it arrive at Heaven's vault,
Which then, perhaps rebounding, may
Echo beyond the Mexic bay.'

So sang they in the English boat,
A holy and a cheerful note ;
And all the way, to guide their chime,
With falling oars they kept the time."

Unhappily, they very early became owners of
slaves, in imitation of the colonists around them.
No positive condemnation of the evil system had
then been heard in the British islands. Neither
English prelates nor expounders at dissenting con
venticles had aught to say against it. Few colonists
doubted its entire compatibility with Christian pro
fession and conduct. Saint and sinner, ascetic and
worldling, united in its practice. Even the extreme
Dutch saints of Bohemia Manor on the Delaware,
the pietists of John de Labadie, sitting at meat with
hats on, and pausing ever and anon with suspended
mouthfuls to hear a brother's or sister's exhortation,

Introduction. 7

and sandwiching prayers between the courses, were
waited upon by negro slaves. Everywhere men
were contending with each other upon matters of
faith, while, so far as their slaves were concerned,
denying the ethics of Christianity itself.

Such was the state of things when, in 1671,
George Fox visited Barbadoes. He was one of
those men to whom it is given to discern through
the mists of custom and prejudice something of
the lineaments of absolute truth, and who, like the
Hebrew lawgiver, bear with them, from a higher
and purer atmosphere, the shining evidence of com
munion with the Divine Wisdom. He saw slavery
in its mildest form among his friends, but his in
tuitive sense of right condemned it. He solemnly
admonished those who held slaves to bear in mind
that they were brethren, and to train them up in
the fear of God. " I desired, also," he says, " that
they would cause their overseers to deal gently
and mildly with their negroes, and not use cruelty
towards them as the manner of some hath been
and is ; and that, after certain years of servitude,
they should make them free."

In 1675, ti16 companion of George Fox, William
Edmundson, revisited Barbadoes, and once more
bore testimony against the unjust treatment of
slaves. He was accused of endeavoring to excite
an insurrection among the blacks, and was brought
before the Governor on the charge. It was prob
ably during this journey that he addressed a remon
strance to friends in Maryland and Virginia on the

8 Introduction.

subject of holding slaves. It is one of the first em-
phatic and decided testimonies on record against ne
gro slavery as incompatible with Christianity, if we
except the Papal bulls of Urban and Leo the Tenth.

Thirteen years after, in 1688, a meeting of Ger
man Quakers, who had emigrated from Kriesheim,
and settled at Germantown, Pennsylvania, addressed
a memorial against "the buying and keeping of
negroes" to the Yearly Meeting for the Pennsyl
vania and New Jersey colonies. That meeting took
the subject into consideration, but declined giving
judgment in the case. In 1696, the Yearly Meet
ing advised against " bringing in any more negroes."
In 1714, in its Epistle to London Friends, it ex
presses a wish that Friends would be " less con
cerned in buying or selling slaves." The Chester
Quarterly Meeting, which had taken a higher and
clearer view of the matter, continued to press the
Yearly Meeting to adopt some decided measure
against any traffic in human beings.

The Society gave these memorials a cold recep
tion. The love of gain and power was too strong,
on the part of the wealthy and influential planters
and merchants who had become slaveholders, to
allow the scruples of the Chester meeting to take
the shape of discipline. The utmost that could
be obtained of the Yearly Meeting was an expres
sion of opinion adverse to the importation of ne
groes, and a desire that " Friends generally do, as
much as may be, avoid buying such negroes as shall
hereafter be brought in, rather tha» offepd any

Introduction. 9 -

($ Ai .,:. i
Friends who are against it ; yet this is only caution,

and not censure."

In the mean time the New England Yearly Meet
ing was agitated by the same question. Slaves
were imported into Boston and Newport, and
Friends became purchasers, and in some instances
were deeply implicated in the foreign traffic. In
1716, the monthly meetings of Dartmouth and Nan-
tucket suggested that it was " not agreeable to truth
to purchase slaves and keep them during their term
of life." Nothing was done in the Yearly Meeting,
however, until 1727, when the practice of importing
negroes was censured. That the practice was con
tinued notwithstanding, for many years afterwards,
is certain. In 1758, a rule was adopted prohibiting
Friends within the limits of New England Yearly
Meeting from engaging in or countenancing the
foreign slave-trade.

In the year 1742 an event, simple and inconsid
erable in itself, was made the instrumentality of
exerting a mighty influence upon slavery in the So
ciety of Friends. A small storekeeper at Mount
Holly,* in New Jersey, a member of the Society,

* Mount Holly is a village lying in the western part of the
long, narrow township of Northampton, on Rancocas Creek,
a tributary of the Delaware. In John Woolman's day it was
almost entirely a settlement of Friends. A very few of the
old houses with their quaint stoops or porches are left. That
occupied by John Woolman was a small, plain, two-story
structure, with two windows in each story in front, a four-
barred fence enclosing the grounds, with the trees he planted
and loved to cultivate. The house was not painted, but

io Introduction.

sold a negro woman, and requested the young man
in his employ to make a bill of sale of her. On
taking up his pen, the young clerk felt a sudden
and strong scruple in his mind. The thought of
writing an instrument of slavery for one of his fel
low-creatures oppressed him. God's voice against

whitewashed. The name of the place is derived from the
highest hill in the county, rising two hundred feet above the
sea, and commanding a view of a rich and level country, of
cleared farms and woodlands. Here, no doubt, John Wool-
man often walked under the shadow of its holly-trees, com
muning with nature and musing on the great themes of life
and duty.

When the excellent Joseph Sturge was in this country,
some thirty years ago, on his errand of humanity, he visited
Mount Holly, and the house of Woolman, then standing.
He describes it as a very "humble abode." But one person
was then living in the town who had ever seen its venerated
owner. This aged man stated that he was at Woolman's
little farm in the season of harvest, when it was customary
among farmers to kill a calf or sheep for the laborers. John
Woolman, unwilling that the animal should be slowly bled
to death, as the custom had been, and to spare it unnecessary
suffering, had a smooth block of wood prepared to receive
the neck of the creature, when a single blow terminated its
existence. Nothing was more remarkable in the character
of Woolman than his concern for the well-being and comfort
of the brute creation. " What is religion ? " asks the old
Hindoo writer of the Vishnu Sarman. "Tenderness to
ward all creatures." Or, as Woolman expresses it, " Where
the love of God is verily perfected, a tenderness towards all
creatures made subject to our will is experienced, and a care
felt that we do not lessen that sweetness of life in the animal
creation which the Creator intends for them under our govern
ment."

Introduction. 1 1

the desecration of his image spoke in his soul.
He yielded to the will of his employer, but, while
writing the instrument, he was constrained to de
clare, both to the buyer and the seller, that he be
lieved slave-keeping inconsistent with the Christian
religion. This young man was John Woolman.
The circumstance above named was the starting-
point of a life-long testimony against slavery. In
the year 1746 he visited Maryland, Virginia, and
North Carolina. He was afflicted by the prevalence
of slavery. It appeared to him, in his own words,
" as a dark gloominess overhanging the land." On
his return, he wrote an essay on the subject, which
was published in 1754. Three years after, he made
a second visit to the Southern meetings of Friends.
Travelling as a minister of the gospel, he was
compelled to sit down at the tables of slaveholding
planters, who were accustomed to entertain their
friends free of cost, and who could not comprehend
the scruples of their guest against receiving as a
gift food and lodging which he regarded as the gain
of oppression. He was a poor man, but he loved
truth more than money. He therefore either placed
the pay for his entertainment in the hands of some
member of the family, for the benefit of the slaves,
or gave it directly to them, as he had opportunity.*

* The tradition is that he travelled mostly on foot during
his journeys among slaveholders. Brissot, in his New Trav
els in America, published in 1788, says: "John Woolman,
one of the most distinguished of men in the cause of humanity,
travelled much as a minister of his sect, but always on foot,

1 2 Introduction.

Wherever he went, he found his fellow-professors
entangled in the mischief of slavery. Elders and
ministers, as well as the younger and less high in
profession, had their house servants and field hands.
He found grave drab-coated apologists for the slave-
trade, who quoted the same Scriptures, in support
of oppression and avarice, which have since been
cited by Presbyterian doctors of divinity, Metho
dist bishops, and Baptist preachers for the same
purpose. He found the meetings generally in a
low and evil state. The gold of original Quaker
ism had become dim, and the fine gold changed.
The spirit of the world prevailed among them, and
had wrought an inward desolation. Instead of

and without money, in imitation of the Apostles, and in order
to be in a situation to be more useful to poor people and the
blacks. He hated slavery so much that he could not taste
food provided by the labor of slaves." That this writer was
on one point misinformed is manifest from the following
passage from the Journal : " 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 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."

Introduction. 13

meekness, gentleness, and heavenly wisdom, he
found " a spirit of fierceness and love of dominion."
In love, but at the same time with great faithfulness,
he endeavored to convince the masters of their er
ror, and to awaken a degree of sympathy for the
enslaved.

At this period, or perhaps somewhat earlier, a re
markable personage took up his residence in Penn
sylvania. He was by birthright a member of the
Society of Friends, but having been disowned in
England for some extravagances of conduct and
language, he spent some years in the West Indies,
where he became deeply interested in the condition
of the slaves. His violent denunciations of the
practice of slaveholding excited the anger of the
planters, and he was compelled to leave the island.
He came to Philadelphia, but, contrary to his ex
pectations, he found the same evil existing there.
He shook off the dust of the city, and took up his
abode in the country, a few miles distant. His
dwelling was a natural cave, with some slight ad
dition of his own making. His drink was the
spring-water flowing by his door ; his food, vege
tables alone. He persistently refused to wear any
garment or eat any food purchased at the expense
of animal life, or which was in any degree the pro
duct of slave labor. Issuing from his cave, on his
mission of preaching " deliverance to the captive,"
he was in the habit of visiting the various meetings
for worship and bearing his testimony against slave-
holders, greatly to their disgust and indignation.

14 Introduction.

On one occasion he entered the Market Street
Meeting, and a leading Friend requested some one
to take him out. A burly blacksmith volunteered
to do it, leading him to the gate and thrusting him
out with such force that he fell into the gutter of
the street. There he lay until the meeting closed,
telling the bystanders that he did not feel free to
rise himself. " Let those who cast me here raise
me up. It is their business, not mine."

His personal appearance was in remarkable keep
ing with his eccentric life. A figure only four and
a half feet high, hunchbacked, with projecting
chest, legs small and uneven, arms longer than his
legs ; a huge head, showing only beneath the enor
mous white hat large, solemn eyes and a prominent
nose; the rest of his face covered with a snowy
semicircle of beard falling low on his breast, — a
figure to recall the old legends of troll, brownie,
and kobold. Such was the irrepressible prophet
who troubled the Israel of slaveholding Quakerism,
clinging like a rough chestnut-burr to the skirts of
its respectability and settling like a pertinacious
gad-fly on the sore places of its conscience.

On one occasion, while the annual meeting was
in session at Burlington, N. J., in the midst of the
solemn silence of the great assembly, the unwel
come figure of Benjamin Lay, wrapped in his long
white overcoat, was seen passing up the aisle. Stop
ping midway, he exclaimed, " You slaveholders !
Why don't you throw off your Quaker coats as I
do mine, and show yourselves as you are ? " Cast-

Introduction. 15

ing off as he spoke his outer garment, he disclosed
to the astonished assembly a military coat under
neath and a sword dangling at his heels. Holding
in one hand a large book, he drew his sword with
the other. " In the sight of God," he cried, " you
are as guilty as if you stabbed your slaves to the
heart, as I do this book ! " suiting the action to the
word, and piercing a small bladder filled with the
juice of poke-weed (phytolacca decandra), which he
had concealed between the covers, and sprinkling
as with fresh blood those who sat near him. John
Woolman makes no mention of this circumstance
in his Journal, although he was probably present,
and it must have made a deep impression on his
sensitive spirit. The violence and harshness of
Lay's testimony, however, had nothing in common
with the tender and sorrowful remonstrances and
appeals of the former, except the sympathy which
they both felt for the slave himself.*

Still later, a descendant of the persecuted French
Protestants, Anthony Benezet, a man of uncommon
tenderness of feeling, began to write and speak

* Lay was well acquainted with Dr. Franklin, who some
times visited him. Among other schemes of reform he enter
tained the idea of converting all mankind to Christianity.
This was to be done by three witnesses, — himself, Michael
Lovell, and Abel Noble, assisted by Dr. Franklin. But oo
their first meeting at the Doctor's house, the three " chosen
vessels " got into a violent controversy on points of doctrine,
and separated in ill-humor. The philosopher, who had been
an amused listener, advised the three sages to give up the
project of converting the world until they had learned to
tolerate each other.

1 6 Introduction.

against slavery. How far, if at all, he was moved
thereto by the example of Woolman is not known,
but it is certain that the latter found in him a steady
friend and coadjutor in his efforts to awaken the
slumbering moral sense of his religious brethren.
The Marquis de Chastellux, author of De la Felicit'e
Pullique^ describes him as a small, eager-faced man,
full of zeal and activity, constantly engaged in works
of benevolence, which were by no means confined
to the blacks. Like Woolman and Lay, he advo
cated abstinence from intoxicating spirits. The
poor French neutrals who were brought to Phila
delphia from Nova Scotia, and landed penniless
and despairing among strangers in tongue and
religion, found in him a warm and untiring friend,
through whose aid and sympathy their condition
was rendered more comfortable than that of their
fellow-exiles in other colonies.*

The annual assemblage of the Yearly Meeting in
1758 at Philadelphia must ever be regarded as one
of the most important religious convocations in the
history of the Christian church. The labors of

* The reader of Evangeline will recall in this connection
the words of the poet : —
" In that delightful land which is washed by the Delaware's

waters,

Guarding in sylvan shades the name of Penn the apostle,
Stands on the banks of its beautiful stream the city he

founded.

There from the troubled sea had Evangeline landed, an exile,
Finding among the children of Penn a home and a country.
There old Rene Leblanc had died; and when he de
parted,

Introduction. 17

Woolman and his few but earnest associates had
not been in vain. A deep and tender interest had
been awakened ; and this meeting was looked for
ward to with varied feelings of solicitude by all par
ties. All felt that the time had come for some defi
nite action ; conservative and reformer stood face
to face in the Valley of Decision. John Woolman,
of course, was present, — a man humble and poor
in outward appearance, his simple dress of undyed
homespun cloth contrasting strongly with the plain
but rich apparel of the representatives of the com
merce of the city and of the large slave-stocked
plantations of the country. Bowed down by the
weight of his concern for the poor slaves and for
the well-being and purity of the Society, he sat
silent during the whole meeting, while other mat
ters were under discussion. " My mind," he says,
" was frequently clothed with inward prayer ; and I
could say with David that ' tears were my meat and
drink, day and night.' The case of slave-keeping
lay heavy upon me ; nor did I find any engage
ment to speak directly to any other matter before

Saw at his side only one of all his hundred descendants.
Something at least there was in the friendly streets of the

city,
Something that spake to her heart, and made her no longer

a stranger ;
And her ear was pleased with the Thee and Thou of the

Quakers,

For it recalled the past, the old Acadian country,
Where all men were equal, and all were brothers and sis*

ters."

B

1 8 Introduction.

the meeting." When the important subject came
up for consideration many faithful Friends spoke
with weight and earnestness. No one openly jus
tified slavery as a system, although some expressed
a concern lest the meeting should go into measures
calculated to cause uneasiness to many members of
the Society. It was also urged that Friends should
wait patiently until the Lord in his own time should
open a way for the deliverance of the slave. This
was replied to by John Woolman. " My mind," he
said, " is led to consider the purity of the Divine
Being, and the justice of his judgments ; and here
in my soul is covered with awfulness. I cannot
forbear to hint of some cases where people have
not been treated with the purity of justice, and the
event has been most lamentable. Many slaves on
this continent are oppressed, and their cries have
entered into 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 understandings 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 he requires of us, and
through a respect to the private interest of some
persons, or through a regard to some friendships
which do not stand upon 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."

Introduction. 19

This solemn and weighty appeal was responded
to by many in the assembly, in a spirit of sympathy
and unity. Some of the slaveholding members ex
pressed their willingness that a strict rule of dis
cipline should be adopted against dealing in slaves
for the future. To this it was answered, that the
root of the evil would never be reached effectually
until a searching inquiry was made into the cir
cumstances and motives of such as held slaves. At
length the truth in a great measure triumphed over
all opposition ; and, without any public dissent, the
meeting agreed that the injunction of our Lord and
Saviour to do to others as we would that others
should do to us should induce Friends who held
slaves " to set them at liberty, making a Christian
provision for them," and four Friends — John Wool-
man, John Scarborough, Daniel Stanton, and John
Sykes — were approved of as suitable persons to
visit and treat with such as kept slaves, within the
limits of the Meeting.

This painful and difficult duty was faithfully per
formed. In that meekness and humility of spirit
which has nothing in common with the "fear of
man, which bringeth a snare," the self-denying fol
lowers of their Divine Lord and Master " went
about doing good." In the city of Philadelphia,
and among the wealthy planters of the country,
they found occasion often to exercise a great de
gree of patience, and to keep a watchful guard over
their feelings. In his Journal for this important
period of his life John Woolman says but little of

20 Introduction.

his own services. How arduous and delicate they
were may be readily understood. The number of
slaves held by members of the Society was very
large. Isaac Jackson, in his report of his labors
among slaveholders in a single Quarterly Meeting,
states that he visited the owners of more than eleven
hundred slaves. From the same report may be
gleaned some hints of the difficulties which pre
sented themselves. One elderly man says he has
well brought up his eleven slaves, and " now they
must work to maintain him." Another owns it is all
wrong, but " cannot release his slaves ; his tender
wife under great concern of mind " on account of
Ins refusal. A third has fifty slaves, knows it to be
wrong, but can't see his way clear out of it. " Per
haps," the report says, " interest dims his vision."
A fourth is full of "excuses and reasonings."
" Old Jos. Richison has forty, and is determined to
keep them." Another man has fifty, and "means
to keep them." Robert Ward "wants to release
his slaves, but his wife and daughters hold back."
Another " owns it is wrong, but says he will not
part with his negroes, — no, not while he lives."
The far greater number, however, confess the
wrong of slavery and agree to take measures for
freeing their slaves.*

* An incident occurred during this visit of Isaac Jackson
which impressed him deeply. On the last evening, just as he
was about to turn homeward, he was told that a member of
the Society whom he had not seen owned a very old slave
who was happy and well cared for. It was a case which it
was thought might well be left to take care of itself. Isaac

Introduction. 2 1

An extract or two from the Journal at this period
will serve to show both the nature of the service in

Jackson, sitting in silence, did not feel his mind quite satis
fied ; and as the evening wore away, feeling more and more
exercised, he expressed his uneasiness, when a young son of
his host eagerly offered to go with him and show him the
road to the place. The proposal was gladly accepted. On
introducing the object of their visit, the Friend expressed
. much surprise that any uneasiness should be felt in the case,
but at length consented to sign the form of emancipation,
saying, at the same time, it would make no difference in their
relations, as the old man was perfectly happy. At Isaac
Jackson's request the slave was called in and seated before
them. His form was nearly double, his thin hands were
propped on his knees, his white head was thrust forward,
and his keen, restless, inquiring eyes gleamed alternately on
the stranger and on his master. At length he was informed
of what had been done ; that he was no longer a slave, and
that his master acknowledged his past services entitled him
to a maintenance so long as he lived. The old man listened
in almost breathless wonder, his head slowly sinking on his
breast. After a short pause, he clasped his hands, then
spreading them high over his hoary head, slowly and rev
erently exclaimed, " Oh, goody Gody, oh ! " — bringing his
hands again down on his knees. Then raising them as be
fore, he twice repeated the solemn exclamation, and with
streaming eyes and a voice almost too much choked for
utterance, he continued, " / thought I should die a slave, and
now I shall die a free man ! "

It is a striking evidence of the divine compensations
which are sometimes graciously vouchsafed to those who
have been faithful to duty, that, on his death-bed this affect
ing scene was vividly revived in the mind of Isaac Jackson.
At that supreme moment, when all other pictures of time
were fading out, that old face, full of solemn joy and devout
thanksgiving, rose before him, and comforted him as with the
blessing of God.

22 Introduction.

which he was engaged and the frame of mind in
which he accomplished it.

" In the beginning of the i2th 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 ne
cessity 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 conflicts, and begat a
spirit of sympathy and tenderness in me towards
some who were grievously entangled by the spirit
of this world."

