,this e,book was produced by ,david     
,widger                                 
,,the ,,inner ,,life                    
,,by                             ,,john 
,,greenleaf ,,whittier                  
,,contents3         ,,the ,,agency ,,of 
,,evil       ,,hamlet ,,among ,,the     
,,graves       ,,swedenborg       ,,the 
,,better ,,land       ,,dora ,,greenwell
       ,,the ,,society ,,of ,,friends   
,,john ,,woolman',s ,,journal           
,,the ,,old ,,way       ,,haverford     
,,college            ,,the ,,inner      
,,life    ,,the ,,agency ,,of ,,evil4   
,from the ,supernaturalism of ,new      
,england1 in the ,democratic ,review for
  #ahdc4    ,,in this life of ours1 so  
full of mystery1 so hung about with     
wonders1 so  written over with dark     
riddles1 where even the lights held by  
prophets  and inspired ones only serve  
to disclose the solemn portals of a     
future  state of being1 leaving all     
beyond in shadow1 perhaps the darkest   
and  most difficult problem which       

presents itself is that of the origin of
  evil1--the source whence flow the     
black and bitter waters of sin and      
suffering and discord1--the wrong which 
all men see in others and feel  in      
themselves1--the unmistakable facts of  
human depravity and misery4  ,a         
superficial philosophy may attempt to   
refer all these dark phenomena of  man's
 existence to his own passions1         
circumstances1 and will2 but the        
thoughtful observer cannot rest         
satisfied with secondary causes4  ,the  
grossest materialism1 at times1 reveals 
something of that latent dread  of an   
invisible and spiritual influence which 
is inseparable from our  nature4  ,like 
,eliphaz the ,temanite1 it is conscious 
of a spirit passing  before its face1   
the form whereof is not discerned4      
,it is indeed true that our modern      
divines and theologians1 as if to atone 
for the too easy credulity of their     
order formerly1 have unceremoniously    
consigned the old beliefs of ,satanic   

agency1 demoniacal possession1 and      
witchcraft1 to ,milton's receptacle of  
exploded follies and detected           
impostures1                  ,over the  
backside of the world far off1          
,into a limbo broad and large1 and      
called                 ,the paradise of 
fools1--    that indeed1 out of their   
peculiar province1 and apart from the   
routine  of their vocation1 they have   
become the most thorough sceptics and   
unbelievers among us4  ,yet it must be  
owned that1 if they have not the        
marvellous themselves1 they are the     
cause of it in others4  ,in certain     
states of mind1 the very sight of a     
clergyman in his sombre professional    
garb is sufficient to awaken all the    
wonderful within us4  ,imagination  goes
 wandering back to the subtle priesthood
 of mysterious ,egypt4  ,we  think of   
,jannes and ,jambres2 of the ,persian   
magi2 dim oak groves1 with  ,druid      
altars1 and priests1 and victims1 rise  
before us4  ,for what is the  priest    

even of our ,new ,england but a living  
testimony to the truth of the           
supernatural and the reality of the     
unseen1--a man of mystery1 walking in   
the shadow of the ideal world1--by      
profession an expounder of spiritual    
wonders8  ,laugh he may at the old tales
 of astrology and witchcraft and        
demoniacal possession2 but does he not  
believe and bear testimony to his  faith
 in the reality of that dark essence    
which ,scripture more than hints  at1   
which has modified more or less all the 
religious systems and  speculations of  
the heathen world1--the ,ahriman of the 
,parsee1 the ,typhon  of the ,egyptian1 
the ,pluto of the ,roman mythology1 the 
,devil of ,jew1  ,christian1 and        
,mussulman1 the ,machinito of the       
,indian1--evil in the  universe of      
goodness1 darkness in the light of      
divine intelligence1--in  itself the    
great and crowning mystery from which by
 no unnatural process  of imagination   
may be deduced everything which our     

forefathers believed  of the spiritual  
world and supernatural agency8  ,that   
fearful being with  his tributaries and 
agents1--the ,devil and his angels1--how
 awfully he  rises before us in the     
brief outline limning of the sacred     
writers6  ,how  he glooms1 in shape and 
gesture proudly eminent1 on the immortal
 canvas  of ,milton and ,dante6  ,what a
 note of horror does his name throw into
 the  sweet ,sabbath psalmody of our    
churches4  ,what strange1 dark fancies  
are  connected with the very language of
 common-law indictments1 when grand     
juries find under oath that the offence 
complained of has been committed  at the
 instigation of the ,devil6    ,how     
hardly effaced are the impressions of   
childhood6  ,even at this day1  at the  
mention of the evil angel1 an image     
rises before me like that with  which ,i
 used especially to horrify myself in an
 old copy of ,pilgrim's  ,progress4     
,horned1 hoofed1 scaly1 and             
fire-breathing1 his caudal  extremity   

twisted tight with rage1 ,i remember    
him1 illustrating the  tremendous       
encounter of ,christian in the valley   
where ,apollyon straddled  over the     
whole breadth of the way4  ,there was   
another print of the enemy  which made  
no slight impression upon me4  ,it was  
the frontispiece of an  old1 smoked1    
snuff-stained pamphlet1 the property of 
an elderly lady1  7who had a fine       
collection of similar wonders1 wherewith
 she was kind  enough to edify her young
 visitors17 containing a solemn account 
of the  fate of a wicked dancing-party  
in ,new ,jersey1 whose irreverent       
declaration1 that they would have a     
fiddler if they had to send to the      
lower regions after him1 called up the  
fiend himself1 who forthwith  commenced 
playing1 while the company danced to the
 music incessantly1  without the power  
to suspend their exercise1 until their  
feet and legs  were worn off to the     
knees6  ,the rude wood-cut represented  
the demon  fiddler and his agonized     

companions literally stumping it up and 
down in  cotillons1 jigs1 strathspeys1  
and reels4  ,he would have answered very
  well to the description of the        
infernal piper in ,tam ,o',shanter4     
,to this popular notion of the          
impersonation of the principle of evil  
we  are doubtless indebted for the whole
 dark legacy of witchcraft and          
possession4  ,failing in our efforts to 
solve the problem of the origin of      
evil1 we fall back upon the idea of a   
malignant being1--the antagonism of     
good4  ,of this mysterious and dreadful 
personification we find ourselves       
constrained to speak with a degree of   
that awe and reverence which are  always
 associated with undefined power and the
 ability to harm4  ,the  ,devil1 says an
 old writer1 is a dignity1 though his   
glory be somewhat  faded and wan1 and is
 to be spoken of accordingly4    ,the   
evil principle of ,zoroaster was from   
eternity self-created and  existent1 and
 some of the early ,christian sects held

 the same opinion4  ,the gospel1        
however1 affords no countenance to this 
notion of a divided  sovereignty of the 
universe4  ,the ,divine ,teacher1 it is 
true1 in  discoursing of evil1 made use 
of the language prevalent in ,his time1 
and  which was adapted to the gross     
conceptions of ,his ,jewish bearers2 but
 ,he  nowhere presents the embodiment of
 sin as an antagonism to the absolute   
power and perfect goodness of ,god1 of  
whom1 and through whom1 and to whom  are
 all things4  ,pure himself1 ,he can    
create nothing impure4  ,evil1          
therefore1 has no eternity in the past4 
,the fact of its present actual         
existence is indeed strongly stated2 and
 it is not given us to understand  the  
secret of that divine alchemy whereby   
pain1 and sin1 and discord  become the  
means to beneficent ends worthy of the  
revealed attributes of  the ,infinite   
,parent4  ,unsolved by human reason or  
philosophy1 the dark  mystery remains to
 baffle the generations of men2 and only

 to the eye of  humble and childlike    
faith can it ever be reconciled to the  
purity1  justice1 and mercy of ,him who 
is light1 and in whom is no darkness at 
all4    ,do you not believe in the      
,devil8 some one once asked the         
,non-conformist  ,robinson4  ,i believe 
in ,god1 was the reply2 don't you8      
,henry of ,nettesheim says that it is   
unanimously maintained that devils  do  
wander up and down in the earth2 but    
what they are1 or how they are1         
ecclesiasticals have not clearly        
expounded4  ,origen1 in his ,platonic   
speculations on this subject1 supposed  
them to be spirits who1 by  repentance1 
might be restored1 that in the end all  
knees might be bowed  to the ,father of 
spirits1 and ,he become all in all4     
,justin ,martyr was of  the opinion that
 many of them still hoped for their     
salvation2 and the  ,cabalists held that
 this hope of theirs was well founded4  
,one is  irresistibly reminded here of  
the closing verse of the ,address to the

  ,deil1 by ,burns3--                   
,but fare ye weel1 ,auld ,nickie ben6   
,gin ye wad take a thought and mend1    
,ye aiblins might--,i dinna ken--       
,still has a stake                 ,i'm 
was to think upon yon den               
,fen for your sake4    ,the old         
schoolmen and fathers seem to agree that
 the ,devil and his  ministers have     
bodies in some sort material1 subject to
 passions and  liable to injury and     
pain4  ,origen has a curious notion that
 any evil  spirit who1 in a contest with
 a human being1 is defeated1 loses from 
thenceforth all his power of mischief1  
and may be compared to a wasp who  has  
lost his sting4    ,the ,devil1 said    
,samson ,occum1 the famous ,indian      
preacher1 in a  discourse on temperance1
 is a gentleman1 and never drinks4      
,nevertheless it is a remarkable fact1  
and worthy of the serious  consideration
 of all who tarry long at the wine1     
that1 in that state of  the drunkard's  
malady known as delirium tremens1 the   

adversary1 in some  shape or other1 is  
generally visible to the sufferers1 or  
at least1 as  ,winslow says of the      
,powahs1 he appeareth more familiarly to
 them than to  others4  ,i recollect a  
statement made to me by a gentleman who 
has had  bitter experience of the evils 
of intemperance1 and who is at this time
  devoting his fine talents to the cause
 of philanthropy and mercy1 as the      
editor of one of our best temperance    
journals1 which left a most vivid       
impression on my mind4  ,he had just    
returned from a sea-voyage2 and1 for    
the sake of enjoying a debauch1         
unmolested by his friends1 took up his  
abode in a rum-selling tavern in a      
somewhat lonely location on the         
seaboard4  ,here he drank for many days 
without stint1 keeping himself the      
whole time in a state of                
semi-intoxication4  ,one night he stood 
leaning  against a tree1 looking        
listlessly and vacantly out upon the    
ocean2 the  waves breaking on the beach1

 and the white sails of passing vessels 
vaguely impressing him like the pictures
 of a dream4  ,he was startled by  a    
voice whispering hoarsely in his ear1   
,you have murdered a man2 the  officers 
of justice are after you2 you must fly  
for your life6  ,every  syllable was    
pronounced slowly and separately2 and   
there was something in  the hoarse1     
gasping sound of the whisper which was  
indescribably  dreadful4  ,he looked    
around him1 and seeing nothing but the  
clear  moonlight on the grass1 became   
partially sensible that he was the      
victim  of illusion1 and a sudden fear  
of insanity thrilled him with a         
momentary  horror4  ,rallying himself1  
he returned to the tavern1 drank another
 glass  of brandy1 and retired to his   
chamber4  ,he had scarcely lain his head
 on  the pillow when he heard that      
hoarse1 low1 but terribly distinct      
whisper1  repeating the same words4  ,he
 describes his sensations at this time  
as  inconceivably fearful4  ,reason was 

struggling with insanity2 but amidst    
the confusion and mad disorder one      
terrible thought evolved itself4  ,had  
he not1 in a moment of mad frenzy of    
which his memory made no record1        
actually murdered some one8  ,and was   
not this a warning from ,heaven8        
,leaving his bed and opening his door1  
he heard the words again repeated1  with
 the addition1 in a tone of intense     
earnestness1 ,follow me6  ,he  walked   
forward in the direction of the sound1  
through a long entry1 to  the head of   
the staircase1 where he paused for a    
moment1 when again he  heard the        
whisper1 half-way down the stairs1      
,follow me6    ,trembling with terror1  
he passed down two flights of stairs1   
and found  himself treading on the cold 
brick floor of a large room in the      
basement1  or cellar1 where he had never
 been before4  ,the voice still beckoned
 him  onward2 and1 groping after it1 his
 hand touched an upright post1 against  
which he leaned for a moment4  ,he heard

 it again1 apparently only two or  three
 yards in front of him ,you have        
murdered a man2 the officers are  close 
behind you2 follow me6  ,putting one    
foot forward while his hand  still      
grasped the post1 it fell upon empty    
air1 and he with difficulty  recovered  
himself4  ,stooping down and feeling    
with his hands1 he found  himself on the
 very edge of a large uncovered cistern1
 or tank1 filled  nearly to the top with
 water4  ,the sudden shock of this      
discovery broke  the horrible           
enchantment4  ,the whisperer was silent4
  ,he believed1 at the  time1 that he   
had been the subject1 and well-nigh the 
victim1 of a  diabolical delusion2 and  
he states that1 even now1 with the      
recollection  of that strange whisper is
 always associated a thought of the     
universal  tempter4    ,our worthy      
ancestors were1 in their own view of the
 matter1 the advance  guard and forlorn 
hope of ,christendom in its contest with
 the bad angel4  ,the ,new ,world1 into 

which they had so valiantly pushed the  
outposts of  the ,church militant1 was  
to them1 not ,god's world1 but the      
,devil's4  ,they  stood there on their  
little patch of sanctified territory    
like the  gamekeeper of ,der ,freischutz
 in the charmed circle2 within were     
prayer  and fasting1 unmelodious        
psalmody and solemn hewing of hereties1 
before  the ,lord in ,gilgal2 without   
were dogs and sorcerers1 red children of
  perdition1 ,powah wizards1 and the    
foul fiend4  ,in their grand old        
wilderness1 broken by fair1 broad rivers
 and dotted with loveliest lakes1       
hanging with festoons of leaf1 and vine1
 and flower1 the steep sides of         
mountains whose naked tops rose over the
 surrounding verdure like altars  of a  
giant world1--with its early summer     
greenness and the many-colored  wonder  
of its autumn1 all glowing as if the    
rainbows of a summer shower  had fallen 
upon it1 under the clear1 rich light of 
a sun to which the  misty day of their  

cold island was as moonlight1--they saw 
no beauty1  they recognized no holy     
revelation4  ,it was to them terrible as
 the  forest which ,dante traversed on  
his way to the world of pain4  ,every   
advance step they made was upon the     
enemy's territory4  ,and one has only   
to read the writings of the two ,mathers
 to perceive that that enemy was  to    
them no metaphysical abstraction1 no    
scholastic definition1 no figment  of a 
poetical fancy1 but a living1 active    
reality1 alternating between  the       
sublimest possibilities of evil and the 
lowest details of mean  mischief2 now a 
tricksy spirit1 disturbing the          
good-wife's platters or  soiling her    
newwashed linen1 and anon riding the    
storm-cloud and pointing  its           
thunder-bolts2 for1 as the elder ,mather
 pertinently inquires1 how  else is it  
that our meeting-houses are burned by   
the lightning8  ,what  was it1 for      
instance1 but his subtlety which1       
speaking through the lips  of ,madame   

,hutchinson1 confuted the judges of     
,israel and put to their  wits' end the 
godly ministers of the ,puritan ,zion8  
,was not his evil  finger manifested in 
the contumacious heresy of ,roger       
,williams8  ,who else  gave the ,jesuit 
missionaries--locusts from the pit as   
they were--such a  hold on the          
affections of those very savages who    
would not have scrupled  to hang the    
scalp of pious ,father ,wilson himself  
from their girdles8  ,to  the vigilant  
eye of ,puritanism was he not alike     
discernible in the light  wantonness of 
the ,may-pole revellers1 beating time   
with the cloven foot  to the vain music 
of obscene dances1 and in the silent1   
hat-canopied  gatherings of the         
,quakers1 the most melancholy of the    
sects1 as ,dr4  ,moore calls them8      
,perilous and glorious was it1 under    
these  circumstances1 for such men as   
,mather and ,stoughton to gird up their 
stout loins and do battle with the      
unmeasured1 all-surrounding terror4     

,let no man lightly estimate their      
spiritual knight-errantry4  ,the heroes 
of old romance1 who went about smiting  
dragons1 lopping giants' heads1  and    
otherwise pleasantly diverting          
themselves1 scarcely deserve mention  in
 comparison with our ,new ,england      
champions1 who1 trusting not to carnal  
sword and lance1 in a contest with      
principalities and powers1 spirits  that
 live throughout1 ,vital in every part1 
not as frail man1--  encountered their  
enemies with weapons forged by the stern
 spiritual  armorer of ,geneva4  ,the   
life of ,cotton ,mather is as full of   
romance as  the legends of ,ariosto or  
the tales of ,beltenebros and           
,florisando in  ,amadis de ,gaul4  ,all 
about him was enchanted ground2 devils  
glared on him  in his closet wrestlings2
 portents blazed in the heavens above   
him2  while he1 commissioned and set    
apart as the watcher1 and warder1 and   
spiritual champion of the chosen people1
 stood ever ready for battle1  with open

 eye and quick ear for the detection of 
the subtle approaches of  the enemy4    
,no wonder is it that the spirits of    
evil combined against  him2 that they   
beset him as they did of old ,st4       
,anthony2 that they shut  up the bowels 
of the ,general ,court against his      
long-cherished hope of the  presidency  
of ,old ,harvard2 that they even had the
 audacity to lay hands  on his          
anti-diabolical manuscripts1 or that ye 
divil that was in ye girl  flewe at and 
tore his grand sermon against witches4  
,how edifying is his  account of the    
young bewitched maiden whom he kept in  
his house for the  purpose of making    
experiments which should satisfy all    
obstinate  ,sadducees6  ,how            
satisfactory to orthodoxy and           
confounding to heresy is  the nice      
discrimination of ye divil in ye girl1  
who was choked in  attempting to read   
the ,catechism1 yet found no trouble    
with a pestilent  ,quaker pamphlet2 who 
was quiet and good-humored when the     

worthy ,doctor  was idle1 but went into 
paroxysms of rage when he sat down to   
indite his  diatribes against witches   
and familiar spirits6         ,the      
,quakers appear to have1 at a           
comparatively early period1             
emancipated themselves in a great degree
 from the grosser       superstitions of
 their times4  ,william ,penn1 indeed1  
had a law in       his colony against   
witchcraft2 but the first trial of a    
person       suspected of this offence  
seems to have opened his eyes to its    
absurdity4  ,george ,fox1 judging from  
one or two passages in his              
journal1 appears to have held the common
 opinions of the day on the             
subject2 yet when confined in ,doomsdale
 dungeon1 on being told that       the  
place was haunted and that the spirits  
of those who had died       there still 
walked at night in his room1 he replied1
 that if all       the spirits and      
devils in hell were there1 he was over  
them in the       power of ,god1 and    

feared no such thing4         ,the      
enemies of the ,quakers1 in order to    
account for the power and               
influence of their first preachers1     
accused them of magic and       sorcery4
  ,the ,priest of ,wakefield1 says      
,george ,fox 7one trusts he       does  
not allude to our old friend the        
,vicar71 raised many wicked             
slanders upon me1 as that ,i carried    
bottles with me and made people         
drink1 and that made them follow me2    
that ,i rode upon a great black         
horse1 and was seen in one county upon  
my black horse in one hour1       and in
 the same hour in another county        
fourscore miles off4  ,in his           
account of the mob which beset him at   
,walney ,island1 he says3 ,when       ,i
 came to myself ,i saw ,james           
,lancaster's wife throwing stones at my 
face1 and her husband lying over me to  
keep off the blows and       stones2 for
 the people had persuaded her that ,i   
had bewitched her       husband4        

,cotton ,mather attributes the plague of
 witchcraft in ,new ,england in         
about an equal degree to the ,quakers   
and ,indians4  ,the first of the        
sect who visited ,boston1 ,ann ,austin  
and ,mary ,fisher1--the latter a        
young girl1--were seized upon by        
,deputy-,governor ,bellingham1 in the   
absence of ,governor ,endicott1 and     
shamefully stripped naked for the       
purpose of ascertaining whether they    
were witches with the ,devil's          
mark on them4  ,in #affb ,elizabeth     
,horton and ,joan ,broksop1 two         
venerable preachers of the sect1 were   
arrested in ,boston1 charged by         
,governor ,endicott with being witches1 
and carried two days' journey       into
 the woods1 and left to the tender      
mercies of ,indians and       wolves4   
,all this is pleasant enough now2 we can
 laugh at the ,doctor and his  demons2  
but little matter of laughter was it to 
the victims on ,salem  ,hill2 to the    
prisoners in the jails2 to poor ,giles  

,corey1 tortured with  planks upon his  
breast1 which forced the tongue from his
 mouth and his  life from his old1      
palsied body2 to bereaved and quaking   
families2 to a  whole community1        
priest-ridden and spectresmitten1       
gasping in the sick  dream of a         
spiritual nightmare and given over to   
believe a lie4  ,we may  laugh1 for the 
grotesque is blended with the horrible2 
but we must also  pity and shudder4     
,the clear-sighted men who confronted   
that delusion in  its own age1          
disenchanting1 with strong good sense   
and sharp ridicule1  their spell-bound  
generation1--the ,german ,wierus1 the   
,italian ,d',apone1  the ,english ,scot1
 and the ,new ,england ,calef1--deserve 
high honors as the  benefactors of their
 race4  ,it is true they were branded   
through life as  infidels and damnable  
,sadducees2 but the truth which they    
uttered  lived after them1 and wrought  
out its appointed work1 for it had a    
,divine  commission and ,godspeed4      

