THIRTEENTH Fifth Month, 1757. -- Being in good health, and abroad with Friendsvisiting families, I lodged at a Friend's house in Burlington. Going to bedabout the time usual with me, I awoke in the night, and my meditations, as Ilay, were on the goodness and mercy of the Lord, in a sense whereof my heartwas contrited. After this I went to sleep again; in a short time I awoke; itwas yet dark, and no appearance of day or moonshine, and as I opened mine eyesI saw a light in my chamber, at the apparent distance of five feet, about nineinches in diameter, of a clear, easy brightness, and near its centre the mostradiant. As I lay still looking upon it without any surprise, words were spokento my inward ear, which filled my whole inward man. They were not the effect ofthought, nor any conclusion in relation to the appearance, but as the languageof the Holy One spoken in my mind. The words were, CERTAIN EVIDENCE OF DIVINETRUTH. They were again repeated exactly in the same manner, and then the lightdisappeared.
Feeling the exercise in relation to a visit to the Southern Provinces toincrease upon me, I acquainted our Monthly Meeting therewith, and obtainedtheir certificate. Expecting to go alone, one of my brothers who lived inPhiladelphia, having some business in North Carolina, proposed going with mepart of the way; but as he had a view of some outward affairs, to accept of himas a companion was some difficulty with me, whereupon I had conversation withhim at sundry times. At length feeling easy in my mind, I had conversation withseveral elderly Friends of Philadelphia on the subject, and he obtaining acertificate 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 Imet with our friend, Benjamin Buffington, from New England, who was returningfrom a visit to the Southern Provinces. Thence we crossed the riverSusquehanna, 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 thelabour of slaves, many of whom are used hardly, my concern was that I mightattend with singleness of heart to the voice of the true Shepherd, and be sosupported as to remain unmoved at the faces of men.
As it is common for Friends on such a visit to have entertainment free ofcost, a difficulty arose in my mind with respect to saving my money by kindnessreceived from what appeared to me to be the gain of oppression. Receiving agift, considered as a gift, brings the receiver under obligations to thebenefactor, and has a natural tendency to draw the obliged into a party withthe giver. To prevent difficulties of this kind, and to preserve the minds ofjudges from any bias, was that divine prohibition: "Thou shalt not receive anygift; for a gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous"(Exod. xxiii. 8). As the disciples were sent forth without any provision fortheir journey, and our Lord said the workman is worthy of his meat, theirlabour in the gospel was considered as a reward for their entertainment, andtherefore not received as a gift; yet, in regard to my present journey, I couldnot see my way clear in that respect. The difference appeared thus: theentertainment the disciples met with was from them whose hearts God had openedto receive them, from a love to them and the truth they published; but we,considered as members of the same religious society, look upon it as a piece ofcivility to receive each other in such visits; and such receptions, at times,is partly in regard to reputation, and not from an inward unity of heart andspirit. Conduct is more convincing than language, and where people, by theiractions, manifest that the slave-trade is not so disagreeable to theirprinciples but that it may be encouraged, there is not a sound uniting withsome Friends who visit them.
The prospect of so weighty a work, and of being so distinguished from manywhom I esteemed before myself, brought me very low, and such were the conflictsof my soul that I had a near sympathy with the prophet, in the time of hisweakness, when he said: "If thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, if Ihave found favour in thy sight" (Num. xi. 15). But I soon saw that thisproceeded from the want of a full resignation to the divine will. Many were theafflictions which attended me, and in great abasement, with many tears, mycries were to the Almighty for His gracious and Fatherly assistance, and aftera time of deep trial I was favoured to understand the state mentioned by thePsalmist more clearly than ever I had done before; to wit: "My soul is even asa weaned child" (Ps. cxxxi. 2).