"ist month, 1759. — Having found my mind
drawn to visit some of the more active members of
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 the time was mostly employed
in visiting such as had slaves. It was a time of
deep exercise ; but looking often to the Lord for
assistance, he in unspeakable kindness favored us
with the influence of that spirit which crucifies to
the greatness and splendor of this world, and en
abled us to go through some heavy labors, in which
we found peace."

These labors were attended with the blessing of

Introduction. 23

the God of the poor and oppressed. Dealing in
slaves was almost entirely abandoned, and many
who held slaves set them at liberty. But many
members still continuing the practice, a more em
phatic testimony against it was issued by the Yearly
Meeting in 1774; and two years after the subor
dinate meetings were directed to deny the right of
membership to such as persisted in holding their fellow
men as property.

A concern was now felt for the temporal and
religious welfare of the emancipated slaves and, in
1779 tne Yearly Meeting came to the conclusion
that some reparation was due from the masters to
their former slaves for services rendered while in
the condition of slavery. The following is an ex
tract from an epistle on this subject : —

" We are united in judgment that the state of the
oppressed people who have been held by any of us,
or our predecessors, in captivity and slavery, calls
for a deep inquiry and close examination how far
we are clear of withholding from them what under
such an exercise may open to view as their just
right ; and therefore we earnestly and affectionately
entreat our brethren in religious profession to bring
this matter home, and that all who have let the op
pressed go free may attend to the further openings
of duty.

" A tender Christian sympathy appears to be
awakened in the minds of many who are not in
religious profession with us, who have seriously
considered the oppressions and disadvantages under

24 Introduction.

which those people have long labored \ and whether
a pious care extended to their offspring is not justly
due from us to them is a consideration worthy our
serious and deep attention."

Committees to aid and advise the colored people
were accordingly appointed in the various Monthly
Meetings. Many former owners of slaves faithfully
paid the latter for their services, submitting to the
award and judgment of arbitrators as to what jus
tice required at their hands. So deeply had the
sense of the wrong of slavery sunk into the hearts
of Friends !

John Woolman, in his Journal for 1769, states,
that having some years before, as one of the ex
ecutors of a will, disposed of the services of a negro
boy belonging to the estate until he should reach
the age of thirty years, he became uneasy in respect
to the transaction, and, although he had himself
derived no pecuniary benefit from it, and had
simply acted as the agent of the heirs of the estate
to which the boy belonged, he executed a bond,
binding himself to pay the master of the young
man for four years and a half of his unexpired
term of service.

The appalling magnitude of the evil against
which he felt himself especially called to contend
was painfully manifest to John Woolman. At the
outset, all about him, in every department of life
and human activity, in the state and the church, he
saw evidences of its strength, and of the depth and
extent to which its roots had wound their way

Introduction. 25

among the foundations of society. Yet he seems
never to have doubted for a moment the power of
simple truth to eradicate it, nor to have hesitated
as to his own duty in regard to it. There was no
groping like Samson in the gloom ; no feeling in
blind wrath and impatience for the pillars of the
temple of Dagon. " The candle of the Lord shone
about him," and his path lay clear and unmistakable
before him. He believed in the goodness of God
that leadeth to repentance • and that love could
reach the witness for itself in the hearts of all men,
through all entanglements of custom and every
barrier of pride and selfishness. No one could
have a more humble estimate of himself; but as
he went forth on his errand of mercy he felt the
Infinite Power behind him, and the consciousness
that he had known a preparation from that Power
"to stand as a trumpet through which the Lord
speaks." The event justified his confidence ; wher
ever he went hard hearts were softened, avarice
and love of power and pride of opinion gave way
before his testimony of love.

The New England Yearly Meeting then, as now,
was held in Newport, on Rhode Island. In the
year 1760 John Woolman, in the course of a re
ligious visit to New England, attended that meeting.
He saw the horrible traffic in human beings, — the
slave-ships lying at the wharves of the town, — the
sellers and buyers of men and women and children
thronging the market-place. The same abhorrent
scenes which a few years after stirred the spirit of

26 Introduction.

the excellent Hopkins to denounce the slave-trade
and slavery as hateful in the sight of God to his
congregation at Newport were enacted in the full
view and hearing of the annual convocation of
Friends, many of whom were themselves partakers
in the shame and wickedness. " Understanding,"
he says, " that a large number of slaves had been
imported from Africa into the town, and were then
on sale by a member of our Society, my appetite
failed ; I grew outwardly weak, and had a feeling
of the condition of Habakkuk : ' 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."
He prepared a memorial to the Legislature, then in
session, for the signatures of Friends, urging that
body to take measures to put an end to the impor
tation of slaves. His labors in the Yearly Meeting
appear to have been owned and blessed by the
Divine Head of the church. The London Epistle
for 1758, condemning the unrighteous traffic in
men, was read, and the substance of it embodied
in the discipline of the meeting ; and the following
query was adopted, to be answered by the subor
dinate meetings : —

" Are Friends clear of importing negroes, or buy
ing them when imported ; and do they use those
well, where they are possessed by inheritance or
otherwise, endeavoring to train them up in prin
ciples of religion ? "

At the close of the Yearly Meeting, John Wool-

Introduction. 27

man requested those members of the Society who
held slaves to meet with him in the chamber of
the house for worship, where he expressed his con
cern for the well-being of the slaves, and his sense
of the iniquity of the practice of dealing in or hold
ing them as property. His tender exhortations were
not lost upon his auditors ; his remarks were kindly
received, and the gentle and loving spirit in which
they were offered reached many hearts.

In 1769, at the suggestion of the Rhode Island
Quarterly Meeting, the Yearly Meeting expressed
its sense of the wrongfulness of holding slaves, and
appointed a large committee to visit those members
who were implicated in the practice. The next
year this committee reported that they had com
pleted their service, "and that their visits mostly
seemed to be kindly accepted. Some Friends mani
fested a disposition to set such at liberty as were
suitable ; some others, not having so clear a sight
of such an unreasonable servitude as could be
desired, were unwilling to comply with the advice
given them at present, yet seemed willing to take
it into consideration ; a few others manifested a
disposition to keep them in continued bondage."

It was stated in the Epistle to London Yearly
Meeting of the year 1772, that a few Friends had
freed their slaves from bondage, but that others
"have been so reluctant thereto that they have
been disowned for not complying with the advice
of this meeting."

In 1773 the following minute was made: "It

28 Introduction.

is our sense and judgment that truth not only
requires the young of capacity and ability, but like
wise the aged and impotent, and also all in a state
of infancy and nonage, among Friends, to be dis
charged and set free from a state of slavery, that
we do no more claim property in the human race,
as we do in the brutes that perish."

In 1782 no slaves were known to be held in the
New England Yearly Meeting. The next year it
was recommended to the subordinate meetings to
appoint committees to effect a proper and just
settlement between the manumitted slaves and their
former masters, for their past services. In 1784
it was concluded by the Yearly Meeting that any
former slaveholder who refused to comply with
the award of these committees should, after due
care and labor with him, be disowned from the
Society. This was effectual ; settlements without
disownment were made to the satisfaction of all
parties, and every case was disposed of previous
to the year 1787.

In the New York Yearly Meeting, slave-trading
was prohibited about the middle of the last cen
tury. In 1771, in consequence of an epistle from
the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, a committee was
appointed to visit those who held slaves, and to
advise with them in relation to emancipation. In
1776 it was made a disciplinary offence to buy,
sell, or hold slaves upon any condition. In 1784
but one slave was to be found in the limits of the
meeting. In the same year, by answers from the

Introduction.

several subordinate meetings, it was ascertained
that an equitable settlement for past services had
been effected between the emancipated negroes
and their masters in all save three cases.

In the Virginia Yearly Meeting slavery had its
strongest hold. Its members, living in the midst
of slaveholding communities, were necessarily ex
posed to influences adverse to emancipation. I
have already alluded to the epistle addressed to
them by William Edmondson, and to the labors
of John Woolman while travelling among them.
In 1757 the Virginia Yearly Meeting condemned
the foreign slave-trade. In 1764 it enjoined upon
its members the duty of kindness towards their
servants, of educating them, and carefully pro
viding for their food and clothing. Four years
after, its members were strictly prohibited from
purchasing anymore slaves. In 1773 it earnestly
recommended the immediate manumission of all
slaves held in bondage, after the females had
reached eighteen and the males twenty-one years
of age. At the same time it was advised that
committees should be appointed for the purpose
»f instructing the emancipated persons in the prin
ciples of morality and religion, and for advising
and aiding them in their temporal concerns.

I quote a single paragraph from the advice sent
down to the subordinate meetings, as a beautiful
manifestation of the fruits of true repentance : —

" It is the solid sense of this meeting, that we
Df the present generation are under strong obli*

30 Introduction.

gations to express our love and concern for the
offspring of those people who by their labors have
greatly contributed towards the cultivation of these
colonies under the afflictive disadvantage of endur
ing a hard bondage ; and many amongst us are en
joying the benefit of their toil."

In 1784 the different Quarterly Meetings having
reported that many still held slaves, notwithstand
ing the advice and entreaties of their friends, the
Yearly Meeting directed, that where endeavors to
convince those offenders of their error proved in
effectual, the Monthly Meetings should proceed
to disown them. We have no means of ascertain
ing the precise number of those actually disowned
for slaveholding in the Virginia Yearly Meeting,
but it is well known to have been very small. In
almost all cases the care and assiduous labors of
those who had the welfare of the Society and of
humanity at heart were successful in inducing of
fenders to manumit their slaves, and confess their
error in resisting the wishes of their friends, and
bringing reproach upon the cause of truth.

So ended slavery in the Society of Friends. For
three quarters of a century the advice put forth in
the meetings of the Society at stated intervals, that
Friends should be " careful to maintain their testi
mony against slavery " has been adhered to so far
as owning, or even hiring, a slave is concerned.
Apart from its first-fruits of emancipation, there is
a perennial value in the example exhibited of the
power of truth, urged patiently and in earnest love,

Introduction. 31

to overcome the difficulties in the way of the eradi
cation of an evil system, strengthened by long
habit, entangled with all the complex relations of
society, and closely allied with the love of power,
the pride of family, and the lust of gain.

The influence of the life and labors of John
Woolman has by no means been confined to the
religious society of which he was a member. It
may be traced wherever a step in the direction of
emancipation has been taken in this country or in
Europe. During the war of the Revolution many
of the noblemen and officers connected with the
French army became, as their journals abundantly
testify, deeply interested in the Society of Friends,
and took back to France with them something of
its growing antislavery sentiment. Especially was
this the case with Jean Pierre Brissot, the thinker
and statesman of the Girondists, whose intimacy
with Warner Mifflin, a friend and disciple of Wool
man, so profoundly affected his whole after life.
He became the leader of the "Friends of the
Blacks," and carried with him to the scaffold a pro
found hatred of slavery. To his efforts may be
traced the proclamation of Emancipation in Hayti
by the commissioners of the French conventfon,
and indirectly the subsequent uprising of the blacks
and their successful establishment of a free govern
ment. The same influence reached Thomas Clark -
son and stimulated his early efforts for the abolition
of the slave-trade ; and in after life the volume
of the New Jersey Quaker was the cherished com-

32 Introduction.

panion of himself and his amiable helpmate. It
was in a degree, at least, the influence of Stephen
Grellet and William Allen, men deeply imbued with
the spirit of Woolman, and upon whom it might al
most be said his mantle had fallen, that drew the
attention of Alexander I. of Russia to the impor
tance of taking measures for the abolition of serf
dom, an object the accomplishment of which the
wars during his reign prevented, but which, left
as a legacy of duty, has been peaceably effected
by his namesake, Alexander II. In the history of
Emancipation in our own country evidences of the
same original impulse of humanity are not wanting.
In 1790 memorials against slavery from the So
ciety of Friends were laid before the first Congress
of the United States. Not content with clearing
their own skirts of the evil, the Friends of that day
took an active part in the formation of the abolition
societies of New England, New York, Pennsyl
vania, Maryland, and Virginia. Jacob Lindley,
Elisha Tyson, Warner Mifflin, James Pemberton,
and other leading Friends, were known throughout
the country as unflinching champions of Freedom.
One of the earliest of the class known as modern
abolitionists was Benjamin Lundy, a pupil in the
school of Woolman, through whom William Lloyd
Garrison became interested in the great work to
which his life has been so faithfully and nobly de
voted. Looking back to the humble workshop at
Mount Holly from the stand-point of the Procla
mation of President Lincoln, how has the seed
sown in weakness been raised up in power !

Introduction. 33

The larger portion of Woolman's writings are de
voted to the subjects of slavery, uncompensated
labor, and the excessive toil and suffering of the
many to support the luxury of the few. The argu
ment running through them is searching, and in its
conclusions uncompromising, but a tender love for
the wrong-doer as well as the sufferer underlies all.
They aim to convince the judgment and reach the
heart without awakening prejudice and passion. To
the slaveholders of his time they must have seemed
like the voice of conscience speaking to them in the
cool of the day. One feels, in reading them, the ten
derness and humility of a nature redeemed from all
pride of opinion and self-righteousness, sinking itself
out of sight, and intent only upon rendering smaller
the sum of human sorrow and sin by drawing men
nearer to God and to each other. The style is that
of a man unlettered, but with natural refinement
and delicate sense of fitness, the purity of whose
heart enters into his language. There is no attempt
at fine writing, not a word or phrase for effect ; it is
the simple unadorned diction of one to whom the
temptations of the pen seem to have been wholly
unknown. He wrote as he believed from an in
ward spiritual prompting ; and with all his un
affected humility he evidently felt that his work
was done in the clear radiance of

" The light which never was on land or sea."

It was not for him to outrun his Guide, or, as Sir
Thomas Browne expresses it, to " order the finger

34 Introduction.

of the Almighty to his will and pleasure, but to sit
still under the soft showers of Providence." Very
wise are these essays, but their wisdom is not alto
gether that of this world. They lead one away
from all the jealousies, strifes, and competitions of
luxury, fashion, and gain, out of the close air of
parties and sects, into a region of calmness, —

" The haunt

Of every gentle wind whose breath can teach
The wild to love tranquillity," —

a quiet habitation where all things are ordered in
what he calls " the pure reason " ; a rest from all
self-seeking, and where no man's interest or activity
conflicts with that of another. Beauty they certainly
have, but it is not that which the rules of art recog
nize ; a certain indefinable purity pervades them,
making one sensible, as he reads, of a sweetness as
of violets. " The secret of Woolman's purity of
style," said Dr. Channing, " is that his eye was
single, and that conscience dictated his words."

Of course we are not to look to the writings of
such a man for tricks of rhetoric, the free play of
imagination, or the unscrupulousness of epigram
and antithesis. He wrote as he lived, conscious
of " the great Task-master's eye." With the wise
heathen Marcus Aurelius Antoninus he had learned
to " wipe out imaginations, to check desire, and let
the spirit that is the gift of God to every man, as
his guardian and guide, bear rule."

I have thought it inexpedient to swell the bulk
of this volume with the entire writings appended to

Introduction. 35

the old edition of the Journal, inasmuch as they
mainly refer to a system which happily on this con
tinent is no longer a question at issue. I content
myself with throwing together a few passages from
them which touch subjects of present interest ;
and in the Appendix at the close of this volume will
be found one of the last written and longest of his
papers, — "A Word of Remembrance and Caution
to the Rich."

" Selfish men may possess the earth : it is the
meek alone who inherit it from the Heavenly
Father free from all defilements and perplexities
of unrighteousness."

" Whoever rightly advocates the cause of some,
thereby promotes the good of the whole."

" If one suffer by the unfaithfulness of another,
the mind, the most noble part of him that occasions
the discord, is thereby alienated from its true happi
ness."

" There is harmony in the several parts of the
Divine work in the hearts of men. He who leads
them to cease from those gainful employments
which are carried on in the wisdom which is from
beneath delivers also from the desire of worldly
greatness, and reconciles to a life so plain that a
little suffices."

" After days and nights of drought, when the sky
hath grown dark, and clouds like lakes of water
have hung over our heads, I have at times beheld
with awfulness the vehement lightning accompany
ing the blessings of the rain, a messenger from

36 Introduction.

Him to remind us of our duty in a right use of his
benefits."

" The marks of famine in a land appear as hum
bling admonitions from God, instructing us by gen
tle chastisements, that we may remember that the
outward supply of life is a gift from our Heavenly
Father, and that we should not venture to use or
apply that gift in a way contrary to pure reason."

" Oppression in the extreme appears terrible ;
but oppression in more refined appearances re
mains to be oppression. To labor for a perfect
redemption from the spirit of it is the great busi
ness of the whole family of Jesus Christ in this
world."

" In the obedience of faith we die to self-love,
and, our life being * hid with Christ in God,' our
hearts are enlarged towards mankind universally ;
but many in striving to get treasures have departed
from this true light of life and stumbled on the dark
mountains. That purity of life which proceeds
from faithfulness in following the pure spirit of
truth, that state in which our minds are devoted to
serve God, and all our wants are bounded by his
wisdom, has often been opened to me as a place
of retirement for the children of the light, in which
we may be separated from that which disordereth
and confuseth the affairs of society, and may have
a testimony for our innocence in the hearts of those
who behold us."

" There is a principle which is pure, placed in the
human mind, which in different places and ages

Introduction. 37

hath had different names ; it is, however, pure, and
proceeds from God. It is deep and inward, con
fined to no forms of religion nor excluded from any,
when the heart stands in perfect sincerity. In whom
soever this takes root and grows, they become
brethren."

" The necessity of an inward stillness hath ap
peared clear to my mind. In true silence strength
is renewed, and the mind is weaned from all things,
save as they may be enjoyed in the Divine will ; and
a lowliness in outward living, opposite to worldly
honor, becomes truly acceptable to us. In the
desire after outward gain the mind is prevented
from a perfect attention to the voice of Christ ; yet
being weaned from all things, except as they may
be enjoyed in the Divine will, the pure light shines
into the soul. Where the fruits of the spirit which
is of this world are brought forth by many who
profess to be led by the Spirit of truth, and cloudi
ness is felt to be gathering over the visible church,
the sincere in heart, who abide in true stillness,
and are exercised therein before the Lord for his
name's sake, have knowledge of Christ in the fel
lowship of his sufferings ; and inward thankfulness
is felt at times, that through Divine love our own
wisdom is cast out, and that forward, active part in
us is subjected, which would rise and do something
without the pure leadings of the spirit of Christ

" While aught remains in us contrary to a perfect
resignation of our wills, it is like a seal to the book
wherein is written * that good and acceptable and

38 Introduction.

perfect will of God ' concerning us. But when our
minds entirely yield to Christ, that silence is known
which followeth the opening of the last of the seals.
In this silence we learn to abide in the Divine will,
and there feel that we have no cause to promote
except that alone in which the light of life directs
us."

Occasionally, in " Considerations on the Keeping
of Negroes," the intense interest of his subject gives
his language something of passionate elevation, as
in the following extract : —

" When trade is carried on productive of much
misery, and they who suffer by it are many thou
sand miles off, the danger is the greater of not lay
ing their sufferings to heart. In procuring slaves
on the coast of Africa, many children are stolen
privately ; wars are encouraged among the negroes,
but all is at a great distance. Many groans
arise from dying men which we hear not. Many
cries are uttered by widows and fatherless children
which reach not our ears. Many cheeks are wet
with tears, and faces sad with unutterable grief,
which we see not. Cruel tyranny is encouraged.
The hands of robbers are strengthened.

" Were we, for the term of one year only, to be
eye-witnesses of what passeth in getting these
slaves; were the blood that is there shed to be
sprinkled on our garments ; were the poor cap
tives, bound with thongs, and heavily laden with
elephants' teeth, to pass before our eyes on their
way to the sea \ were their bitter lamentations, day

Introduction. 39

after day, to ring in our ears, and their mournful
cries in the night to hinder us from sleeping, — were
we to behold and hear these things, what pious
heart would not be deeply affected with sorrow ! "

" It is good for those who live in fulness to cul
tivate tenderness of heart, and to improve every
opportunity of being acquainted with the hardships
and fatigues of those who labor for their living,
and thus to think seriously with themselves : Am
I influenced by true charity in fixing all my de
mands? Have I no desire to support myself in
expensive customs, because my acquaintances live
in such customs ?