,the oracles are dumb2            ,no   
voice nor hideous hum  ,runs through the
 arched roof in words deceiving2        
,apollo from his shrine            ,can 
now no more divine1  ,with hollow shriek
 the steep of ,delphns leaving4         
,dimmer and dimmer1 as the generations  
pass away1 this tremendous terror1  this
 all-pervading espionage of evil1 this  
active incarnation of  motiveless       
malignity1 presents itself to the       
imagination4  ,the once  imposing and   
solemn rite of exorcism has become      
obsolete in the ,church4  ,men are no   
longer1 in any quarter of the world1    
racked or pressed under  planks to      
extort a confession of diabolical       
alliance4  ,the heretic now  laughs to  
scorn the solemn farce of the ,church   
which1 in the name of the               
,all-,merciful1 formally delivers him   
over to ,satan4  ,and for the sake of   
abused and long-cheated humanity let us 
rejoice that it is so1 when we  consider
 how for long1 weary centuries the      

millions of professed  ,christendom     
stooped1 awestricken1 under the yoke of 
spiritual and  temporal despotism1      
grinding on from generation to          
generation in a  despair which had      
passed complaining1 because             
superstition1 in alliance  with tyranny1
 had filled their upward pathway to     
freedom with shapes of  terror1--the    
spectres of ,god's wrath to the         
uttermost1 the fiend1 and  that torment 
the smoke of which rises forever4       
,through fear of a ,satan  of the       
future1--a sort of ban-dog of           
priestcraft1 held in its leash and      
ready to be let loose upon the disputers
 of its authority1--our toiling         
brothers of past ages have permitted    
their human taskmasters to convert      
,god's beautiful world1 so adorned and  
fitted for the peace and happiness  of  
all1 into a great prison-house of       
suffering1 filled with the actual       
terrors which the imagination of the old
 poets gave to the realm of             

,rhadamanthus4  ,and hence1 while ,i    
would not weaken in the slightest       
degree the influence of that doctrine of
 future retribution1--the               
accountability of the spirit for the    
deeds done in the body1--the truth  of  
which reason1 revelation1 and conscience
 unite in attesting as the  necessary   
result of the preservation in another   
state of existence of the  soul's       
individuality and identity1 ,i must1    
nevertheless1 rejoice that the  many are
 no longer willing to permit the few1   
for their especial benefit1  to convert 
our common ,father's heritage into a    
present hell1 where1 in  return for     
undeserved suffering and toil           
uncompensated1 they can have  gracious  
and comfortable assurance of release    
from a future one4  ,better  is the fear
 of the ,lord than the fear of the      
,devil2 holier and more  acceptable the 
obedience of love and reverence than the
 submission of  slavish terror4  ,the   
heart which has felt the beauty of      

holiness1 which  has been in some       
measure attuned to the divine harmony   
which now1 as of  old in the angel-hymn 
of the ,advent1 breathes of glory to    
,god1 peace on  earth1 and good-will to 
men1 in the serene atmosphere of that   
perfect  love which casteth out fear1   
smiles at the terrors which throng the  
sick  dreams of the sensual1 which draw 
aside the nightcurtains of guilt1 and   
startle with whispers of revenge the    
oppressor of the poor4    ,there is a   
beautiful moral in one of ,fouque's     
miniature romances1--,die               
,kohlerfamilie4  ,the fierce spectre1   
which rose giant-like1 in its  bloodred 
mantle1 before the selfish and mercenary
 merchant1 ever  increasing in size and1
 terror with the growth of evil and     
impure thought  in the mind of the      
latter1 subdued by prayer1 and          
penitence1 and patient  watchfulness    
over the heart's purity1 became a loving
 and gentle  visitation of soft light   
and meekest melody2 a beautiful         

radiance1 at  times hovering and flowing
 on before the traveller1 illuminating  
the  bushes and foliage of the          
mountain-forest2 a lustre strange and   
lovely1  such as the soul may conceive1 
but no words express4  ,he felt its     
power  in the depths of his being1--felt
 it like the mystic breathing of the    
,spirit of ,god4    ,the excellent      
,baxter and other pious men of his day  
deprecated in all  sincerity and        
earnestness the growing disbelief in    
witchcraft and  diabolical agency1      
fearing that mankind1 losing faith in a 
visible ,satan  and in the supernatural 
powers of certain paralytic old women1  
would  diverge into universal           
skepticism4  ,it is one of the saddest  
of sights to  see these good men        
standing sentry at the horn gate of     
dreams2 attempting  against the most    
discouraging odds to defend their poor  
fallacies from  profane and irreverent  
investigation2 painfully pleading       
doubtful  ,scripture and still more     

doubtful tradition in behalf of detected
 and  convicted superstitions tossed on 
the sharp horns of ridicule1 stretched  
on the rack of philosophy1 or perishing 
under the exhausted receiver of         
science4  ,a clearer knowledge of the   
aspirations1 capacities1 and            
necessities of the human soul1 and of   
the revelations which the infinite      
,spirit makes to it1 not only through   
the senses by the phenomena of  outward 
nature1 but by that inward and direct   
communion which1 under  different names1
 has been recognized by the devout and  
thoughtful of  every religious sect and 
school of philosophy1 would have saved  
them much  anxious labor and a good deal
 of reproach withal in their hopeless   
championship of error4  ,the witches of 
,baxter and the black man of  ,mather   
have vanished2 belief in them is no     
longer possible on the part of  sane    
men4  ,but this mysterious universe1    
through which1 half veiled in  its own  
shadow1 our dim little planet is        

wheeling1 with its star worlds  and     
thought-wearying spaces1 remains4       
,nature's mighty miracle is still  over 
and around us2 and hence awe1 wonder1   
and reverence remain to be the          
inheritance of humanity2 still are there
 beautiful repentances and holy         
deathbeds2 and still over the soul's    
darkness and confusion rises1  starlike1
 the great idea of duty4  ,by higher and
 better influences than  the poor       
spectres of superstition1 man must      
henceforth be taught to  reverence the  
,invisible1 and1 in the consciousness of
 his own weakness1  and sin1 and sorrow1
 to lean with childlike trust on the    
wisdom and mercy  of an overruling      
,providence1--walking by faith through  
the shadow and  mystery1 and cheered by 
the remembrance that1 whatever may be   
his  apparent allotment1--        ,god's
 greatness flows around our             
incompleteness2       ,round our        
restlessness ,his rest4    ,it is a sad 
spectacle to find the glad tidings of   

the ,christian faith and  its reasonable
 service of devotion transformed by     
fanaticism and  credulity into          
superstitious terror and wild           
extravagance2 but1 if  possible1 there  
is one still sadder4  ,it is that of men
 in our own time  regarding with        
satisfaction such evidences of human    
weakness1 and  professing to find in    
them new proofs of their miserable      
theory of a  godless universe1 and new  
occasion for sneering at sincere        
devotion as  cant1 and humble reverence 
as fanaticism4  ,alas6  in comparison   
with  such1 the religious enthusiast1   
who in the midst of his delusion still  
feels that he is indeed a living soul   
and an heir of immortality1 to whom     
,god speaks from the immensities of ,his
 universe1 is a sane man4  ,better  is  
it1 in a life like ours1 to be even a   
howling dervis or a dancing  ,shaker1   
confronting imaginary demons with       
,thalaba's talisman of faith1  than to  
lose the consciousness of our own       

spiritual nature1 and look upon         
ourselves as mere brute masses of animal
 organization1--barnacles on a  dead    
universe2 looking into the dull grave   
with no hope beyond it2 earth  gazing   
into earth1 and saying to corruption1   
,thou art my father1 and to  the worm1  
,thou art my sister4                    
,,hamlet ,,among ,,the ,,graves4        
#ahdd4    ,,an amiable enthusiast1      
immortal in his beautiful little romance
 of ,paul  and ,virginia1 has given us  
in his ,miscellanies a chapter on the   
,pleasures  of ,tombs1--a title singular
 enough1 yet not inappropriate2 for the 
meek-  spirited and sentimental author  
has given1 in his own flowing and       
eloquent language1 its vindication4     
,there is1 says he1 a voluptuous        
melancholy arising from the             
contemplation of tombs2 the result1 like
  every other attractive sensation1 of  
the harmony of two opposite             
principles1--from the sentiment of our  
fleeting life and that of our           

immortality1 which unite in view of the 
last habitation of mankind4  ,a  tomb is
 a monument erected on the confines of  
two worlds4  ,it first  presents to us  
the end of the vain disquietudes of life
 and the image of  everlasting repose2  
it afterwards awakens in us the confused
 sentiment of  a blessed immortality1   
the probabilities of which grow stronger
 and  stronger in proportion as the     
person whose memory is recalled was a   
virtuous character4    ,it is from this 
intellectual instinct1 therefore1 in    
favor of virtue1  that the tombs of     
great men inspire us with a veneration  
so affecting4  ,from the same sentiment1
 too1 it is that those which contain    
objects that  have been lovely excite so
 much pleasing regret2 for the          
attractions of  love arise entirely out 
of the appearances of virtue4  ,hence it
 is that  we are moved at the sight of  
the small hillock which covers the ashes
 of  an infant1 from the recollection of
 its innocence2 hence it is that we  are

 melted into tenderness on contemplating
 the tomb in which is laid to  repose a 
young female1 the delight and the hope  
of her family by reason  of her virtues4
  ,in order to give interest to such    
monuments1 there is no  need of bronzes1
 marbles1 and gildings4  ,the more      
simple they are1 the  more energy they  
communicate to the sentiment of         
melancholy4  ,they  produce a more      
powerful effect when poor rather than   
rich1 antique rather  than modern1 with 
details of misfortune rather than titles
 of honor1 with  the attributes of      
virtue rather than with those of power4 
,it is in the  country principally that 
their impression makes itself felt in a 
very  lively manner4  ,a simple1        
unoruamented grave there causes more    
tears to  flow than the gaudy splendor  
of a cathedral interment4  ,there it is 
that  grief assumes sublimity2 it       
ascends with the aged yews in the       
churchyard2  it extends with the        
surrounding hills and plains2 it allies 

itself with  all the effects of         
,nature1--with the dawning of the       
morning1 with the  murmuring of wind1   
with the setting of the sun1 and with   
the darkness of  the night4    ,not long
 since ,i took occasion to visit the    
cemetery near this city4  ,it  is a     
beautiful location for a city of the    
dead1--a tract of some forty  or fifty  
acres on the eastern bank of the        
,concord1 gently undulating1 and        
covered with a heavy growth of          
forest-trees1 among which the white oak 
is  conspicuous4  ,the ground beneath   
has been cleared of undergrowth1 and is 
marked here and there with monuments and
 railings enclosing family  lots4  ,it  
is a quiet1 peaceful spot2 the city1    
with its crowded mills1  its busy       
streets and teeming life1 is hidden from
 view2 not even a  solitary farm-house  
attracts the eye4  ,all is still and    
solemn1 as befits  the place where man  
and nature lie down together2 where     
leaves of the  great lifetree1 shaken   

down by death1 mingle and moulder with  
the frosted  foliage of the autumnal    
forest4    ,yet the contrast of busy    
life is not wanting4  ,the ,lowell and  
,boston  ,railroad crosses the river    
within view of the cemetery2 and1       
standing  there in the silence and      
shadow1 one can see the long trains     
rushing  along their iron pathway1      
thronged with living1 breathing         
humanity1--the  young1 the beautiful1   
the gay1--busy1 wealth-seeking manhood  
of middle  years1 the child at its      
mother's knee1 the old man with whitened
 hairs1  hurrying on1 on1--car after    
car1--like the generations of man       
sweeping  over the track of time to     
their last 'still resting-place4    ,it 
is not the aged and the sad of heart who
 make this a place of favorite  resort4 
,the young1 the buoyant1 the            
light-hearted1 come and linger among    
these flower-sown graves1 watching the  
sunshine falling in broken light  upon  
these cold1 white marbles1 and listening

 to the song of birds in  these leafy   
recesses4  ,beautiful and sweet to the  
young heart is the  gentle shadow of    
melancholy which here falls upon it1    
soothing1 yet sad1  --a sentiment midway
 between joy and sorrow4  ,how true is  
it1 that1 in the  language of           
,wordsworth1--             ,in youth we 
love the darkling lawn1                 
,brushed by the owlet's wing2           
,then evening is preferred to dawn1     
,and autumn to the spring4              
,sad fancies do we then affect1         
,in luxury of disrespect            ,to 
our own prodigal excess            ,of  
too familiar happiness4    ,the         
,chinese1 from the remotest antiquity1  
have adorned and decorated  their       
grave-grounds with shrubs and sweet     
flowers1 as places of popular  resort4  
,the ,turks have their graveyards       
planted with trees1 through  which the  
sun looks in upon the turban stones of  
the faithful1 and  beneath which the    
relatives of the dead sit in cheerful   

converse through  the long days of      
summer1 in all the luxurious quiet and  
happy  indifference of the indolent     
,east4  ,most of the visitors whom ,i   
met at  the ,lowell cemetery wore       
cheerful faces2 some sauntered          
laughingly along1  apparently unaffected
 by the associations of the place2 too  
full1  perhaps1 of life1 and energy1 and
 high hope to apply to themselves the   
stern and solemn lesson which is taught 
even by these flower-garlanded  mounds4 
,but1 for myself1 ,i confess that ,i am 
always awed by the presence  of the     
dead4  ,i cannot jest above the         
gravestone4  ,my spirit is silenced  and
 rebuked before the tremendous mystery  
of which the grave reminds me1  and     
involuntarily pays3             ,the    
deep reverence taught of old1           
,the homage of man's heart to death4    
,even ,nature's cheerful air1 and sun1  
and birdvoices only serve to remind  me 
that there are those beneath who have   
looked on the same green leaves  and    

sunshine1 felt the same soft breeze upon
 their cheeks1 and listened  to the same
 wild music of the woods for the last   
time4  ,then1 too1 comes  the saddening 
reflection1 to which so many have given 
expression1 that  these trees will put  
forth their leaves1 the slant sunshine  
still fall  upon green meadows and banks
 of flowers1 and the song of the birds  
and  the ripple of waters still be heard
 after our eyes and ears have closed    
forever4  ,it is hard for us to realize 
this4  ,we are so accustomed to  look   
upon these things as a part of our life 
environment that it seems  strange that 
they should survive us4  ,tennyson1 in  
his exquisite  metaphysical poem of the 
,two ,voices1 has given utterance to    
this  sentiment3--             ,alas6   
though ,i should die1 ,i know           
,that all about the thorn will blow     
,in tufts of rosy-tinted snow4          
,not less the bee will range her cells1 
,the furzy prickle fire the dells1      
,the foxglove cluster dappled bells4    

,the pleasures of the tombs6            
,undoubtedly1 in the language of the    
,idumean1 seer1 there are many who      
rejoice exceedingly and are glad when   
they can find the grave2 who long for it
 as the servant earnestly  desireth the 
shadow4  ,rest1 rest to the sick heart  
and the weary brain1  to the long       
afflicted and the hopeless1--rest on the
 calm bosom of our  common mother4      
,welcome to the tired ear1 stunned and  
confused with  life's jarring discords1 
the everlasting silence2 grateful to the
 weary  eyes which have seen evil1 and  
not good1 the everlasting shadow4       
,yet over all hangs the curtain of a    
deep mystery1--a curtain lifted only  on
 one side by the hands of those who are 
passing under its solemn  shadow4  ,no  
voice speaks to us from beyond it1      
telling of the unknown  state2 no hand  
from within puts aside the dark drapery 
to reveal the  mysteries towards which  
we are all moving4  ,man giveth up the  
ghost2 and  where is he8    ,thanks to  

our ,heavenly ,father1 ,he has not left 
us altogether without an  answer to this
 momentous question4  ,over the         
blackness of darkness a  light is       
shining4  ,the valley of the shadow of  
death is no longer a land  of darkness  
and where the light is as darkness4     
,the presence of a  serene and holy life
 pervades it4  ,above its pale tombs and
 crowded  burial-places1 above the wail 
of despairing humanity1 the voice of    
,him  who awakened life and beauty      
beneath the grave-clothes of the tomb at
  ,bethany is heard proclaiming1 ,i am  
the ,resurrection and the ,life4  ,we   
know not1 it is true1 the conditions of 
our future life2 we know not what  it is
 to pass fromm this state of being to   
another2 but before us in that  dark    
passage has gone the ,man of ,nazareth1 
and the light of ,his footsteps  lingers
 in the path4  ,where ,he1 our ,brother 
in ,his humanity1 our ,redeemer  in ,his
 divine nature1 has gone1 let us not    
fear to follow4  ,he who  ordereth all  

aright will uphold with ,his own great  
arm the frail spirit  when its          
incarnation is ended2 and it may be1    
that1 in language which ,i  have        
elsewhere used1              --when     
,time's veil shall fall asunder1        
,the soul may know            ,no       
fearful change nor sudden wonder1       
,nor sink the weight of mystery under1  
,but with the upward rise and with the  
vastness grow4              ,and all we 
shrink from now may seem            ,no 
new revealing2            ,familiar as  
our childhood's stream1            ,or  
pleasant memory of a dream1             
,the loved and cherished past upon the  
new life stealing4              ,serene 
and mild the untried light              
,may have its dawning2            ,as   
meet in summer's northern night         
,the evening gray and dawning white1    
,the sunset hues of ,time blend with the
 soul's new morning4                    
,,swedenborg                            
#ahdd4    ,,there are times when1       

looking only on the surface of things1  
one is  almost ready to regard ,lowell  
as a sort of sacred city of             
,mammon1--the  ,benares of gain3 its    
huge mills1 temples2 its crowded        
dwellings1 lodging-  places of disciples
 and proselytes within the gate2 its    
warehouses1  stalls for the sale of     
relics4  ,a very mean idol-worship1 too1
 unrelieved  by awe and reverence1--a   
selfish1 earthward-looking devotion to  
the  least-erected spirit that fell from
 paradise4  ,i grow weary of seeing  man
 and mechanism reduced to a common      
level1 moved by the same impulse1       
answering to the same bell-call4  ,a    
nightmare of materialism broods over    
all4  ,i long at times to hear a voice  
crying through the streets like  that of
 one of the old prophets proclaiming the
 great first truth1--that  the ,lord    
alone is ,god4    ,yet is there not     
another side to the picture8  ,high over
 sounding  workshops spires glisten in  
the sun1--silent fingers pointing       

heavenward4  ,the workshops themselves  
are instinct with other and subtler     
processes  than cotton-spinning or      
carpet-weaving4  ,each human being who  
watches  beside jack or power loom feels
 more or less intensely that it is a    
solemn thing to live4  ,here are sin and
 sorrow1 yearnings for lost peace1      
outgushing gratitude of forgiven        
spirits1 hopes and fears1 which stretch 
beyond the horizon of time into         
eternity4  ,death is here4  ,the        
graveyard  utters its warning4  ,over   
all bends the eternal heaven in its     
silence and  mystery4  ,nature1 even    
here1 is mightier than ,art1 and ,god is
 above all4  ,underneath the din of     
labor and the sounds of traffic1 a      
voice1 felt  rather than beard1 reaches 
the heart1 prompting the same fearful   
questions which stirred the soul of the 
world's oldest poet1--,if a man  die1   
shall he live again8  ,man giveth up the
 ghost1 and where is he8  ,out of the   
depths of burdened and weary hearts     

comes up the agonizing  inquiry1 ,what  
shall ,i do to be saved8  ,who shall    
deliver me from the  body of this death8
    ,as a matter of course1 in a city   
like this1 composed of all classes of   
our many-sided population1 a great      
variety of religious sects have their   
representatives in ,lowell4  ,the young 
city is dotted over with steeple        
houses1 most of them of the ,yankee     
order of architecture4  ,the            
,episcopalians have a house of worship  
on ,merrimac ,street1--a pile of dark   
stone1 with low ,gothic doors and arched
 windows4  ,a plat of grass lies        
between it and the dusty street2 and    
near it stands the dwelling-house       
intended for the minister1 built of the 
same material as the church and         
surrounded by trees and shrubbery4  ,the
 attention of the stranger is also      
attracted by another consecrated        
building on the hill slope of           
,belvidere1--one of ,irving's a shingle 
palaces1 painted in imitation of        

stone1--a great wooden sham1 whelked and
 horned with pine spires and  turrets1 a
 sort of whittled representation of the 
many-beaded beast of  the ,apocalypse4  
,in addition to the established sects   
which have reared their visible  altars 
in the ,city of ,spindles1 there are    
many who have not yet marked  the       
boundaries or set up the pillars and    
stretched out the curtains of  their    
sectarian tabernacles2 who1 in halls and
 upper chambers and in  the solitude of 
their own homes1 keep alive the spirit  
of devotion1 and1  wrapping closely     
around them the mantles of their order1 
maintain the  integrity of its          
peculiarities in the midst of an        
unbelieving generation4    ,not long    
since1 in company with a friend who is a
 regular attendant1 ,i  visited the     
little meeting of the disciples of      
,emanuel ,swedenborg4  ,passing over    
,chapel ,hill and leaving the city      
behind us1 we reached the  stream which 
winds through the beautiful woodlands at

 the ,powder ,mills  and mingles its    
waters with the ,concord4  ,the hall in 
which the followers  of the ,gothland   
seer meet is small and plain1 with      
unpainted seats1 like  those of the     
people called ,quakers1 and looks out   
upon the still woods  and that willowy  
stream which turns a mill4  ,an organ of
 small size1  yet1 as it seemed to me1  
vastly out of proportion with the room1 
filled  the place usually occupied by   
the pulpit1 which was here only a plain 
desk1 placed modestly by the side of it4
  ,the congregation have no  regular    
preacher1 but the exercises of reading  
the ,scriptures1 prayers1  and          
selections from the ,book of ,worship   
were conducted by one of the lay        
members4  ,a manuscript sermon1 by a    
clergyman of the order in ,boston1 was  
read1 and apparently listened to with   
much interest4  ,it was well written    
and deeply imbued with the doctrines of 
the church4  ,i was impressed by  the   
gravity and serious earnestness of the  