Being thus helped to sink down into resignation, I felt a deliverance fromthat tempest in which I had been sorely exercised, and in calmness of mind wentforward, 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 Ishould be enabled even to leave money with the members of society where I hadentertainment, when I found that omitting it would obstruct that work to whichI believed He had called me. As I copy this after my return, I may here addthat oftentimes I did so under a sense of duty. The way in which I did it wasthus: 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 withoutleaving money, I spoke to one of the heads of the family privately, and desiredthem to accept of those pieces of silver, and give them to such of theirnegroes as they believed would make the best use of them; and at other times Igave them to the negroes myself, as the way looked clearest to me. Before Icame out, I had provided a large number of small pieces for this purpose, andthus offering them to some who appeared to be wealthy people was a trial bothto me and them. But the fear of the Lord so covered me at times that my way wasmade easier than I expected; and few, if any, manifested any resentment at theoffer, and most of them, after some conversation, accepted of them.
Ninth of Fifth Month. -- A Friend at whose house we breakfasted setting us alittle on our way, I had conversation with him, in the fear of the Lord,concerning his slaves, in which my heart was tender; I used much plainness ofspeech with him, and he appeared to take it kindly. We pursued our journeywithout appointing meetings, being pressed in my mind to be at the YearlyMeeting in Virginia. In my travelling on the road, I often felt a cry rise fromthe centre of my mind, thus: "O Lord, I am a stranger on the earth, hide notthy face from me."On the 11th, we crossed the rivers Patowmack and Rapahannock, and lodged atPort Royal. On the way we had the company of a colonel of the militia, whoappeared to be a thoughtful man. I took occasion to remark on the difference ingeneral betwixt a people used to labour moderately for their living, trainingup their children in frugality and business, and those who live on the labourof slaves; the former, in my view, being the most happy life. He concurred inthe remark, and mentioned the trouble arising from the untoward, slothfuldisposition of the negroes, adding that one of our labourers would do as muchin a day as two of their slaves. I replied that free men, whose minds wereproperly on their business, found a satisfaction in improving, cultivating, andproviding for their families; but negroes, labouring to support others whoclaim them as their property, and expecting nothing but slavery during life,had not the like inducement to be industrious.
After some further conversation I said, that men having power too oftenmisapplied it; that though we made slaves of the negroes, and the Turks madeslaves 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 sowretched in their own country that many of them lived better here than there. Ireplied, "There is great odds in regard to us on what principle we act"; and sothe conversation on that subject ended. I may here add that another person,some time afterwards, mentioned the wretchedness of the negroes, occasioned bytheir intestine wars, as an argument in favour of our fetching them away forslaves. To which I replied, if compassion for the Africans, on account of theirdomestic troubles, was the real motive of our purchasing them, that spirit oftenderness being attended to, would incite us to use them kindly, that, asstrangers brought out of affliction, their lives might be happy among us. Andas they are human creatures, whose souls are as precious as ours, and who mayreceive the same help and comfort from the Holy Scriptures as we do, we couldnot omit suitable endeavours to instruct them therein; but that while wemanifest by our conduct that our views in purchasing them are to advanceourselves, and while our buying captives taken in war animates those parties topush on the war and increase desolation amongst them, to say they liveunhappily in Africa is far from being an argument in our favour.
I further said, the present circumstances of these provinces to me appeardifficult; the slaves look like a burdensome stone to such as burden themselveswith them; and that, if the white people retain a resolution to prefer theiroutward prospects of gain to all other considerations, and do not actconscientiously toward them as fellow-creatures, I believe that burden willgrow heavier and heavier, until times change in a way disagreeable to us. Theperson appeared very serious, and owned that in considering their condition andthe manner of their treatment in these provinces he had sometimes thought itmight be just in the Almighty so to order it.
Having travelled through Maryland, we came amongst Friends at Cedar Creek inVirginia, on the 12th; and the next day rode, in company with several of them,a day's journey to Camp Creek. As I was riding along in the morning, my mindwas deeply affected in a sense I had of the need of divine aid to support me inthe various difficulties which attended me, and in uncommon distress of mind Icried in secret to the Most High, "O Lord, be merciful, I beseech Thee, to Thypoor afflicted creature!" After some time I felt inward relief, and soon aftera Friend in company began to talk in support of the slave-trade, and said thenegroes were understood to be the offspring of Cain, their blackness being themark which God set upon him after he murdered Abel, his brother; that it wasthe design of Providence they should be slaves, as a condition proper to therace of so wicked a man as Cain was. Then another spake in support of what hadbeen said.