" If a wealthy man, on serious reflection, finds a
witness in his own conscience that he indulges
himself in some expensive habits, which might be
omitted, consistently with the true design of living,
and which, were he to change places with those
who occupy his estate, he would desire to be dis
continued by them \ whoever is thus awakened will
necessarily find the injunction binding, 'Do ye
even so to them.' Divine Love imposeth no rigor
ous or unreasonable commands, but graciously
points out the spirit of brotherhood and the way
to happiness, in attaining which it is necessary
that we relinquish all that is selfish.

" Our gracious Creator cares and provides for all
his creatures ; his tender mercies are over all his
works, and so far as true love influences our minds,
so far we become interested in his workmanship,
and feel a desire to make use of every opportunity

40 Introduction.

to lessen the distresses of the afflicted, and to in
crease the happiness of the creation. Here we
have a prospect of one common interest from
which our own is inseparable, so that to turn all
we possess into the channel of universal love be
comes the business of our lives."

His liberality and freedom from " all narrowness
as to sects and opinions " are manifest in the fol
lowing passages : —

" Men who sincerely apply their minds to true
virtue, and find an inward support from above, by
which all vicious inclinations are made subject ;
who love God sincerely, and prefer the real good
of mankind universally to their own private inter
est, — though these, through the strength of educa
tion and tradition, may remain under some great
speculative errors, it would be uncharitable to say
that therefore God rejects them. The knowledge
and goodness of Him who creates, supports, and
gives understanding to all men, are superior to the
various states and circumstances of his creatures,
which to us appear the most difficult. Idolatry in
deed is wickedness ; but it is the thing, not the
name, which is so. Real idolatry is to pay that
adoration to a creature which is known to be due
only to the true God.

" He who professeth to believe in one Almighty
Creator, and in his Son Jesus Christ, and is yet
more intent on the honors, profits, and friendships
of the world than he is, in singleness of heart, to
stand faithful to the Christian religion, is in the

Introduction. 41

channel of idolatry ; while the Gentile, who, not
withstanding some mistaken opinions, is estab
lished in the true principle of virtue, and humbly
adores an Almighty Power, may be of the number
that fear God and work righteousness."

Nowhere has what is called the "Labor Ques
tion," which is now agitating the world, been dis
cussed more wisely and with a broader humanity
than in these essays. His sympathies were with
the poor man, yet the rich too are his brethren,
and he warns them in love and pity of the conse
quences of luxury and oppression : —

"Every degree of luxury, every demand for
money inconsistent with the Divine order, hath
connection with unnecessary labors."

" To treasure up wealth for another generation,
by means of the immoderate labor of those who in
some measure depend upon us, is doing evil at
present, without knowing that wealth thus gathered
may not be applied to evil purposes when we are
gone. To labor hard, or cause others to do so,
that we may live conformably to customs which
our Redeemer discountenanced by his example,
and which are contrary to Divine order, is to ma
nure a soil for propagating an evil seed in the
earth."

" When house is joined to house, and field laid
to field, until there is no place, and the poor are
thereby straitened, though this is done by bargain
and purchase, yet so far as it stands distinguished
from universal love, so far that woe predicted by

42 Introduction.

the prophet will accompany their proceedings. As
He who first founded the earth was then the true
proprietor of it, so he still remains, and though he
hath given it to the children of men, so that mul
titudes of people have had their sustenance from
it while they continued here, yet he hath neve/
alienated it, but his right is as good as at first ; nol
can any apply the increase of their possessions con
trary to universal love, nor dispose of lands in a
way which they know tends to exalt some by
oppressing others, without being justly chargeable
with usurpation."

It will not lessen the value of the foregoing ex
tracts in the minds of the true disciples of our
Divine Lord, that they are manifestly not written
to subserve the interests of a narrow sectarian
ism. They might have been penned by Fene'lon
in his time, or Robertson in ours, dealing as they
do with Christian practice, — the life of Christ
manifesting itself in purity and goodness, — rather
than with the dogmas of theology. The underlying
thought of all is simple obedience to the Divine
word in the soul. " Not every one that saith unto
me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father in
heaven." In the preface to an English edition,
published some years ago, it is intimated that ob
jections had been raised to the Journal on the
ground that it had so little to say of doctrines and
so much of duties. One may easily understand
that this objection might have been forcibly felt by

Introduction. 43

the slaveholding religious professors of his day,
and that it may still be entertained by a class of
persons who, like the Cabalists, attach a certain
mystical significance to words, names, and titles,
and who, in consequence, question the piety which
hesitates to flatter the Divine ear by " vain repeti
tions " and formal enumeration of sacred attributes,
dignities, and offices. Every instinct of his ten
derly sensitive nature shrank from the wordy irreve
rence of noisy profession. His very silence is sig
nificant. The husks of emptiness rustle in every
wind ; the full corn in the ear holds up its golden fruit
noiselessly to the Lord of the harvest. John Wool-
man's faith, like the Apostle's, is manifested by his
labors, standing not in words but in the demonstra
tion of the spirit, — a faith that works by love to the
purifying of the heart. The entire outcome of this
faith was love manifested in reverent waiting upon
God, and in that untiring benevolence, that quiet
but deep enthusiasm of humanity, which made his
daily service to his fellow-creatures a hymn of
praise to the common Father.

However the intellect may criticise such a life,
whatever defects it may present to the trained eyes
of theological adepts, the heart has no questions to
ask, but at once owns and reveres it. Shall we
regret that he who had so entered into fellowship
of suffering with the Divine One, walking with him
under the cross, and dying daily to self, gave to
the faith and hope that were in him this testimony
of a life, rather than any form of words, however

44 Introduction.

sound? A true life is at once interpreter and
proof of the gospel, and does more to establish its
truth in the hearts of men than all the " Evidences"
and "^Bodies of Divinity " which have perplexed
the world with more doubts than they solved.
Shall we venture to account it a defect in his
Christian character, that, under an abiding sense of
the goodness and long-suffering of God, he wrought
his work in gentleness and compassion, with the
delicate tenderness which comes of a deep sympa
thy with the trials and weaknesses of our nature,
never allowing himself to indulge in heat or vio
lence, persuading rather than threatening ? Did he
overestimate that immeasurable Love, the manifes
tation of which in his own heart so reached the
hearts of others, revealing everywhere unsuspected
fountains of feeling and secret longings after purity,
as the rod of the diviner detects sweet, cool water-
springs under the parched surfaces of a thirsty
land? And, looking at the purity, wisdom, and
sweetness of his life, who shall say that his faith in
the teaching of the Holy Spirit — the interior guide
and light — was a mistaken one? Surely it was
no illusion by which his feet were so guided that all
who saw him felt that, like Enoch, he walked with
God. " Without the actual inspiration of the Spirit
of Grace, the inward teacher and soul of our souls,"
says Fenelon, " we could neither do, will, nor believe
good. We must silence every creature, we must
silence ourselves also, to hear in a profound stillness
of the soul this inexpressible voice of Christ. The

Introduction. 45

outward word of the gospel itself without this liv
ing efficacious word within would be but an empty
sound." * " Thou Lord," says Augustine in his
Meditations, " communicatest thyself to all : thou
teachest the heart without words ; thou speakest
to it without articulate sounds." Never was this
divine principle more fully tested than by John
Woolman ; and the result is seen in a life of such
rare excellence that the world is still better and
richer for its sake, and the fragrance of it comes
down to us through a century, still sweet and pre
cious.

It will be noted throughout the Journal and
essays that in his life-long testimony against wrong
he never lost sight of the oneness of humanity, its
common responsibility, its fellowship of suffering
and communion of sin. Few have ever had so
profound a conviction of the truth of the Apostle's
declaration that no man liveth and no man dieth to
himself. Sin was not to him an isolated fact, the
responsibility of which began and ended with the
individual transgressor ; he saw it as a part of a
vast network and entanglement, and traced the
lines of influence converging upon it in the under
world of causation. Hence the wrong and discord
which pained him called out pity, rather than indig-

* " However, I am sure that there is a common spirit that
plays within us, and that is the Spirit of God. Whoever
feels not the warm gale and gentle ventilation of this Spirit, I
dare not say he lives ; for truly without this to me there is
no heat under the tropic, nor any light though I dwelt in the
body of the sun." — Sir Thomas Browne's Religio Medici.

46 Introduction.

nation. The first inquiry which they awakened
was addressed to his own conscience. How far
am I in thought, word, custom, responsible for
this ? Have none of my fellow-creatures an equi
table right to any part which is called mine ? Have
the gifts and possessions received by me from
others been conveyed in a way free from all un
righteousness ? " Through abiding in the law of
Christ," he says, " we feel a tenderness towards our
fellow-creatures, and a concern so to walk that our
conduct may not be the means of strengthening
them in error." He constantly recurs to the impor
tance of a right example in those who profess to be
led by the spirit of Christ, and who attempt to labor
in his name for the benefit of their fellow-men. If
such neglect or refuse themselves to act rightly,
they can but " entangle the minds of others and
draw a veil over the face of righteousness" His eyes
were anointed to see the common point of depar
ture from the Divine harmony, and that all the
varied growths of evil had their underlying root in
human selfishness. He saw that every sin of the
individual was shared in greater or less degree by
all whose lives were opposed to the Divine order,
and that pride, luxury, and avarice in one class
gave motive and temptation to the grosser forms of
evil in another. How gentle, and yet how searching,
are his rebukes of self-complacent respectability,
holding it responsible, in spite of all its decent
seemings, for much of the depravity which it con
demned with Pharisaical harshness ! In his " Con-

Introduction. 47

siderations on the True Harmony of Mankind," he
dwells with great earnestness upon the importance
of possessing " the mind of Christ," which removes
from the heart the desire of superiority and worldly
honors, incites attention to the Divine Counsellor
and awakens an ardent engagement to promote the
happiness of all. " This state" he says, " in which
every motion from the selfish spirit yieldeth to pure
love, I may acknowledge with gratitude to the Father
of Mercies, is often opened before me as a pearl to seek
after."

" At times when I have felt true love open my
heart towards my fellow-creatures, and have been
engaged in weighty conversation in the cause of
righteousness, the instructions I have received
under these exercises in regard to the true use of
the outward gifts of God have made deep and
lasting impressions on my mind. I have beheld
how the desire to provide wealth and to uphold a
delicate life has grievously entangled many, and
has been like a snare to their offspring ; and
though some have been affected with a sense of
their difficulties, and have appeared desirous at
times to be helped out of them, yet for want of
abiding under the humbling power of truth they
have continued in these entanglements ; expensive
living in parents and children hath called for a
large supply, and in answering this call the * faces
of the poor' have been ground away, and made
thin through hard dealing.

"There is balm; there is a physician ! and O what

48 Introduction.

longings do I feel that we may embrace the means
appointed for our healing ; may know that removed
which now ministers cause for the cries of many to
ascend to Heaven against their oppressors ; and
that thus we may see the true harmony restored ! —
a restoration of that which was lost at Babel, and
which will be, as the prophet expresses it, < the re
turning of a pure language ! ' '

It is easy to conceive how unwelcome this clear
spiritual insight must have been to the superficial
professors of his time busy in tithing mint, anise,
and cummin. There must have been something
awful in the presence of one endowed with the gift
of looking through all the forms, shows, and pre
tensions of society, and detecting with certainty the
germs of evil hidden beneath them ; a man gentle
and full of compassion, clothed in " the irresistible
might of meekness," and yet so wise in spiritual
discernment,

" Bearing a touchstone in his hand
And testing all things in the land
By his unerring spell.

11 Quick births of transmutation smote
The fair to foul, the foul to fair ;
Purple nor ermine did he spare,
Nor scorn the dusty coat."

In bringing to a close this paper, the preparation
of which has been to me a labor of love, I am
not unmindful of the wide difference between the
appreciation of a pure and true life and the living
of it, and am willing to own that in delineating a

Introduction* 49

character of such moral and spiritual symmetry I
have felt something like rebuke from my own words.
I have been awed and solemnized by the presence
of a serene and beautiful spirit redeemed of the
Lord from all selfishness, and I have been made
thankful for the ability to recognize and the dispo
sition to love him. I leave the book with its read
ers. They may possibly make large deductions
from my estimate of the author ; they may not see
the importance of all his self-denying testimonies j
they may question some of his scruples, and smile
over passages of childlike simplicity ; — but I be
lieve they will all agree in thanking me for intro
ducing them to the Journal of John Woolman.

J. G. W.

AMESBURY, aoth ist mo., 1871.

THE

JOURNAL OF JOHN WOOLMAN,

CHAPTER I.

1720-1742.

His Birth and Parentage. — Some Account of the Opera
tions of Divine Grace on his Mind in his Youth. — His
first Appearance in the Ministry. — And his Considera
tions, while Young, on the Keeping of Slaves.

I 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 j and as I went from
school one day, I remember that while my compan
ions 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."

52 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 upright
ness before God in a degree exceeding any that I
knew or heard of now living : and the apprehen
sion 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 53

down dead. At first I was pleased with the ex
ploit, but after a few minutes was seized with hor
ror, 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 good
ness 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

54 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 unhand
somely 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 pre
served from profane language or scandalous con
duct, yet I perceived a plant in me which produced
much wild grapes ; my merciful Father did not, how
ever, 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 re
proofs 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 acquaint
ance 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 resolu
tion to return, hence serious reflections were un
easy to me, and youthful vanities and diversions

The Journal of John Woolman. 55

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 rilled with con
fusion, and in great affliction, both of mind and
body, I lay and bewailed myself. I had not con
fidence 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 dis
solved 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

56 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 ad-
monished 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 en
trance. 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 unex
pected 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 con
suming fire, and looking over my past life the pros
pect 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

The Joiirnal of John Woolman. • 57

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 vani
ties 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 dis
cipline. 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.
.3*

58 The Journal of John Woolman.

I kept steadily to meetings ; spent first-day after
noons chiefly in reading the Scriptures and other
good books, and was early convinced in my mind
that true religion consisted in an inward life, where
in the heart doth love and reverence God the Cre
ator, and learns to exercise true justice and good
ness, 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, in
comprehensible 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 con
tradiction in itself. I found no narrowness respect
ing 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

The Journal of John Woohnan. 59

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 j 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 win
ter 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 com
pany, I felt frequent and fervent cries in my heart
to God, the Father of Mercies, that he would pre
serve me from all taint and corruption ; that, in this
more public employment, I might serve him, my

60 The Journal of John Woolman.

gracious Redeemer, in that humility and self-denial
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 settle
ment 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 diffi
culties, and had fresh occasion to bewail the follies
of times past, in contracting a familiarity with liber
tine 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 sup
plication 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 be
gan 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 6l

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 lan
guage 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 satisfac
tion 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 be
came 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.

62 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 wor
ship are various ; but whenever any are true min
isters 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 sup
port ; 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 lat
ter 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 accord-

The Journal of John Woolman. 63

ing 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 crea
tures 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 en
gagements that in all things I might act on an in
ward principle of virtue, and pursue worldly busi
ness 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 disor
der ; 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

64 The Journal of John Woolman.

Lord for his assistance, and He, in loving-kindness,
gave me a resigned heart. At a suitable opportu
nity 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 be
fore. 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-crea
tures, 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

* The number of slaves in New Jersey at the commence
ment of Woolman's labors for emancipation was undoubt
edly large. As late as 1800 there were 12,442. Perth
Amboy was a place of deposit for the newly imported Afri
cans, and long barracks were erected for their accommoda
tion. In 1734, when Woolman was a lad of fourteen, an insur
rection took place, which had for its object the massacre of
the masters, and an alliance with the Indians and French.
Some years later a negro convicted of crime was burned
alive at Perth Amboy. An immense number of negroes,
gathered from all the neighboring townships, were compelled
to be witnesses of the slow torment of the victim.

The Journal of John Woolman. 65

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 re
ligion. This, in some degree, abated my uneasi
ness ; 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 good-will ;
and he told me that keeping slaves was not alto
gether agreeable to his mind ; but that the slave
being a gift made to his wife he had accepted her.

66 The Journal of John Woolman.

CHAPTER 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.

MY esteemed friend Abraham Farrington be
ing 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,
1 743 ; had an evening meeting at a tavern in Bruns
wick, 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, Rah way, and Plain-
field, and had six or seven meetings in places where
Friends' meetings are not usually held, chiefly at-

The Journal of John Woolman. 67

tended by Presbyterians, and my beloved com
panion 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 under
stood 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 be
came 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 em
ployer, 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.

68 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 profit
able, 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 learn
ing 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 dis-

The Journal of John Woolman. 69

position 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 sup
plication, 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 Pennsyl
vania and Virginia. Being thoughtful about a com
panion, 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, Vir
ginia, and Carolina. After a considerable time, and
several conferences with him, I felt easy to accom
pany him throughout, if way opened for it. I
opened the case in our Monthly Meeting, and,
Friends expressing their unity therewith, we ob
tained certificates to travel as companions, — he
from Haddonfield, and I from Burlington.

We left our province on the i2th 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 to-

70 The Journal of John Woolman.

gether 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 some
times 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 old 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 71

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 appear
ance 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 sev
eral meetings amongst the people, some of whom
had lately joined in membership with our Soci
ety. In our journeying to and fro, we found some
honest-hearted Friends, who appeared to be con
cerned 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 meet
ings 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 i6th 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

72 The Journal of John Woolman.

harmony, and parted in the nearness of true broth
erly love.

Two things were remarkable to me in this jour
ney : 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 sea-coast ; and on the
8th of eighth month, 1746, I left home with the

The Jotirnal of John Woolman. 73

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 Mi
chael Lightfoot and Abraham Farrington, who had
good service there.

The winter following died my eldest sister, Eliza
beth 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 i6th of third month,
1747. We reached the Yearly Meeting at Long
Island, at which were our friends, Samuel Not
tingham from England, John Griffith, Jane Hos-
kins, 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

4

74 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 remem
bered. 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 work
ings 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 75

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 meet
ings 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 pro
ceeded 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 prov
inces. 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 Lon
don to Long Island, and taking some meetings on

;6 The Journal of John Woolman.

the island proceeded towards home, which we
reached the 13* of seventh month, 1747. havinS
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 sea
sons of refreshment wherein the power of truth pre
vailed. 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 ;th 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 hun
dred and fifty miles.

The Journal of John Woolman. 77

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 con
dition, yet I believe the Lord hath a people
amongst them who labor to serve him uprightly,
but they have many difficulties to encounter.

78 The Journal of John Woolman.

CHAPTER 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.

ABOUT this time, believing it good for me to
settle, and thinking seriously about a com
panion, my heart was turned to the Lord with de
sires 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 i8th 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 to-
wards poor people, but also towards all creatures of
which we had the command.

After my return from Carolina in 1746, I made

The Journal of John Woolman. 79

some observations on keeping slaves, which some
time before his decease I showed to him ; he pe
rused 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 watch
ing 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 ex
pected 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 neai ; 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

8o The Journal of John Woolman.

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 sen
sible 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 for
ward 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 chil
dren. As writing is a profitable employ, and as
offending sober people was disagreeable to my in
clination, I was straitened in my mind ; but as I
looked to the Lord, he inclined my heart to his tes-

The Journal of John Woolman. 81

timony. 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 So
ciety 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 right
eousness, and thereby incurring the resentments
of people, opens the way to a treasure better than
silver, and to a friendship exceeding the friend
ship 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 num
ber of copies thereof to be published and dis
persed 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

* This pamphlet bears the imprint of Benjamin Franklin,
1754-

4* *

82 The Journal of John Woolman.

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, wait
ing in families in deep reverence before him, he
was pleased graciously to afford help, so that we
had many comfortable opportunities, and it ap
peared 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 acknowl
edge 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.

The Journal of John Woolman. 83

An Epistle from our general Spring Meeting of ministers and
elders for Pennsylvania and New Jersey, held at Philadel
phia, from the 2tyh of the third month to the 1st of the
fourth month inclusive, I755-

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 cenderly 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 pro
fession 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 grasshoppers."
(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 ex
ceeds 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

84 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 king
doms 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 our
selves 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 sur
feiting 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 85

may we say, "Our Redeemer is mighty, he will
plead our cause for us." (Jer. 1. 34.) And if, for
the further promoting of his most gracious pur
poses 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 pre
pared to receive it!

And now, dear friends, with respect to the com
motions 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 j 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

86 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 pro
ducing 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 unchange
able , 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-

The Journal of John Woolman. 87

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 altera
tions 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

88 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 hav
ing 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 carry
ing 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 cer
tificate from our Monthly Meeting, I set off i2th
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 mani
festations of the love of Jesus Christ to the comfort
of the honest-hearted. I went that night to Flush-

The Journal of John Woolman. 89

ing, 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 Meet
ing began ; at which were our friends, John Scar
borough, 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

go The Journal of John Woolman.