little audience4  ,there were  here no  
circumstances calculated to excite      
enthusiasm1 nothing of the  pomp of     
religious rites and ceremonies2 only a  
settled conviction of the  truth of the 
doctrines of their faith could have thus
 brought them  together4  ,i could      
scarcely make the fact a reality1 as ,i 
sat among them1  that here1 in the midst
 of our bare and hard utilities1 in the 
very  centre and heart of our mechanical
 civilization1 were devoted and         
undoubting believers in the mysterious  
and wonderful revelations of the        
,swedish prophet1--revelations which    
look through all external and outward   
manifestations to inward realities2     
which regard all objects in the world   
of sense only as the types and symbols  
of the world of spirit2 literally       
unmasking the universe and laying bare  
the profoundest mysteries of life4      
,the character and writings of ,emanuel 
,swedenborg constitute one of the       
puzzles and marvels of metaphysics and  

psychology4  ,a man remarkable for  his 
practical activities1 an ardent scholar 
of the exact sciences1 versed  in all   
the arcana of physics1 a skilful and    
inventive mechanician1 he has  evolved  
from the hard and gross materialism of  
his studies a system of  transcendent   
spiritualism4  ,from his aggregation of 
cold and apparently  lifeless practical 
facts beautiful and wonderful           
abstractions start forth  like blossoms 
on the rod of the ,levite4  ,a          
politician and a courtier1 a  man of the
 world1 a mathematician engaged in the  
soberest details of the  science1 he has
 given to the world1 in the simplest and
 most natural  language1 a series of    
speculations upon the great mystery of  
being3  detailed1 matter-of-fact        
narratives of revelations from the      
spiritual  world1 which at once appall  
us by their boldness1 and excite our    
wonder  at their extraordinary method1  
logical accuracy1 and perfect           
consistency4  ,these remarkable         

speculations--the workings of a mind in 
which a powerful  imagination allied    
itself with superior reasoning          
faculties1 the  marvellous current of   
whose thought ran only in the diked and 
guarded  channels of mathematical       
demonstration--he uniformly speaks of as
  facts4  ,his perceptions of           
abstractions were so intense that they  
seem  to have reached that point where  
thought became sensible to sight as well
  as feeling4  ,what he thought1 that he
 saw4    ,he relates his visions of the 
spiritual world as he would the         
incidents  of a walk round his own city 
of ,stockholm4  ,one can almost see him 
in his  brown coat and velvet breeches1 
lifting his cocked hat to an angel1  or 
keeping an unsavory spirit at arm's     
length with that gold-headed  cane which
 his ,london host describes as his      
inseparable companion in  walking4  ,his
 graphic descriptions have always an air
 of naturalness and  probability2 yet   
there is a minuteness of detail at times

 almost  bordering on the ludicrous4    
,in his ,memorable ,relations he        
manifests  nothing of the imagination of
 ,milton1 overlooking the closed gates  
of  paradise1 or following the pained   
fiend in his flight through chaos2      
nothing of ,dante's terrible imagery    
appalls us2 we are led on from heaven   
to heaven very much as ,defoe leads us  
after his shipwrecked ,crusoe4  ,we  can
 scarcely credit the fact that we are   
not traversing our lower planet2  and   
the angels seem vastly like our common  
acquaintances4  ,we seem to  recognize  
the ,john ,smiths1 and ,mr4 ,browns1 and
 the old familiar  faces of our mundane 
habitation4  ,the evil principle in     
,swedenborg's  picture is1 not the      
colossal and massive horror of the      
,inferno1 nor that  stern wrestler with 
fate who darkens the canvas of ,paradise
 ,lost1 but an  aggregation of poor1    
confused spirits1 seeking rest and      
finding none save  in the unsavory      
atmosphere of the falses4  ,these small 

fry of devils  remind us only of certain
 unfortunate fellows whom we have known1
 who  seem incapable of living in good  
and wholesome society1 and who are      
manifestly given over to believe a lie4 
,thus it is that the very  heavens and  
hells of the ,swedish mystic seem to be 
of the earth1  earthy4  ,he brings the  
spiritual world into close analogy with 
the  material one4    ,in this hurried  
paper ,i have neither space nor leisure 
to attempt an  analysis of the great    
doctrines which underlie the revelations
 of  ,swedenborg4  ,his remarkably      
suggestive books are becoming familiar  
to the  reading and reflecting portion  
of the community4  ,they are not        
unworthy  of study2 but1 in the language
 of another1 ,i would say1 ,emulate     
,swedenborg in his exemplary life1 his  
learning1 his virtues1 his  independent 
thought1 his desire for wisdom1 his love
 of the good and  true2 aim to be his   
equal1 his superior1 in these things2   
but call no man  your master4           

,,the ,,better ,,land4                  
#ahdd4    ,,the shapings of our heavens 
are the modifications of our            
constitution1  said ,charles ,lamb1 in  
his reply to ,southey's attack upon him 
in the  ,quarterly ,review4    ,he who  
is infinite in love as well as wisdom   
has revealed to us the fact  of a future
 life1 and the fearfully important      
relation in which the  present stands to
 it4  ,the actual nature and conditions 
of that life ,he  has hidden from       
us1--no chart of the ocean of eternity  
is given us1--no  celestial guidebook or
 geography defines1 localizes1 and      
prepares us for  the wonders of the     
spiritual world4  ,hence imagination has
 a wide field  for its speculations1    
which1 so long as they do not positively
 contradict  the revelation of the      
,scriptures1 cannot be disproved4    ,we
 naturally enough transfer to our idea  
of heaven whatever we love and          
reverence on earth4  ,thither the       
,catholic carries in his fancy the      

imposing rites and time-honored         
solemnities of his worship4  ,there the 
,methodist sees his love-feasts and     
camp-meetings in the groves and by the  
still waters and green pastures of the  
blessed abodes4  ,the ,quaker1 in  the  
stillness of his self-communing1        
remembers that there was silence in     
heaven4    ,the ,churchman1 listening to
 the solemn chant of weal music or the  
deep  tones of the organ1 thinks of the 
song of the elders and the golden harps 
of the ,new ,jerusalem4    ,the heaven  
of the northern nations of ,europe was a
 gross and sensual  reflection of the   
earthly life of a barbarous and brutal  
people4    ,the ,indians of ,north      
,america had a vague notion of a sunset 
land1 a  beautiful paradise far in the  
west1 mountains and forests filled with 
deer and buffalo1 lakes and streams     
swarming with fishes1--the happy        
hunting-ground of souls4  ,in a late    
letter from a devoted missionary  among 
the ,western ,indians 7,paul ,blohm1 a  

converted ,jew7 we have noticed a       
beautiful illustration of this belief4  
,near the ,omaha mission-house1 on  a   
high luff1 was a solitary ,indian grave4
  ,one evening1  says the missionary1   
having come home with some cattle which 
,i had been  seeking1 ,i heard some one 
wailing2 and1 looking in the direction  
from  whence ,i proceeded1 ,i found it  
to be from the grave near our house4    
,in a  moment after a mourner rose up   
from a kneeling or lying posture1 and1  
turning to the setting sun1 stretched   
forth his arms in prayer and            
supplication with an intensity and      
earnestness as though he would detain   
the splendid luminary from running his  
course4  ,with his body leaning  forward
 and his arms stretched towards the sun1
 he presented a most  striking figure of
 sorrow and petition4  ,it was solemnly 
awful4  ,he  seemed to me to be one of  
the ancients come forth to teach me how 
to  pray4    ,a venerable and worthy    
,new ,england clergyman1 on his         

death-bed1 just  before the close of his
 life1 declared that he was only        
conscious of an  awfully solemn and     
intense curiosity to know the great     
secret of death  and eternity4    ,the  
excellent ,dr4 ,nelson1 of ,missouri1   
was one who1 while on earth1  seemed to 
live another and higher life in the     
contemplation of infinite  purity and   
happiness4  ,a friend once related an   
incident concerning him  which made a   
deep impression upon my mind4  ,they had
 been travelling  through a summer's    
forenoon in the prairie1 and had lain   
down to rest  beneath a solitary tree4  
,the ,doctor lay for a long time1       
silently  looking upwards through the   
openings of the boughs into the still   
heavens1 when he repeated the following 
lines1 in a low tone1 as if  communing  
with himself in view of the wonders he  
described3--        ,o the joys that are
 there mortal eye bath not seen6        
,o the songs they sing there1 with      
hosannas between6       ,o the          

thrice-blessed song of the ,lamb and of 
,moses6       ,o brightness on          
brightness6  the pearl gate uncloses6   
,o white wings of angels6  ,o fields    
white with roses6       ,o white tents  
of peace1 where the rapt soul reposes   
,o the waters so still1 and the pastures
 so green6    ,the brief hints afforded 
us by the sacred writings concerning the
 better  land are inspiring and         
beautiful4  ,eye hath not seen1 nor the 
ear heard1  neither hath it entered into
 the heart of man to conceive of the    
good in  store for the righteous4       
,heaven is described as a quiet         
habitation1--a  rest remaining for the  
people of ,god4  ,tears shall be wiped  
away from all  eyes2 there shall be no  
more death1 neither sorrow nor crying1  
neither  shall there be any more pain4  
,to how many death-beds have these words
  spoken peace6  ,how many failing      
hearts have gathered strength from them 
to pass through the dark valley of      
shadows6    ,yet we should not forget   

that the kingdom of heaven is within2   
that it  is the state and affections of 
the soul1 the answer of a good          
conscience1  the sense of harmony with  
,god1 a condition of time as well as of 
eternity4  ,what is really momentous and
 all-important with us is the  present1 
by which the future is shaped and       
colored4  ,a mere change of  locality   
cannot alter the actual and intrinsic   
qualities of the soul4  ,guilt and      
remorse would make the golden streets of
 ,paradise intolerable  as the burning  
marl of the infernal abodes2 while      
purity and innocence  would transform   
hell itself into heaven4                
,,dora ,,green ,,well4    ,first        
published as an introduction to an      
,american edition of that  author's ,the
 ,patience of ,hope4    ,,there are men 
who1 irrespective of the names by which 
they are called in  the ,babel confusion
 of sects1 are endeared to the common   
heart of  ,christendom4  ,our doors open
 of their own accord to receive them4   

,for in  them we feel that in some faint
 degree1 and with many limitations1 the 
,divine is again manifested3 something  
of the ,infinite ,love shines out of    
them2 their very garments have healing  
and fragrance borrowed from the  bloom  
of ,paradise4  ,so of books4  ,there are
 volumes which perhaps contain  many    
things1 in the matter of doctrine and   
illustration1 to which our  reason does 
not assent1 but which nevertheless seem 
permeated with a  certain sweetness and 
savor of life4  ,they have the ,divine  
seal and  imprimatur2 they are fragrant 
with heart's-ease and asphodel2 tonic   
with  the leaves which are for the      
healing of the nations4  ,the           
meditations of  the devout monk of      
,kempen are the common heritage of      
,catholic and  ,protestant2 our hearts  
burn within us as we walk with          
,augustine under  ,numidian fig-trees in
 the gardens of ,verecundus2 ,feuelon   
from his  bishop's palace and ,john     
,woolman from his tailor's shop speak to

 us in  the same language4  ,the unknown
 author of that book which ,luther loved
  next to his ,bible1 the ,theologia    
,germanica1 is just as truly at home in 
this present age1 and in the ultra      
,protestantism of ,new ,england1 as in  
the heart of ,catholic ,europe1 and in  
the fourteenth century4  ,for such      
books know no limitations of time or    
place2 they have the perpetual          
freshness and fitness of truth2 they    
speak out of profound experience  heart 
answers to heart as we read them2 the   
spirit that is in man1 and  the         
inspiration that giveth understanding1  
bear witness to them4  ,the  bent and   
stress of their testimony are the same1 
whether written in this  or a past      
century1 by ,catholic or ,quaker3       
self-renunciation1--  reconcilement to  
the ,divine will through simple faith in
 the ,divine  goodness1 and the love of 
it which must needs follow its          
recognition1 the  life of ,christ made  
our own by self-denial and sacrifice1   

and the  fellowship of ,his suffering   
for the good of others1 the indwelling  
,spirit1 leading into all truth1 the    
,divine ,word nigh us1 even in our      
hearts4  ,they have little to do with   
creeds1 or schemes of doctrine1 or  the 
partial and inadequate plans of         
salvation invented by human  speculation
 and ascribed to ,him who1 it is        
sufficient to know1 is able to  save    
unto the uttermost all who trust in     
,him4  ,they insist upon simple  faith  
and holiness of life1 rather than       
rituals or modes of worship2 they  leave
 the merely formal1 ceremonial1 and     
temporal part of religion to  take care 
of itself1 and earnestly seek for the   
substantial1 the  necessary1 and the    
permanent4    ,with these legacies of   
devout souls1 it seems to me1 the little
 volume  herewith presented is not      
wholly unworthy of a place4  ,it assumes
 the  life and power of the gospel as a 
matter of actual experience2 it bears   
unmistakable evidence of a realization1 

on the part of its author1 of the       
truth1 that ,christianity is not simply 
historical and traditional1 but  present
 and permanent1 with its roots in the   
infinite past and its  branches in the  
infinite future1 the eternal spring and 
growth of ,divine  love2 not the dying  
echo of words uttered centuries ago1    
never to be  repeated1 but ,god's good  
tidings spoken afresh in every          
soul1--the  perennial fountain and      
unstinted outflow of wisdom and         
goodness1 forever  old and forever new4 
,it is a lofty plea for patience1 trust1
 hope1 and  holy confidence1 under the  
shadow1 as well as in the light1 of     
,christian  experience1 whether the     
cloud seems to rest on the tabernacle1  
or moves  guidingly forward4  ,it is    
perhaps too exclusively addressed to    
those who  minister in the inner        
sanctuary1 to be entirely intelligible  
to the  vaster number who wait in the   
outer courts2 it overlooks1 perhaps1 too
  much the solidarity and oneness of    

humanity2' but all who read it will     
feel its earnestness1 and confess to the
 singular beauty of its style1  the     
strong1 steady march of its argument1   
and the wide and varied  learning which 
illustrates it4         ,the good are   
not so good as ,i once thought1 nor the 
bad so evil1       and in all there is  
more for grace to make advantage of1 and
 more to       testify for ,god and     
holiness1 than ,i once                  
believed4--,baxter4    ,to use the      
language of one of its reviewers in the 
,scottish press3--    ,beauty there is  
in the book2 exquisite glimpses into the
 loveliness of  nature here and there   
shine out from its lines1--a charm      
wanting which  meditative writing always
 seems to have a defect2 beautiful      
gleams1 too1  there are of the choicest 
things of art1 and frequent allusions by
 the  way to legend or picture of the   
religious past2 so that1 while you read1
  you wander by a clear brook of        
thought1 coining far from the beautiful 

hills1 and winding away from beneath the
 sunshine of gladness and beauty  into  
the dense1 mysterious forest of human   
existence1 that loves to sing1  amid the
 shadow of human darkness and anguish1  
its music of heavenborn  consolation2   
bringing1 too1 its pure waters of       
cleansing and healing1 yet  evermore    
making its praise of holy affection and 
gladness2 while it is  still haunted by 
the spirits of prophet1 saint1 and poet1
 repeating  snatches of their strains1  
and is led on1 as by a spirit from      
above1 to  join the great river of      
,god's truth4  4  4  4    ,this is a    
book for ,christian men1 for the quiet  
hour of holy solitude1  when the heart  
longs and waits for access to the       
presence of the ,master4  ,the weary    
heart that thirsts amidst its conflicts 
and its toils for  refreshing water will
 drink eagerly of these sweet and       
refreshing words4  ,to thoughtful men   
and women1 especially such as have      
learnt any of the  patience of hope in  

the experiences of sorrow and trial1 we 
commend this  little volume most        
heartily and earnestly4      ,the       
,patience of ,hope fell into my hands   
soon after its publication in           
,edinburgh1 some two years ago4  ,i was 
at once impressed by its  extraordinary 
richness of language and imagery1--its  
deep and solemn tone  of meditation in  
rare combination with an eminently      
practical tendency1--  philosophy warm  
and glowing with love4  ,it will1       
perhaps1 be less the  fault of the      
writer than of her readers1 if they are 
not always able to  eliminate from her  
highly poetical and imaginative language
 the subtle  metaphysical verity or     
phase of religious experience which she 
seeks to  express1 or that they are     
compelled to pass over1 without         
appropriation1  many things which are   
nevertheless profoundly suggestive as   
vague  possibilities of the highest     
life4  ,all may not be able to find in  
some  of her ,scriptural citations the  

exact weight and significance so        
apparent  to her own mind4  ,she        
startles us1 at times1 by her novel     
applications of  familiar texts1 by     
meanings reflected upon them from her   
own spiritual  intuitions1 making the   
barren ,baca of the letter a well4  ,if 
the  rendering be questionable1 the     
beauty and quaint felicity of           
illustration  and comparison are        
unmistakable2 and we call to mind       
,augustine's saying1  that two or more  
widely varying interpretations of       
,scripture may be alike  true in        
themselves considered4  ,when one saith1
 ,moses meant as ,i do1'  and another   
saith1 ',nay1 but as ,i do1' ,i ask1    
more reverently1 ',why not  rather as   
both1 if both be true8    ,some minds1  
for instance1 will hesitate to assent to
 the use of certain  ,scriptural        
passages as evidence that ,he who is the
 ,light of men1 the ,way  and the       
,truth1 in the mystery of ,his economy1 
designedly delays1  withdraws1 and even 

hides ,himself from those who love and  
follow ,him4  ,they will prefer to      
impute spiritual dearth and darkness to 
human  weakness1 to the selfishness     
which seeks a sign for itself1 to evil  
imaginations indulged1 to the taint and 
burden of some secret sin1 or to  some  
disease and exaggeration of the         
conscience1 growing out of bodily       
infirmity1 rather than to any purpose on
 the part of our ,heavenly ,father  to  
perplex and mislead ,his children4  ,the
 sun does not shine the less  because   
one side of our planet is in darkness4  
,to borrow the words of  ,augustine     
,thou1 ,lord1 forsakest nothing thou    
hast made4  ,thou alone art  near to    
those even who remove far from thee4    
,let them turn and seek  thee1 for not  
as they have forsaken their ,creator    
hast thou forsaken thy  creation4  ,it  
is only by holding fast the thought of  
,infinite ,goodness1  and interpreting  
doubtful ,scripture and inward spiritual
 experience by  the light of that       

central idea1 that we can altogether    
escape the  dreadful conclusion of      
,pascal1 that revelation has been given 
us in  dubious cipher1 contradictory and
 mystical1 in order that some1 through  
miraculous aid1 may understand it to    
their salvation1 and others be          
mystified by it to their eternal loss4  
,i might mention other points of        
probable divergence between reader and  
writer1 and indicate more particularly  
my own doubtful parse and  hesitancy    
over some of these pages4  ,but it is   
impossible for me to make  one to whom  
,i am so deeply indebted an offender for
 a word or a  ,scriptural rendering4    
,on the grave and awful themes which she
 discusses1  ,i have little to say in   
the way of controversy4  ,i would       
listen1 rather  than criticise4  ,the   
utterances of pious souls1 in all ages1 
are to me  often like fountains in a    
thirsty land1 strengthening and         
refreshing1 yet  not without an         
after-taste of human frailty and        

inadequateness1 a slight  bitterness of 
disappointment and unsatisfied quest4   
,who has not felt at  times that the    
letter killeth1 that prophecies fail1   
and tongues cease to  edify1 and been   
ready to say1 with the author of the    
,imitation of ,christ3  ,speak1 ,lord1  
for thy servant heareth4  ,let not      
,moses nor the prophets  speak to me1   
but speak thou rather1 who art the      
,inspirer and ,enlightener  of all4  ,i 
am weary with reading and hearing many  
things2 let all  teachers hold their    
peace2 let all creatures keep silence3  
speak thou  alone to me4    ,the writer 
of ,the ,patience of ,hope had1 previous
 to its publication1  announced herself 
to a fit1 if small1 audience of earnest 
and thoughtful  ,christians1 in a little
 volume entitled1 ,a ,present ,heaven4  
,she has  recently published a          
collection of poems1 of which so        
competent a judge  as ,dr4 ,brown1 the  
author of ,horae ,subsecivae and ,rab   
and his ,friends1  thus speaks1 in the  