To all which I replied in substance as follows: that Noah and his family wereall who survived the flood, according to Scripture; and as Noah was of Seth'srace, the family of Cain was wholly destroyed. One of them said that after theflood Ham went to the land of Nod and took a wife; that Nod was a land fardistant, inhabited by Cain's race, and that the flood did not reach it; and asHam was sentenced to be a servant of servants to his brethren, these twofamilies, being thus joined, were undoubtedly fit only for slaves. I replied,the flood was a judgment upon the world for their abominations, and it wasgranted that Cain's stock was the most wicked, and therefore unreasonable tosuppose 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 Hammarried a second time; moreover the text saith "That all flesh died that movedupon the earth" (Gen. vii. 21). I further reminded them how the prophetsrepeatedly declare "that the son shall not suffer for the iniquity of thefather, but every one be answerable for his own sins."I was troubled to perceive the darkness of their imaginations, and in somepressure of spirit said, "The love of ease and gain are the motives in generalof keeping slaves, and men are wont to take hold of weak arguments to support acause which is unreasonable. I have no interest on either side, save only theinterest 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 respectswith inhumanity in many places, I believe He who is a refuge for the oppressedwill, in His own time, plead their cause, and happy will it be for such as walkin uprightness before Him." And thus our conversation ended.
Fourteenth of Fifth Month. -- I was this day at Camp Creek Monthly Meeting,and then rode to the mountains up James River, and had a meeting at a Friend'shouse, in both which I felt sorrow of heart, and my tears were poured outbefore the Lord, who was pleased to afford a degree of strength by which waywas opened to clear my mind amongst Friends in those places. From thence I wentto Ford Creek, and so to Cedar Creek again, at which place I now had a meeting.
Here I found a tender seed, and as I was preserved in the ministry to keep lowwith the truth, the same truth in their hearts answered it, that it was a timeof mutual refreshment from the presence of the Lord. I lodged at JamesStandley's, father of William Standley, one of the young men who sufferedimprisonment at Winchester last summer on account of their testimony againstfighting, and I had some satisfactory conversation with him concerning it.
Hence I went to the Swamp Meeting, and to Wayanoke Meeting, and then crossedJames River, and lodged near Burleigh. From the time of my entering Maryland Ihave been much under sorrow, which of late so increased upon me that my mindwas almost overwhelmed, and I may say with the Psalmist, "In my distress Icalled 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 myrelief, for which I humbly bless His holy name.
The sense I had of the state of the churches brought a weight of distressupon me. The gold to me appeared dim, and the fine gold changed, and thoughthis is the case too generally, yet the sense of it in these parts hath in aparticular manner borne heavy upon me. It appeared to me that, through theprevailing of the spirit of this world, the minds of many were brought to aninward desolation, and instead of the spirit of meekness, gentleness, andheavenly wisdom, which are the necessary companions of the true sheep ofChrist, a spirit of fierceness and the love of dominion too generallyprevailed. From small beginnings in error great buildings by degrees areraised, and from one age to another are more and more strengthened by thegeneral concurrence of the people; and as men obtain reputation by theirprofession of the truth, their virtues are mentioned as arguments in favour ofgeneral error; and those of less note, to justify themselves, say, such andsuch good men did the like. By what other steps could the people of Judah ariseto that height in wickedness as to give just ground for the Prophet Isaiah todeclare, in the name of the Lord, "that none calleth for justice, nor anypleadeth for truth" (Isa. lix. 4), or for the Almighty to call upon the greatcity of Jerusalem just before the Babylonish captivity, "If ye can find a man,if there be any who executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth, and I willpardon it" (Jer. v. 1)?