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 dis
agreeable to the people, and so adverse to the spirit
they lived in, that he became the object of their re
proach, 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 home
ward, 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 twen
ty-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, 1 continued to retail goods,

The Journal of John Woolman. 91

besides following my trade as a tailor ; about which
time I grew uneasy on account of my business grow
ing too cumbersome. I had begun with selling trim
mings 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 re
quire 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 mer
chandise, 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 busi
ness, 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 mer
chandise, and followed my trade as a tailor by my
self, having no apprentice. I also had a nursery

92 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 where
with 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

* He seems to have regarded agriculture as the business
most conducive to moral and physical health. He thought
" if the leadings of the Spirit were more attended to, more
people would be engaged in the sweet employment of hus
bandry, where labor is agreeable and healthful." He does
not condemn the honest acquisition of wealth in other
business free from oppression ; even " merchandising," he
thought, might be carried on innocently and in pure reason.
Christ does not forbid the laying up of a needful support for
family and friends ; the command is, " Lay not up for YOUR
SELVES treasures on earth." From his little farm on the
Rancocas he looked out with a mingled feeling of wonder
and sorrow upon the hurry and unrest of the world ; and
especially was he pained to see luxury and extravagance
overgrowing the early plainness and simplicity of his own
religious society. He regarded the merely rich man with
unfeigned pity. With nothing of his scorn, he had all of
Thoreau's commiseration, for people who went about bowed
down with the weight of broad acres and great houses on
their backs.

The Journal of John Woolman. 93

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 by 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 drink
ing of others (led to it through immoderate labor),
very great quantities of rum are every year expend
ed 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 ap
petite 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, ad
here 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

94 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 experi
ence, 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 en
larges the mind as to cause men to love their
neighbors as themselves, they would have wisdom
given them to manage their concerns, without em
ploying some people in providing the 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 con
fusions in the world.

Though trading in things useful is an honest em
ploy, yet through the great number of superfluities
which are bought and sold, and through the cor
ruption 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."

The Journal of John Woolman. 95

In the winter this year I was engaged with
friends in visiting families, and through the good
ness of the Lord we oftentimes 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 Mer
cies 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 re
fines them as silver is refined ; he shall sit as a
refiner and purifier of silver.' By these compari
sons we are instructed in the necessity of the melt
ing operation of the hand of God upon us, to pre
pare 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

96 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 be
fore 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 dis
cipline.

" 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 pain
fully 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 cf

The Journal of John Woolman. 97

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 crea
ture, we find that power to arise which gives health
and vigor to us."

98 The Journal of John Woolman.

CHAPTER 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 Exer
cise 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.

THIRTEENTH fifth month, 1757. — Being in
good health, and abroad with Friends visit
ing families, I lodged at a Friend's house in Bur
lington. 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 moon
shine, 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 ap
pearance, but as the language of the Holy One

The Journal of John Woolman. 99

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

o

Southern Provinces to increase upon me, I ac
quainted our Monthly Meeting therewith, and ob
tained their certificate. Expecting to go alone,
one of my brothers who lived in Philadelphia, hav
ing 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 Bufrington, from New Eng
land, who was returning from a visit to the Southern
Provinces. Thence we crossed the river Susque-
hanna, 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

ioo The Journal of John Woolman.

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 kind
ness 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 pre
vent difficulties of this kind, and to preserve the
minds of judges from any bias, was that Divine pro
hibition : "Thou shalt not receive any gift; for a
gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words
of the righteous." (Exod. xxiii. 8.) As the dis
ciples 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 pub
lished • 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 re
ception, at times, is partly in regard to reputation,

The Journal of John Woolman. 101

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 be
fore 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 tem
pest 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 omittinp- ^t

IO2 The Journal of John Woolman.

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, con
cerning 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 103

from the centre of my mind, thus : " O Lord, I am
a stranger on the earth, hide not thy face from me."
On the nth, 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 dispo
sition of the negroes, adding that one of our labor
ers 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 satisfac
tion in improving, cultivating, and providing for
their families ; but negroes, laboring to support
others who claim them as their property, and ex
pecting 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

IO4 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 consci
entiously toward them as fellow- creatures, I believe
that burden will grow heavier and heavier, until
times change in a way disagreeable to us. The

The Journal of John Woolman. 105

person appeared very serious, and owned that in
considering their condition and the manner of
their treatment in these provinces he had some
times 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 1 2th; 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 com
pany 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 an
other 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
tiie land of Nod and took a wife ; that Nod was ?

io6 The Journal of John Woolman.

land far distant, inhabited by Cain's race, and that
the flood did not reach it ; and as Ham was sen
tenced to be a servant of servants to his brethren,
these two families, being thus joined, were un
doubtedly fit only for slaves. I replied, the flood
was a judgment upon the world for their abomi
nations, 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 imagina
tions, and in some pressure of spirit said, " The love
of ease and gain are the motives in general of keep
ing slaves, and men are wont to take hold of weak
arguments to support a cause which is unreason
able. 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.

The Journal of John Woolman. 107

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 ten
der 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 re
freshment 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 testi
mony 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 al
most overwhelmed, and I may say with the Psalm
ist, " 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 hum
bly bless his holy name.

The sense I had of the state of the churches

io8 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 desola
tion, and instead of the spirit of meekness, gentle
ness, 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 judg
ment, that seeketh the truth, and I will pardon it " ?
(Jer. v. i.)

The prospect of a way being open to the same
degeneracy, in some parts of this newly settled

The Journal of John Woolman. 109

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 out
ward 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 busi
ness 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 com
monly raise by their labor on the first day of the
week. The correction ensuing on their disobedi
ence 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 New-
lights, 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

no The Journal of John Woolman.

measure supported, and many of them in the luxu
ries of life. These are the people who have made
no agreement to serve us, and who have not for
feited 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 indigna
tion 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 long silence I felt an engagement to
stand up, and through the powerful operation of
Divine love we were favored with an edifying meet
ing. The next meeting we had was at Black-
Water, and from thence went to the Yearly Meet
ing 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

Journal of John Woolman. 1 1 1

buying them after imported?" which was thus
altered, "Are there any concerned in the impor
tation of negroes, or buying them to trade in ? "
As one query admitted with unanimity was, " Are
any concerned in buying or vending goods unlaw
fully 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 testi
mony 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.

112 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 help
ful and comfortable, and believe ourselves bound
in duty to teach our children to read them ; I be
lieved 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 edu
cation 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 them
selves. 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 educa
tion 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 113

worship ensued, which to me was a laborious time ;
but through the goodness of the Lord, truth, I be
lieved, gained some ground, and it was a strength
ening 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 communi
cate 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 pursu
ing 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

114 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 re
ward of quietness will be greater than all our diffi
culties. Where the pure life is kept to, and meet
ings 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 fre
quenting such company some hopeful young peo
ple 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 115

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 them
selves encompassed with difficulties prepared for
them by their predecessors.

As moderate care and exercise, under the direc
tion 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 keep
ing in the medium we may pass on quietly. Where
slaves are purchased to do our labor numerous dif
ficulties 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 num
ber of Friends in your parts who have no slaves ;
and in tender and most affectionate love I beseech

n6 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 prin
ciple of virtue, are sweet ; and while we walk in the
light of the Lord there is true comfort and satisfac
tion in the possession ; neither the murmurs of an
oppressed people, nor a throbbing, uneasy con
science, 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 succes
sors, if we know that it was collected in the fear
of the Lord, in honesty, in equity, and in upright
ness 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 ef
fect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for
ever." (Isa. xxxii. 17.)

Dwell here, my dear friends ; and then in remote,
and solitary deserts you may find true peace and satis
faction. 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.

The Journal of John Woolman. 117

Prom the Yearly Meeting in Virginia I went to
Carolina, and on the ist 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 concern
ing 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 suppli
cation 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 ex
pressed 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 week-day, to be attended only by some Friends to
be named in their Monthly Meetings. Many pres
ent 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 ex
pressed the like concern, and appeared zealous that
in future it might be more closely considered. At
length a minute was made, and the further consid-

n8 The Journal of John Woolman.

eration 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 weak
ness ; 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

The Journal of John Woolman. i ig

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 con
cerning 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 distraint 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 con
cerning 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 con
cerned to walk uprightly before the Lord, and
esteemed it my duty to preserve this note con
cerning 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 re-

I2O The Journal of John Woolman.

newed 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 ever
lasting strength ; and as the mind, by humble resig
nation, 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 manner in which we may be led
may tend to our own abasement ; yet, if we con
tinue in patience and meekness, heavenly peace
will be the reward of our labors.

I attended Curies 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 numer-

The Journal of John Woolman. 121

ous 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 j
how the Almighty, though they had been disobedi
ent, 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 keep
ing 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 improve
ments, 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

122 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 after
wards at John Event's, in Monalen, and at Hun
tingdon, 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 en
couragement to the honest-minded.

At Monalen a Friend gave me some account of
a religious society among the Dutch, called Men-
nonists, 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 ac
quaintance, 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 hear
ing 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 con
duct in that case. The Mennonist replied, " Ever
since I lodged by thy field I have wanted an oppor
tunity 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 123

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 sub
stance 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 gra
cious dealings of the Lord with me, in preserving
me through many trials and afflictions.

124 Th* Journal of John Woolman.

CHAPTER 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 Circum
stances 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, Quar
terly, and Yearly Meetings in Philadelphia, respecting those
who keep Slaves.

A 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 sub
ject, who all favored the payment of such taxes ;
some of them 1 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 dis
tressed on that account.

The Journal of John Woolman. 125

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 dis
tress of goods, rather than pay actively.

To refuse the active payment of a tax which our
Society generally paid was exceedingly disagree
able ; 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 diffi
culty ; 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 Phila
delphia in the year 1755 ; at which a committee
was appointed of some from each Quarterly Meeting,
to correspond with the meeting for sufferings in Lon
don; 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 ac
cordingly 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

* Christians refused to pay taxes to support heathen tern-
pies. See Cave's Primitive Christianity, Part III. p. 327.

126 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 in
wardly 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, sepa
rated 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 ac
counted 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 colo
nies became active in civil government. Being

The Journal of John Woolman. 127

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 pres
ent 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 distinc
tion would be little else than the name of a peace
able 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 in
vaded, if, by our fighting, there were a probability
of overcoming the invaders. Whoever rightly at
tains 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 ac
quainted with that cross which crucifies to the

128 The Journal of John Woolman.

world, do manifest a temper distinguishable from
that of an entire trust in God. In calmly con
sidering 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 dif
ferent 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 adjourn
ments, continued sitting several days. The calam
ities of war were now increasing ; the frontier in
habitants 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 gar
ments, 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 dis
please 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 129

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 eighth month, 1757. — Orders came at
night to the military officers in our county (Bur
lington), 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 i7th there was a meet
ing 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 con
sider the advantage of living in the real substance
of religion, where practice doth harmonize with
principle. Amongst the officers are men of under
standing, 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
6* i

130 The Journal of John Woolman.

put them to trouble on account of scruples of con
science, 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 com
mon life manifest a contrary disposition, their diffi
culties 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 con
science in hopes of being excused from a danger
ous 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,

The Journal of John Woolman. 131

that I believed the trial was intended for our good j
and I was favored with resignation to him. The
French army having taken the fort they were be
sieging, 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 enter
tainment 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 in
ward. I was fully convinced that the proceedings
in wars are inconsistent with the purity of the Chris
tian religion; and to be hired to entertain men,
who were then under pay as soldiers, was a diffi
culty 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 entertain
ment 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

132 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 fof
keeping the soldier.

I have been informed that Thomas k 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 in
finite 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 133

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 de
termine 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 be
lieved 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 af-

* Fox's Acts and Monuments, p. 233.

134 The Journal of John Woolman.

fected, 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 Meet
ing, 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 an appointment
before I left home, to join in the visit. We were
at Radnor, Merion, Richland, North Wales, Ply
mouth, 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 135

was made last on that subject, and the said Quar
terly Meeting appointed a committee to consider it,
and to report to their next. This committee having
met once and adjourned, and I, going to Philadel
phia 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 rela
tion 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

136 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 noth
ing 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 ad
vantage 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 uni
versal righteousness on the earth. And though
none did openly justify the practice of slave-keep
ing 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 deliver
ance 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 137

cases where people have not been treated with the
purity of justice, and the event hath been lament
able. 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 concern
ing our duty towards this people, and it is not a
time for delay. Should we now be sensible of what
he requires of us, and through a respect to the
private interest of some persons, or through a re
gard to some friendships which do not stand on an
immutable foundation, neglect to do our duty in
firmness and constancy, still waiting for some ex
traordinary means to bring about their deliverance,
God may by terrible things in righteousness answer
us in this matter."

Many faithful brethren labored with great firm
ness, and the» love of truth in a good degree pre
vailed. 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 right
eousness of their motives in keeping them, that im
partial justice might be administered throughout.
Several Friends expressed their desire that a visit
might be made to such Friends as kept slaves, and

138 The Journal of John Woolman.

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.

The Journal of John Woolman. 139

CHAPTER VI.

1758, 1759-

fasit 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 Dirers
Provinces to Labor against Buying and Keeping Slaves.
— The Yearly Meeting Epistle. — Thoughts on the Small-
Pox spreading, and on Inoculation.

ELEVENTH 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 Meet
ing. 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 re
ligious visit to Friends in England, and, through
Divine goodness, we were favored with a strength
ening 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

140 The Journal of John Woolman.

being there; and it was a precious, reviving oppor
tunity. 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 Di
vine 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 i8th at
tended 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 busi
ness 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 dili
gently 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 visit
ing our land with his just judgments.

Each of these Quarterly Meetings was large and
sat near eight hours. I had occasion to consider

The Journal of John Woolman. 141

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 pros
pect 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 at
tended 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 dis
tance 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 neces
sity 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 conflicts,
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

142 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 agree
ment, 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 kind
ness 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 at
tending 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 tender
ness 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 oppor
tunity 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 bot
tom, and we had a large conference, which, I be
lieve was of use to both of us, and I am thankful
that way was opened for it.

The Journal of John Woolman. 143

Fourteenth of sixth month. — Having felt drawings
in my mind to visit Friends about Salem, and hav
ing the approbation of our Monthly Meeting, I at
tended 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 at
tending their Christian progress through this world.

Seventh month. — I have found an increasing con
cern on my mind to visit some active members in
our Society who have slaves, and having no oppor
tunity 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, ac
quainted 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

144 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 meet
ings 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 liis
work, not only in this respect, but for promoting
the cause of truth in general.

This meeting continued near a week. For sev
eral 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 ex
press 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 145

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 Pennsyl
vania 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

146 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 provi
dence, and improve under them.

The empires and kingdoms of the earth are sub
ject 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 up
rightly towards each other, and towards the natives ;
in life and conversation to manifest the excellency
of the principles and doctrines of the Christian re
ligion whereby they retain their esteem and friend
ship. Whilst they were laboring for the neces
saries of life, many of them were fervently engaged
to promote piety 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 the land, and that
freedom from the desolations of wars which for a
long time we enjoyed, we shall find ourselves under ;

The Journal of John Woolman. 147

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 tran
quillity 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 pos
terity, in some measure depends on the part we
act, and it nearly concerns us to try our founda
tions 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 fer
vently 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 suf
ficiently evidence the truth of that saying, " It is
righteousness which exalteth a nation " ; and though
he doth not at all times suddenly execute his judg
ments on a sinful people in this life, yet we see in
many instances that when " men follow lying vani
ties 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,

148 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 re
gard 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 at
tending 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 149

fields, some wounded and left in great misery, and
others separated from their wives and little chil
dren, 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 many young men in one
of these provinces were drafted, in order to be
taken as soldiers j 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 a clear testimony to the peaceable govern
ment 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 dark
ness " ; 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 neces
sary ! For though things, as to the outward, may
for a short time afford a pleasing prospect, yet,

150 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 incorrup
tible, 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 holi
ness, 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 con
sider the uncertainty of temporal things, and, above
all, have their hope and confidence firmly settled in

The Journal of John Woolman. 151

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 chil
dren 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 hap
piness, and renders those who submit to the in
fluence 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 dispensa
tions 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 continu
ing 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.)

152 The Journal of John Woolman.

Twenty-eighth eleventh month. — This day I at
tended 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 be
loved 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 nth 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 dis
charge 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 through
out 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 153

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 in
cite 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

154 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 treas
ure. 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 pur
suit 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 proba
bility 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 re
ceive 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 use
ful 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 de
ficient, to be incited to consider it is a favor to me.
Employment is necessary in social life, and this in
fection, 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 father-

The Journal of John Woolman. 155

less, do I go purely on a principle of charity, free
from any selfish views ? If I go to a religious meet
ing 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 seri
ously whether love to truth and righteousness is
the motive of my attending ; whether the manner
of proceeding is altogether equitable, or whether
aught of narrowness, party interest, respect to out
ward 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 accord
ing 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 com-

156 The Journal of John Woolman.

mand of all the powers and operations in nature,
and " doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the chil
dren of men." Chastisement is intended for in
struction, 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 peo
ple 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 confu
sion, 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 for 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 dis
tinguishable from the purity of truth and right
eousness, — while many professing the truth are
declining from that ardent love and heavenly-
mindedness which was amongst the primitive fol-

The Journal of John Woolman. 157

lowers 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 hum
bly meditate on his perfections, con-sider 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 chas
tisements, 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 knowl
edge 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.

* Whatever may be thought of these scruples of John
Woolman in regard to inoculation, his objections can
scarcely be considered valid against vaccination, which,
since his time, has so greatly mitigated the disease. He
almost seems to have anticipated some such preventive.

158 The Journal of John Woolman.

CHAPTER VII.

1760.

Visit, in Company with Samuel Eastburn, to Long Island,
Rhode Island, Boston, etc. — Remarks on the Slave-Trade
at Newport ; also on Lotteries. — Some Observations on
the Island of Nantucket.

FOURTH 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 i7th of this month, in company
with my beloved friend Samuel Eastburn. We
had meetings at Woodbridge, Rahway, and Plain-
field, and were at their Monthly Meeting of minis
ters 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 159

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 crea
ture, 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
soundness 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 sun
dry 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 Heav
enly Father.

As the present appearance of things is not joy
ous, I have been much shut up from outward cheer
fulness, 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 con
sidered that his internal presence in our minds is a
delight of all others the most pure, and that the

160 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 be
nevolence, 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 un
feigned 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 161

my life was resigned to him j as he was mercifully
pleased to preserve us I had fresh occasion to con
sider every day as a day lent to me, and felt a re
newed 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 gra
cious Father preserved us in an humble depend
ence on him through deep exercises that were
mortifying to the creaturely will. In several fami
lies 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 forenoon
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

K

162 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 j 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 meet
ings, 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 had 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 163

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 com
pany 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 mem
ber 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 in
quired of a Friend how long the Assembly was

164 The Journal of John Woolman.

likely to continue sitting, who told me it was ex
pected 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 instruc
tion, my mind settled to attend on the business of
the meeting ; on the last day of which I had pre
pared a short essay of a petition to be presented
to the Legislature, if way opened. And being in
formed 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 willing-

The Journal of John Woolman. 165

ness to have it read, which being done, many ex
pressed 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 ex
ercise 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 re
vived 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

1 66 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 pro
fessing with us.

Some time after this minute was made I remained
uneasy with the manner of my speaking to the an
cient 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 repentance for not having attended closely
to the safe guide, I stood up, and, reciting the pas
sage, 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 exer

The Journal of John Woolman. 167

else, in regard to some leading active members
about Newport, who were in the practice of keep
ing 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 be
ginning of the Yearly Meeting, I had had a private
conference with this said elder and his wife, con
cerning their slaves, so that the way seemed clear
to me to advise with him about the manner of pro
ceeding. I told him I was free to have a confer
ence 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,

1 68 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 confer
ence 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 satis
faction ; and by the tenderness they manifested in
regard to the practice, and the concern several of
them expressed in relation to the manner of dis
posing of their negroes after their decease, I be
lieved that a good exercise was spreading amongst
them ; and I am humbly thankful to God, who sup
ported 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 to
wards a conference on some subjects in a private
way, it is needful for us to take heed that their kind
ness, 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 169

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 Newtown, 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 j 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
8

170 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 sup
plication, my prayers and tears were poured out
before my Heavenly Father for his help and in
struction in the manifold difficulties which attended
me in life. While I was waiting upon the Lord,

The Journal of John Woolman. 171

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 hav
ing 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 haz
ardous in storms, and by waiting within they some
times miss a fair wind. I took notice that there
was on that small island a great number of inhabi
tants, 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

1/2 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 sim
ple 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 them
selves to business, and were content with a plain
way of life, they had ever had more true peace and

The Journal of John Woolman. 173

calmness of mind than they who, aspiring to great
ness and outward show, have grasped hard for an
income to support themselves therein. And as I
observed they had few or no slaves, I had to en
courage them to be content without them, making
mention of the numerous troubles and vexations
which frequently attended the minds of people who
depend on slaves to do their labor.