,north ,british ,review3--    ,such of  
our readers--a fast increasing          
number--as have read and enjoyed  ,the  
,patience of ,hope1 listening to the    
gifted nature which1 through  such deep 
and subtile thought1 and through        
affection and godliness still  deeper   
and more quick1 has charmed and soothed 
them1 will not be  surprised to learn   
that she is not only poetical1 but1 what
 is more1 a  poet1 and one as true as   
,george ,herbert and ,henry ,vaughan1 or
 our own  ,cowper2 for1 with all our    
admiration of the searching1 fearless   
speculation1 the wonderful power of     
speaking clearly upon dark and all  but 
unspeakable subjects1 the rich outcome  
of 'thoughts that wander  through       
eternity1' which increases every time we
 take up that wonderful  little book1 we
 confess we were surprised at the kind  
and the amount of  true poetic vis in   
these poems1 from the same fine and     
strong hand4  ,there is a personality   
and immediateness1 a sort of sacredness 

and  privacy1 as if they were overheard 
rather than read1 which gives to these  
remarkable productions a charm and a    
flavor all their own4  ,with no  effort1
 no consciousness of any end but that of
 uttering the inmost  thoughts and      
desires of the heart1 they flow out as  
clear1 as living1 as  gladdening as the 
wayside well1 coming from out the       
darkness of the  central depths1        
filtered into purity by time and travel4
  ,the waters are  copious1 sometimes to
 overflowing2 but they are always limpid
 and  unforced1 singing their own quiet 
tune1 not saddening1 though sometimes   
sad1 and their darkness not that of     
obscurity1 but of depth1 like that of   
the deep sea4    ,this is not a book to 
criticise or speak about1 and we give no
 extracts  from the longer1 and in this 
case1 we think1 the better poems4  ,in  
reading this ,cardiphonia set to music1 
we have been often reminded1 not  only  
of ,herbert and ,vaughan1 but of        
,keble1--a likeness of the spirit1 not  

of the letter2 for if there is any one  
poet who has given a bent to her  mind1 
it is ,wordsworth1--the greatest of all 
our century's poets1 both in  himself   
and in his power of making poets4    ,in
 the belief that whoever peruses the    
following pages will be  sufficiently   
interested in their author to be induced
 to turn back and  read over again1 with
 renewed pleasure1 extracts from her    
metrical  writings1 ,i copy from the    
volume so warmly commended a few brief  
pieces  and extracts from the longer    
poems4    ,here are three sonnets1 each 
a sermon in itself3--                   
,,ascending4    ,they who from          
mountain-peaks have gazed upon  ,the    
wide1 illimitable heavens have said1    
,that1 still receding as they climbed1  
outspread1  ,the blue vault deepens over
 them1 and1 one  ,by one drawn further  
back1 each starry sun  ,shoots down a   
feebler splendor overhead  ,so1         
,saviour1 as our mounting spirits1 led  
,along ,faith's living way to ,thee1    

have won  ,a nearer access1 up the      
difficult track  ,still pressing1 on    
that rarer atmosphere1  ,when low       
beneath us flits the cloudy rack1  ,we  
see ,thee drawn within a widening sphere
  ,of glory1 from us further1 further   
back1--  ,yet is it then because we are 
more near4                              
,,life ,,tapestry4    ,top long have ,i1
 methought1 with tearful eye  ,pored    
o'er this tangled work of mine1 and     
mused  ,above each stitch awry and      
thread confused2  ,now will ,i think on 
what in years gone by  ,i heard of them 
that weave rare tapestry  ,at royal     
looms1 and hew they constant use  ,to   
work on the rough side1 and still peruse
  ,the pictured pattern set above them  
high2  ,so will ,i set my copy high     
above1  ,and gaze and gaze till on my   
spirit grows  ,its gracious impress2    
till some line of love1  ,transferred   
upon my canvas1 faintly glows2  ,nor    
look too much on warp or woof1 provide  
,he whom ,i work for sees their fairer  

side6                                   
,,hope4    ,when ,i do think on thee1   
sweet ,hope1 and how  ,thou followest on
 our steps1 a coaxing child  ,oft       
chidden hence1 yet quickly reconciled1  
,still turning on us a glad1 beaming    
brow1  ,and red1 ripe lips for kisses3  
even now  ,thou mindest me of him1 the  
,ruler mild1  ,who led ,god's chosen    
people through the wild1  ,and bore with
 wayward murmurers1 meek as thou  ,that 
bringest waters from the ,rock1 with    
bread  ,of angels strewing ,earth for   
us6 like him  ,thy force abates not1 nor
 thine eye grows dim2  ,but still with  
milk and honey-droppings fed1  ,thou    
leadest to the ,promised ,country fair1 
,though thou1 like ,moses1 may'st not   
enter there      ,there is something    
very weird and striking in the following
 lines3--                               
,,gone4    ,alone1 at midnight as he    
knelt1 his spirit was aware  ,of        
,somewhat falling in between the silence
 and the prayer2    ,a bell's dull      

clangor that hath sped so far1 it faints
 and dies  ,so soon as it hath reached  
the ear whereto its errand lies2    ,and
 as he rose up from his knees1 his      
spirit was aware  ,of ,somewhat1        
forceful and unseen1 that sought to hold
 him there2    ,as of a ,form that stood
 behind1 and on his shoulders prest     
,both hands to stay his rising up1 and  
,somewhat in his breast1    ,in accents 
clearer far than words1 spake1 ,pray yet
 longer1 pray1  ,for one that ever      
prayed for thee this night hath passed  
away2    ,a soul1 that climbing hour by 
hour the silver-shining stair  ,that    
leads to ,god's great treasure-house1   
grew covetous2 and there    ,was stored 
no blessing and no boon1 for thee she   
did not claim1  7,so lowly1 yet         
importunate67 and ever with thy name    
,she link'd--that none in earth or      
heaven might hinder it or stay--  ,one  
,other ,name1 so strong1 that thine hath
 never missed its way4    ,this very    
night within my arms this gracious soul 

,i bore ,within the  ,gate1 where many a
 prayer of hers had gone before2    ,and
 where she resteth1 evermore one        
constant song they raise ,of ',holy1    
holy1' so that now ,i know not if she   
prays2    ,but for the voice of praise  
in ,heaven1 a voice of ,prayer hath gone
  ,from ,earth2 thy name upriseth now no
 more2 pray on1 pray on6      ,the      
following may serve as a specimen of the
 writer's lighter1 half-  playful strain
 of moralizing3--                       
,,seeking4    ,and where1 and among what
 pleasant places1  ,have ye been1 that  
ye come again  ,with your laps so full  
of flowers1 and your faces  ,like buds  
blown fresh after rain8    ,we have     
been1 said the children1 speaking  ,in  
their gladness1 as the birds chime1     
,all together1--we have been seeking    
,for the ,fairies of olden time2  ,for  
we thought1 they are only hidden1--     
,they would never surely go  ,from this 
green earth all unbidden1  ,and the     
children that love them so4  ,though    

they come not around us leaping1  ,as   
they did when they and the world  ,were 
young1 we shall find them sleeping      
,within some broad leaf curled2  ,for   
the lily its white doors closes  ,but   
only over the bee1  ,and we looked      
through the summer roses1  ,leaf by     
leaf1 so carefully4    ,but we thought1 
rolled up we shall find them  ,among    
mosses old and dry2  ,from gossamer     
threads that bind them1  ,they will     
start like the butterfly1  ,all winged3 
so we went forth seeking1  ,yet still   
they have kept unseen2  ,though we think
 our feet have been keeping  ,the track 
where they have been1  ,for we saw where
 their dance went flying  ,o'er the     
pastures1--snowy white4    ,their seats 
and their tables lying1  ,o'erthrown in 
their sudden flight4  ,and they1 too1   
have had their losses1  ,for we found   
the goblets white  ,and red in the old  
spiked mosses1  ,that they drank from   
over-night2  ,and in the pale horn of   
the woodbine  ,was some wine left1 clear

 and bright2  ,but we found1 said the   
children1 speaking  ,more quickly1 so   
many things1  ,that we soon forgot we   
were seeking1--  ,forgot all the ,fairy 
rings1  ,forgot all the stories olden   
,that we hear round the fire at night1  
,of their gifts and their favors        
golden1--  ,the sunshine was so bright2 
,and the flowers1--we found so many     
,that it almost made us grieve  ,to     
think there were some1 sweet as any1    
,that we were forced to leave2  ,as we  
left1 by the brook-side lying1  ,the    
balls of drifted foam1  ,and brought    
7after all our trying7  ,these          
,guelder-roses home4    ,then1 oh6 ,i   
heard one speaking  ,beside me soft and 
low1  ,i have been1 like the blessed    
children1 seeking1  ,still seeking1 to  
and fro2  ,yet not1 like them1 for the  
,fairies1--  ,they might pass unmourned 
away  ,for me1 that had looked on       
angels1--  ,on angels that would not    
stay2  ,no6  not though in haste before 
them  ,i spread all my heart's best     

cheer1  ,and made love my banner o'er   
them1  ,if it might but keep them here2 
,they stayed but a while to rest them2  
,long1 long before its close1  ,from my 
feast1 though ,i mourned and prest them 
,the radiant guests arose2  ,and their  
flitting wings struck sadness  ,and     
silence2 never more  ,hath my soul won  
back the gladness1  ,that was its own   
before4  ,no2 ,i mourned not for the    
,fairies  ,when ,i had seen hopes decay1
  ,that were sweet unto my spirit  ,so  
long2 ,i said1 ',if they1  ,that through
 shade and sunny weather  ,have twined  
about my heart1  ,should fade1 we must  
go together1  ,for we can never part6'  
,but my care was not availing2  ,i found
 their sweetness gone2  ,i saw their    
bright tints paling2--  ,they died2 yet 
,i lived on4    ,yet seeking1 ever      
seeking1  ,like the children1 ,i have   
won  ,a guerdon all undreamt of    ,when
 first my quest begun1  ,and my thoughts
 come back like wanderers1              
,out-wearied1 to my breast2  ,what they 

sought for long they found not1  ,yet   
was the ,unsought best4  ,for ,i sought 
not out for crosses1  ,i did not seek   
for pain2  ,yet ,i find the heart's sore
 losses  ,were the spirit's surest gain4
      ,in ,a ,meditation1 the writer    
ventures1 not without awe and reverence1
  upon that dim1 unsounded ocean of     
mystery1 the life beyond3--             
,but is there prayer  ,within your quiet
 homes1 and is there care  ,for those ye
 leave behind8  ,i would address  ,my   
spirit to this theme in humbleness  ,no 
tongue nor pen hath uttered or made     
known  ,this mystery1 and thus ,i do but
 guess  ,at clearer types through       
lowlier patterns shown2  ,yet when did  
,love on earth forsake its own8  ,ye may
 not quit your sweetness2 in the ,vine  
,more firmly rooted than of old1 your   
wine  ,hath freer flow6  ye have not    
changed1 but grown  ,to fuller stature2 
though the shock was keen  ,that severed
 you from us1 how oft below  ,hath      
sorest parting smitten but to show      

,true hearts their hidden wealth that   
quickly grow  ,the closer for that      
anguish1--friend to friend  ,revealed   
more clear1--and what is ,death to rend 
,the ties of life and love1 when ,he    
must fade  ,in light of very ,life1 when
 ,he must bend  ,to love1 that1 loving1 
loveth to the end8                  ,i  
do not deem ye look  ,upon us now1 for  
be it that your eyes  ,are sealed or    
clear1 a burden on them lies  ,too deep 
and blissful for their gaze to brook    
,our troubled strife2 enough that once  
ye dwelt  ,where now we dwell1 enough   
that once ye felt  ,as now we feel1 to  
bid you recognize  ,our claim of kindred
 cherished though unseen2  ,and ,love   
that is to you for eye and ear  ,hath   
ways unknown to us to bring you near1-- 
,to keep you near for all that comes    
between2  ,as pious souls that move in  
sleep to prayer1  ,as distant friends1  
that see not1 and yet share  7,i speak  
of what ,i know7 each other's care1  ,so
 may your spirits blend with ours6      

,above ,ye know not haply of our state1 
yet  ,love ,acquaints you with our need1
 and through a way  ,more sure than that
 of knowledge--so ye pray6              
,and even thus we meet1  ,and even thus 
we commune6  spirits freed  ,and spirits
 fettered mingle1 nor have need  ,to    
seek a common atmosphere1 the air  ,is  
meet for either in this olden1 sweet1   
,primeval breathing of ,man's           
spirit1--,prayer6      ,i give1 in      
conclusion1 a portion of one of her most
 characteristic poems1  ,the            
,reconciler3--                      ,our
 dreams are reconciled1  ,since ,thou   
didst come to turn them all to ,truth2  
,the ,world1 the ,heart1 are dreamers in
 their youth  ,of visions beautiful1 and
 strange and wild2  ,and ,thou1 our     
,life's ,interpreter1 dost still  ,at   
once make clear these visions and       
fulfil2    ,each dim sweet ,orphic      
rhyme1  ,each mythic tale sublime  ,of  
strength to save1 of sweetness to       
subdue1  ,each morning dream the few1   

,wisdom's first lovers told1 if read in 
,thee comes true4               4 4 4 4 
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4                       
,thou1 ,o ,friend  ,from heaven1 that   
madest this our heart ,thine own1  ,dost
 pierce the broken language of its      
moan--  ,thou dost not scorn our needs1 
but satisfy6  ,each yearning deep and   
wide1  ,each claim1 is justified2  ,our 
young illusions fail not1 though they   
die  ,within the brightness of ,thy     
,rising1 kissed  ,to happy death1 like  
early clouds that lie  ,about the gates 
of ,dawn1--a golden mist  ,paling to    
blissful white1 through rose and        
amethyst4                   ,the ,world 
that puts ,thee by1  ,that opens not to 
greet ,thee with ,thy train1  ,that     
sendeth after ,thee the sullen cry1     
',we will not have ,thee over us to     
reign1'  ,itself ,both testify through  
searchings vain  ,of ,thee and of its   
need1 and for the good  ,it will not1 of
 some base similitude  ,takes up a      
taunting witness1 till its mood1  ,grown

 fierce o'er failing hopes1 doth rend   
and tear  ,its own illusions grown too  
thin and bare  ,to wrap it longer2 for  
within the gate  ,where all must pass1 a
 veiled and hooded ,fate1  ,a dark      
,chimera1 coiled and tangled lies1  ,and
 he who answers not its questions       
dies1--  ,still changing form and       
speech1 but with the same  ,vexed       
riddles1 ,gordian-twisted1 bringing     
shame  ,upon the nations that with eager
 cry  ,hail each new solver of the      
mystery2  ,yet he1 of these the best1   
,bold guesser1 hath but prest  ,most    
nigh to ,thee1 our noisy plaudits wrong2
  ,true ,champion1 that hast wrought    
,our help of old1 and brought  ,meat    
from this eater1 sweetness from this    
strong4                         ,o      
,bearer of the key  ,that shuts and     
opens with a sound so sweet  ,its       
turning in the wards is melody1  ,all   
things we move among are incomplete     
,and vain until we fashion them in      
,thee6  ,we labor in the fire1  ,thick  

smoke is round about us2 through the din
  ,of words that darken counsel clamors 
dire  ,ring from thought's beaten anvil1
 where within  ,two ,giants toil1 that  
even from their birth  ,with            
travail-pangs have torn their mother    
,earth1  ,and wearied out her children  
with their keen  ,upbraidings of the    
other1 till between  ,thou tamest1      
saying1 ',wherefore do ye wrong  ,each  
other8--ye are ,brethren4' ,then these  
twain  ,will own their kindred1 and in  
,thee retain  ,their claims in peace1   
because ,thy land is wide  ,as it is    
goodly6  here they pasture free1  ,this 
lion and this leopard1 side by side1  ,a
 little child doth lead them with a     
song2  ,now1 ,ephraim's envy ceaseth1   
and no more  ,doth ,judah anger ,ephraim
 chiding sore1  ,for one did ask a      
,brother1 one a ,king1  ,so dost ,thou  
gather them in one1 and bring--  ,thou1 
,king forevermore1 forever ,priest1     
,thou1 ,brother of our own from bonds   
released  ,a ,law of ,liberty1  ,a      

,service making free1  ,a ,commonweal   
where each has all in ,thee4            
,and not alone these wide1              
,deep-planted yearnings1 seeking with a 
cry  ,their meat from ,god1 in ,thee are
 satisfied2  ,but all our instincts     
waking suddenly  ,within the soul1 like 
infants from their sleep  ,that stretch 
their arms into the dark and weep1  ,thy
 voice can still4  ,the stricken heart  
bereft  ,of all its brood of singing    
hopes1 and left  ',mid leafless boughs1 
a cold1 forsaken nest  ,with snow-flakes
 in it1 folded in ,thy breast  ,doth    
lose its deadly chill2 and grief that   
creeps  ,unto ,thy side for shelter1    
finding there  ,the wound's deep cleft1 
forgets its moan1 and weeps  ,calm1     
quiet tears1 and on ,thy forehead ,care 
,hath looked until its thorns1 no longer
 bare1  ,put forth pale roses4  ,pain on
 ,thee doth press  ,its quivering cheek1
 and all the weariness1  ,the want that 
keep their silence1 till from ,thee     
,they hear the gracious summons1 none   

beside  ,hath spoken to the world-worn1 
',come to me1'  ,tell forth their heavy 
secrets4                      ,thou dost
 hide  ,these in ,thy bosom1 and not    
these alone1  ,but all our heart's fond 
treasure that had grown  ,a burden else3
 ,o ,saviour1 tears were weighed  ,to   
,thee in plenteous measure6  none hath  
shown  ,that ,thou didst smile6 yet hast
 ,thou surely made  ,all joy of ours    
,thine own4                     ,thou   
madest us for ,thine2  ,we seek amiss1  
we wander to and fro2  ,yet are we ever 
on the track ,divine2  ,the soul        
confesseth ,thee1 but sense is slow  ,to
 lean on aught but that which it may    
see2  ,so hath it crowded up these      
,courts below  ,with dark and broken    
images of ,thee2  ,lead ,thou us forth  
upon ,thy ,mount1 and show  ,thy goodly 
patterns1 whence these things of old    
,by ,thee were fashioned2 ,one though   
manifold4  ,glass ,thou ,thy perfect    
likeness in the soul1  ,show us ,thy    
countenance1 and we are whole6      ,no 

one1 ,i am quite certain1 will regret   
that ,i have made these liberal         
quotations4  ,apart from their literary 
merit1 they have a special  interest for
 the readers of ,the ,patience of ,hope1
 as more fully  illustrating the        
writer's personal experience and        
aspirations4    ,it has been suggested  
by a friend that it is barely possible  
that an  objection may be urged against 
the following treatise1 as against all  
books of a like character1 that its     
tendency is to isolate the individual   
from his race1 and to nourish an        
exclusive and purely selfish personal   
solicitude2 that its piety is           
self-absorbent1 and that it does not    
take  sufficiently into account active  
duties and charities1 and the love of   
the neighbor so strikingly illustrated  
by the ,divine ,master in ,his life  and
 teachings4  ,this objection1 if valid1 
would be a fatal one4  ,for1 of  a      
truth1 there can be no meaner type of   
human selfishness than that  afforded by

 him who1 unmindful of the world of sin 
and suffering about  him1 occupies      
himself in the pitiful business of      
saving his own soul1 in  the very spirit
 of the miser1 watching over his private
 hoard while his  neighbors starve for  
lack of bread4  ,but surely the         
benevolent unrest1  the far-reaching    
sympathies and keen sensitiveness to the
 suffering of  others1 which so nobly   
distinguish our present age1 can have   
nothing to  fear from a plea for        
personal holiness1 patience1 hope1 and  
resignation  to the ,divine will4  ,the 
more piety1 the more compassion1 says   
,isaac  ,taylor2 and this is true1 if we
 understand by piety1 not               
self-concentred  asceticism1 but the    
pure religion and undefiled which visits
 the widow  and the fatherless1 and yet 
keeps itself unspotted from the         
world1--which  deals justly1 loves      
mercy1 and yet walks humbly before ,god4
  ,self-  scrutiny in the light of truth
 can do no harm to any one1 least of all

 to  the reformer and philanthropist4   
,the spiritual warrior1 like the young  
candidate for knighthood1 may be none   
the worse for his preparatory  ordeal of
 watching all night by his armor4       
,tauler in mediaeval times and ,woolman 
in the last century are among the  most 
earnest teachers of the inward life and 
spiritual nature of  ,christianity1 yet 
both were distinguished for practical   
benevolence4  ,they did not separate the
 two great commandments4  ,tauler strove
 with  equal intensity of zeal to       
promote the temporal and the spiritual  
welfare  of men4  ,in the dark and evil 
time in which he lived1 amidst the      
untold  horrors of the ,black ,plague1  
he illustrated by deeds of charity and  
mercy his doctrine of disinterested     
benevolence4  ,woolman's whole life  was
 a nobler ,imitation of ,christ than    
that fervid rhapsody of monastic  piety 
which bears the name4    ,how faithful1 
yet1 withal1 how full of kindness1 were 
his rebukes of  those who refused labor 

its just reward1 and ground the faces of
 the  poor8  ,how deep and entire was   
his sympathy with overtasked and        
ill-paid  laborers2 with wet and        
illprovided sailors2 with poor wretches 
blaspheming in the mines1 because       
oppression had made them mad2 with the  
dyers plying their unhealthful trade to 
minister to luxury and pride2  with the 
tenant wearing out his life in the      
service of a hard landlord2  and with   
the slave sighing over his unrequited   
toil6  ,what a significance  there was  
in his vision of the dull1 gloomy mass  
which appeared before  him1 darkening   
half the heavens1 and which he was told 
was human beings  in as great misery as 
they could be and live2 and he was mixed
 with them1  and henceforth he might not
 consider himself a distinct and        
separate  being6  ,his saintliness was  
wholly unconscious2 he seems never to   
have  thought himself any nearer to the 
tender heart of ,god than the most      
miserable sinner to whom his compassion 

extended4  ,as he did not  live1 so     
neither did he die to himself4  ,his    
prayer upon his death-bed  was for      
others rather than himself2 its         
beautiful humility and simple  trust    
were marred by no sensual imagery of    
crowns and harps and golden  streets1   
and personal beatific exaltations2 but  
tender and touching  concern for        
suffering humanity1 relieved only by the
 thought of the  paternity of ,god1 and 
of ,his love and omnipotence1 alone     
found utterance  in ever-memorable      
words4    ,in view of the troubled state
 of the country and the intense         
preoccupation of the public mind1 ,i    
have had some hesitation in offering    
this volume to its publishers4  ,but1 on
 further reflection1 it has seemed  to  
me that it might supply a want felt by  
many among us2 that1 in the  chaos of   
civil strife and the shadow of mourning 
which rests over the  land1 the         
contemplation of things unseen which are
 eternal might not be  unwelcome2 that1 

when the foundations of human confidence
 are shaken1 and  the trust in man      
proves vain1 there might be glad        
listeners to a voice  calling from the  
outward and the temporal to the inward  
and the  spiritual2 from the troubles   
and perplexities of time1 to the eternal
  quietness which ,god giveth4  ,i      
cannot but believe that1 in the heat and
  glare through which we are passing1   
this book will not invite in vain to    
the calm1 sweet shadows of holy         
meditation1 grateful as the green wings 
of the bird to ,thalaba in the desert2  
and thus afford something of            
consolation to the bereaved1 and of     
strength to the weary4  ,for surely     
never was the ,patience of ,hope more   
needed2 never was the inner sanctuary   
of prayer more desirable2 never was a   
steadfast faith in the ,divine  goodness
 more indispensable1 nor lessons of     
self-sacrifice and  renunciation1 and   
that cheerful acceptance of known duty  
which shifts not  its proper            

responsibility upon others1 nor asks for
 peace in its day at  the expense of    
purity and justice1 more timely than    
now1 when the solemn  words of ancient  
prophecy are as applicable to our own   
country as to that  of the degenerate   
,jew1--,thine own wickedness shall      
correct thee1 and thy  backsliding      
reprove thee2 know1 therefore1 it is an 
evil thing1 and  bitter1 that thou bast 
forsaken the ,lord1 and that my fear is 
not in  thee1--when ,his way is in the  
deep1 in clouds1 and in thick darkness1 
and the hand heavy upon us which shall  
turn and overturn until he whose  right 
it is shall reign1--until1 not without  
rending agony1 the evil  plant which our
 ,heavenly ,father hath not planted1    
whose roots have wound  themselves about
 altar and hearth-stone1 and whose      
branches1 like the  tree ,al-,accoub in 
,moslem fable1 bear the accursed fruit  
of oppression1  rebellion1 and all      
imaginable crime1 shall be torn up and  
destroyed  forever4    ,,amesbury1 #ast 