The prospect of a way being open to the same degeneracy, in some parts ofthis newly settled land of America, in respect to our conduct towards thenegroes, hath deeply bowed my mind in this journey, and though briefly torelate how these people are treated is no agreeable work, yet, after oftenreading over the notes I made as I travelled, I find my mind engaged topreserve them. Many of the white people in those provinces take little or nocare of negro marriages; and when negroes marry after their own way, some makeso little account of those marriages, that with views of outward interest theyoften part men from their wives by selling them far asunder, which is commonwhen estates are sold by executors at vendue. Many whose labour is heavy beingfollowed at their business in the field by a man with a whip, hired for thatpurpose, have in common little else allowed but one peck of Indian corn andsome salt, for one week, with a few potatoes; the potatoes they commonly raiseby their labour on the first day of the week. The correction ensuing on theirdisobedience to overseers, or slothfulness in business, is often very severeand sometimes desperate.
Men and women have many times scarcely clothes sufficient to hide theirnakedness, 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 societycalled Newlights, use some endeavours to instruct those they have in reading;but in common this is not only neglected, but disapproved. These are the peopleby whose labour the other inhabitants are in a great measure supported, andmany of them in the luxuries of life. These are the people who have made noagreement to serve us, and who have not forfeited their liberty that we knowof. These are the souls for whom Christ died, and for our conduct towards themwe must answer before Him who is no respecter of persons. They who know theonly true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent, and are thus acquainted withthe merciful, benevolent, gospel spirit, will therein perceive that theindignation of God is kindled against oppression and cruelty, and in beholdingthe 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 aquiet, resigned state. After a long silence I felt an engagement to stand up,and through the powerful operation of divine love we were favoured with anedifying meeting. The next meeting we had was at Blackwater, and from thencewent to the Yearly Meeting at the Western Branch. When business began, somequeries were introduced by some of their members for consideration, and, ifapproved, they were to be answered hereafter by their respective MonthlyMeetings. They were the Pennsylvania queries, which had been examined by acommittee of Virginia Yearly Meeting appointed the last year, who made somealterations in them, one of which alterations was made in favour of a customwhich troubled me.
The query was, "Are there any concerned in the importation of negroes, or inbuying them after imported?" which was thus altered, "Are there any concernedin the importation of negroes, or buying them to trade in?" As one queryadmitted with unanimity was, "Are any concerned in buying or vending goodsunlawfully imported, or prize goods?" I found my mind engaged to say that, aswe 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, orotherwise we could not prosper. I then mentioned their alteration, and,referring to the last-mentioned query, added, that as purchasing anymerchandise taken by the sword was always allowed to be inconsistent with ourprinciples, so negroes being captives of war or taken by stealth, it wasinconsistent with our testimony to buy them; and their being our fellow-creatures, and sold as slaves, added greatly to the iniquity. Friends appearedattentive to what was said; some expressed a care and concern about theirnegroes; none made any objection by way of reply to what I said, but the querywas admitted as they had altered it.
As some of their members have heretofore traded in negroes, as in othermerchandise, this query being admitted will be one step further than they havehitherto gone, and I did not see it my duty to press for an alteration, butfelt easy to leave it all to Him who alone is able to turn the hearts of themighty, and make way for the spreading of truth on the earth, by meansagreeable to his infinite wisdom. In regard to those they already had, I feltmy mind engaged to labour with them, and said that, as we believe theScriptures were given forth by holy men, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,and many of us know by experience that they are often helpful and comfortable,and believe ourselves bound in duty to teach our children to read them; Ibelieved that if we were divested of all selfish views, the same good Spiritthat gave them forth would engage us to teach the negroes to read, that theymight have the benefit of them. Some present manifested a concern to take morecare in the education of their negroes.