We attended the Quarterly Meeting at Sand
wich, in company with Ann Gaunt and Mercy Red
man, 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 Quar
terly 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 com
forted 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

1/4 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 kind
ness. 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 Rye-
woods. 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 175

true yokemate Samuel Eastburn, and reached home
the loth 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 acknowl
edgments, and I find renewed desires to dwell and
walk in resignedness before him.

176 The Journal of John Woolman.

CHAPTER 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.

HAVING 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 loth of fifth month, 1761,
being the first day of the week, I went to Haddon-
field Meeting, concluding to seek for heavenly in
struction, 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 177

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 con
tinue 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
8* L

178 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 Vir
ginia, 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 volun
tary 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 fre
quently 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 Chris
tian 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 179

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 ac
customed myself to some things which have occa
sioned 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 wretched
ness, and in a mourning condition have felt earnest
longings for that Divine help which brings the soul
into true liberty. Sometimes, on retiring into pri
vate 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 wear
ing 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

i8o The Journal of John Woolman.

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 distinguish
able 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, how
ever 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 con
nection 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 in
creasing desire to live in the spirit of peace, I have
often been sorrowfully affected with thinking on the
unquiet spirit in which wars are generally carried

The Journal of Jo Jin Woolman. 181

on, and with the miseries of many of my fellow-
creatures engaged therein • some suddenly de
stroyed ; 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 un
easy 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 con
tinued in the use of some things contrary to my
judgment.

On the 31 st 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 thank
ful that he had taken hold of me by his chastise
ments. 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,

1 82 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 here
tofore 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 singu
larity, 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 re
quired 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 con
dition, my mind being turned toward my Heavenly
Father with fervent cries that I might be pre
served to walk before him in the meekness of wis-

The Journal of John Woolman* 183

dom, 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 singu
larity ; 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 ac
quaint 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 dis
pensation 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 en
gagement of mind to visit some families in Mans
field, 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

1 84 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 Heav
enly 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 to
wards 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 Weha-
loosing, 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 acquaint
ed 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 185

and Quarterly, and afterwards at our General Spring
Meeting ; and having the unity of Friends, and be
ing 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 com
panions in their return, and we appointed to meet
at Samuel Foulk's, at Richland, in Bucks County,
on the yth of sixth month. Now, as this visit felt
weighty, and was performed at a time when travel
ling appeared perilous, so the dispensations of Di
vine 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 where
soever 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 nearest me at all

1 86 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 afflic
tions 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 cer
tainly works for their good, and may not be consid
ered 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 j and how the Psalm
ist 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 Phila
delphia 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 187

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 morn
ing. 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 Meet
ing 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 com
pany 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

1 88 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 draw
ing 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 comfort
able to me. It was, indeed, a time of deep exer
cise, and Benjamin appeared to be so fastened to
the visit that be could not be easy to leave me ; so
we went on, accompanied by our friends John Pem-
berton and William Lightfoot of Pikeland. We
lodged at Bethlehem, and there parting with John,
William and we went forward on the gth 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 con
versation 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 oc
casioned 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

The Journal of Jo Jin Woolman. 189

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 inde
pendently of the wealthy, who often set high rents
on their land. I was renewedly confirmed in a be
lief, that if all our inhabitants lived according to
sound wisdom, laboring to promote universal love
and righteousness, and ceased from every inordi
nate 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.

190 The Journal of John Woolman.

Tenth of sixth month. — We set out early this
morning and crossed the western branch of Dela
ware, 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 pres
ents, 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 con
cerning us, the poor old woman came to my com
panion 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 191

some being killed in battle. This was a path here
tofore used by warriors, and as I walked about
viewing those Indian histories, which were painted
mostly in red or black, and thinking on the innu
merable afflictions which the proud, fierce spirit
produceth in the world, also on the toils and fa
tigues 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 j of the rest'
less, 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 blan
kets, 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 be*

1 92 The Journal of John Woolman.

ing the steepest. About noon we were overtaken by
one of the Moravian brethren going to Wehaloos-
ing, 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 Mora
vian, I understood, had 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 a rainy day, we continued in our tent,
and I was led to think on the nature of the exer
cise 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 under
stand 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 fol
lowing 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 it 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 193

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 circum
stances of the natives of this land since the coming
in of the English. The lands near the sea are con
veniently 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 trouble
some 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 sub
sistence are not so plentiful as they were, and peo
ple 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.

9 M

194 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 favor
able 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 to
wards all mankind, in which I felt a strong engage
ment 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 labori
ous 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,

The Journal of John Woolman. 195

and Almighty Being, who hath an equal regard to
all mankind. And here luxury and covetousness,
with the numerous oppressions and other evils at
tending 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 grow
ing fast on this continent. Nor have I words suf
ficient 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 an
other 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 dis
tance 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

196 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 com
panion joining me, we had some talk with him con
cerning 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. Be
lieving 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 dis
tress 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

The Joiirnal of John Woolman. 197

some place in me. Full of these thoughts, I lay
great part of the night, while my beloved compan
ion 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

198 The Journal of John Woolman.

sense of God's goodness in helping me in my dis
tress, 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 for
ward 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 hin
dered 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 comfort
able 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. Under-
standing where we expected to lodge, he pushed
back about six miles, and came to us after night ;

The Journal of John Woolman. 199

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 province-store 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 171x1, 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 harmo
nious voice expressed her gladness at seeing us,
having before heard of our coming. By the direc
tion of our guide we sat down on a log while he
went to the town to tell the people we were come

2OO The Journal of John Woolman.

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 glad
ness among them. I then showed them my certifi
cate, which was explained to them ; and the Mo
ravian 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 encour
aged 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 lib
erty in my heart to speak to the Moravian, I told

The Journal of John Woolman. 20 1

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 to
gether at times when they did not meet of course.
He expressed his good-will towards my speaking
at any time all that I found in my heart to say.

On the evening of the i8th I was at their meet
ing, where pure gospel love was felt, to the ten
dering 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 ex
pressed 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 after
wards 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 Mo
ravian, being also a member of that society, prayed
in the meeting, and then the Moravian spake a
9*

2O2 The Journal of John Woolman.

short time to the people. In the afternoon, my
heart being filled with a heavenly care for theii
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 under
stand 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 under
stood. 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 interpre
ters seemed spirited to give the Indians the sub
stance 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 203

what I could well bear. But the Lord alone was
my keeper, and I believed that if I went into cap
tivity 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 be
tween 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 meet
ing. 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 2oth, 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 acknowl
edge the loving-kindness of the Lord towards us ;
and then I believed that a door remained open for

2O4 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 meet
ing 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 re
spectful to us at parting. This town, Wehaloosing,
stands on the bank of the Susquehanna, and con
sists, I believe, of about forty houses, mostly com
pact 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 com
pany, 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

The Jo^in^al of John Woolman. 205

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 morn
ing, the horses being loaded and our baggage pre
pared, 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

206 The Journal of John Woolman.

where the river cuts through the mountain, the wa
ters 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 In
dians to pass through our frontier, was, I appre
hend, one reason why so many came, expecting
that our being in company would prevent the out
side inhabitants being surprised. We reached
Bethlehem on the 25th, taking care to keep fore
most, 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 re
served ; 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 affection
ately. 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 Par-

The Journal of John Woohnan* 207

vin? 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 appre
hended would be dangerous ; but my mind, while I
was out, had been so employed in striving for per
fect 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 set
tlements and Wehaloosing we had only a narrow
path, which in many places is much grown up with
bushes, and interrupted by abundance of trees ly
ing across it. These, together with the mountain
swamps and rough stones, make it a difficult road
to travel, and the more so because rattlesnakes
abound here, of which we killed four. People who
have never been in such places have but an imper
fect idea of them ; and I was not only taught pa
tience, 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.

208 The Journal of John Woolman.

CHAPTER 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
Proceedings of a Committee at the Yearly Meeting in
^64. — Contemplations on the Nature of True Wisdom.
— Visit to the Families of Friends at Mount Holly, Mans
field, 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 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 Consid
erations on keeping Slaves, and his Concern for having
been a Party to the Sale of One. — Thoughts on Friends
exercising Offices in Civil Government.

latter part of the summer, 1763, there
JL came a man to Mount Holly who had pre
viously published a printed advertisement that at a
certain public-house he would show many wonder
ful operations, which were therein enumerated. At
the appointed time he did, by sleight of hand, per
form 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 209

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, con
cerning 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 proceed
ings 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, ap
pearing to be under a great exercise of spirit, in
formed 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,

2io The Journal of John Woolman.

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, be
came 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 So
ciety 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, sig
nified 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 ap
pointed by the Yearly Meeting to visit the Quar
terly 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 211

in government inconsistent with our principles, an&
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 he re
quired of me, and, standing up, I spoke in substance
as follows : "I have felt a tenderness in my mind to
wards persons in two circumstances mentioned in that
report ; namely, towards such active members as
keep slaves and such as hold offices in civil govern
ment ; and I have desired that Friends, in all their
conduct, may be kindly affectioned one towards an
other. 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 ob
served 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

212 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 conti
nent ; and he informed me in the evening, in a nar
rative 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 213

than they would be willing to perform themselves,
were the same required of them ? Do those pro
ceedings 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 a 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 un
mixed wisdom to his family, that they, living in per
fect 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 vis'

214 The Journal of John Woohnan.

king 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 ex
ercise, we proceeded therein ; and through Divine fa
vor 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
sea-coast 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 be
loved 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 gos
pel 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 be
ing 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 feel
ing 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 215

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 per
ceived, in conversation with my beloved friend John
Sleeper, that he also was under a 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 fel
lowship 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

216 The Journal of John Woolman.

had been irreligious people that were now his fol
lowers, 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 had
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 sup
ported 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 jour
ney, and that the bodily weakness now attending
me was a kindness ; and then, in contrition of spir
it, 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 in
habit 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 217

way, and many of their children were taught to la
bor for their living. Few of these, I believe, settled
in any of the southern provinces ; but by the faith
ful labors of travelling Friends in early times there
was considerable convincement among the inhabi
tants 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 ground
ed in customs contrary to the pure truth, were af
fected 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 cus
toms, 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,
10

2i8 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 be
lieve, 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 pro
ceeding 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 de
sire of wealth and to bring them into such an hum
ble, lowly way of living that they may see their way
clearly to repair to the standard of true righteous
ness, and may not only break the yoke of oppres
sion, 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 weak
ness, joined with a heavy exercise of mind, was to

The Journal of John Woolman. 219

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 com
pared 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 Sas
safras we went pretty directly home, where we found
our families well. For several weeks after our re
turn 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 prov
ince, 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 dis
pensations 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 be
lieved 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

220 The Journal of John Woolman.

Monthly Meeting, I took leave of my family under
the heart tendering operation of truth, and on the
2oth of fourth month, 1767, rode to the ferry oppo
site to Philadelphia, and thence walked to William
Home'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 to
wards 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 Meet
ing, in which I sat in bowedness of spirit, and be
ing 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 out
ward ease and greatness, supported chiefly on the
labor of slaves, my heart was much affected, and in

The Journal of John Woolman. 221

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 pre
vailing spirit of this world by which customs griev
ous 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 Gun
powder, 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 Chris
tians 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 treat
ment which these gentiles, the negroes, receive at

222 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 con
cluded 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 la
bor 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 ten
derly 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 con
tent. After the Quarterly Meeting for worship
ended, I felt drawings to go to the women's meet
ing for business, which was very full; here the

The Journal of John Woolman. 223

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, anc?
have renewed cause to bow in reverence before the
Lord, who, by the powerful extendings of his hum
bling 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 Con
cord, 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

224 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 medi
tations have been on universal love, my own con
duct in time past became of late very grievous to
me. As persons setting negroes free in our prov
ince 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 re-

The Journal of John Woolman. 225

specteth 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 restitu
tion ; 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 in
struction, 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 com
fortably 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
10* o

226 The Journal of John Woolman.

as my mind hath been inward to the Lord, the pu
rity of Christ's government hath been made clear to
my understanding, and I have believed, in the open
ing 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 neces
sary 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.

The Journal of John Woolman. 227

CHAPTER 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 re
turn Home. — Religious Engagements. — Sickness, and
Exercise of his Mind therein.

TWELFTH 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 thankful
ness raised in me for this his 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 attend
ing thereto ; for, though I knew not that the Lord
required me to go there, yet I believed that resig
nation 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

228 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 condi
tion 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 en
cumbrances, 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.

The Journal of John Woolman. 229

He told me there was a Friend in town who was
part owner of the said vessel. I felt no inclina
tion 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
the first-mentioned owner, and showed him a writ
ing, 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 mo
lasses, 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. n), 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,

230 The Journal of John Woolman.

and providing things in a lowly way for my sub
sistence ; but when the time drew near in which I
believed it required of me to be in readiness, a dif
ficulty arose which hath been a continual trial for
some months past, under which I have, with abase
ment of mind from day to day, sought the Lord for in
struction, having often had a feeling of the condition
of one formerly, who bewailed himself because the
Lord hid his face from him. During these exer
cises 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 oppres
sion 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 colo
nies, 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 la
boring to dissuade them from such unkind treat
ment, 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 univer
sal righteousness was humbly and firmly attended

The Journal of John Woolman. 231

to by those in general with whom they have com
merce ; 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 dan
ger to which these men had been exposed, he con
sidered 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

232 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 re
quire 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 Chris
tian 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 be-

The Journal of John Woolman. 233

lieve 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 pa
per, went with me to the other owner, who also
read over the paper, and we had some solid con
versation, under which I felt myself bowed in rev
erence 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 neces
sity 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 re
turning homeward ; I therefore went over among
Friends on the Jersey shore and tarried till the
morning on which the vessel was appointed to sail.

234 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 so
journ er 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 gra
ciously 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, believ
ing, if it were the Lord's will through outward
means to raise me up, some sympathizing Friends

The Journal of John Woolman. 235

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 particu
lar 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, ex
pecting my end was near. After I had lain near
ten hours in this condition, I closed my eyes, think
ing 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 everlast
ing 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 meas
ure 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 sup
port injustice shall be broken to pieces ; the ene^
mies of righteousness shall make a terrible rattle,

236 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 com
manded 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."

* The reader, who may be disposed to regard this as the
language of distempered imagination, may perhaps find a
truer explanation of it in the late civil conflict by which " the
arm mighty to support injustice" has been "broken in
pieces," and in which it may be said the Lord did " rise
up to judgment and plead the cause of the oppressed."

The Journal of John Woolman. 237

CHAPTER 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 train
ing Youth to a Seafaring Life. — Thoughts during a Storm
at Sea. — Arrival in London.

HAVING been some time under a religious
concern to prepare for crossing the seas, in
order to visit Friends in the northern parts of Eng
land, and more particularly in Yorkshire, after con
sideration 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 Quar
terly Meeting, and they likewise certified their con
currence. 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 signi
fied 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 suita
ble conveyance ; and as my concern was principally
towards the northern parts of England, it seemed

238 The Journal of John Woolman.

most proper to go in a vessel bound to Liverpool
or Whitehaven. While I was at Philadelphia de
liberating 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 Eliza
beth, of which James Sparks was master, and John
Head, of the city of Philadelphia, one of the own
ers ; 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 Heav
enly 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 239

steerage, which for a time appeared very discour
aging 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 morn
ing 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 ob
served 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 pas
sage 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

240 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 pro
vide estates for children, that they may live con
formably 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 next day home, where
I tarried two nights. Early the next morning I
parted with my family under a sense of the hum
bling hand of God upon me, and, going to Phila
delphia, 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 mer
cies 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 241

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 ist 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 Bis-
pham, 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 out 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;

XI P

242 The Journal of John Woolman.

of them at a time, and have in free conversation
labored to turn their minds towards 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 corrup
tion 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 covetous-
ness ! O that all may learn of Christ, who was
meek and lowly of heart. Then in faithfully follow
ing 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

The Jotirnal of John Woolman. 243

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 de
sires 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 want
ing in the world, and the necessity of it among

244 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 in
creasing 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 gra
cious assistance of the Lord, was preserved in a
good degree of resignation ; and at times I ex
pressed 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 ne
cessity of our yielding in true obedience to the in
structions 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, foam

The Journal of John Woolman. 245

ing waves round about had in some sort the ap
pearance of fire, but did not give much if any light.
The sailor at the helm said he lately saw a corpo
sant 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 appre
hended his care was that the carpenter with his axe
might be in readiness in case of any extremity.
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 pres
ent ; this meeting was to me a strengthening time.
i3th. — 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 con
cerned in the business of the seas. A pious father
whose rnind 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 sea
faring 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

246 The Journal of John Woolman.

sea that the subject of placing lads to this employ
ment 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 steer
age, 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 al
most 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 faiir*
ful labor for reformation.

;~H-r*

Journal of John Woolman. 247

To silence every motion proceeding from the
love of money and humbly to wait upon God to
know his will concerning us have appeared neces
sary. 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 mov
ing is the prospect ! In a world of dangers and
difficulties, like a desolate, thorny wilderness, how
precious, how comfortable, how safe, are the lead
ings 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 sea
men, 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 renew-
edly wrought in me, and his fatherly care over his
children felt precious to my soul. I was now de
sirous to embrace every opportunity of being in
wardly acquainted with the hardships and difficul-

248 The Journal of John Woolman.

ties of my fellow-creatures, and to labor in his love
for the spreading of pure righteousness on the
earth. Opportunities were frequent of hearing con
versation among the sailors respecting the voyages
to Africa and the manner of bringing the deeply
oppressed slaves into our islands. They are fre
quently brought on board the vessels in chains and
fetters, with hearts loaded with grief under the ap
prehension 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 be
fore 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 sup
port 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 leather and high winds and being shut up
in a cl )se, unhealthy air. Several nights of late I
have fit my breathing difficult; and a little after

The Journal of John Woolman. 249

the rising of the second watch, which is about mid
night, 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 dash
ing into the steerage. I may with thankfulness to
the Father of Mercies acknowledge that in my pres
ent 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 in
ward help hath supplied at times the want of out
ward convenience ; and strong desires have attend
ed 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, H which I was fa
vored in some degree to experience the fulfilling of
u*

250 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 fifth month. — Wet weather of
late and small winds, inclining to calms. Our sea
men cast a lead, I suppose about one hundred fath
oms, but found no bottom. Foggy weather this
morning. Through the kindness of the great Pre
server of men my mind remains quiet ; and a de
gree 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 obedi
ence 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 251

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 ad
mit of," the mind remains entangled and the shin
ing of the light of life into the soul is obstructed.

Surely the Lord calls to mourning and deep hu
miliation that in his fear we may be instructed and
led safely through the great difficulties and perplex
ities 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 sprin
kled by the priest seven times towards the taberna
cle 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 touch-

252 The Journal of John Woolman.

eth the dead body of a man and purifieth not him
self with the water of separation, defileth the tab
ernacle of the Lord ; he is unclean." (Num. xix.

13-)

If any through the love of gain engage in busi
ness 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 sep
aration 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 puri
fying love of Christ we are washed in the water
of separation ; we are brought off from that busi
ness, from that gain and from that fellowship which
is not agreeable to his holy will. I have felt a re
newed 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 Journal of John Woolman. 253

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 to
wards 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. 1 8), the desire of gain is subjected.

When employment is honestly followed in the
light of truth, and people become diligent in busi
ness, " fervent in spirit, serving the Lord " (Rom.
xii. n), the meaning of the name is opened to us :
"This is the name by which he shall be called,
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." (Jer.

254 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 sea
men 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. I believe about fourteen
perished in the storms at sea, by the waves break-

The Journal of John Woolman. 255

ing over the quarter-deck, and a considerable num
ber 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 apprehen
sive 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 be
loved friend Samuel Emlen went on shore and

256 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 con
cern 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 feeling the spirit in which the poor
bewildered sailors too generally live. That lament
able degeneracy which so much prevails in the peo
ple 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 seafar
ing life no further than that spirit which leads into
all truth attends us in our proceedings.