#fth mo41 #ahfb4                        
,,the ,,society ,,of ,,friends4    ,the 
following letters were addressed to the 
,editor of the ,friends' ,review  in    
,philadelphia1 in reference to certain  
changes of principle and  practice in   
the ,society then beginning to be       
observable1 but which have  since more  
than justified the writer's fears and   
solicitude4      ,i4                    
,,amesbury1 #b;d mo41 #ahgj4    ,,to    
,,the ,,editor ,,of ,,the ,,review4     
,,esteemed ,,friend1--,if ,i have been  
hitherto a silent1 ,i have not been an  
indifferent1 spectator of the movements 
now going on in our religious  ,society4
  ,perhaps from lack of faith1 ,i have  
been quite too solicitous  concerning   
them1 and too much afraid that in       
grasping after new things we  may let go
 of old things too precious to be lost4 
,hence ,i have been  pleased to see from
 time to time in thy paper very timely  
and fitting  articles upon a ,hired     
,ministry and ,silent ,worship4    ,the 

present age is one of sensation and     
excitement1 of extreme measures  and    
opinions1 of impatience of all slow     
results4  ,the world about us  moves    
with accelerated impulse1 and we move   
with it3 the rest we have  enjoyed1     
whether true or false1 is broken2 the   
title-deeds of our  opinions1 the reason
 of our practices1 are demanded4  ,our  
very right to  exist as a distinct      
society is questioned4  ,our old        
literature--the  precious journals and  
biographies of early and later          
,friends--is  comparatively neglected   
for sensational and dogmatic            
publications4  ,we  bear complaints of a
 want of educated ministers2 the utility
 of silent  meetings is denied1 and     
praying and preaching regarded as       
matters of will  and option4  ,there is 
a growing desire for experimenting upon 
the dogmas  and expedients and practices
 of other sects4  ,i speak only of      
admitted  facts1 and not for the purpose
 of censure or complaint4  ,no one has  

less  right than myself to indulge in   
heresy-hunting or impatience of minor   
differences of opinion4  ,if my dear    
friends can bear with me1 ,i shall not  
find it a hard task to bear with them4  
,but for myself ,i prefer the old ways4 
,with the broadest possible  tolerance  
for all honest seekers after truth6 ,i  
love the ,society of  ,friends4  ,my    
life has been nearly spent in laboring  
with those of other  sects in behalf of 
the suffering and enslaved2 and ,i have 
never felt like  quarrelling with       
,orthodox or ,unitarians1 who were      
willing to pull with  me1 side by side1 
at the rope of ,reform4  ,a very large  
proportion of my  dearest personal      
friends are outside of our communion2   
and ,i have learned  with ,john ,woolman
 to find no narrowness respecting sects 
and opinions4  ,but after a kindly and  
candid survey of them all1 ,i turn to my
 own  ,society1 thankful to the ,divine 
,providence which placed me where ,i am2
  and with an unshaken faith in the one 

distinctive doctrine of ,quakerism--    
the ,light within--the immanence of the 
,divine ,spirit in ,christianity4  ,i   
cheerfully recognize and bear testimony 
to the good works and lives of  those   
who widely differ in faith and practice2
 but ,i have seen no truer  types of    
,christianity1 no better men and women1 
than ,i have known and  still know among
 those who not blindly1 but             
intelligently1 hold the  doctrines and  
maintain the testimonies of our early   
,friends4  ,i am not  blind to the      
shortcomings of ,friends4  ,i know how  
much we have lost by  narrowness and    
coldness and inactivity1 the            
overestimate of external  observances1  
the neglect of our own proper work while
 acting as  conscience-keepers for      
others4  ,we have not1 as a society1    
been active  enough in those simple     
duties which we owe to our suffering    
fellow-  creatures1 in that abundant    
labor of love and self-denial which is  
never  out of place4  ,perhaps our      

divisions and dissensions might have    
been  spared us if we had been less at  
ease in ,zion4  ,it is in the decline of
  practical righteousness that men are  
most likely to contend with each  other 
for dogma and ritual1 for shadow and    
letter1 instead of substance  and       
spirit4  ,hence ,i rejoice in every sign
 of increased activity in doing  good   
among us1 in the precious opportunities 
afforded of working with the  ,divine   
,providence for the ,freedmen and       
,indians2 since the more we do1 in  the 
true spirit of the gospel1 for others1  
the more we shall really do  for        
ourselves4  ,there is no danger of lack 
of work for those who1 with an  eye     
single to the guidance of ,truth1 look  
for a place in ,god's vineyard2  the    
great work which the founders of our    
,society began is not yet done2  the    
mission of ,friends is not accomplished1
 and will not be until this  world of   
ours1 now full of sin and suffering1    
shall take up1 in jubilant              

thanksgiving1 the song of the ,advent3  
,glory to ,god in the highest6  ,peace  
on earth and good-will to men6    ,it is
 charged that our ,society lacks freedom
 and adaptation to the age in  which we 
live1 that there is a repression of     
individuality and manliness  among us4  
,i am not prepared to deny it in certain
 respects4  ,but1 if we  look at the    
matter closely1 we shall see that the   
cause is not in the  central truth of   
,quakerism1 but in a failure to rightly 
comprehend it2 in  an attempt to fetter 
with forms and hedge about with dogmas  
that great  law of ,christian liberty1  
which ,i believe affords ample scope for
 the  highest spiritual aspirations and 
the broadest philanthropy4  ,if we did  
but realize it1 we are set in a large   
place4    ,we may do all we will save   
wickedness4    ,where the ,spirit of the
 ,lord is1 there is liberty4            
,quakerism1 in the light of its great   
original truth1 is exceeding  broad4    
,as interpreted by ,penn and ,barclay it

 is the most liberal and  catholic of   
faiths4  ,if we are not free1 generous1 
tolerant1 if we are  not up to or above 
the level of the age in good works1 in  
culture and  love of beauty1 order and  
fitness1 if we are not the ready        
recipients of  the truths of science and
 philosophy1--in a word1 if we are not  
full-  grown men and ,christians1 the   
fault is not in ,quakerism1 but in      
ourselves4  ,we shall gain nothing by   
aping the customs and trying to  adjust 
ourselves to the creeds of other sects4 
,by so doing we make at  the best a very
 awkward combination1 and just as far as
 it is successful1  it is at the expense
 of much that is vital in our old faith4
  ,if1 for  instance1 ,i could bring    
myself to believe a hired ministry and a
 written  creed essential to my moral   
and spiritual well-being1 ,i think ,i   
should  prefer to sit down at once under
 such teachers as ,bushnell and         
,beecher1  the like of whom in ,biblical
 knowledge1 ecclesiastical learning1 and

  intellectual power1 we are not likely 
to manufacture by half a century of     
theological manipulation in a ,quaker   
school of the prophets4  ,if ,i must  go
 into the market and buy my preaching1  
,i should naturally seek the best       
article on sale1 without regard to the  
label attached to it4    ,i am not      
insensible of the need of spiritual     
renovation in our ,society4  ,i feel and
 confess my own deficiencies as an      
individual member4  ,and ,i  bear a     
willing testimony to the zeal and       
devotion of some dear friends1  who1    
lamenting the low condition and         
worldliness too apparent among us1  seek
 to awaken a stronger religious life by 
the partial adoption of the  practices1 
forms1 and creeds of more demonstrative 
sects4  ,the great  apparent activity of
 these sects seems to them to contrast  
very strongly  with our quietness and   
reticence2 and they do not always pause 
to inquire  whether the result of this  
activity is a truer type of practical   

,christianity than is found in our      
select gatherings4  ,i think ,i         
understand these brethren2 to some      
extent ,i have sympathized with them4   
,but it seems clear to me1 that a remedy
 for the alleged evil lies not in  going
 back to the beggarly elements from     
which our worthy ancestors  called the  
people of their generation2 not in      
will-worship2 not in  setting the letter
 above the spirit2 not in substituting  
type and symbol1  and oriental figure   
and hyperbole for the simple truths they
 were  intended to represent2 not in    
schools of theology2 not in much        
speaking  and noise and vehemence1 nor  
in vain attempts to make the plain      
language of ,quakerism utter the        
,shibboleth of man-made creeds3 but in  
heeding more closely the ,inward ,guide 
and ,teacher2 in faith in ,christ not   
merely in ,his historical manifestation 
of the ,divine ,love to humanity1  but  
in ,his living presence in the hearts   
open to receive ,him2 in love for  ,him 

manifested in denial of self1 in charity
 and love to our neighbor2  and in a    
deeper realization of the truth of the  
apostle's declaration3  ,pure religion  
and undefiled before ,god and the       
,father is this1 to visit  the          
fatherless and widows in their          
affliction1 and to keep himself         
unspotted from the world4    ,in        
conclusion1 let me say that ,i have     
given this expression of my  opinions   
with some degree of hesitation1 being   
very sensible that ,i have  neither the 
right nor the qualification to speak for
 a society whose  doctrines and         
testimonies commend themselves to my    
heart and head1 whose  history is rich  
with the precious legacy of holy lives1 
and of whose  usefulness as a moral and 
spiritual ,force in the world ,i am     
fully  assured4      ,,ii4    ,having   
received several letters from dear      
friends in various sections  suggested  
by a recent communication in thy paper1 
and not having time or  health to answer

 them in detail1 will thou permit me in 
this way to  acknowledge them1 and to   
say to the writers that ,i am deeply    
sensible of  the ,christian love and    
personal good-will to myself1 which1    
whether in  commendation or dissent1    
they manifest8  ,i think ,i may say in  
truth that  my letter was written in no 
sectarian or party spirit1 but simply to
  express a solicitude1 which1 whether  
groundless or not1 was nevertheless     
real4  ,i am1 from principle1           
disinclined to doctrinal disputations   
and  so-called religious controversies1 
which only tend to separate and         
disunite4  ,we have had too many        
divisions already4  ,i intended no      
censure  of dear brethren whose zeal and
 devotion command my sympathy1          
notwithstanding ,i may not be able to   
see with them in all respects4  ,the    
domain of individual conscience is to me
 very sacred2 and it seems the  part of 
,christian charity to make a large      
allowance for varying  experiences2     

mental characteristics1 and             
temperaments1 as well as for  that      
youthful enthusiasm which1 if sometimes 
misdirected1 has often been             
instrumental in infusing a fresher life 
into the body of religious  profession4 
,it is too much to expect that we can   
maintain an entire  uniformity in the   
expression of truths in which we        
substantially agree2  and we should be  
careful that a rightful concern for the 
form of sound  words does not become    
what ,william ,penn calls verbal        
orthodoxy4  ,we  must consider that the 
same accepted truth looks somewhat      
differently  from different points of   
vision4  ,knowing our own weaknesses and
  limitations1 we must bear in mind that
 human creeds1 speculations1            
expositions1 and interpretations of the 
,divine plan are but the faint and      
feeble glimpses of finite creatures into
 the infinite mysteries of ,god4        
,they are but broken lights of ,thee1   
,and ,thou1 ,o ,lord1 art more than     

they4    ,differing1 as we do1 more or  
less as to means and methods1 if we     
indeed  have the mind of ,christ1 we    
shall rejoice in whatever of good is    
really  accomplished1 although by       
somewhat different instrumentalities    
than those  which we feel ourselves free
 to make use of1 remembering that our   
,lord  rebuked the narrowness and       
partisanship of ,his disciples by       
assuring them  that they that were not  
against ,him were for ,him4    ,it      
would1 nevertheless1 give me great      
satisfaction to know1 as thy kindly     
expressed editorial comments seem to    
intimate1 that ,i have somewhat         
overestimated the tendencies of things  
in our ,society4  ,i have no pride  of  
opinion which would prevent me from     
confessing with thankfulness my  error  
of judgment4  ,in any event1 it can1 ,i 
think1 do no harm to repeat  my deep    
conviction that we may all labor1 in the
 ability given us1 for  our own moral   
and spiritual well-being1 and that of   

our fellow-creatures1  without laying   
aside the principles and practice of our
 religious  ,society4  ,i believe so    
much of liberty is our right as well as 
our  privilege1 and that we need not    
really overstep our bounds for the      
performance of any duty which may be    
required of us4  ,when truly called  to 
contemplate broader fields of labor1 we 
shall find the walls about us1  like the
 horizon seen from higher levels1       
expanding indeed1 but nowhere  broken4  
,i believe that the world needs the     
,society of ,friends as a testimony and 
a standard4  ,i know that this is the   
opinion of some of the best and most    
thoughtful members of other ,christian  
sects4  ,i know that any serious        
departure from the original foundation  
of our ,society would give pain to  many
 who1 outside of our communion1 deeply  
realize the importance of our           
testimonies4  ,they fail to read clearly
 the signs of the times who do not  see 
that the hour is coming when1 under the 

searching eye of philosophy  and the    
terrible analysis of science1 the letter
 and the outward evidence  will not     
altogether avail us2 when the surest    
dependence must be upon the  ,light of  
,christ within1 disclosing the law and  
the prophets in our own  souls1 and     
confirming the truth of outward         
,scripture by inward  experience2 when  
smooth stones from the brook of present 
revelation  shall' prove mightier than  
the weapons of ,saul2 when the doctrine 
of the  ,holy ,spirit1 as proclaimed by 
,george ,fox and lived by ,john         
,woolman1 shall  be recognized as the   
only efficient solvent of doubts raised 
by an age of  restless inquiry4  ,in    
this belief my letter was written4  ,i  
am sorry it  did not fall to the lot of 
a more fitting hand2 and can only hope  
that no  consideration of lack of       
qualification on the part of its writer 
may  lessen the value of whatever       
testimony to truth shall be found in it4
    ,,amesbury1 #c;d mo41 #ahgj4        

,p4 ,s4  ,i may mention that ,i have    
been somewhat encouraged by a perusal of
  the ,proceedings of the late          
,first-day ,school ,conference in       
,philadelphia1  where1 with some things 
which ,i am compelled to pause over1 and
 regret1 ,i  find much with which ,i    
cordially unite1 and which seems to     
indicate a  providential opening for    
good4  ,i confess to a lively and tender
 sympathy  with my younger brethren and 
sisters who1 in the name of ,him who    
went  about doing good1 go forth into   
the highways and byways to gather up the
  lost1 feed the hungry1 instruct the   
ignorant1 and point the sinsick and     
suffering to the hopes and consolations 
of ,christian faith1 even if1 at  times1
 their zeal goes beyond reasonable      
service1 and although the  importance of
 a particular instrumentality may be    
exaggerated1 and love  lose sight of its
 needful companion humility1 and he that
 putteth on his  armor boast like him   
who layeth it off4  ,any movement1      

however irregular1  which indicates     
life1 is better than the quiet of death4
  ,in the  overruling providence of     
,god1 the troubling may prepare the way 
for  healing4  ,some of us may have     
erred on one hand and some on the other1
  and this shaking of the balance may   
adjust it4            ,,john            
,,woolman',s ,,journal4    ,originally  
published as an introduction to a       
reissue of the work4    ,to those who   
judge by the outward appearance1 nothing
 is more difficult  of explanation than 
the strength of moral influence often   
exerted by  obscure and uneventful      
lives4  ,some great reform which lifts  
the world to  a higher level1 some      
mighty change for which the ages have   
waited in  anxious expectancy1 takes    
place before our eyes1 and1 in seeking  
to trace  it back to its origin1 we are 
often surprised to find the initial link
 in  the chain of causes to be some     
comparatively obscure individual1 the   
divine commission and significance of   

whose life were scarcely understood  by 
his contemporaries1 and perhaps not even
 by himself4  ,the little one  has      
become a thousand2 the handful of corn  
shakes like ,lebanon4  ,the  kingdom of 
,god cometh not by observation2 and the 
only solution of the  mystery is in the 
reflection that through the humble      
instrumentality  ,divine power was      
manifested1 and that the ,everlasting   
,arm was beneath the  human one4    ,the
 abolition of human slavery now in      
process of consummation throughout  the 
world furnishes one of the most striking
 illustrations of this truth4  ,a       
far-reaching moral1 social1 and         
political revolution1 undoing the evil  
work of centuries1 unquestionably owes  
much of its original impulse to  the    
life and labors of a poor1 unlearned    
workingman of ,new ,jersey1 whose  very 
existence was scarcely known beyond the 
narrow circle of his  religious society4
    ,it is only within a comparatively  
recent period that the journal and      

ethical essays of this remarkable man   
have attracted the attention to  which  
they are manifestly entitled4  ,in one  
of my last interviews with  ,william    
,ellery ,channing1 he expressed his very
 great surprise that they  were so      
little known4  ,he had himself just read
 the book for the first  time1 and ,i   
shall never forget how his countenance  
lighted up as he  pronounced it beyond  
comparison the sweetest and purest      
autobiography in  the language4  ,he    
wished to see it placed within the reach
 of all classes  of readers2 it was not 
a light to be hidden under the bushel of
 a sect4  ,charles ,lamb1 probably from 
his friends1 the ,clarksons1 or from    
,bernard  ,barton1 became acquainted    
with it1 and on more than one occasion1 
in his  letters and ,essays of ,elia1   
refers to it with warm commendation4    
,edward  ,irving pronounced it a        
godsend4  ,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 ,robinson1 one 
of their number1 himself a man of wide  
and  varied culture1 the intimate friend
 of ,goethe1 ,wordsworth1 and           
,coleridge4  ,in his notes for ,first   
,month1 #ahbd1 he says1 after a         
reference to a  sermon of his friend    
,irving1 which he feared would deter    
rather than  promote belief3    ,how    
different this from ,john ,woolman's    
,journal ,i have been reading at  the   
same time6  ,a perfect gem6  ,his is a  
schone ,seele1 a beautiful  soul4  ,an  
illiterate tailor1 he writes in a style 
of the most exquisite  purity and grace4
  ,his moral qualities are transferred  
to his writings4  ,had he not been so   
very humble1 he would have written a    
still better  book2 for1 fearing to     
indulge in vanity1 he conceals the      
events in which  he was a great actor4  
,his religion was love4  ,his whole     
existence and  all his passions were    

love4  ,if one could venture to impute  
to his creed1  and not to his personal  
character1 the delightful frame of mind 
he  exhibited1 one could not hesitate to
 be a convert4  ,his ,christianity is   
most inviting1 it is fascinating6  ,one 
of the leading ,british reviews a  few  
years ago1 referring to this ,journal1  
pronounced its author the man  who1 in  
all the centuries since the advent of   
,christ1 lived nearest to  the ,divine  
pattern4  ,the author of ,the ,patience 
of ,hope1 whose authority  in devotional
 literature is unquestioned1 says of    
him3 ',john ,woolman's  gift was love1 a
 charity of which it does not enter into
 the natural  heart of man to conceive1 
and of which the more ordinary          
experiences1  even of renewed nature1   
give but a faint shadow4  ,every now and
 then1 in  the world's history1 we meet 
with such men1 the kings and priests of 
,humanity1 on whose heads this precious 
ointment has been so poured forth  that 
it has run down to the skirts of their  

clothing1 and extended over  the whole  
of the visible creation2 men who have   
entered1 like ,francis of  ,assisi1 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 field1  and the beasts of the field 
to be at peace with him4  ,in this pure1
  universal charity there is nothing    
fitful or intermittent1 nothing that    
comes and goes in showers and gleams and
 sunbursts4  ,its springs are deep  and 
constant1 its rising is like that of a  
mighty river1 its very  overflow calm   
and steady1 leaving life and fertility  
behind it4'    ,after all1 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  estimation1 content to be only 
a passive instrument in the hands of his
  ,master2 and who1 as has been         
remarked1 through modesty concealed the 
events in which he was an actor4  ,a    
desire to supply in some sort this      