Twenty-ninth Fifth Month. -- At the house where I lodged was a meeting ofministers and elders. I found an engagement to speak freely and plainly to themconcerning 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 strongerobligations to look carefully to themselves -- expressing how needful it wasfor them in that situation to be thoroughly divested of all selfish views;that, living in the pure truth, and acting conscientiously towards those peoplein their education and otherwise, they might be instrumental in helping forwarda work so exceedingly necessary, and so much neglected amongst them. At thetwelfth hour the meeting of worship began, which was a solid meeting.
The next day, about the tenth hour, Friends met to finish their business, andthen the meeting for worship ensued, which to me was a labourious time; butthrough the goodness of the Lord, truth, I believed, gained some ground, and itwas a strengthening opportunity to the honest-hearted.
About this time I wrote an epistle to Friends in the back settlements ofNorth Carolina, as follows: -TO FRIENDS AT THEIR MONTHLY MEETING AT NEW GARDEN AND CANE CREEK, IN NORTHCAROLINA: -DEAR FRIENDS, -- It having pleased the Lord to draw me forth on a visit tosome parts of Virginia and Carolina, you have often been in my mind; and thoughmy way is not clear to come in person to visit you, yet I feel it in my heartto communicate a few things, as they arise in the love of truth. First, my dearfriends, dwell in humility; and take heed that no views of outward gain get toodeep 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 thelove of outward things, and are more engaged in pursuing the profits andseeking the friendships of this world, than to be inwardly acquainted with theway of true peace, they walk in a vain shadow, while the true comfort of lifeis wanting. Their examples are often hurtful to others; and their treasuresthus collected do many times prove dangerous snares to their children.
But where people are sincerely devoted to follow Christ, and dwell under theinfluence of His Holy Spirit, their stability and firmness, through a divineblessing, is at times like dew on the tender plants round about them, and theweightiness of their spirits secretly works on the minds of others. In thiscondition, through the spreading influence of divine love, they feel a careover 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 adwelling in meekness, feeling our spirits subject, and moving only in thegentle, peaceable wisdom, the inward reward of quietness will be greater thanall our difficulties. Where the pure life is kept to, and meetings ofdiscipline are held in the authority of it, we find by experience that they arecomfortable, and tend to the health of the body.
While I write, the youth come fresh in my way. Dear young people, choose Godfor your portion; love His truth, and be not ashamed of it; choose for yourcompany such as serve him in uprightness; and shun as most dangerous theconversation of those whose lives are of an ill savour; for by frequenting suchcompany some hopeful young people have come to great loss, and been drawn fromless evils to greater, to their utter ruin. In the bloom of youth no ornamentis so lovely as that of virtue, nor any enjoyments equal to those which wepartake of in fully resigning ourselves to the divine will. These enjoymentsadd sweetness to all other comforts, and give true satisfaction in company andconversation, where people are mutually acquainted with it; and as your mindsare thus seasoned with the truth, you will find strength to abide steadfast tothe testimony of it, and be prepared for services in the church.
And now, dear friends and brethren, as you are improving a wilderness, andmay be numbered amongst the first planters in one part of a province, I beseechyou, in the love of Jesus Christ, wisely to consider the force of yourexamples, and think how much your successors may be thereby affected. It is ahelp in a country, yea, and a great favour and blessing, when customs firstsettled are agreeable to sound wisdom; but when they are otherwise the effectof them is grievous; and children feel themselves encompassed with difficultiesprepared for them by their predecessors.
As moderate care and exercise, under the direction of true wisdom, are usefulboth to mind and body, so by these means in general the real wants of life areeasily supplied, our gracious Father having so proportioned one to the otherthat keeping in the medium we may pass on quietly. Where slaves are purchasedto do our labour, numerous difficulties attend it. To rational creaturesbondage is uneasy, and frequently occasions sourness and discontent in them;which affects the family and such as claim the mastery over them. Thus peopleand their children are many times encompassed with vexations, which arise fromtheir applying to wrong methods to get a living.
I have been informed that there is a large number of Friends in your partswho have no slaves; and in tender and most affectionate love I beseech you tokeep 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 whichattend such as are aiming at outward ease and greatness.