The Journal of John Woolman. 257

CHAPTER XII.

1772.

Attends the Yearly Meeting in London. — Then proceeds
towards Yorkshire. — Visits Quarterly and other Meetings
in the Counties of Hertford, Warwick, Oxford, Notting
ham, 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.

ON 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.*

* 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 au
thenticated. 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 re
ception he met with, and his tears flowed freely. In the

Q

258 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 meet
ings 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 i5th I
went to a Quarterly Meeting at Hertford.

First of seventh month. — I have been at Quarterly
Meetings at Sherrington, Northampton, Banbury,
and Shipton, and have had sundry meetings be
tween. My mind hath been bowed under a sense

love of Christ and his fellow-men he had, at a painful sacri
fice, 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 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 Journal of John Woolman. 259

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 forenoon meeting was especially,

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 photog
raphy been known in his day it is not at all probable that
the sun-artist would have been permitted to delineate his fea
tures. That, while eschewing all superfluity 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 sugges
tive of a hasty toilet in the crowded steerage.

260 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 Qth I
was at Rushworth. I have lately passed through
some painful labor, but have been comforted under
a sense of that Divine visitation which I feel ex
tended 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 five-
pence per pound ; bacon from sevenpence to nine-
pence ; cheese from fourpence to sixpence ; but
ter from eightpence to tenpence ; house-rent for
a poor man from twenty-five shillings to forty shil
lings 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 Journal of John Woolman. 261

The wages of laboring men in several counties
towards 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 four-
pence, 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 south
ern 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 com
mon 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.

262 The Journal of John Woolman.

As my journey hath been without a horse, I have
had several offers of being assisted on my way in
these stage-coaches, but have not been in them ;
nor have I had freedom to send letters by these
posts in the present way of their 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 minis
ters 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 em
ployed 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

The fournat of John Woolman. 263

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
deceive, 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 pat
terns 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 conversa
tion with such in private, in which Divine goodness
hath favored us together with heart-tendering times.

264 The Journal of John Woolman.

Twenty-sixth of eighth month. — Being now at
George Crosfield's, in the county of Westmore
land, I feel a concern to commit to writing the fol
lowing 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 mat
ter of a dull gloomy color between the south and
the east, and was informed that this mass was hu
man 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 dis
tinct 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 mys
tery 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 blas
pheme the name of Christ, at which I was grieved,
for his name to me was precious. I was then in
formed that these heathens were told that those

The Journac of John Woolman. 265

who oppressed them were the followers of Christ,
and they said among themselves, " If Christ di
rected 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 de
sirous 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 be
fore, and I saw that people setting off their tables
with silver vessels at entertainments was often
stained with worldly glory, and that in the pres
ent state of things I should take heed how I fed

12

266 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 sev
eral Friends' houses in America, as well as in Eng
land, and I have cause to acknowledge with hum
ble reverence the loving-kindness of my Heav
enly 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 meet
ings 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 this
dispensation I was shut up from speaking, yet the
spring of the gospel ministry was many times liv-
ingly 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 remain
ing 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 267

people who sit under that sort of ministry which re
quires 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 re
member the conflicts of the faithful under persecu
tion, and now look at the free exercise of the pure
gift uninterrupted by outward laws, as a trust com
mitted 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 for
ward and spread among the nations, and may not
go backward through dust gathering on our gar
ments, 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 cer
tain 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, hav
ing 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

268 The Journal of John Wootman.

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 3oth
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 meet
ing. 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 gth 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.

The Journal of John Woolman. 269

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 ser
vice 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 per
son, 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

2/o The Journal of John Woolman.

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 instruc
tions 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 appoint
ment 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

The Journal of John Woolman. 271

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 pre
served 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 instruc
tions of Christ, the Prince of Peace.

Of late I have sometimes felt a stop in the ap
pointment 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 lead-
eth 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

272 The Journal of John Woolman.

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 nourish
ment. The gift is pure ; and while the eye is sin
gle in attending thereto the understanding is pre
served 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 hear-

The Journal of John Woolman. 273

ers 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.

A few days after writing these considerations, our
dear friend in the course of his religious visits came
to the city of York,* and attended most of the sit-

* During the four months of his labors in England he vis
ited the Quarterly and subordinate meetings of Friends in
seven counties, and found time to write essays upon
" Loving our Neighbors," " A Sailor's Life," and " Silent
Worship." His mind seems to have been greatly exer
cised by a sense of the intimate connection of luxury and
oppression ; the burden of the laboring poor rested heavily
upon him. In his lonely wanderings on foot through the
rural districts (for he did not feel free to use the post on
account of the hard treatment of the horses), or in his tem
porary sojourn in crowded manufacturing towns, the eager
competitions and earnest pursuit of gain of one class, and the
poverty and physical and moral degradation of another, so
oppressed him that his health suffered and his strength failed.
It is observable that, in his frequent mention throughout his
Journal of inward trials and afflictions, he nowhere betray*

12* R

274 The Journal of John Woolman.

tings of the Quarterly Meeting there ; but before it
was over he was taken ill of the small-pox. Our
friend Thomas Priestman, and others who attended
him, preserved the following minutes of his expres
sions in the time of his sickness.

First day, the 27th of the ninth month, 1772. —
His disorder appeared to be the small-pox. Being
asked to have a doctor's advice, he signified he
had not freedom or liberty in his mind so to do,
standing wholly resigned to His will who gave him
life, and whose power he had witnessed to raise and
heal him in sickness before, when he seemed nigh
unto death ; and if he was to wind up now, he was
perfectly resigned, having no will either to live or
die, and did not choose any should be sent for
to him ; but a young man, an apothecary, coming
of his own accord the next day and desiring to do

any personal solicitude, any merely selfish anxiety, for his
own soul. His singular conscientious scruples, his close self-
questionings, are prompted by a tender concern for universal
•well-being ; an earnest desire that no act or omission of his
own should add to the evil and misery under which the crea
tion groans. He offered no prayers for special personal fa
vors. He was, to use his own words, mixed with his fellow-
creatures in their misery, and could not consider himself a
distinct and separate being. He left all that concerns self
to the will of his Father in Heaven, trusting to find a place
among the " many mansions," but never asking to see the
title-deeds of his inheritance. His last public labor was a
testimony in the York Meeting in behalf of the poor and en
slaved. His last prayer on his death -bed was a commenda
tion of his " fellow-creatures separated from the Divine har
mony " to the Omnipotent Power whom he had learned to
call his Father.

The Journal of John Woolman. 275

something for him, he said he found a freedom to
confer with him and the other Friends about him,
and if anything should be proposed as to medicine
that did not come through defiled channels or op
pressive hands, he should be willing to consider and
take it, so far as he found freedom.

Second day. — He said he felt the disorder to
affect his head so that he could think little and but
as a child, and desired, if his understanding should
be more affected, to have nothing given him that
those about him knew he had a testimony against.

Third day. — He uttered the following prayer :
" O Lord, my God ! the amazing horrors of dark
ness were gathered around me and covered me all
over, and I saw no way to go forth, I felt the depth
and extent of the misery of my fellow-creatures sep
arated from the Divine harmony, and it was heavier
than 1 could bear, and I was crushed down under
it. I lifted up my hand, I stretched out my arm,
but there was none to help me ; I looked round
about and was amazed. In the depths of mis
ery, O Lord ! I remembered that thou art omnipo
tent -, that I had called thee Father ; and I felt that
I loved thee, and I was made quiet in my will, and
I waited for deliverance from thee. Thou hadst
pity upon me when no man could help me. I saw
that meekness under suffering was showed to us in
the most affecting example of thy Son, and thou
taught me to follow him, and I said, ' Thy will, O
Father, be done!'"

Fourth day morning. — Being asked how he felt

276 The Journal of John Woolman.

himself, he meekly answered, " I don't know that I
have slept this night ; I feel the disorder making
its progress, but my mind is mercifully preserved in
stillness and peace." Some time after, he said he
was sensible that the pains of death must be hard
to bear, but if he escaped them now he must some
time pass through them, and he did not know that
he could be better prepared, but had no will in
it. He said he had settled his outward affairs to
his mind, had taken leave of his wife and family as
never to return, leaving them to the Divine protec
tion, adding, " Though I feel them near to me at this
time, yet I have freely given them up, having a hope
that they will be provided for." And a little after
said, " This trial is made easier than I could have
thought, my will being wholly taken away ; if I was
anxious for the event it would have been harder ;
but I am not, and my mind enjoys a perfect
calm."

In the night, a young woman having given him
something to drink, he said, " My child, thou seem-
est very kind to me, a poor creature ; the Lord will
reward thee for it." Awhile after he cried out
with great earnestness of spirit, " O my Father !
my Father ! " and soon after he said, " O my Fa
ther ! my Father ! how comfortable art thou to my
soul in this trying season ! " Being asked if he
could take a little nourishment, after some pause
he replied, " My child, I cannot tell what to say to
it ; I seem nearly arrived where my soul shall have
rest from all its troubles." After giving in some-

The Journal of John Woolman. 277

thing to be inserted in his journal, he said, " I be
lieve the Lord will now excuse me from exer
cises of this kind ; and I see no work but one,
which is to be the last wrought by me in this world ;
the messenger will come that will release me from
all these troubles, but it must be in the Lord's
time, which I am waiting for." He said he had la
bored to do whatever was required according to the
ability received, in the remembrance of which he
had peace ; and though the disorder was strong at
times, and would like a whirlwind come over his
mind, yet it had hitherto been kept steady and cen
tred in everlasting love ; adding, " And if that be
mercifully continued, I ask and desire no more."
Another time he said he had long had a view of
visiting this nation and, some time before he came,
had a dream, in which he saw himself in the north
ern parts of it, and that the spring of the gospel
was opened in him much as it was in the beginning
of Friends such as George Fox and William Dews-
bury, and he saw the different states of the people
as clear as he had ever seen flowers in a garden ;
but in his going along he was suddenly stopped,
though he could not see for what end ; but, look
ing towards home, fell into a flood of tears, which
waked him.

At another time he said, " My draught seemed
strongest towards the north, and I mentioned in
my own Monthly Meeting, that attending the Quar
terly Meeting at York, and being there, looked like
home to me."

278 The Journal of John Woolman.

Fifth day night. — Having repeatedly consented
to take medicine, but without effect, the friend then
waiting on him said through distress, " What shall I
do now ? " He answered with great composure,
"Rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks" ;
but added a little after, " This is sometimes hard to
come at."

On sixth day morning he broke forth early in
supplication on this wise, " O Lord, it was thy pow
er that enabled me to forsake sin in my youth, and
I have felt thy bruises for disobedience ; but as I
bowed under them thou healedst me, continuing a
father and a friend ; I feel thy power now, and I
beg that in the approaching trying moment thou
wilt keep my heart steadfast unto thee." On his
giving directions to a friend concerning some little
things, she said, " I will take care, but hope thou
wilt live to order them thyself." He replied, " My
hope is in Christ ; and though I may seem a little
better, a change in the disorder may soon happen,
and my little strength be dissolved, and if it so hap
pen I shall be gathered to my everlasting rest."
On her saying she did not doubt that, but could
not help mourning to see so many faithful servants
removed at so low a time, he said, " All good com-
eth from the Lord, whose power is the same, and
he can work as he sees best" The same day he
had given directions about wrapping his corpse ;
perceiving a friend to weep, he said, " I would
rather thou wouldst guard against weeping for me,
my sister ; I sorrow not, though I have had some

The Journal of John Woolman. 279

painful conflicts, but now they seem over, and mat
ters well settled ; and I look at the face of my dear
Redeemer, for sweet is his voice, and his counte
nance is comely."

First-day, 4th of tenth month. — Being very
weak and in general difficult to be understood, he
uttered a few words in commemoration of the
Lord's goodness, and added, " How tenderly have
I been waited on in this time of affliction, in which
I may say in Job's words, Tedious days and ' wea
risome nights are appointed to me ' ; and how many
are spending their time and money in vanity and
superfluities, while thousands and tens of thousands
want the necessaries of life, who might be relieved
by them, and their distresses at such a time as
this in some degree softened by the administering
•of suitable things."

Second day morning. — The apothecary, who ap
peared very anxious to assist him, being present, he
queried about the probability of such a load of mat
ter being thrown off his weak body j and the apoth
ecary making some remarks implying he thought it
might, he spoke with an audible voice on this wise :
" My dependence is on the Lord Jesus, who I trust
will forgive my sins, which is all I hope for ; and if
it be his will to raise up this body again, I am con
tent ; and if to die, I am resigned ; but if thou
canst not be easy without trying to assist nature, I
submit." After which his throat was so much af
fected that it was very difficult for him to speak so
as to be understood, and he frequently wrote when

280 The Journal of John Woolman.

he wanted anything. About the second hour on
fourth-day morning he asked for pen and ink, and
at several times, with much difficulty, wrote thus :
"I believe my being here is in the wisdom of
Christ ; I know not as to life or death."

About a quarter before six the same morning he
seemed to fall into an easy sleep, which continued
about half an hour, when, seeming to awake, he
breathed a few times with more difficulty and ex
pired without sigh, groan, or struggle.

APPENDIX.

The TESTIMONY of Friends in Yorkshire at their Quarterly Meet
ing, held at York the z^th and 2$th of the third month, 1773, concern
ing John IVoolman, of Mount Holly, in the Province of New Jersey,
North A merica, who departed this life at the house of our Friend
Thomas Priestman, in the suburbs of this city, the jth of tenth month,
1772, and was interred in the burial-ground of Friends the <)th of the
same, aged about fifty-two years.

THIS our valuable friend having been under a re
ligious engagement for some time to visit Friends
in this nation, and more especially us in the northern
parts, undertook the same in full concurrence and near
sympathy with his friends and brethren at home, as
appeared by certificates from the Monthly and Quar
terly Meetings to which he belonged, and from the
Spring Meeting of ministers and elders held at Phila
delphia for Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

He arrived in the city of London the beginning of
the last Yearly Meeting, and, after attending that meet
ing, travelled northward, visiting the Quarterly Meet
ings of Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamp
tonshire, Oxfordshire, and Worcestershire, and divers
particular meetings in his way.

He visited many meetings on the west side of this
country, also some in Lancashire and Westmoreland,
from whence he came to our Quarterly Meeting in the
last ninth month, and though much out of health, yet was
enabled to attend all the sittings of that meeting except
the last

282 Appendix.

His disorder, which proved the small-pox, increased
speedily upon him, and was very afflicting, under which
he was supported in much meekness, patience, and
Christian fortitude. To those who attended him in his
illness, his mind appeared to be centred in Divine love,
under the precious influence whereof we believe he
finished his course, and entered into the mansions of
everlasting rest.

In the early part of his illness he requested a Friend
to write, and he broke forth thus : —

" O Lord my God ! the amazing horrors of darkness
were gathered around me and covered me all over, and
I saw no way to go forth ; I felt the misery of my
fellow-creatures separated from the Divine harmony,
and it was heavier than I could bear, and I was
crushed down under it ; I lifted up my hand and
stretched out my arm, but there was none to help me ;
I looked round about and was amazed. In the depth
of misery, O Lord ! I remembered that thou art om
nipotent, that I had called thee Father, and I felt that I
loved thee, and I was made quiet in thy will, and I
waited for deliverance from thee ; thou hadst pity upon
me when no man could help me ; I saw that meekness
under suffering was showed to us in the most affecting
example of thy Son, and thou taught me to follow him,
and I said, Thy will, O Father, be done."

Many more of his weighty expressions might have
been inserted here, but it was deemed unnecessary,
they being already published in print.

He was a man endued with a large natural capacity,
and being obedient to the manifestations of Divine
Grace, having in patience and humility endured many
deep baptisms, he became thereby sanctified and
fitted for the Lord's work, and was truly serviceable in
his church. Dwelling in awful fear and watchfulness,

Appendix. 283

he was careful in his public appearances to feel the
putting forth of the Divine Hand, so that the spring of
the gospel ministry often flowed through him with
great sweetness and purity, as a refreshing stream to
the weary travellers towards the city of God. Skilful
in dividing the word, he was furnished by Him in
whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowl
edge, to communicate freely to the several states of the
people where his lot was cast. His conduct at other
times was seasoned with like watchful circumspection
and attention to the guidance of Divine wisdom, which
rendered his whole conversation uniformly edifying.

He was fully persuaded that as the life of Christ
comes to reign in the earth, all abuse and unnecessary
oppression, both of the human and brute creation, will
come to an end ; but under the sense of a deep revolt
and an overflowing stream of unrighteousness, his life
has been often a life of mourning.

He was deeply concerned on account of that inhu
man and iniquitous practice of making slaves of the
people of Africa, or holding them in that state, and on
that account we understand he hath not only written
some books, but travelled much on the continent of
America, in order to make the negro-masters (espe
cially those in profession with us) sensible of the evil of
such a practice, and though in this journey to England
he was far removed from the outward sight of their
sufferings, yet his deep exercise of mind and frequent
concern to open the miserable state of this deeply in
jured people remained, as appears by a short treatise
he wrote in this journey. His testimony in the last
meeting he attended was on this subject, wherein he
remarked that as we as a Society, when under outward
sufferings, had often found it our concern to lay them
before those in authority, and thereby, in the Lord's

284 Appendix.

time, had obtained relief, so he recommended this op
pressed part of the creation to our notice, that we may,
as way may open, represent their sufferings in an indi
vidual, if not in a Society capacity, to those in authority.

Deeply sensible that the desire to gratify people's
inclinations in luxury and superfluities is the princi
pal ground of oppression, and the occasion of many
unnecessary wants, he believed it to be his duty to be
a pattern of great self-denial with respect to the things
of this life, and earnestly to labor with Friends in the
meekness of wisdom, to impress on their minds the
great importance of our testimony in these things,
recommending to the guidance of the blessed truth in
this and all other concerns, and cautioning such as are
experienced therein against contenting themselves with
acting to the standard of others, but to be careful to
make the standard of truth manifested to them the
measure of their obedience. For, said he, " that
purity of life which proceeds from faithfulness in fol
lowing the spirit of truth, that state where our minds
are devoted to serve God, and all our wants are
bounded by his wisdom ; this habitation has often
been opened before me as a place of retirement for
the children of the light, where they may stand sepa
rated from that which disordereth and confuseth the
affairs of society, and where we have a testimony of
our innocence in the hearts of those who behold us."

We conclude with fervent desires that we as a people
may thus by our example promote the Lord's work in
the earth, and, our hearts being prepared, may unite in
prayer to the great Lord of the harvest, that as in his
infinite wisdom he hath greatly stripped the church by
removing of late divers faithful ministers and elders,
he may be pleased to send forth many more faithful la
borers into his harvest.

Appendix. 285

X TESTIMONY of the Monthly Meeting of Friends, held in Burling
ton, the First Day of the Eighth Month, in the Year of our Lord
1774, concerning our esteemed friend^ John Woolman, deceased*

HE was born in Northampton, in the county of Bur
lington and province of West New Jersey, in
the eighth month, 1720, of religious parents, who in
structed him very early in the principles of the Chris
tian religion as professed by the people called Quakers,
which he esteemed a blessing to him even in his
younger years, tending to preserve him from the infec
tion of wicked children. But through the workings of
the enemy and the levity incident to youth, he fre
quently deviated from those parental precepts, by
which he laid a renewed foundation for repentance that
was finally succeeded by a " godly sorrow not to be re
pented of"; and so he became acquainted with that
sanctifying power which qualifies for true gospel minis
try, into which he was called about the twenty-second
year of his age ; and by a faithful use of the talents
committed to him he experienced an increase, until he
arrived at the state of a father, capable of dividing the
word aright to the different states he ministered unto,
dispensing milk to babes and meat to those of riper
years. Thus he found the efficacy of that power to
arise, which, in his own expressions, " prepares the
creature to stand like a trumpet through which the
Lord speaks to his people." He was a loving husband,
a tender father, and was very humane to every part of
the creation under his care.