deficiency in his ,journal is my        
especial excuse for this introductory   
paper4    ,it is instructive to study   
the history of the moral progress of    
individuals or communities2 to mark the 
gradual development of truth2 to  watch 
the slow germination of its seed sown in
 simple obedience to the  command of the
 ,great ,husbandman1 while yet its green
 promise1 as well as  its golden        
fruition1 was hidden from the eyes of   
the sower2 to go back to  the           
well-springs and fountain-heads1 tracing
 the small streamlet from its  hidden   
source1 and noting the tributaries which
 swell its waters1 as it  moves onward1 
until it becomes a broad river1         
fertilizing and gladdening  our present 
humanity4  ,to this end it is my        
purpose1 as briefly as  possible1 to    
narrate the circumstances attending the 
relinquishment of  slave-holding by the 
,society of ,friends1 and to hint at the
 effect of  that act of justice and     
humanity upon the abolition of slavery  

throughout  the world4    ,at an early  
period after the organization of the    
,society1 members of it  emigrated to   
the ,maryland1 ,carolina1 ,virginia1 and
 ,new ,england colonies4  ,the act of   
banishment enforced against dissenters  
under ,charles ,,ii4  consigned others  
of the sect to the ,west ,indies1 where 
their frugality1  temperance1 and thrift
 transmuted their intended punishment   
into a  blessing4  ,andrew ,marvell1 the
 inflexible republican statesman1 in    
some  of the sweetest and tenderest     
lines in the ,english tongue1 has       
happily  described their condition3--   
,what shall we do but sing ,his praise  
,who led us through the watery maze1    
,unto an isle so long unknown1  ,and yet
 far kinder than our own8  ,he lands us 
on a grassy stage1  ,safe from the      
storms and prelates' rage2  ,he gives us
 this eternal spring1  ,which here      
enamels everything1  ,and sends the     
fowls to us in care1  ,on daily visits  
through the air4  ,he hangs in shades   

the orange bright1  ,like golden lamps1 
in a green night1  ,and doth in the     
pomegranate close  ,jewels more rich    
than ,ormus shows4           4 4 4 4 4 4
 4 4 4    ,and in these rocks for us did
 frame  ,a temple where to sound ,his   
name4  ,oh6  let our voice ,his praise  
exalt1  ,till it arrive at heaven's     
vault1  ,which then1 perhaps rebounding1
 may  ,echo beyond the ,mexic bay4'     
,so sang they in the ,english boat1  ,a 
holy and a cheerful note2  ,and all the 
way1 to guide their chime1  ,with       
falling oars they kept the time4        
,unhappily1 they very early became      
owners of slaves1 in imitation of the   
colonists around them4  ,no positive    
condemnation of the evil system had     
then been heard in the ,british islands4
  ,neither ,english prelates nor        
expounders at dissenting conventicles   
had aught to say against it4  ,few      
colonists doubted its entire            
compatibility with ,christian profession
 and  conduct4  ,saint and sinner1      

ascetic and worldling1 united in its    
practice4  ,even the extreme ,dutch     
saints of ,bohemia ,manor community1 the
  pietists of ,john de ,labadie1 sitting
 at meat with hats on1 and pausing  ever
 and anon with suspended mouthfuls to   
bear a brother's or sister's            
exhortation1 and sandwiching prayers    
between the courses1 were waited  upon  
by negro slaves4  ,everywhere men were  
contending with each other  upon matters
 of faith1 while1 so far as their slaves
 were concerned1  denying the ethics of 
,christianity itself4    ,such was the  
state of things when1 in #afga1 ,george 
,fox visited ,barbadoes4  ,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 truth1  and who1 like the   
,hebrew lawgiver1 bear with them1 from a
 higher and  purer atmosphere1 the      
shining evidence of communion with the  
,divine  ,wisdom4  ,he saw slavery in   
its mildest form among his friends1 but 

his  intuitive sense of right condemned 
it4  ,he solemnly admonished those who  
held slaves to bear in mind that they   
were brethren1 and to train them up  in 
the fear of ,god4  ,i desired1 also1 he 
says1 that they would cause  their      
overseers to deal gently and mildly with
 their negroes1 and not use  cruelty    
towards them as the manner of some hath 
been and is2 and that1  after certain   
years of servitude1 they should make    
them free4    ,in #afge1 the companion  
of ,george ,fox1 ,william ,edmundson1   
revisited  ,barbadoes1 and once more    
bore testimony against the unjust       
treatment of  slaves4  ,he was accused  
of endeavoring to excite an insurrection
 among  the blacks1 and was brought     
before the ,governor on the charge4  ,it
 was  probably during this journey that 
he addressed a remonstrance to friends  
in ,maryland and ,virginia on the       
subject of holding slaves4  ,it is one  
of  the first emphatic and decided      
testimonies on record against negro     

slavery as incompatible with            
,christianity1 if we except the ,papal  
bulls  of ,urban and ,leo the ,tenth4   
,thirteen years after1 in #afhh1 a      
meeting of ,german ,quakers1 who had    
emigrated from ,kriesbeim1 and settled  
at ,germantown1 ,pennsylvania1          
addressed a memorial against the buying 
and keeping of negroes to the  ,yearly  
,meeting for the ,pennsylvania and ,new 
,jersey colonies4  ,that  meeting took  
the subject into consideration1 but     
declined giving judgment  in the case4  
,in #afif1 the ,yearly ,meeting advised 
against bringing in  any more negroes4  
,in #agad1 in its ,epistle to ,london   
,friends1 it  expresses a wish that     
,friends would be less concerned in     
buying or  selling slaves4  ,the        
,chester ,quarterly ,meeting1 which had 
taken a higher  and clearer view of the 
matter1 continued to press the ,yearly  
,meeting to  adopt some decided measure 
against any traffic in human beings4    
,the ,society gave these memorials a    

cold reception4  ,the love of gain and  
power was too strong1 on the part of the
 wealthy and influential planters  and  
merchants who had become slaveholders1  
to allow the scruples of the  ,chester  
meeting to take the shape of discipline4
  ,the utmost that could  be obtained of
 the ,yearly ,meeting was an expression 
of opinion adverse to  the importation  
of negroes1 and a desire that ,friends  
generally do1 as  much as may be1 avoid 
buying such negroes as shall hereafter  
be brought  in1 rather than offend any  
,friends who are against it2 yet this is
 only  caution1 and not censure4    ,in 
the mean time the ,new ,england ,yearly 
,meeting was agitated by the same       
question4  ,slaves were imported into   
,boston and ,newport1 and ,friends      
became purchasers1 and in some instances
 were deeply implicated in the  foreign 
traffic4  ,in #agaf1 the monthly        
meetings of ,dartmouth and  ,nantucket  
suggested that it was not agreeable to  
truth to purchase  slaves and keep them 

during their term of life4  ,nothing was
 done in the  ,yearly ,meeting1 however1
 until #agbg1 when the practice of      
importing  negroes was censured4  ,that 
the practice was continued              
notwithstanding1  for many years        
afterwards1 is certain4  ,in #ageh1 a   
rule was adopted  prohibiting ,friends  
within the limits of ,new ,england      
,yearly ,meeting from  engaging in or   
countenancing the foreign slave-trade4  
,in the year #agdb an event1 simple and 
inconsiderable in itself1 was made  the 
instrumentality of exerting a mighty    
influence upon slavery in the  ,society 
of ,friends4  ,a small storekeeper at   
,mount ,holly1 in ,new ,jersey1 a       
member of the ,society1 sold a negro    
woman1 and requested the young man in   
his employ to make a bill of sale of    
her4         ,mount ,holly is a village 
lying in the western part of the long1  
narrow township of ,northampton1 on     
,rancocas ,creek1 a tributary of        
the ,delaware4  ,in ,john ,woolman's day

 it was almost entirely a               
settlement of ,friends4  ,a very few of 
the old houses with their       quaint  
stoops or porches are left4  ,that      
occupied by ,john ,woolman       was a  
small1 plain1 two-story structure1 with 
two windows in each       story in      
front1 a four-barred fence inclosing the
 grounds1 with the       trees he       
planted and loved to cultivate4  ,the   
house was not painted1       but        
whitewashed4  ,the name of the place is 
derived from the highest       hill in  
the county1 rising two hundred feet     
above the sea1 and       commanding a   
view of a rich and level country1 of    
cleared farms and       woodlands4      
,here1 no doubt1 ,john ,woolman often   
walked under the       shadow of its    
holly-trees1 communing with nature and  
musing on the       great themes of life
 and duty4         ,when the excellent  
,joseph ,sturge was in this country1    
some thirty       years ago1 on his     
errand of humanity1 he visited ,mount   

,holly1 and       the house of ,woolman1
 then standing4  ,he describes it as a  
very       humble abode4  ,but one      
person was then living in the town who  
had       ever seen its venerated owner4
  ,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 laborers4  ,john       ,woolman1
 unwilling that the animal should be    
slowly bled to death1       as the      
custom had been1 and to spare it        
unnecessary suffering1 had a            
smooth block of wood prepared to receive
 the neck of the creature1       when a 
single blow terminated its existence4   
,nothing was more       remarkable in   
the character of ,woolman than his      
concern for the       well-being and    
cornfort of the brute creation4  ,what  
is religion8       asks the old ,hindoo 
writer of the ,vishnu ,sarman4          
,tenderness toward       all creatures4 
,or1 as ,woolman expresses it1 ,where   

the love of ,god       is verily        
perfected1 a tenderness towards all     
creatures made subject       to our will
 is experienced1 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 government4    ,on taking up his    
pen1 the young clerk felt a sudden and  
strong scruple in  his mind4  ,the      
thought of writing an instrument of     
slavery for one of his  fellow-creatures
 oppressed him4  ,god's voice against   
the desecration of  ,his image spoke in 
the soul4  ,he yielded to the will of   
his employer1  but1 while writing the   
instrument1 he was constrained to       
declare1 both to  the buyer and the     
seller1 that he believed slave-keeping  
inconsistent  with the ,christian       
religion4  ,this young man was ,john    
,woolman4  ,the  circumstance above     
named was the starting-point of a       
life-long testimony  against slavery4   
,in the year #agdf he visited ,maryland1

 ,virginia1 and  ,north ,carolina4  ,he 
was afflicted by the prevalence of      
slavery4  ,it  appeared to him1 in his  
own words1 as a dark gloominess         
overhanging the  land4  ,on his return1 
he wrote an essay on the subject1 which 
was  published in #aged4  ,three years  
after1 he made a second visit to the    
,southern meetings of ,friends4         
,travelling as a minister of the gospel1
 he  was compelled to sit down at the   
tables of slaveholding planters1 who    
were accustomed to entertain their      
friends free of cost1 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
 oppression4  ,he was a  poor man1 but  
he loved truth more than money4  ,he    
therefore either placed  the pay for his
 entertainment in the hands of some     
member of the family1  for the benefit  
of the slaves1 or gave it directly to   
them1 as he had  opportunity4  ,wherever
 he went1 he found his fellow-professors

 entangled  in the mischief of slavery4 
,elders and ministers1 as well as the   
younger  and less high in profession1   
had their house servants and field      
hands4  ,he found grave drab-coated     
apologists for the slave-trade1 who     
quoted the  same ,scriptures1 in support
 of oppression and avarice1 which have  
since  been cited by ,presbyterian      
doctors of divinity1 ,methodist bishops2
 and  ,baptist preachers for the same   
purpose4  ,he found the meetings        
generally  in a low and evil state4     
,the gold of original ,quakerism had    
become dim1  and the fine gold changed4 
,the spirit of the world prevailed among
 them1  and had wrought an inward       
desolation4  ,instead of meekness1      
gentleness1  and heavenly wisdom1 he    
found a spirit of fierceness and love of
  dominion4         ,the tradition is   
that he travelled mostly on foot during 
his       journeys among slaveholders4  
,brissot1 in his ,new ,travels in       
,america1 published in #aghh1 says3     

,john ,woolman1 one of the most         
distinguished of men in the cause of    
humanity1 travelled much as a           
minister of his sect1 but always on     
foot1 and without money1 in             
imitation of the ,apostles1 and in order
 to be in a situation to be       more  
useful to poor people and the blacks4   
,he hated slavery so much       that he 
could not taste food provided by the    
labor of slaves4  ,that       this      
writer was on one point misinformed is  
manifest from the       following       
passage from the ,journal3 ,when ,i     
expected soon to leave a       friend's 
house where ,i had entertainment1 if ,i 
believed that ,i       should not keep  
clear from the gain of oppression       
without leaving       money1 ,i spoke to
 one of the heads of the family         
privately1 and       desired them to    
accept of pieces of silver1 and give    
them to such of       their negroes as  
they believed would make the best use of
 them2 and       at other times ,i gave 

them to the negroes myself1 as the way  
looked       clearest to me4  ,before ,i
 came out1 ,i had provided a large      
number of       small pieces for this   
purpose1 and thus offering them to some 
who       appeared to be wealthy people 
was a trial both to me and them4  ,but  
the fear of the ,lord so covered me at  
times that my way was made       easier 
than ,i expected2 and few1 if any1      
manifested any resentment       at the  
offer1 and most of them1 after some     
conversation1 accepted of       them4   
,in love1 but at the same time with     
great faithfulness1 he endeavored to    
convince the masters of their error1 and
 to awaken a degree of sympathy  for the
 enslaved4    ,at this period1 or       
perhaps somewhat earlier1 a remarkable  
personage took  up his residence in     
,pennsylvania4  ,he was by birthright a 
member of the  ,society of ,friends1 but
 having been disowned in ,england for   
some  extravagances of conduct and      
language1 he spent several years in the 

,west  ,indies1 where he became deeply  
interested in the condition of the      
slaves4  ,his violent denunciations of  
the practice of slaveholding excited the
  anger of the planters1 and he was     
compelled to leave the island4  ,he came
  to ,philadelphia1 but1 contrary to his
 expectations1 he found the same  evil  
existing there4  ,he shook off the dust 
of the city1 and took up his  abode in  
the country1 a few miles distant4  ,his 
dwelling was a natural  cave1 with some 
slight addition of his own making4  ,his
 drink was the  spring-water flowing by 
his door2 his food1 vegetables alone4   
,he  persistently refused to wear any   
garment or eat any food purchased at the
  expense of animal life1 or which was  
in any degree the product of slave      
labor4  ,issuing from his cave1 on his  
mission of preaching deliverance  to the
 captive1 he was in the habit of        
visiting the various meetings for       
worship and bearing his testimony       
against slaveholders1 greatly to their  

disgust and indignation4  ,on one       
occasion he entered the ,market ,street 
,meeting1 and a leading ,friend         
requested some one to take him out4  ,a 
burly blacksmith volunteered to do it1  
leading him to the gate and  thrusting  
him out with such force that he fell    
into the gutter of the  street4  ,there 
he lay until the meeting closed1 telling
 the bystanders  that he did not feel   
free to rise himself4  ,let those who   
cast me here  raise me up4  ,it is their
 business1 not mine4    ,his personal   
appearance was in remarkable keeping    
with his eccentric  life4  ,a figure    
only four and a half feet high1         
hunchbacked1 with  projecting chest1    
legs small and uneven1 arms longer than 
his legs2 a  huge head1 showing only    
beneath the enormous white hat large1   
solemn eyes  and a prominent nose2 the  
rest of his face covered with a snowy   
semicircle of beard falling low on his  
breast1--a figure to recall the  old    
legends of troll1 brownie1 and kobold4  

,such was the irrepressible  prophet who
 troubled the ,israel of slave-holding  
,quakerism1 clinging like  a rough      
chestnut-bur to the skirts of its       
respectability1 and settling  like a    
pertinacious gad-fly on the sore places 
of its conscience4    ,on one occasion1 
while the annual meeting was in session 
at ,burlington1  ,n4 ,j41 in the midst  
of the solemn silence of the great      
assembly1 the  unwelcome figure of      
,benjamin ,lay1 wrapped in his long     
white overcoat1  was seen passing up the
 aisle4  ,stopping midway1 he exclaimed1
 ,you  slaveholders6  ,why don't you    
throw off your ,quaker coats as ,i do   
mine1  and show yourselves as you are8  
,casting off as he spoke his outer      
garment1 he disclosed to the astonished 
assembly a military coat  underneath and
 a sword dangling at his heels4         
,holding in one hand a  large book1 he  
drew his sword with the other4  ,in the 
sight of ,god1 he  cried1 you are as    
guilty as if you stabbed your slaves to 

the heart1 as  ,i do this book6 suiting 
the action to the word1 and piercing a  
small  bladder filled with the juice of 
poke-weed 7playtolacca decandra71 which 
he had concealed between the covers1 and
 sprinkling as with fresh blood  those  
who sat near him4  ,john ,woolman makes 
no mention of this  circumstance in his 
,journal1 although he was probably      
present1 and it  must have made a deep  
impression on his sensitive spirit4     
,the violence  and harshness of ,lay's  
testimony1 however1 had nothing in      
common with  the tender and sorrowful   
remonstrances and appeals of the former1
 except  the sympathy which they both   
felt for the slave himself4         ,lay
 was well acquainted with ,dr4          
,franklin1 whosometimes visited him4    
,among other schemes of reform he       
entertained the idea of converting      
all mankind to ,christianity4  ,this was
 to be done by three                    
witnesses1--himself1 ,michael ,lovell1  
and ,abel ,noble1 assisted by ,dr4      

,franklin4  ,but on their first meeting 
at the ,doctor's house1 the       three 
chosen vessels got into a violent       
controversy on points of       doctrine1
 and separated in ill-humor4  ,the      
philosopher1 who had been       an      
amused listener1 advised the three sages
 to give up the project       of        
converting the world until they had     
learned to tolerate each       other4   
,still later1 a descendant of the       
persecuted ,french ,protestants1        
,anthony  ,benezet1 a man of uncommon   
tenderness of feeling1 began to write   
and  speak against slavery4  ,how far1  
if at all1 he was moved thereto by the  
example of ,woolman is not known1 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 brethren4  ,the 
,marquis de  ,chastellux1 author of ,de 
la ,felicite ,publique1 describes him as
 a  small1 eager-faced man1 full of zeal
 and activity1 constantly engaged in    

works of benevolence1 which were by no  
means confined to the blacks4  ,like    
,woolman and ,lay1 he advocated         
abstinence from intoxicating spirits4   
,the poor ,french neutrals who were     
brought to ,philadelphia from ,nova     
,scotia1 and landed penniless and       
despairing among strangers in tongue and
  religion1 found in him a warm and     
untiring friend1 through whose aid and  
sympathy their condition was rendered   
more comfortable than that of their     
fellow-exiles in other colonies4    ,the
 annual assemblage of the ,yearly       
,meeting in #ageh at ,philadelphia must 
ever be regarded as one of the most     
important religious convocations in  the
 history of the ,christian church4  ,the
 labors of ,woolman and his few  but    
earnest associates had not been in vain4
  ,a deep and tender interest  had been 
awakened2 and this meeting was looked   
forward to with varied  feelings of     
solicitude by all parties4  ,all felt   
that the time had come  for some        

definite action2 conservative and       
reformer stood face to face in  the     
,valley of ,decision4  ,john ,woolman1  
of course1 was present1--a man  humble  
and poor in outward appearance1 his     
simple dress of undyed  homespun cloth  
contrasting strongly with the plain but 
rich apparel of  the representatives of 
the commerce of the city and of the     
large slave-  stocked plantations of the
 country4  ,bowed down by the weight of 
his  concern for the poor slaves and for
 the well-being and purity of the       
,society1 he sat silent during the whole
 meeting1 while other matters were      
under discussion4  ,my mind1 he says1   
was frequently clothed with  inward     
prayer2 and ,i could say with ,david    
that 'tears were my meat and  drink1 day
 and night4'  ,the case of slave-keeping
 lay heavy upon me2 nor  did ,i find any
 engagement1 to speak directly to any   
other matter before  the meeting4  ,when
 the important subject came up for      
consideration1 many  faithful ,friends  

spoke with weight and earnestness4  ,no 
one openly  justified slavery as a      
system1 although some expressed a       
concern lest the  meeting should go into
 measures calculated to cause uneasiness
 to many  members of the ,society4  ,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 slave4  ,this was    
replied to by ,john ,woolman4  ,my      
mind1 he said1 is led to consider the   
purity of the ,divine ,being1 and  the  
justice of ,his judgments2 and herein my
 soul is covered with  awfulness4  ,i   
cannot forbear to hint of some cases    
where people have not  been treated with
 the purity of justice1 and the event   
has been most  lamentable4  ,many slaves
 on this continent are oppressed1 and   
their cries  have entered into the ears 
of the ,most ,high4  ,such are the      
purity and  certainty of ,his judgments 
that ,he cannot be partial in our favor4
  ,in  infinite love and goodness ,he   

hath opened our understandings from one 
time to another1 concerning our duty    
towards this people2 and it is not a    
time for delay4  ,should we now be      
sensible of what ,he requires of us1 and
  through a respect to the private      
interest of some persons1 or through a  
regard to some friendships which do not 
stand upon an immutable  foundation1    
neglect to do our duty in firmness and  
constancy1 still  waiting for some      
extraordinary means to bring about their
 deliverance1  ,god may by terrible     
things in righteousness answer us in    
this matter4    ,this solemn and weighty
 appeal was responded to by many in the 
assembly1  in a spirit of sympathy and  
unity4  ,some of the slave-holding      
members  expressed their willingness    
that a strict rule of discipline should 
be  adopted against dealing in slaves   
for the future4  ,to this it was        
answered that the root of the evil would
 never be reached effectually  until a  
searching inquiry was made into the     