Treasures, though small, attained on a true principle of virtue, are sweet;and while we walk in the light of the Lord there is true comfort andsatisfaction in the possession; neither the murmurs of an oppressed people, nora throbbing uneasy conscience, nor anxious thoughts about the events of things,hinder the enjoyment of them.
When we look towards the end of life, and think on the division of oursubstance among our successors, if we know that it was collected in the fear ofthe Lord, in honesty, in equity, and in uprightness of heart before Him, we mayconsider it as His gift to us, and, with a single eye to His blessing, bestowit on those we leave behind us. Such is the happiness of the plain ways of truevirtue. "The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect ofrighteousness quietness and assurance forever" (Isa. xxxii. 17).
Dwell here, my dear friends; and then in remote and solitary deserts you mayfind true peace and satisfaction. If the Lord be God, in truth and reality,there is safety for us: for He is a stronghold in the day of trouble, andknoweth them that trust in Him.
ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY, in VIRGINIA,20th of the 5th Month, 1757.
From the Yearly Meeting in Virginia I went to Carolina, and on the 1st ofSixth Month was at Wells Monthly Meeting, where the spring of the gospelministry was opened, and the love of Jesus Christ experienced among us; to Hisname be the praise.
Here my brother joined with some Friends from New Garden who were goinghomeward; and I went next to Simons Creek Monthly Meeting, where I was silentduring the meeting for worship. When business came on, my mind was exercisedconcerning the poor slaves, but I did not feel my way clear to speak. In thiscondition I was bowed in spirit before the Lord, and with tears and inwardsupplication besought Him so to open my understanding that I might know Hiswill concerning me; and at length my mind was settled in silence. Near the endof their business a member of their meeting expressed a concern that had sometime lain upon him, on account of Friends so much neglecting their duty in theeducation of their slaves, and proposed having meetings sometimes appointed forthem on a week-day, to be attended only by some Friends to be named in theirMonthly Meetings.
Many present appeared to unite with the proposal. One said he had oftenwondered that they, being our fellow-creatures, and capable of religiousunderstanding, had been so exceedingly neglected; another expressed the likeconcern, and appeared zealous that in future it might be more closelyconsidered. At length a minute was made, and the further consideration of itreferred to their next Monthly Meeting. The Friend who made this proposal hathnegroes; he told me that he was at New Garden, about two hundred and fiftymiles from home, and came back alone; that in this solitary journey thisexercise, in regard to the education of their negroes, was from time to timerenewed in his mind. A Friend of some note in Virginia, who hath slaves, toldme that he being far from home on a lonesome journey, had many serious thoughtsabout them: and his mind was so impressed therewith that he believed he saw atime coming when divine Providence would alter the circumstance of thesepeople, respecting their condition as slaves.
From hence I went to a meeting at Newbegun Creek, and sat a considerable timein much weakness; then I felt truth open the way to speak a little in muchplainness and simplicity, till at length, through the increase of divine loveamongst us, we had a seasoning opportunity. This was also the case at the headof Little River, where we had a crowded meeting on a First-day. I went thenceto the Old Neck, where I was led into a careful searching out of the secretworkings of the mystery of iniquity, which, under a cover of religion, exaltsitself 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, andmy heart being deeply engaged, I was drawn forth into a fervent labour amongstthem.
When I was at Newbegun Creek a Friend was there who laboured for his living,having no negroes, and who had been a minister many years. He came to me thenext day, and as we rode together he signified that he wanted to talk with me concerning a difficulty he had been under, which he related nearly as follows:
-- That as moneys had of late years been raised by a tax to carry on the wars,he had a scruple in his mind in regard to paying it, and chose rather to sufferdistraint of his goods; but as he was the only person who refused it in thoseparts, and knew not that any one else was in the like circumstances, hesignified that it had been a heavy trial to him, especially as some of hisbrethren had been uneasy with his conduct in that case. He added that, from asympathy he felt with me yesterday in meeting, he found freedom thus to openthe matter in the way of querying concerning Friends in our parts; I told himthe state of Friends amongst us as well as I was able, and also that I had forsome time been under the like scruple. I believed him to be one who wasconcerned to walk uprightly before the Lord, and esteemed it my duty topreserve this note concerning him, Samuel Newby.