His concern for the poor and those in affliction was
evident by his visits to them, whom he frequently re-

286 Appendix.

lieved by his assistance and charity. He was for many
years deeply exercised on account of the poor en
slaved Africans, whose cause, as he mentioned, lay al
most continually upon him ; and he labored to obtain
liberty for those captives both in public and in private,
and was favored to see his endeavors crowned with
considerable success. He was particularly desirous
that Friends should not be instrumental to lay burdens
on this oppressed people, but should remember the
days of suffering from which they had been providen
tially delivered, that, if times of trouble should return,
no injustice dealt to those in slavery might rise in
judgment against us, but being clear, we might on
such occasions address the Almighty with a degree of
confidence for his interposition and relief, being par
ticularly careful as to himself not to countenance sla
very even by the use of those conveniences of life
which were furnished by their labor.

He was desirous to have his own mind and the
minds of others redeemed from the pleasures and
immoderate profits of this world and to fix them on
those joys which fade not away ; his principal care be
ing after a life of purity, endeavoring to avoid not only
the grosser pollutions, but those also which, appearing
in a more refined dress, are not sufficiently guarded
against by some well-disposed people. In the latter
part of his life he was remarkable for the plainness and
simplicity of his dress, and as much as possible avoided
the use of plate, costly furniture, and feasting, thereby
endeavoring to become an example of temperance and
self-denial which he believed himself called unto ; and
he was favored with peace therein, although it carried
the appearance of great austerity in the view of some.
He was very moderate in his charges in the way of
Dusiness, and in his desires after gain ; and though a

Appendix. 287

man of industry, avoided and strove much to lead
others out of extreme labor and anxiety after perishable
things, being desirous that the strength of our bodies
might not be spent in procuring things unprofitable,
and that we might use moderation and kindness to the
brute animals under our care, to prize the use of them
as a great favor, and by no means to abuse them ; that
the gifts of Providence should be thankfully received
and applied to the uses they were designed for.

He several times opened a school at Mount Holly
for the instruction of poor Friends' children and others,
being concerned for their help and improvement there
in. His love and care for the rising youth among us
was truly great, recommending to parents and those
who have the charge of them to choose conscientious
and pious tutors, saying, "It is a lovely sight to be
hold innocent children " ; and that " to labor for their
help against that which would mar the beauty of their
minds is a debt we owe them."

His ministry was sound, very deep and penetrating,
sometimes pointing out the dangerous situation which
indulgence and custom lead into, frequently exhorting
others, especially the youth, not to be discouraged at
the difficulties which occur, but to press after purity.
He often expressed an earnest engagement that pure
wisdom should be attended to, which would lead into
lowliness of mind and resignation to the Divine will, in
which state small possessions here would be sufficient.

In transacting the affairs of the discipline his judg
ment was sound and clear, and he was very useful in
treating with those who had done amiss ; he visited
such in a private way in that plainness which truth dic
tates, showing great tenderness and Christian forbear
ance. He was a constant attender of our Yearly Meet
ing, in which he was a good example and particularly

288 Appendix.

useful, assisting in the business thereof with great
weight and attention. He several times visited most
of the meetings of Friends in this and in the neighbor
ing provinces with the concurrence of the Monthly
Meeting to which he belonged, and we have reason to
believe he had good service therein, generally or al
ways expressing at his return how it had fared with
him and the evidence of peace in his mind for thus
performing his duty. He was often concerned with
other Friends in the important service of visiting fami
lies, which he was enabled to go through to satisfac
tion.

In the minutes of the meeting of ministers and elders
for this quarter, at the foot of a list of the members of
that meeting, made about five years before his death,
we find in his handwriting the following observation
and reflections : " As looking over the minutes made
by persons who have put off this body hath sometimes
revived in me a thought how ages pass away, so this
list may probably revive a like thought in some when I
and the rest of the persons above named are centred
in another state of being. The Lord who was the
guide of my youth hath in tender mercies helped me
hitherto ; he hath healed my wounds, he hath helped
me out of grievous entanglements ; he remains to be
the strength of my life ; to whom I desire to devote
myself in time and in eternity.

"JOHN WOOLMAN."

In the twelfth month, 1771, he acquainted this meet
ing that he found his mind drawn towards a religious
visit to Friends in some parts of England, particularly
in Yorkshire. In the first month, 1772, he obtained
our certificate, which was approved and indorsed by
our Quarterly Meeting and by the Half-Year's Meeting

Appendix. 289

Df ministers and elders at Philadelphia. He embarked
on his voyage in the fifth month, and arrived in London
in the sixth month following, at the time of their
Annual Meeting in that city. During his short visit
to Friends in that kingdom, we are informed that his
services were acceptable and edifying. In his last ill
ness he uttered many lively and comfortable expres
sions, being " resigned, having no will either to live or
die," as appears by the testimony of Friends at York in
Great Britain, in the suburbs whereof, at the house of
our friend Thomas Priestman, he died of the small
pox, on the 7th of the tenth month, 1772, and was
buried in Friends' burial-ground in that city, on the 9th
of the same, after a solid meeting held on the occasion
at their great meeting-house. He was aged near fifty-
two, having been a minister upwards of thirty years,
during which time he belonged to Mount Holly par
ticular meeting, which he diligently attended when at
home and in health of body, and his labors of love and
pious care for the prosperity of Friends in the blessed
truth we hope may not be forgotten, but that his good
works may be remembered to edification.

Signed in and by order of the said meeting, by

SAMUEL ALLISON, Clerk.

Read and approved at our Quarterly Meeting, held
at Burlington the 2Qth of the eighth month, 1774.
Signed by order of the said meeting,

DANIEL SMITH, Clerk.

290 Appendix.

A WORD OF REMEMBRANCE AND CAU
TION TO THE RICH.

[First printed in 1793.]

SECTION I.

X T 7EALTH desired for its own sake obstructs the
» * increase of virtue, and large possessions in
the hands of selfish men have a bad tendency, for
by their means too small a number of people are em
ployed in useful things, and some of them are necessi
tated to labor too hard, while others would want busi
ness to earn their bread, were not employments invented
which, having no real usefulness, serve only to please
the vain mind.

Rents on lands are often so high that persons of
but small substance are straitened in taking farms, and
while tenants are healthy and prosperous in business,
they often find occasion to labor harder than was in
tended by our gracious Creator. Oxen and horses are
often seen at work when, through heat and too much
labor, their eyes and the motions of their bodies mani
fest that they are oppressed. Their loads in wagons are
frequently so heavy that when weary with hauling them
far, their drivers find occasion in going up hills, or
through mire, to get them forward by whipping. Many
poor people are so thronged in their business that it
is difficult for them to provide shelter for their cattle
against the storms. These things are common when
in health, but through sickness and inability to labor,

Appendix. 291

through loss of cattle, and miscarriage in business,
many are so straitened that much of their increase goes
to pay rent, and they have not wherewith to buy what
they require.

Hence one poor woman, in providing for her family
and attending the sick, does as much business as would
for the time be suitable employment for two or three ;
and honest persons are often straitened to give their
children suitable learning. The money which the
wealthy receive from the poor, who do more than a
proper share of business in raising it, is frequently
paid to other poor people for doing business which is
foreign to the true use of things. Men who have large
estates and live in the spirit of chanty ; who carefully
inspect the circumstances of those who occupy their
estates, and, regardless of the customs of the times,
regulate their demands agreeably to universal love,
being righteous on principle, do good to the poor
without placing it to an act of bounty. Their example
in avoiding superfluities tends to excite moderation in
others ; their uprightness in not exacting what the
laws and customs would support them in tends to
open the channel to moderate labor in useful affairs,
and to discourage those branches of business which
have not their foundation in true wisdom.

To be busied in that which is but vanity and serves
only to please the insatiable mind, tends to an alliance
with those who promote that vanity, and is a snare in
which many poor tradesmen are entangled. To be
employed in things connected with virtue is most
agreeable with the character and inclinations of an
honest man. While industrious, frugal people are
borne down with poverty, and oppressed with too
much labor in useful things, the way to apply money
without promoting pride and vanity remains open to

292 Appendix.

such as truly sympathize with them in their various
difficulties.

SECTION II.

The Creator of the earth is the owner of it. He gave
us being thereon, and our nature requires nourishment
from the produce of it. He is kind and merciful to his
creatures ; and while they live answerably to the de
sign of their creation, they are so far entitled to con
venient subsistence that we may not justly deprive
them of it. By the agreements and contracts of our
predecessors, and by our own doings, some enjoy a
much greater share of this world than others ; and
while those possessions are faithfully improved for the
good of the whole, it agrees with equity ; but he who,
with a view to self-exaltation, causeth some to labor
immoderately, and with the profits arising therefrom
employs others in the luxuries of life, acts contrary to
the gracious designs of Him who is the owner of the
earth ; nor can any possessions, either acquired or de
rived from ancestors, justify such conduct. Goodness
remains to be goodness, and the direction of pure wis
dom is obligatory on all reasonable creatures.

Though the poor occupy our estates by a bargain, to
which they in their poor circumstances agree, and we
may ask even less than a punctual fulfilling of their
agreement, yet if our views are to lay up riches, or to
live in conformity to customs which have not their
foundation in the truth, and our demands are such as
require from them greater toil or application to busi
ness than is consistent with pure love, we invade their
rights as inhabitants of a world of which a good and
gracious God is the proprietor, and under whom we
are tenants.

Were all superfluities and the desire of outward

Appendix. 293

greatness laid aside, and the right use of things uni
versally attended to, such a number of people might be
employed in things useful as that moderate labor with
the blessing of Heaven would answer all good purposes,
and a sufficient number would have time to attend to
the proper affairs of civil society.

SECTION III.

While our spirits are lively, we go cheerfully through
business ; either too much or too little action is tire
some, but a right portion is healthful to the body and
agreeable to an honest mind.

Men who have great estates stand in a place of trust ;
and to have it in their power to live without difficulty
in that manner which occasions much labor, and at the
same time to confine themselves to that use of things
prescribed by our Redeemer, and confirmed by his
example and the examples of many who lived in the
early age of the Christian church, that they may more
extensively relieve objects of charity, requires close
attention to Divine love.

Our gracious Creator cares and provides for all his
creatures. His tender mercies are over all his works,
and so far as true love influences our minds, so far we
become interested in his workmanship and feel a desire
to make use of every opportunity to lessen the dis
tresses of the afflicted and to increase the happiness of
the creation. Here we have a prospect of one common
interest from which our own is inseparable, so that to
turn all we possess into the channel of universal love
becomes the business of our lives.

Men of large estates, whose hearts are thus enlarged,
are like fathers to the poor ; and in looking over their
brethren in distressed circumstances, and considering

294 Appendix.

their own more easy condition, they find a field fof
humble meditation, and feel the strength of the obliga
tions they are under to be kind and tender-hearted to
wards them. Poor men, eased of their burdens and re
leased from too close an application to business, are ena
bled to hire assistance, to provide well for their cattle,
and to find time to perform those duties among their
neighbors which belong to a well-guided social life.
When the latter reflect on the opportunity such had to
oppress them, and consider the goodness of their con
duct, they behold it lovely and consistent with brother
hood ; and as the man whose mind is conformed to
universal love hath his trust settled in God and finds a
firm foundation in any changes or revolutions that
happen among men, so also the goodness of his con
duct tends to spread a kind, benevolent disposition in
the world.

SECTION IV.

Our blessed Redeemer, in directing us how to con
duct ourselves one towards another, appeals to our
own feelings : " Whatsoever ye would that men should
do to you, do ye even so to them." Now, when some
who have never experienced hard labor themselves
live in fulness on the labor of others, there is often a
danger of their not having a right feeling of the labor
ers' condition, and of being thereby disqualified to judge
candidly in their case, not knowing what they them
selves would desire, were they to labor hard from one
year to another to raise the necessaries of life, and pay
high rent besides. It is good for those who live in ful
ness to cultivate tenderness of heart, and to improve
every opportunity of being acquainted with the hard
ships and fatigues of those who labor for their living ;
and thus to think seriously with themselves, Am I

Appendix. 295

influenced by true charity in fixing all my demands ?
Have I no desire to support myself in expensive cus
toms, because my acquaintances live in such customs ?
If a wealthy man, on serious reflection, finds a wit
ness in his own conscience that he indulges himself in
some expensive customs which might be omitted con
sistently with the true design of living, and which,
were he to change places with those who occupy his
estate, he would desire to be discontinued by them ;
whoever is thus awakened will necessarily find the
injunction binding : " Do ye even so to them." Di
vine love imposeth no rigorous or unreasonable com
mands, but graciously points out the spirit of brother
hood and the way to happiness, in attaining which it is
necessary that we relinquish all that is selfish.

SECTION V.

To enforce the duty of tenderness to the poor, the
inspired law-giver referred the children of Israel to
their own experience : " Ye know the heart of a stran
ger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt."
He who hath been a stranger among unkind people, or
under the government of those who were hard-hearted,
has experienced this feeling; but a person who hath
never felt the weight of misapplied power comes not to
this knowledge but by an inward tenderness, in which
the heart is prepared to sympathize with others.

Let us reflect on the condition of a poor innocent
man, on whom the rich man, from a desire after wealth
and luxuries, lays heavy burdens ; when this laborer
looks over the cause of his heavy toil and considers
that it is laid on him to support that which hath no
foundation in pure wisdom, we may well suppose that
an uneasiness ariseth in his mind towards one who

296 Appendix.

might without any inconvenience deal more favorably
with him. When he considers that by his industry his
fellow-creature is benefited and sees that this wealthy
man is not satisfied with being supported in a plain
way, but to gratify a desire of conforming to wrong cus
toms increaseth to an extreme the labors of those who
occupy his estate, we may reasonably judge that he
will think himself unkindly used. When he considers
that the proceedings of the wealthy are agreeable to
the customs of the times, and sees no means of redress
in this world, how will the sighings of this innocent
person ascend to the throne of that great and good
Being who created all, and who hath a constant care
over his creatures ! He who toils year after year to
furnish others with wealth and superfluities, until by
overmuch labor he is wearied and oppressed, under
stands the meaning of that language, " Ye know the
heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the
land of Egypt."

Many at this day who know not the heart of a stran
ger indulge themselves in ways of life which occasion
more labor than Infinite Goodness intends for man, and
yet compassionate the distresses of such as come di
rectly under their observation ; were these to change
circumstances awhile with their laborers, were they to
pass regularly through the means of knowing the heart
of a stranger and come to a feeling knowledge of the
straits and hardships which many poor innocent people
pass through in obscure life ; were these who now fare
sumptuously every day to act the other part of the
scene until seven times had passed over them and re
turn again to their former states, — I believe many of
them would embrace a less expensive life, and would
lighten the heavy burdens of some who now labor out
of their sight, and who pass through straits with

Appendix. 297

which they are but little acquainted. To see their fel
low-creatures under difficulties to which they are in no
degree accessory tends to awaken tenderness in the
minds of all reasonable people ; but if we consider the
condition of those who are depressed in answering our
demands, who labor for us out of our sight while we
pass our time in fulness, and consider also that much
less than we demand would supply us with things
really useful, what heart will not relent, or what rea
sonable man can refrain from mitigating that grief of
which he himself is the cause, when he may do so
without inconvenience ?

SECTION VI.

If more men were usefully employed, and fewer ate
bread as a reward for doing that which is not useful,
food and raiment would on a reasonable estimate be
more in proportion to labor than they are at present ; for
if four men working eight hours per day can do a por
tion of labor in a certain number of days, then five men
equally capable may do the same business in the same
time by working only six hours and twenty-four min
utes per day. In proceeding agreeably to sound wis
dom, a small portion of daily labor might suffice to
keep a proper stream gently circulating through all the
channels of society ; and this portion of labor might be
so divided and taken in the most advantageous parts
of the day that people would not have that plea for the
use of strong liquors which they have at present. The
quantity of spirituous liquors imported and made in
our country is great ; nor can so many thousand hogs
heads of it be drunk every year without having a power
ful effect on our habits and morals.

People spent with much labor often take strong
13*

298 Appendix.

liquor to revive them. The portion of the necessaries
of life is such that those who support their families by
day labor find occasion to labor hard, and many of
them think strong drink a necessary part of their en
tertainment.

When people are spent with action and take these
liquors not only as a refreshment from past labors, but
also to enable them to go on without giving sufficient
time to recruit by resting, it gradually turns them from
that calmness of thought which attends those who ap
ply their hearts to true wisdom. That the spirits being
scattered by too much bodily motion and again revived
by strong drink makes a person unfit for Divine medi
tation, I suppose will not be denied ; and as multitudes
of people are in this practice who do not take so much
as to hinder them from managing their affairs, this cus
tom is' strongly supported; but as through Divine
goodness I have found that there is a more quiet, calm,
and happy way intended for us to walk in, I am en
gaged to express what I feel in my heart concerning it.
As cherishing the spirit of love and meekness belongs
to the family of Jesus Christ, so to avoid those things
which are known to work against it is an indispensable
duty. Every degree of luxury of what kind soever, and
every demand for money inconsistent with Divine or
der, hath some connection with unnecessary labor. By
too much labor the spirits are exhausted, and nature
craves help from strong drink ; and the frequent use of
strong drink works in opposition to the celestial influ
ence on the mind. There is in the nature of people
some degree of likeness with that food and air to which
they have been accuslomed from their youth ; this fre
quently appears in those who, by a separation from
their native air and usual diet, grow weak and unhealthy
for want of them ; nor is it reasonable to suppose that

Appendix. 299

so many thousand hogsheads of fiery liquor can be
drunk every year and the practice continued from age
to age without altering in some degree the natures of
men and rendering their minds less apt to receive the
pure truth in the love of it.

As many who manifest some regard to piety in de
gree conform to those ways of living and of collecting
wealth which increase labor beyond the bounds fixed
by Divine wisdom, my desire is that they may so con
sider the connection of things as to take heed lest by
exacting of poor men more than is consistent with uni
versal righteousness they promote that by their con
duct which in word they speak against. To treasure
up wealth for another generation by means of the im
moderate labor of those who in some measure depend
upon us is doing evil at present without knowing that
wealth thus gathered may not be applied to evil pur
poses when we are gone. To labor hard or cause
others to do so that we may live conformably to cus
toms which Christ our Redeemer discountenanced by
his example in the days of his flesh, and which are con
trary to Divine order, is to manure a soil for propagat
ing an evil seed in the earth. They who enter deeply
into these considerations and live under the weight of
them will feel these things so heavy and their ill effects
so extensive that the necessity of attending singly to
Divine wisdom will be evident ; and will thereby be
directed in the right use of things in opposition to the
customs of the times; and will be supported to bear
patiently the reproaches attending singularity. To
conform a little strengthens the hands of those who
carry wrong customs to their utmost extent ; and the
more a person appears to be virtuous and heavenly-
minded, the more powerfully does his conformity ope
rate in favor of evil-doers. Lay aside the profession of

300 Appendix.

a pious life, and people expect little or no instruction
from the example ; but while we profess in all cases to
live in constant opposition to that which is contrary to
universal righteousness, what expressions are equal
to the subject, or what language is sufficient to set forth
the strength of the obligations we are under to beware
lest by our example we lead others astray !

SECTION VII.

If by our wealth we make our children great, without
a full persuasion that we could not bestow it better, and
thus give them power to deal hardly with others more
virtuous than they, it can after death give us no more
satisfaction than if by this treasure we had raised
others above our own, and had given them power to
oppress them.

Did a man possess as much land as would suffice for
twenty industrious frugal people, and supposing that,
being the lawful heir to it, he intended to give this
great estate to his children ; yet if he found on research
into the title that one half of this estate was the un
doubted right of a number of poor orphans, who as to
virtue and understanding appeared to him as hopeful
as his own children, the discovery would give him an
opportunity to consider whether he was attached to
any interest distinct from the interest of those or
phans.

Some of us have estates sufficient for our children,
and as many more to live upon, if they all employed
their time in useful business, and lived in that plainness
which becomes the true disciples of Christ; and we
have no reason to believe that our children will be
more likely to apply them to benevolent purposes than
would some poor children with whom we are ac-

Appendix. 301

quainted ; and yet did we believe that after our de
cease our estates would go equally among our chil
dren and the children of the poor, it would be likely to
give us uneasiness. This may show to a thoughtful
person that to be redeemed from all the remains of
selfishness, to have a universal regard to our fellow-
creatures, and to love them as our Heavenly Father
loves them, we must constantly attend to the influence
of his spirit.

When our hearts are enlarged to contemplate the
nature of Divine love, we behold it harmonious ; but
if we attentively consider that moving of selfishness
which makes us uneasy at the apprehension of that
which is in itself reasonable, and which, when separated
from all previous conceptions and expectations, appears
so, we see an inconsistency in it, for the subject of
such uneasiness is future, and will not affect our chil
dren until we are removed into that state of being in
which there is no possibility of our taking delight in
anything contrary to the pure principle of universal
love.