circumstances and motives of  such as   
held slaves4  ,at length the truth in a 
great measure triumphed  over all       
opposition2 and1 without any public     
dissent1 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 liberty1
 making a ,christian provision for them1
 and four  ,friends--,john ,woolman1    
,john ,scarborough1 ,daniel ,stanton1   
and ,john ,sykes--  were approved of as 
suitable persons to visit and treat with
 such as kept  slaves1 within the limits
 of the meeting4    ,this painful and   
difficult duty was faithfully performed4
  ,in that  meekness and humility of    
spirit which has nothing in common with 
the  fear of man1 which bringeth a      
snare1 the self-denying followers of    
their ,divine ,lord and ,master went    
about doing good4  ,in the city of      
,philadelphia1 and among the wealthy    
planters of the country1 they found     

occasion often to exercise a great      
degree of patience1 and to keep a       
watchful guard over their feelings4  ,in
 his ,journal for this important  period
 of his life ,john ,woolman says but    
little of his own services4  ,how       
arduous and delicate they were may be   
readily understood4  ,the number of     
slaves held by members of the ,society  
was very large4  ,isaac ,jackson1 in    
his report of his labors among          
slave-holders in a single ,quarterly    
,meeting1 states that he visited the    
owners of more than eleven hundred      
slaves4  ,from the same report may be   
gleaned some hints of the  difficulties 
which presented themselves4  ,one       
elderly man says he has  well brought up
 his eleven slaves1 and now they must   
work to maintain  him4  ,another owns it
 is all wrong1 but cannot release his   
slaves2 his  tender wife under great    
concern of mind on account of his       
refusal4  ,a  third has fifty slaves2   
knows it to be wrong1 but can't see his 

way clear  out of it4  ,perhaps1 the    
report says1 interest dims his vision4  
,a  fourth is full of excuses and       
reasonings4  ,old ,jos4 ,richison has   
forty1 and is determined to keep them4  
,another man has fifty1 and  means to   
keep them4  ,robert ,ward wants to      
release his slaves1 but his  wife and   
daughters hold back4  ,another owns it  
is wrong1 but says he  will not part    
with his negroes1--no1 not while he     
lives4  ,the far  greater number1       
however1 confess the wrong of slavery1  
and agree to take  measures for freeing 
their slaves4         ,an incident      
occurred during this visit of ,isaac    
,jackson which       impressed him      
deeply4  ,on the last evening1 just as  
he was about to       turn homeward1 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  
for4       ,it was a case which it was  
thought might well be left to take care 
of itself4  ,isaac ,jackson1 sitting in 

silence1 did not feel his mind          
quite satisfied2 and as the evening wore
 away1 feeling more and more            
exercised1 he expressed his uneasiness1 
when a young son of his host            
eagerly offered to go with him and show 
him the road to the place4       ,the   
proposal was gladly accepted4  ,on      
introducing the object of       their   
visit1 the ,friend expressed much       
surprise that any uneasiness            
should be felt in the case1 but at      
length consented to sign the form       
of emancipation1 saying1 at the same    
time1 it would make no       difference 
in their relations1 as the old man was  
perfectly happy4       ,at ,isaac       
,jackson's request the slave was called 
in and seated before       them4  ,his  
form was nearly double1 his thin hands  
were propped on       his knees1 his    
white head was thrust forward1 and his  
keen1       restless1 inquiring eyes    
gleamed alternately on the stranger and 
on       his master4  ,at length he was 

informed of what had been done2 that    
he was no longer a slave1 and that his  
master acknowledged his past            
services entitled him to a maintenance  
so long as he lived4  ,the old       man
 listened in almost breathless wonder1  
his head slowly sinking on       his    
breast4  ,after a short pause1 he       
clasped his hands2 then       spreading 
them high over his hoary head1 slowly   
and reverently       exclaimed1 ,oh1    
goody ,gody1 oh6--bringing his hands    
again down on       his knees4  ,then   
raising them as before1 he twice        
repeated the       solemn exclamation1  
and with streaming eyes and a voice     
almost too       much choked for        
utterance1 he continued1 ,i thought ,i  
should die a       slave1 and now ,i    
shall die a free man6         ,it is a  
striking evidence of the divine         
compensations which are       sometimes 
graciously vouchsafed to those who have 
been faithful to       duty1 that on his
 death-bed this affecting scene was     

vividly revived       in the mind of    
,isaac ,jackson4  ,at that supreme      
moment1 when all       other pictures of
 time were fading out1 that old face1   
full of       solemn joy and devout     
thanksgiving1 rose before him1 and      
comforted       him as with the blessing
 of ,god4    ,an extract or two from the
 ,journal at this period will serve to  
show both  the nature of the service in 
which he was engaged and the frame of   
mind  in which he accomplished it3--    
,in the beginning of the #abth month ,i 
joined in company with my friends1      
,john ,sykes and ,daniel ,stanton1 in   
visiting such as had slaves4  ,some1    
whose hearts were rightly exercised     
about them1 appeared to be glad of  our 
visit1 but in some places our way was   
more difficult4  ,i often saw  the      
necessity of keeping down to that root  
from whence our concern  proceeded1 and 
have cause in reverent thankfulness     
humbly to bow down  before the ,lord who
 was near to me1 and preserved my mind  

in calmness  under some sharp conflicts1
 and begat a spirit of sympathy and     
tenderness  in me towards some who were 
grievously entangled by the spirit of   
this  world4    #ast month1             
#agei4--;,having found my mind drawn to 
visit some of the more  active members  
of society at ,philadelphia who had     
slaves1 ,i met my friend  ,john         
,churchman there by agreement1 and we   
continued about a week in the  city4    
,we visited some that were sick1 and    
some widows and their  families2 and the
 other part of the time was mostly      
employed in visiting  such as had       
slaves4 ,it was a time of deep exercise2
 but looking often to  the ,lord for    
assistance1 ,he in unspeakable kindness 
favored us with the  influence of that  
spirit which crucifies to the greatness 
and splendor of  this world1 and enabled
 us to go through some heavy labors1 in 
which we  found peace4    ,these labors 
were attended with the blessing of the  
,god of the poor and  oppressed4        

,dealing in slaves was almost entirely  
abandoned1 and many who  held slaves set
 them at liberty4  ,but many members    
still continuing the  practice1 a more  
emphatic testimony against it was issued
 by the ,yearly  ,meeting in #aggd2 and 
two years after the subordinate meetings
 were  directed to deny the right of    
membership to such as persisted in      
holding  their fellow-men as property4  
,a concern was now felt for the temporal
 and religious welfare of the           
emancipated slaves1 and in #aggi the    
,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 slavery4  ,the following is an      
extract from an epistle on this subject3
    ,we are united in judgment that the 
state of the oppressed people who  have 
been held by any of us1 or our          
predecessors1 in captivity and  slavery1
 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 right2 and therefore we earnestly  
and affectionately  entreat our brethren
 in religious profession to bring this  
matter home1  and that all who have let 
the oppressed go free may attend to the 
further  openings of duty4    ,a tender 
,christian sympathy appears to be       
awakened in the minds of many  who are  
not in religious profession with us1 who
 have seriously  considered the         
oppressions and disadvantages under     
which those people  have long labored2  
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 attention4           
,committees to aid and advise the       
colored people were accordingly         
appointed in the various ,monthly       
,meetings4  ,many former owners of      
slaves  faithfully paid the latter for  
their services1 submitting to the award 
and judgment of arbitrators as to what  

justice required at their hands4  ,so   
deeply had the sense of the wrong of    
slavery sunk into the hearts of         
,friends6    ,john ,woolman1 in his     
,journal for #agfi1 states1 that having 
some years  before1 as one of the       
executors of a will1 disposed of the    
services of a  negro boy belonging to   
the estate until he should reach the age
 of thirty  years1 he became uneasy in  
respect to the transaction1 and1        
although he  had himself derived no     
pecuniary benefit from it1 and had      
simply acted as  the agent of the heirs 
of the estate to which the boy belonged1
 he  executed a bond1 binding himself to
 pay the master of the young man for    
four years and a half of his unexpired  
term of service4    ,the appalling      
magnitude of the evil against which he  
felt himself  especially called to      
contend was painfully manifest to ,john 
,woolman4  ,at  the outset1 all about   
him1 in every department of life and    
human  activity1 in the state and the   

church1 he saw evidences of its         
strength1  and of the depth and extent  
to which its roots had wound their way  
among  the foundations of society4  ,yet
 he seems never to have doubted for a   
moment the power of simple truth to     
eradicate it1 nor to have hesitated  as 
to his own duty in regard to it4  ,there
 was no groping like ,samson in  the    
gloom2 no feeling in blind wrath and    
impatience for the pillars of  the      
temple of ,dagon4  ,the candle of the   
,lord shone about him1 and his  path lay
 clear and unmistakable before him4  ,he
 believed in the goodness  of ,god that 
leadeth to repentance2 and that love    
could reach the witness  for itself in  
the hearts of all men1 through all      
entanglements of custom  and every      
barrier of pride and selfishness4  ,no  
one could have a more  humble estimate  
of himself2 but as he went forth on his 
errand of mercy  he felt the ,infinite  
,power behind him1 and the consciousness
 that he had  known a preparation from  

that ,power to stand as a trumpet       
through which  the ,lord speaks4  ,the  
event justified his confidence2 wherever
 he went  hard hearts were softened1    
avarice and love of power and pride of  
opinion  gave way before his testimony  
of love4    ,the ,new ,england ,yearly  
,meeting then1 as now1 was held in      
,newport1 on  ,rhode ,island4  ,in the  
year #agfj ,john ,woolman1 in the course
 of a  religious visit to ,new ,england1
 attended that meeting4  ,he saw the    
horrible traffic in human beings1--the  
slave-ships lying at the wharves  of the
 town1 the sellers and buyers of men and
 women and children  thronging the      
market-place4  ,the same abhorrent      
scenes which a few years  after stirred 
the spirit of 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 ,friends1 many of
 whom were themselves partakers in the  

shame and wickedness4  ,understanding1  
he says1 that a large number of  slaves 
had been imported from ,africa into the 
town1 and were then on sale  by a member
 of our ,society1 my appetite failed2 ,i
 grew outwardly weak1  and had a feeling
 of the condition of ,habakkuk3 ',when  
,i heard1 my belly  trembled1 my lips   
quivered2 ,i trembled in myself1 that ,i
 might rest in  the day of trouble4'  ,i
 had many cogitations1 and was sorely   
distressed4  ,he prepared a memorial to 
the ,legislature1 then in session1 for  
the  signatures of ,friends1 urging that
 body to take measures to put an end to 
the importation of slaves4  ,his labors 
in the ,yearly ,meeting appear to  have 
been owned and blessed by the ,divine   
,head of the church4  ,the ,london      
,epistle for #ageh1 condemning the      
unrighteous traffic in men1 was read1   
and the substance of it embodied in the 
discipline of the meeting2 and  the     
following query was adopted1 to be      
answered by the subordinate  meetings3--

    ,are ,friends clear of importing    
negroes1 or buying them when imported2  
and do they use those well1 where they  
are possessed by inheritance or         
otherwise1 endeavoring to train them up 
in principles of religion8    ,at the   
close of the ,yearly ,meeting1 ,john    
,woolman requested those members  of the
 ,society who held slaves to meet with  
him in the chamber of the  house for    
worship1 where he expressed his concern 
for the well-being of  the slaves1 and  
his sense of the iniquity of the        
practice of dealing in  or holding them 
as property4  ,his tender exhortations  
were not lost upon  his auditors2 his   
remarks were kindly received1 and the   
gentle and loving  spirit in which they 
were offered reached many hearts4    ,in
 #agfi1 at the suggestion of the ,rhode 
,island ,quarterly ,meeting1 the        
,yearly ,meeting expressed its sense of 
the wrongfulness of holding slaves1  and
 appointed a large committee to visit   
those members who were  implicated in   

the practice4  ,the next year this      
committee reported that  they had       
completed their service1 and that their 
visits mostly seemed to  be kindly      
accepted4  ,some ,friends manifested a  
disposition to set such at  liberty as  
were suitable2 some others1 not having  
so clear a sight of  such an            
unreasonable servitude as could be      
desired1 were unwilling to  comply with 
the advice given them at present1 yet   
seemed willing to take  it into         
consideration2 a few others manifested a
 disposition to keep them  in continued 
bondage4    ,it was stated in the       
,epistle to ,london ,yearly ,meeting of 
the year #aggb1  that a few ,friends had
 freed their slaves from bondage1 but   
that others  have been so reluctant     
thereto that they have been disowned for
 not  complying with the advice of this 
meeting4    ,in #aggc the following     
minute was made3 ,it is our sense and   
judgment that  truth not only requires  
the young of capacity and ability1 but  

likewise  the aged and impotent1 and    
also all in a state of infancy and      
nonage1  among ,friends1 to be          
discharged and set free from a state of 
slavery1  that we do no more claim      
property in the human race1 as we do in 
the  brutes that perish4    ,in #aghb no
 slaves were known to be held in the    
,new ,england ,yearly  ,meeting4  ,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 masters1 for    
their past services4  ,in  #aghd it was 
concluded by the ,yearly ,meeting that  
any former slave-holder  who refused to 
comply with the award of these          
committees should1 after  due care and  
labor with him1 be disowned from the    
,society4  ,this was  effectual2        
settlements without disownment were made
 to the satisfaction  of all parties1   
and every case was disposed of previous 
to the year #aghg4    ,in the ,new ,york

 ,yearly ,meeting1 slave-trading was    
prohibited about the  middle of the last
 century4  ,in #agga1 in consequence of 
an ,epistle from  the ,philadelphia     
,yearly ,meeting1 a committee was       
appointed to visit those  who held      
slaves1 and to advise with them in      
relation to emancipation4  ,in  #aggf it
 was made a disciplinary offence to buy1
 sell1 or hold slaves upon  any         
condition4  ,in #aghd but one slave was 
to be found in the limits of  the       
meeting4  ,in the same year1 by answers 
from the several subordinate  meetings1 
it was ascertained that an equitable    
settlement for past  services had been  
effected between the emancipated negroes
 and their  masters in all save three   
cases4    ,in the ,virginia ,yearly     
,meeting slavery had its strongest hold4
  ,its  members1 living in the midst of 
slave-holding communities1 were         
necessarily exposed to influences       
adverse to emancipation4  ,i have       
already alluded to the epistle addressed

 to them by ,william ,edmondson1  and to
 the labors of ,john ,woolman while     
travelling among them4  ,in #ageg  the  
,virginia ,yearly ,meeting condemned the
 foreign slave-trade4  ,in #agfd  it    
enjoined upon its members the duty of   
kindness towards their servants1  of    
educating them1 and carefully providing 
for their food and clothing4  ,four     
years after1 its members were strictly  
prohibited from purchasing  any more    
slaves4  ,in #aggc it earnestly         
recommended the immediate  manumission  
of all slaves held in bondage1 after the
 females had reached  eighteen and the  
males twenty-one years of age4  ,at the 
same time it was  advised that          
committees should be appointed for the  
purpose of  instructing the emancipated 
persons in the principles of morality   
and  religion1 and for advising and     
aiding them in their temporal concerns4 
,i quote a single paragraph from the    
advice sent down to the subordinate     
meetings1 as a beautiful manifestation  

of the fruits of true repentance3--     
,it is the solid sense of this meeting1 
that we of the present generation  are  
under strong obligations 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 enduring a  
hard bondage1 and the benefit of whose  
toil  many among us are enjoying4    ,in
 #aghd1 the different ,quarterly        
,meetings having reported that many     
still  held slaves1 notwithstanding the 
advice and entreaties of their friends1 
the ,yearly ,meeting directed that where
 endeavors to convince those  offenders 
of their error proved ineffectual1 the  
,monthly ,meetings should  proceed to   
disown them4  ,we have no means of      
ascertaining the precise  number of     
those actually disowned for             
slave-holding in the ,virginia  ,yearly 
,meeting1 but it is well known to have  
been very small4  ,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  offenders to manumit their   
slaves1 and confess their error in      
resisting  the wishes of their friends  
and bringing reproach upon the cause of 
truth4    ,so ended slavery in the      
,society of ,friends4  ,for three       
quarters of a  century the advice put   
forth in the meetings of the ,society at
 stated  intervals1 that ,friends should
 be careful to maintain their testimony 
against slavery1 has been adhered to so 
far as owning1 or even hiring1 a  slave 
is concerned4  ,apart from its          
first-fruits of emancipation1 there  is 
a perennial value in the example        
exhibited of the power of truth1  urged 
patiently and in earnest love1 to       
overcome the difficulties in the  way of
 the eradication of an evil system1     
strengthened by long habit1  entangled  
with all the complex relations of       
society1 and closely allied  with the   

love of power1 the pride of family1 and 
the lust of gain4    ,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     
member4  ,it may be  traced wherever a  
step in the direction of emancipation   
has been taken in  this country or in   
,europe4  ,during the war of the        
,revolution many of the  noblemen and   
officers connected with the ,french army
 became1 as their  journals abundantly  
testify1 deeply interested in the       
,society of ,friends1  and took back to 
,france with them something of its      
growing anti-slavery  sentiment4        
,especially was this the case with ,jean
 ,pierre ,brissot1 the  thinker and     
statesman of the ,girondists1 whose     
intimacy with ,warner  ,mifflin1 a      
friend and disciple of ,woolman1 so     
profoundly affected his  whole after    
life4  ,he became the leader of the     
,friends of the ,blacks1  and carried   
with him to the scaffold a profound     

hatred1 of slavery4  ,to  his efforts   
may be traced the proclamation of       
emancipation in ,hayti by  the          
commissioners of the ,french convention1
 and indirectly the subsequent  uprising
 of the blacks and their successful     
establishment of a free  government4    
,the same influence reached ,thomas     
,clarkson and stimulated  his early     
efforts for the abolition of the        
slave-trade2 and in after life  the     
volume of the ,new ,jersey ,quaker was  
the cherished companion of  himself and 
his amiable helpmate4  ,it was in a     
degree1 at least1 the  influence of     
,stephen ,grellet and ,william ,allen1  
men deeply imbued with  the spirit of   
,woolman1 and upon whom it might almost 
be said his mantle  had fallen1 that    
drew the attention of ,alexander ,i4 of 
,russia to the  importance of taking    
measures for the abolition of serfdom1  
an object the  accomplishment of which  
the wars during his reign prevented1 but
 which1  left as a legacy of duty1 has  

been peaceably effected by his namesake1
  ,alexander ,,ii4  ,in the history of  
emancipation in our own country         
evidences of the same original impulse  
of humanity are not wanting4  ,in  #agij
 memorials against slavery from the     
,society of ,friends were laid  before  
the first ,congress of the ,united      
,states4  ,not content with  clearing   
their own skirts of the evil1 the       
,friends of that day took an  active    
part in the formation of the abolition  
societies of ,new ,england1  ,new ,york1
 ,pennsylvania1 ,maryland1 and          
,virginia4  ,jacob ,lindley1 ,elisha    
,tyson1 ,warner ,mifflin1 ,james        
,pemberton1 and other leading ,friends  
were  known throughout the country as   
unflinching champions of freedom4  ,one 
of  the earliest of the class known as  
modern abolitionists was ,benjamin      
,lundy1 a pupil in the school of        
,woolman1 through whom ,william ,lloyd  
,garrison became interested in the great
 work to which his life has been  so    

faithfully and nobly devoted4  ,looking 
back to the humble workshop at  ,mount  
,holly from the stand-point of the      
,proclamation of ,president  ,lincoln1  
how has the seed sown in weakness been  
raised up in power6    ,the larger      
portion of ,woolman's writings is       
devoted to the subjects of  slavery1    
uncompensated labor1 and the excessive  
toil and suffering of the  many to      
support the luxury of the few4  ,the    
argument running through them  is       
searching1 and in its conclusions       
uncompromising1 but a tender love  for  
the wrong-doer as well as the sufferer  
underlies all4  ,they aim to  convince  
the judgment and reach the heart without
 awakening prejudice and  passion4  ,to 
the slave-holders of his time they must 
have seemed like the  voice of          
conscience speaking to them in the cool 
of the day4  ,one feels1  in reading    
them1 the tenderness and humility of a  
nature redeemed from  all pride of      
opinion and self-righteousness1 sinking 

itself out of sight1  and intent only   
upon rendering smaller the sum of human 
sorrow and sin by  drawing men nearer to
 ,god1 and to each other4  ,the style is
 that of a man  unlettered1 but with    
natural refinement and delicate sense of
 fitness1  the purity of whose heart    
enters into his language4  ,there is no 
attempt  at fine writing1 not a word or 
phrase for effect2 it is the simple     
unadorned diction of one to whom the    
temptations of the pen seem to have     
been wholly unknown4  ,he wrote1 as he  
believed1 from an inward spiritual      
prompting2 and with all his unaffected  
humility he evidently felt that  his    
work was done in the clear radiance of  
,the light which never was on land or   
sea4    ,it was not for him to outrun   
his ,guide1 or1 as ,sir ,thomas ,browne 
expresses it1 to order the finger of the
 ,almighty to ,his will and  pleasure1  
but to sit still under the soft showers 
of ,providence4  ,very  wise are these  
essays1 but their wisdom is not         