From hence I went back into Virginia, and had a meeting near JamesCowpland's; it was a time of inward suffering, but through the goodness of theLord I was made content; at another meeting, through the renewings of purelove, we had a very comfortable season.
Travelling up and down of late, I have had renewed evidences that to befaithful to the Lord, and content with His will concerning me, is a mostnecessary and useful lesson for me to be learning; looking less at the effectsof my labour than at the pure motion and reality of the concern, as it arisesfrom heavenly love. In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength; and as themind, by humble resignation, is united to Him, and we utter words from aninward knowledge that they arise from the heavenly spring, though our way maybe difficult, and it may require close attention to keep in it, and though thematter in which we may be led may tend to our own abasement; yet, if wecontinue in patience and meekness, heavenly peace will be the reward of ourlabours.
I attended Curles Meeting, which, though small, was reviving to the honest-hearted. Afterwards I went to Black Creek and Caroline Meetings, from whence,accompanied by William Standley before mentioned, I rode to Goose Creek, beingmuch through the woods, and about one hundred miles. We lodged the first nightat a public-house; the second in the woods; and the next day we reached aFriend'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 beforenight and let them feed on the wild grass, which was plentiful, in the meantime 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 beingnumerous and the ground damp I slept but little.
Thus lying in the wilderness, and looking at the stars, I was led tocontemplate on the condition of our first parents when they were sent forthfrom the garden; how the Almighty, though they had been disobedient, continuedto be a Father to them, and showed them what tended to their felicity asintelligent creatures, and was acceptable to Him. To provide things relative toour outward living, in the way of true wisdom, is good, and the gift ofimproving 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 ofthis kind made in the world. But some, not keeping to the pure gift, have inthe creaturely cunning and self-exaltation sought out many inventions. As thefirst motive to these inventions of men, as distinct from that uprightness inwhich 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 heavenlygift, to be qualified to use rightly the good things in this life amidst greatimprovements, as it was for our first parents when they were without anyimprovements, 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 powerprevailed over many hearts. From thence I went to Monoquacy and Pipe Creek inMaryland; at both places I had cause humbly to adore Him who had supported methrough many exercises, and by whose help I was enabled to reach the truewitness in the hearts of others. There were some hopeful young people in thoseparts. I had meetings afterwards at John Everit's in Monalen, and atHuntingdon, and I was made humbly thankful to the Lord, who opened my heartamongst the people in these new settlements, so that it was a time ofencouragement to the honest-minded.
At Monalen a Friend gave me some account of a religious society among theDutch, called Mennonists, and amongst other things related a passage insubstance as follows: One of the Mennonists having acquaintance with a man ofanother society at a considerable distance, and being with his waggon onbusiness near the house of his said acquaintance and night coming on, he hadthoughts of putting up with him, but passing by his fields, and observing thedistressed appearance of his slaves, he kindled a fire in the woods hard by,and lay there that night. His said acquaintance hearing where he lodged, andafterward meeting the Mennonist, told him of it, adding he should have beenheartily welcome at his house, and from their acquaintance in former timewondered at his conduct in that case. The Mennonist replied, "Ever since Ilodged by thy field I have wanted an opportunity to speak with thee. I hadintended to come to thy house for entertainment, but seeing thy slaves at theirwork, and observing the manner of their dress, I had no liking to come topartake with thee." He then admonished him to use them with more humanity, and added, "As I lay by the fire that night, I thought that as I was a man ofsubstance thou wouldst have received me freely; but if I had been as poor asone of thy slaves, and had no power to help myself, I should have received fromthy hand no kinder usage than they."In this journey I was out about two months, and travelled about elevenhundred and fifty miles. I returned home under an humbling sense of thegracious dealings of the Lord with me, in preserving me through many trials andafflictions.