As that natural desire of superiority in us, when given
way to, extends to such of our favorites as we expect
will succeed us ; and as the grasping after wealth and
power for them adds greatly to the burdens of the
poor, and increaseth the evil of covetousness in this
age, — I have often desired that in looking towards pos
terity we may remember the purity of that rest which is
prepared for the Lord's people ; the impossibility of
our taking pleasure in anything distinguishable from
universal righteousness ; and how vain and weak it is
to give wealth and power to those who appear unlikely
to apply it to the general good when we are gone.

As Christians, all we possess is the gift of God, and
in the distribution of it we act as his stewards ; it be*

3<D2 Appendix.

comes us therefore to act agreeably to that Divine wis
dom which he graciously gives to his servants. If the
steward of a great family takes that with which he is
intrusted, and bestows it lavishly on some to the in
jury of others and to the damage of his employer, he
degrades himself and becomes unworthy of his office.

The true felicity of man in this life and in that which
is to come, is in being inwardly united to the Fountain
of universal love and bliss. When we provide for pos
terity, and make settlements which will not take effect
until after we are centred in another state of being, if
we therein knowingly act contrary to universal love
and righteousness, such conduct must arise from a
false, selfish pleasure ; and if, after such settlements,
our wills continue to stand in opposition to the Foun
tain of universal light and love, will there not be an
impassable gulf between the soul and true felicity?
But if after such settlement, and when too late for an
alteration, we attain to that purified state which our
Redeemer prayed his Father that his people might
attain to, of being united to the Father and to the Son,
must not a sincere repentance for all things done in a
will separate from universal love, precede this inward
sanctification ? And though in such depth of repent
ance and reconciliation all sins may be forgiven, can
we reasonably suppose that our partial determinations
in favor of those whom we selfishly loved will then
afford us pleasure ?

SECTION VIII.

To labor for an establishment in Divine love, in which
the mind is disentangled from the power of darkness, is
the great business of man's life ; the collecting of riches,
covering the body with fine wrought, costly apparel, and

Appendix. 303

having magnificent furniture, operate against universal
love and tend to feed self, so that it belongs not to the
children of the light to desire these things. He who
sent ravens to feed Elijah in the wilderness, and in
creased the poor woman's small remains of meal and
oil, is now as attentive as ever to the necessities of his
people. When he saith unto his people, " Ye are my
sons and daughters," no greater happiness can be de
sired by them, who know how gracious a Father he is.

The greater part of the necessaries of life are so far
perishable that each generation hath occasion to labor
for them ; and when we look towards a succeeding age
with a mind influenced by universal love, instead of
endeavoring to exempt some from those cares which
necessarily relate to this life, and to give them power
to oppress others, we desire that they may all be the
Lord's children and live in that humility and order be
coming his family. Our hearts, being thus opened and
enlarged, will feel content with a state of things as
foreign to luxury and grandeur as that which our Re
deemer laid down as a pattern.

By desiring wealth for the power and distinction it
gives, and gathering it on this motive, a person may
become rich ; but his mind being moved by a draught
distinguishable from the drawings of the Father, he
cannot be united to the heavenly society, where God
is the strength of our life. "It is easier," saith our
Saviour, "for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of
God." Here our Lord uses an instructive similitude,
for as a camel while in that form cannot pass through
the eye of a needle, so a man who trusteth in riches,
and holds them for the sake of the power and distinc
tion attending them, cannot in that spirit enter into the
kingdom. Now every part of a camel may be so re-

304 Appendix.

duced as to pass through a hole as small as the eye of
a needle ; yet such is the bulk of the creature and the
hardness of its bones and teeth, that it could not be so
reduced without much labor ; so must man cease from
that spirit which craves riches, and be brought into
another disposition before he inherits the kingdom, as
effectually as a camel must be changed from the form
of a camel in passing through the eye of a needle.

When our Saviour said to the rich youth, " Go, sell
what thou hast, and give to the poor," though undoubt
edly it was his duty to have done so, yet to enjoin the
selling of all as a duty on every true Christian would be
to limit the Holy One. Obedient children, who are in
trusted with much outward substance, wait for wisdom
to dispose of it agreeably to His will, " in whom the
fatherless find mercy." It may not be the duty of
every one to commit at once their substance to other
hands, but rather from time to time to look round among
the numerous branches of the great family as the stew
ards of Him who provides for the widows and fatherless ;
but as disciples of Christ, although intrusted with much
goods, they may not conform to sumptuous or luxurious
living; for, as he lived in perfect plainness and sim
plicity, the greatest in his family cannot by virtue of
his station claim a right to live in worldly grandeur
without contradicting him who said, "It is enough
for the disciple to be as his Master."

When our eyes are so single as to discern the selfish
spirit clearly, we behold it the greatest of all tyrants.
Many thousand innocent people under some of the
Roman emperors, being confirmed in the truth of
Christ's religion by the powerful effects of his Holy
Spirit upon them, and scrupling to conform to heathen
ish rites, were put to death by various kinds of cruel and
lingering torments, as is largely set forth by Eusebius.

Appendix. 305

Now, if we single out Domitian, Nero, or any other
of the persecuting emperors, the man, though terrible
in his time, will appear as a tyrant of small consequence
compared with this selfish spirit ; for, though his
bounds were large, yet a great part of the world was
out of his reach ; and though he grievously afflicted
the bodies of innocent people, yet the minds of many
were divinely supported in their greatest agonies, and
being faithful unto death they were delivered from
his tyranny. His reign, though cruel for a time, was
soon over ; and he in his greatest pomp appears to
have been a slave to a selfish spirit.

Thus tyranny as applied to a man riseth up and soon
has an end ; but if we consider the numerous oppres
sions in many states, and the calamities occasioned by
contending nations in various countries and ages of the
world, and remember that selfishness hath been the
original cause of them all ; if we consider that those
who are unredeemed from this selfish spirit not only
afflict others but are afflicted themselves, and have no
real quietness in this life nor in futurity, but, according
to the sayings of Christ, have their portion " where
the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched " ; if
we consider the havoc that is made in this age, and
how numbers of people are hurried on, striving to col
lect treasure to please that mind which wanders from
perfect resignedness, and in that wisdom which is
foolishness with God are perverting the true use of
things, laboring as in the fire, contending with one
another even unto blood, and exerting their power to
support ways of living foreign to the life of one wholly
crucified to the world ; if we consider what great num
bers of people are employed in preparing implements
of war, and the labor and toil of armies set apart for
protecting their respective territories from invasion,

T

306 Appendix.

and the extensive miseries which attend their engage
ments ; while they who till the land and are employed
in other useful things in supporting not only themselves
but those employed in military affairs, and also those who
own the soil, have great hardships to encounter through
too much labor; while others, in several kingdoms, are
busied in fetching men to help to labor from distant
parts of the world, to spend the remainder of their lives
in the uncomfortable condition of slaves, and that self
is the bottom of these proceedings ; — amidst all this
confusion, and these scenes of sorrow and distress, can
we remember that we are the disciples of the Prince of
Peace, and the example of humility and plainness which
he set for us, without feeling an earnest desire to be
disentangled from everything connected with selfish cus
toms in food, in raiment, in houses and in all things
else ? That being of Christ's family, and walking as
he walked, we may stand in that uprightness wherein
man was first made, and have no fellowship with those
inventions which men in their fallen wisdom have
sought out.

SECTION IX.

The way of carrying on wars common in the world is
so far distinguishable from the purity of Christ's reli
gion that many scruple to join in them. Those who are
so redeemed from the love of the world as to possess
nothing in a selfish spirit have their '' life hid with
Christ in God," and he preserves them in resigned-
ness, even in times of commotion.

As they possess nothing but what pertains to his
family, anxious thoughts about wealth or dominion
have little or nothing in them on which to work ; and
they learn contentment in being disposed of according
to His will who, being omnipotent and always mindful

Appendix. 307

of his children, causeth all things to work for their
good ; but when that spirit works which loves riches,
and in its working gathers wealth and cleaves to
customs which have their root in self-pleasing, what
ever name it hath it still desires to defend the treasures
thus gotten. This is like a chain in which the end of
one link encloseth the end of another. The rising up
of a desire to obtain wealth is the beginning ; this de
sire being cherished, moves to action ; and riches thus
gotten please self; and while self has a life in them it
desires to have them defended. Wealth is attended
with power, by which bargains and proceedings con
trary to universal righteousness are supported ; and
hence oppression, carried on with worldly policy and
order, clothes itself with the name of justice and be
comes like a seed of discord in the soul. And as a
spirit which wanders from the pure habitation prevails,
so the seeds of war swell and sprout and grow and be
come strong until much fruit is ripened. Then cometh
the harvest spoken of by the prophet, which "is a heap
in the day of grief and desperate sorrows." O that we
who declare against wars, and acknowledge our trust to
be in God only, may walk in the light, and therein ex
amine our foundation and motives in holding great
estates ! May we look upon our treasures, the furni
ture of our houses, and our garments, and try whether
the seeds of war have nourishment in these our pos
sessions. Holding treasures in the self-pleasing spirit
is a strong plant, the fruit whereof ripens fast. A day
of outward distress is coming, and Divine love calls
to prepare against it.

SECTION X.

" The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's ; but
the earth hath he given to the children of men." As

308 Appendix.

servants of God our land or estates we hold under him
as his gifts ; and in applying the profits it is our duty
to act consistently with the designs of our Benefactor.
Imperfect men may give from motives of misguided af
fection, but perfect wisdom and goodness gives agree
ably to his own nature ; nor is this gift absolute, but
conditional, for us to occupy as dutiful children and
not otherwise ; for He alone is the true proprietor.
"The world," saith He, "is mine, and the fulness
thereof." The inspired lawgiver directed that such of
the Israelites as sold their inheritance should sell it for
a term only, and that they or their children should
again enjoy it in the year of jubilee, settled on every fif
tieth year. "The land shall not be sold forever, for
the land is mine, saith the Lord, for ye are strangers
and sojourners with me." This was designed to pre
vent the rich from oppressing the poor by too much en
grossing the land ; and our blessed Redeemer said,
" Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall
in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."

When Divine love takes place in the hearts of any
people, and they steadily act in a principle of universal
righteousness, then the true intent of the law is ful
filled, though their outward modes of proceeding may
be various ; but when men are possessed by that spirit
hinted at by the prophet, and, looking over their wealth,
say in their hearts, " Have we not taken to us horns by
our own strength ? " they deviate from the Divine law,
and do not count their possessions so strictly God's,
nor the weak and poor entitled to so much of the in
crease thereof, but that they may indulge their desires
in conforming to worldly pomp. Thus when house is
joined to house and field laid to field, until there is no
place, and the poor are thereby straitened, though this
is done by bargain and purchase, yet so far as it stands

Appendix. 309

distinguished from universal love, so far that woe pre
dicted by the prophet will accompany their proceed
ings. As He who first founded the earth was then the
true proprietor of it, so he still remains, and though
he hath given it to the children of men, so that multi
tudes of people have had their sustenance from it while
they continued here, yet he hath never alienated it,
but his right is as good as at first ; nor can any apply
the increase of their possessions contrary to universal
love, nor dispose of lands in a way which they know
tends to exalt some by oppressing others without being
justly chargeable with usurpation.

SECTION XI.

If we count back one hundred and fifty years and
compare the inhabitants of Great Britain with the na
tions of North America on the like compass of ground,
the latter, I suppose, would bear a small proportion to
the former. On the discovery of this fertile continent
many of those thickly settled inhabitants coming over,
the natives at first generally treated them with kind
ness ; and as they brought iron tools and a variety of
things for man's use, they gladly embraced the oppor
tunity of traffic and encouraged these foreigners to set
tle ; I speak only of improvements made peaceably.

Thus our Gracious Father, who beholds the situation
of all his creatures, hath opened a way for a thickly set
tled land ; now if we consider the turning of God's
hand in thus far giving us some room in this continent,
and that the offspring of those ancient possessors of the
country, in whose eyes we appear as new-comers, are
yet owners and inhabitants of the land adjoining us,
and that their way of life, requiring much room, hath
been transmitted to them from their predecessors and

310 Appendix.

probably settled by the custom of a great many ages,
we may see the necessity of cultivating the lands al
ready obtained of them and applying the increase con
sistently with true wisdom so as to accommodate the
greatest number of people, before we have any right to
plead, as members of the one great family, the equity
of their assigning to us more of their possessions and
living in a way requiring less room.

Did we all walk as became the followers of our
blessed Saviour, were all the fruits of the country re
tained in it which are sent abroad in return for strong
drink, costly array, and other luxuries, and the labor
and expense of importing and exporting applied to hus
bandry and useful trades, a much greater number of
people than now reside here might, with the Divine
blessing, live comfortably on the lands already granted
us by those ancient possessors of the country. If we
faithfully serve God, who has given us such room in
this land, I believe he will make some of us useful
among the natives, both in publishing the doctrines of
his Son, our Saviour, and in pointing out to them the
advantages of cultivating the earth ; while people are so
much more thickly settled in some parts than others, a
trade in some serviceable articles may be to mutual ad
vantage and may be carried on with much more regu
larity and satisfaction to a sincere Christian than trade
now generally is.

One person continuing to live contrary to true wis
dom commonly draws others into connection with him,
and when these embrace the way the first hath chosen,
their proceedings are like a wild vine which springing
from a single seed and growing strong, its branches
extend, and their little tendrils twist round all herbs
and boughs of trees within their reach, and are so
braced and locked in that without much labor and

Appendix. 3 1 1

great strength they are not disentangled. Thus these
customs, small in their beginning, as they increase pro
mote business and traffic, and many depend on them
for a living ; but it is evident that all business which
hath not its foundation in true wisdom is not becoming
a faithful follower of Christ, who loves God not only with
all his heart, but with all his strength and ability. And
as the Lord is able and will support those whose hearts
are perfect towards him in a way agreeably to his un
erring wisdom, it becomes us to meditate on the privi
leges of his children, to remember that " where the
spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty," and that in join
ing to customs which we know are wrong there is a de
parting from his government and a certain degree of
alienation from him. Some well-inclined people are
entangled in such business, and at times may have a
desire of being freed from it ; our ceasing from these
things may therefore be made helpful to them ; and
though for a time their business may fail, yet if they
humbly ask wisdom of God and are truly resigned to
him, he will not fail them nor forsake them. He who
created the earth and hath provided sustenance for mil
lions of people in past ages is as attentive to the neces
sities of his children as ever. To press forward to per
fection is our duty ; and if herein we lessen a busi
ness by which some poor people earn their bread, the
Lord who calls to cease from those things will take
care of those whose business fails by it, if they sin
cerely seek him. If the connection we have with the
inhabitants of these provinces, and our interest consid
ered as distinct from others, engage us to promote plain
living in order to enrich our country, though a plain
life is in itself best, yet by living plain in a selfish spirit
we advance not in true religion.

Divine love which enlarges the heart towards man-

312 Appendix.

kind universally is that alone which stops every corrupt
stream and opens those channels of business and com
merce in which nothing runs that is not pure, and so
establishes our goings that when in our labors we medi
tate on the universal love of God and the harmony of
holy angels, the serenity of our minds may never be
clouded by remembering that some part of our employ
ments tends to support customs which have their foun
dation in the self-seeking spirit.

SECTION XII.

While our minds are prepossessed in favor of cus
toms distinguishable from perfect purity, we are in
danger of not attending with singleness to that light
which opens to our view the nature of universal right
eousness.

In the affairs of a thickly settled country are vari
ety of useful employments besides tilling the earth ; so
that for some men to have more land than is necessary
to build upon and to answer the occasions of their fami
lies may consist with brotherhood ; and from the vari
ous gifts which God hath bestowed on those employed
in husbandry, for some to possess and occupy much
more than others may likewise so consist ; but when
any, on the strength of their possessions, demand such
rent or interest as necessitates their tenants to a closer
application to business than our merciful Father de
signed for us, it puts the wheels of perfect brotherhood
out of order and leads to employments the promoting
of which belongs not to the family of Christ, whose ex
ample in all points being a pattern of wisdom, the plain
ness and simplicity of his outward appearance may well
make us ashamed to adorn our bodies with costly array
or treasure up wealth by the least oppression.

Appendix. 3 1 3

Though by claims grounded on prior possession
great inequality appears among men ; yet the instruc
tions of the Great Proprietor of the earth are necessary
to be attended to in all our proceedings as possessors
or claimers of the soil. " The steps of a good man are
ordered of the Lord," and those who are thus guided
and whose hearts are enlarged in his love give direc
tions concerning their possessions agreeably thereto ,
and that claim which stands on universal righteousness
is a good right ; but the continuance of that right de
pends on properly applying the profits thereof. The
word " right " commonly relates to our possessions.
We say, a right of propriety to such a division of a
province, or a clear, indisputable right to the land within
certain bounds. Thus this word is continued as a re
membrancer of the original intent of dividing the land
by boundaries, and implies that it was equitably or
rightly divided, that is, divided according to righteous
ness. In this — that is, in equity and righteousness —
consists the strength of our claim. If we trace an un
righteous claim and find gifts or grants proved by suffi
cient seals and witnesses, it gives not the claimant a
right; for that which is opposite to righteousness is
wrong, and the nature of it must be changed before it
can be right.

Suppose twenty free men, professed followers of
Christ, discovered an island, and that they with their
wives, independent of all others, took possession of it
and, dividing it equally, made improvements and multi
plied ; suppose these first possessors, being generally in
fluenced by true love, did with paternal regard look over
the increasing condition of the inhabitants, and, near the
end of their lives, gave such directions concerning their
respective possessions as best suited the convenience
of the whole and tended to preserve love and harmony •

3I4 Appendix.

and that their successors in the continued increase of
people generally followed their pious example and pur
sued means the most effectual to keep oppression out
of their island ; but that one of these first settlers, from
a fond attachment to one of his numerous sons, no
more deserving than the rest, gives the chief of his
lands to him, and by an instrument sufficiently wit
nessed strongly expressed his mind and will ; — suppose
this son, being landlord to his brethren and nephews,
demands such a portion of the fruits of the earth as
may supply himself, his family, and some others, and
that these others thus supplied out of his store are em
ployed in adorning his building with curious engravings
and paintings, preparing carriages to ride in, vessels for
his house, delicious meats, fine wrought apparel and
furniture, all suiting that distinction lately arisen be
tween him and the other inhabitants ; and that, having
the absolute disposal of these numerous improvements,
his power so increaseth that in all conferences relative
to the public affairs of the island these plain, honest
men, who are zealous for equitable establishments, find
great difficulty in proceeding agreeably to their right
eous inclinations ; — suppose this son, from a fondness
to one of his children, joined with a desire to continue
this grandeur under his own name, confirms the chief
of his possessions to him, and thus for many ages
there is one great landlord over near a twentieth part
of this island, and the rest are poor oppressed people,
to some of whom, from the manner of their education,
joined with a notion of the greatness of their predeces
sors, labor is disagreeable ; who therefore, by artful ap
plications to the weakness, unguardedness, and corrup
tions of others in striving to get a living out of them,
increase the difficulties among them, while the inhabi
tants of other parts, who guard against oppression and

Appendix. 3 1 5

with one consent train up their children in frugality and
useful labor, live more harmoniously ; — if we trace the
claims of the ninth or tenth of these great landlords
down to the first possessor and find the claim support
ed throughout by instruments strongly drawn and wit
nessed, after all we could not admit a belief into our
hearts that he had a right to so great a portion of land
after such a numerous increase of inhabitants.

The first possessor of that twentieth part held no
more, we suppose, than an equitable portion ; but when
the Lord, who first gave these twenty men possession
of this island unknown to all others, gave being to nu
merous people who inhabited the twentieth part, whose
natures required the fruits thereof for their sustenance,
this great claimer of the soil could not have a right to
the whole to dispose of it in gratifying his irregular de
sires ; but they, as creatures of the Most High God,
Possessor of heaven and earth, had a right to part of
what this great claimer held, though they had no in
struments to confirm their right. Thus oppression in
the extreme appears terrible ; but oppression in more
refined appearances remains to be oppression, and when
the smallest degree of it is cherished it grows stronger
and more extensive.

To labor for a perfect redemption from this spirit of
oppression is the great business of the whole family of
Christ Jesus in this world.

THE END.

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7795 The journal of John
W7A3 Woolman
1871