altogether that of this  world4  ,they  
lead one away from all the jealousies1  
strifes1 and  competitions of luxury1   
fashion1 and gain1 out of the close air 
of  parties and sects1 into a region of 
calmness1--                             
,the haunt            ,of every gentle  
wind whose breath can teach             
,the wild to love tranquillity1--    a  
quiet habitation where all things are   
ordered in what he calls the  pure      
reason2 a rest from all self-seeking1   
and where no man's interest  or activity
 conflicts with that of another4        
,beauty they certainly have1  but it is 
not that which the rules of art         
recognize2 a certain  indefinable purity
 pervades them1 making one sensible1 as 
he reads1 of a  sweetness as of violets4
  ,the secret of ,woolman's purity of   
style1 said  ,dr4 ,channing1 is that his
 eye was single1 and that conscience    
dictated  his words4    ,of course we   
are not to look to the writings of such 
a man for tricks of  rhetoric1 the free 

play of imagination1 or the             
unscrupulousness of  epigram and        
antithesis4  ,he wrote as he lived1     
conscious of the great  ,task-master's  
eye4  ,with the wise heathen ,marcus    
,aurelius ,antoninus he  had learned to 
wipe out imaginations1 to check desire1 
and let the  spirit that is the gift of 
,god to every man1 as his guardian and  
guide1  bear rule4    ,i have thought it
 inexpedient to swell the bulk of this  
volume with the  entire writings        
appended to the old edition of the      
,journal1 inasmuch as  they mainly refer
 to a system which happily on this      
continent is no  longer a question at   
issue4  ,i content myself with throwing 
together a  few passages from them which
 touch subjects of present interest4    
,selfish men may possess the earth3 it  
is the meek alone who inherit it  from  
the ,heavenly ,father free from all     
defilements and perplexities of         
unrighteousness4    ,whoever rightly    
advocates the cause of some thereby     

promotes the good of  the whole4    ,if 
one suffer by the unfaithfulness of     
another1 the mind1 the most noble  part 
of him that occasions the discord1 is   
thereby alienated from its  true        
happiness4    ,there is harmony in the  
several parts of the ,divine work in the
 hearts  of men4  ,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 greatness1 and  
reconciles to a life so plain that a    
little suffices4    ,after days and     
nights of drought1 when the sky hath    
grown dark1 and  clouds like lakes of   
water have hung over our heads1 ,i have 
at times  beheld with awfulness the     
vehement lightning accompanying the     
blessings  of the rain1 a messenger from
 ,him to remind us of our duty in a     
right use  of ,his benefits4    ,the    
marks of famine in a land appear as     
humbling admonitions from ,god1         
instructing us by gentle chastisements1 

that we may remember that the  outward  
supply of life is a gift from our       
,heavenly ,father1 and that we  should  
not venture to use or apply that gift in
 a way contrary to pure  reason4        
,oppression in the extreme appears      
terrible2 but oppression in more        
refined appearances remains to be       
oppression4  ,to labor for a perfect    
redemption from the spirit of it is the 
great business of the whole  family of  
,jesus ,christ in this world4    ,in the
 obedience of faith we die to self-love1
 and1 our life being hid  with ,christ  
in ,god1' our hearts are enlarged       
towards mankind universally2  but many  
in striving to get treasures have       
departed from this true light  of life  
and stumbled on the dark mountains4     
,that purity of life which  proceeds    
from faithfulness in following the pure 
spirit of truth1 that  state in which   
our minds are devoted to serve ,god and 
all our wants are  bounded by ,his      
wisdom1 has often been opened to me as a

 place of  retirement for the children  
of the light1 in which we may be        
separated  from that which disordereth  
and confuseth the affairs of society1   
and may  have a testimony for our       
innocence in the hearts of those who    
behold us4    ,there is a principle     
which is pure1 placed in the human mind1
 which in  different places and ages    
bath had different names2 it is1        
however1 pure1  and proceeds from ,god4 
,it is deep and inward1 confined to no  
forms of  religion nor excluded from    
any1 when the heart stands in perfect   
sincerity4  ,in whomsoever this takes   
root and grows1 they become  brethren4  
,the necessity of an inward stillness   
hath appeared clear to my mind4  ,in    
true silence strength is renewed1 and   
the mind is weaned from all things1     
save as they may be enjoyed in the      
,divine will2 and a lowliness in        
outward living1 opposite to worldly     
honor1 becomes truly acceptable to  us4 
,in the desire after outward gain the   

mind is prevented from a  perfect       
attention to the voice of ,christ2 yet  
being weaned from all  things1 except as
 they may be enjoyed in the ,divine     
will1 the pure light  shines into the   
soul4  ,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  truth1 and cloudiness is
 felt to be gathering over the visible  
church1  the sincere in heart1 who abide
 in true stillness1 and are exercised   
therein before the ,lord for ,his name's
 sake1 have knowledge of ,christ in  the
 fellowship of ,his sufferings2 and     
inward thankfulness is felt at  times1  
that through ,divine love our own wisdom
 is cast out1 and that  forward1 active 
part in us is subjected1 which would    
rise and do  something without the pure 
leadings of the spirit of ,christ4      
,while aught remains in us contrary to a
 perfect resignation of our  wills1 it  
is like a seal to the book wherein is   
written 'that good and  acceptable and  

perfect will of ,god' concerning us4    
,but when our minds  entirely yield to  
,christ1 that silence is known which    
followeth the  opening of the last of   
the seals4  ,in this silence we learn to
 abide in  the ,divine will1 and there  
feel that we have no cause to promote   
except  that alone in which the light of
 life directs us4    ,occasionally1 in  
,considerations on the ,keeping of8     
,negroes1 the intense  interest of his  
subject gives his language something of 
passionate  elevation1 as in the        
following extract3--    ,when trade is  
carried on productive of much misery1   
and they who suffer  by it are many     
thousand miles off1 the danger is the   
greater of not  laying their sufferings 
to heart4  ,in procuring slaves on the  
coast of  ,africa1 many children are    
stolen privately2 wars are encouraged   
among the  negroes1 but all is at a     
great distance4  ,many groans arise from
 dying  men which we hear not4  ,many   
cries are uttered by widows and         

fatherless  children which reach not our
 ears4  ,many cheeks are wet with tears1
 and  faces sad with unutterable grief1 
which we see not4  ,cruel tyranny is    
encouraged4  ,the hands of robbers are  
strengthened4    ,were we1 for the term 
of one year only1 to be eye-witnesses of
 what  passeth in getting these slaves2 
were the blood that is there shed to be 
sprinkled on our garments2 were the poor
 captives1 bound with thongs1 and       
heavily laden with elephants' teeth1 to 
pass before our eyes on their way  to   
the sea2 were their bitter lamentations1
 day after day1 to ring in our  ears1   
and their mournful cries in the night to
 hinder us from sleeping1--  were we to 
behold and hear these things1 what pious
 heart would not be  deeply affected    
with sorrow6    ,it is good for those   
who live in fulness to cultivate        
tenderness of  heart1 and to improve    
every opportunity of being acquainted   
with the  hardships and fatigues of     
those who labor for their living1 and   

thus to  think seriously with           
themselves3 ,am ,i influenced by true   
charity in  fixing all my demands8      
,have ,i no desire to support myself in 
expensive  customs1 because my          
acquaintances live in such customs8     
,if a wealthy man1 on serious           
reflection1 finds a witness in his own  
conscience that he indulges himself in  
some expensive habits1 which might  be  
omitted1 consistently with the true     
design of living1 and which1 were  he to
 change places with those who occupy his
 estate1 he would desire to  be         
discontinued by them1--whoever is thus  
awakened will necessarily find  the     
injunction binding1 ',do ye even so to  
them4'  ,divine ,love imposeth no       
rigorous or unreasonable commands1 but  
graciously points out the spirit  of    
brotherhood and the way to happiness1 in
 attaining which it is  necessary that  
we relinquish all that is selfish4      
,our gracious ,creator cares and        
provides for all ,his creatures2 ,his   

tender mercies are over all ,his works1 
and so far as true love influences  our 
minds1 so far we become interested in   
,his workmanship1 and feel a  desire to 
make use of every opportunity to lessen 
the distresses of the  afflicted1 and to
 increase the happiness of the creation4
  ,here we have a  prospect of one      
common interest from which our own is   
inseparable1 so  that to turn all we    
possess into the channel of universal   
love becomes  the business of our lives4
    ,his liberality and freedom from all
 narrowness as to sects and opinions    
are manifest in the following           
passages3--    ,men who sincerely apply 
their minds to true virtue1 and find an 
inward  support from above1 by which all
 vicious inclinations are made subject2 
who love ,god sincerely1 and prefer the 
real good of mankind universally  to    
their own private interest1--though     
these1 through the strength of          
education and tradition1 may remain     
under some great speculative errors1  it

 would be uncharitable to say that      
therefore ,god rejects them4  ,the      
knowledge and goodness of ,him who      
creates1 supports1 and gives            
understanding to all men are superior to
 the various states and  circumstances  
of ,his creatures1 which to us appear   
the most difficult4  ,idolatry indeed is
 wickedness2 but it is the thing1 not   
the name1 which  is so4  ,real idolatry 
is to pay that adoration to a creature  
which is  known to be due only to the   
true ,god4    ,he who professeth to     
believe in one ,almighty ,creator1 and  
in ,his ,son  ,jesus ,christ1 and is yet
 more intent on the honors1 profits1 and
  friendships of the world than he is1  
in singleness of heart1 to stand        
faithful to the ,christian religion1 is 
in the channel of idolatry2 while  the  
,gentile1 who1 notwithstanding some     
mistaken opinions1 is established  in   
the true principle of virtue1 and humbly
 adores an ,almighty ,power1 may  be of 
the number that fear ,god and work      

righteousness4    ,nowhere has what is  
called the ,labor ,question1 which is   
now agitating  the world1 been discussed
 more wisely and with a broader humanity
 than in  these essays4  ,his sympathies
 were with the poor man1 yet the rich   
too  are his brethren1 and he warns them
 in love and pity of the consequences   
of luxury and oppression3--    ,every   
degree of luxury1 every demand for money
 inconsistent with the  ,divine order1  
hath connection with unnecessary labors4
    ,to treasure up wealth for another  
generation1 by means of the immoderate  
labor of those who in some measure      
depend upon us1 is doing evil at        
present1 without knowing that wealth    
thus gathered may not be applied to     
evil purposes when we are gone4  ,to    
labor hard1 or cause others to do so1   
that we may live conformably to customs 
which our ,redeemer  discountenanced by 
,his example1 and which are contrary to 
,divine order1  is to manure a soil for 
propagating an evil seed in the earth4  

,when house is joined to house1 and     
field laid to field1 until there is  no 
place1 and the poor are thereby         
straitened1 though this is done by      
bargain and purchase1 yet so far as it  
stands distinguished from  universal    
love1 so far that woe predicted by the  
prophet will accompany  their           
proceedings4  ,as ,he who first founded 
the earth was then the true  proprietor 
of it1 so ,he still remains1 and though 
,he hath given it to the  children of   
men1 so that multitudes of people have  
had their sustenance  from it while they
 continued here1 yet ,he bath never     
alienated it1 but  ,his right is as good
 as at first2 nor can any apply the     
increase of their  possessions contrary 
to universal love1 nor dispose of lands 
in a way  which they know tends to exalt
 some by oppressing others1 without     
being  justly chargeable with           
usurpation4    ,it will not lessen the  
value of the foregoing extracts in the  
minds of  the true-disciples of our     

,divine ,lord1 that they are manifestly 
not  written to subserve the interests  
of a narrow sectarianism4  ,they might  
have been penned by ,fenelon in his     
time1 or ,robertson in ours1 dealing as 
they do with ,christian practice1--the  
life of ,christ manifesting itself  in  
purity and goodness1--rather than with  
the dogmas of theology4  ,the           
underlying thought of all is simple     
obedience to the ,divine word in the    
soul4  ,not every one that saith unto me
 ,lord1 ,lord1 shall enter into the     
kingdom of heaven1 but he that doeth the
 will of my ,father in heaven4  ,in the 
preface to an ,english edition1         
published some years ago1 it is         
intimated that objections had been      
raised to the ,journal on the ground    
that it had so little to say of         
doctrines and so much of duties4  ,one  
may  easily understand that this        
objection might have been forcibly felt 
by  the slave-holding religious         
professors of ,woolman's day1 and that  

it may  still be entertained by a class 
of persons who1 like the ,cabalists1    
attach a certain mystical significance  
to words1 names1 and titles1 and  who in
 consequence question the piety which   
hesitates to flatter the  ,divine ear by
 vain repetitions and formal enumeration
 of sacred  attributes1 dignities1 and  
offices4  ,every instinct of his        
tenderly  sensitive nature shrank from  
the wordy irreverence of noisy          
profession4  ,his very silence is       
significant3 the husks of emptiness     
rustle in every  wind2 the full corn in 
the ear holds up its golden fruit       
noiselessly to  the ,lord of the        
harvest4  ,john ,woolman's faith1 like  
the ,apostle's1 is  manifested by his   
labors1 standing not in words but in the
 demonstration  of the spirit1--a faith 
that works by love to the purifying of  
the heart4  ,the entire outcome of this 
faith was love manifested in reverent   
waiting  upon ,god1 and in that untiring
 benevolence1 that quiet but deep       

enthusiasm of humanity1 which made his  
daily service to his fellow-  creatures 
a hymn of praise to the common ,father4 
,however the intellect may criticise    
such a life1 whatever defects it may    
present to the trained eyes of          
theological adepts1 the heart has no    
questions to ask1 but at once owns and  
reveres it4  ,shall we regret that  he  
who had so entered into fellowship of   
suffering with the ,divine ,one1        
walking with ,him under the cross1 and  
dying daily to self1 gave to the  faith 
and hope that were in him this testimony
 of a life1 rather than any  form of    
words1 however sound8  ,a true life is  
at once interpreter and  proof of the   
gospel1 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 solved4  ,shall we
 venture  to account it a defect in his 
,christian character1 that1 under an    
abiding  sense of the goodness and      

long-suffering of ,god1 he wrought his  
work in  gentleness and compassion1 with
 the delicate tenderness which comes of 
a  deep sympathy with the trials and    
weaknesses of our nature1 never         
allowing himself to indulge in heat or  
violence1 persuading rather than        
threatening8  ,did he overestimate that 
immeasurable ,love1 the  manifestation  
of which in his own heart so reached the
 hearts of others1  revealing everywhere
 unsuspected fountains of feeling and   
secret longings  after purity1 as the   
rod of the diviner detects sweet1 cool  
water-springs  under the parched        
surfaces of a thirsty land8  ,and1      
looking at the  purity1 wisdom1 and     
sweetness of his life1 who shall say    
that his faith  in the teaching of the  
,holy ,spirit--the interior guide and   
light--was a  mistaken one8  ,surely it 
was no illusion by which his feet were  
so guided  that all who saw him felt    
that1 like ,enoch1 he walked with ,god4 
,without  the actual inspiration of the 

,spirit of ,grace1 the inward teacher   
and  soul of our souls1 says ,fenelon1  
we could neither do1 will1 nor believe  
good4  ,we must silence every creature1 
we must silence ourselves also1 to  hear
 in a profound stillness of the soul    
this inexpressible voice of  ,christ4   
,the outward word of the gospel itself  
without this living  efficacious word   
within would be but an empty sound4     
,thou ,lord1 says  ,augustine in his    
,meditations1 communicatest thyself to  
all3 thou  teachest the heart without   
words2 thou speakest to it without      
articulate  sounds4         ,however1 ,i
 am sure that there is a common spirit  
that plays within       us1 and that is 
the ,spirit of ,god4  ,whoever feels not
 the warm gale       and gentle         
ventilation of this ,spirit1 ,i dare not
 say he lives2 for       truly without  
this to me there is no heat under the   
tropic1 nor any       light though ,i   
dwelt in the body of the sun4--,sir     
,thomas ,browne's       ,religio        

,medici4    ,never was this divine      
principle more fully tested than by     
,john ,wool man2  and the result is seen
 in a life of such rare excellence that 
the world  is still better and richer   
for its sake1 and the fragrance of it   
comes  down to us through a century1    
still sweet and precious4    ,it will be
 noted throughout the ,journal and      
essays that in his lifelong  testimony  
against wrong he never lost sight of the
 oneness of humanity1  its common       
responsibility1 its fellowship of       
suffering and communion of  sin4  ,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 himself4  ,sin was not to  
him an isolated fact1 the responsibility
 of which began  and ended with the     
individual transgressor2 he saw it as a 
part of a vast  network and             
entanglement1 and traced the lines of   
influence converging  upon it in the    
underworld of causation4  ,hence the    

wrong and discord  which pained him     
called out pity1 rather than            
indignation4  ,the first  inquiry which 
they awakened was addressed to his own  
conscience4  ,how far  am ,i in thought1
 word1 custom1 responsible for this8    
,have none of my  fellow-creatures an   
equitable right to any part which is    
called mine8  ,have the gifts and       
possessions received by me from others  
been conveyed  in a way free from all   
unrighteousness8  ,through abiding in   
the law of  ,christ1 he says1 we feel a 
tenderness towards our fellow-creatures1
 and  a concern so to walk that our     
conduct may not be the means of         
strengthening them in error4  ,he       
constantly recurs to the importance of  
a right example in those who profess to 
be led by the spirit of ,christ1  and   
who attempt to labor in ,his name for   
the benefit of their fellow-men4  ,if   
such neglect or refuse themselves to act
 rightly1 they can but  entangle the    
minds of others and draw a veil over the

 face of  righteousness4  ,his eyes were
 anointed to see the common point of    
departure from the ,divine harmony1 and 
that all the varied growths of  evil had
 their underlying root in human         
selfishness4  ,he saw that every  sin of
 the individual was shared in greater or
 less degree by all whose  lives were   
opposed to the ,divine order1 and that  
pride1 luxury1 and  avarice in one class
 gave motive and temptation to the      
grosser forms of  evil in another4  ,how
 gentle1 and yet how searching1 are his 
rebukes of  self-complacent             
respectability1 holding it responsible1 
in spite of all  its decent seemings1   
for much of the depravity which it      
condemned with  ,pharisaical harshness6 
,in his ,considerations on the ,true    
,harmony of  ,mankind be dwells with    
great earnestness upon the importance of
  possessing the mind of ,christ1 which 
removes from the heart the desire  of   
superiority and worldly honors1 incites 
attention to the ,divine  ,counsellor1  

and awakens an ardent engagement to     
promote the happiness of  all4  ,this   
state1 he says1 in which every motion   
from the selfish  spirit yieldeth to    
pure love1 ,i may acknowledge with      
gratitude to the  ,father of ,mercies1  
is often opened before me as a pearl to 
seek after4    ,at times when ,i have   
felt true love open my heart towards my 
fellow-  creatures1 and have been       
engaged in weighty conversation in the  
cause of  righteousness1 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
 mind4  ,i have beheld how the desire to
 provide  wealth and to uphold a        
delicate life has greviously entangled  
many1 and  has been like a snare to     
their offspring2 and though some have   
been  affected with a sense of their    
difficulties1 and have appeared desirous
  at times to be helped out of them1 yet
 for want of abiding under the  humbling

 power of truth they have continued in  
these entanglements2  expensive living  
in parents and children hath called for 
a large supply1  and in answering this  
call the 'faces of the poor' have been  
ground away1  and made thin through hard
 dealing4    ,there is balm2 there is a 
physician6 and oh what longings do ,i   
feel that  we may embrace the means     
appointed for our healing2 may know that
 removed  which now ministers cause for 
the cries of many to ascend to ,heaven  
against their oppressors2 and that thus 
we may see the true harmony             
restored6--a restoration of that which  
was lost at ,babel1 and which will  be1 
as the prophet expresses it1 'the       
returning of a pure language6'    ,it is
 easy to conceive how unwelcome this    
clear spiritual insight must  have been 
to the superficial professors of his    
time busy in tithing mint1  anise1 and  
cummin4  ,there must have been something
 awful in the presence  of one endowed  
with the gift of looking through all the

 forms1 shows1 and  pretensions of      
society1 and detecting with certainty   
the germs of evil  hidden beneath them2 
a man gentle and full of compassion1    
clothed in the  irresistible might of   
meekness1 and yet so wise in spiritual  
discernment1              ,bearing a    
touchstone in his hand            ,and  
testing all things in the land          
,by his unerring spell4                 
,quick births of transmutation smote    
,the fair to foul1 the foul to fair2    
,purple nor ermine did he spare1        
,nor scorn the dusty coat4    ,in       
bringing to a close this paper1 the     
preparation of which has been to  me a  
labor of love1 ,i am not unmindful of   
the wide difference between the         
appreciation of a pure and true life and
 the living of it1 and am willing  to   
own that in delineating a character of  
such moral and spiritual  symmetry ,i   
have felt something like rebuke from my 
own words4  ,i have  been awed and      
solemnized by the presence of a serene  

and beautiful spirit  redeemed of the   
,lord from all selfishness1 and ,i have 
been made thankful  for the ability to  
recognize and the disposition to love   
him4  ,i leave  the book with its       
readers4  ,they may possibly make large 
deductions from  my estimate of the     
author2 they may not see the importance 
of all his  self-denying testimonies2   
they may question some of his scruples1 
and  smile over passages of childlike   
simplicity2 but ,i believe they will all
  agree in thanking me for introducing  
them to the ,journal of ,john ,woolman4 
,,amesbury1 #bjth #ast mo41#ahga4       
,,haverford ,,college4                  
,letter to ,president ,thomas ,chase1   
,,ll4 ,d4                               
,,amesbury1 ,,mass41 #ith mo41 #ahhd4   
,,the ,semi-,centennial of ,haverford   
,college is an event that no member of  
the ,society of ,friends can regard     
without deep interest4  ,it would give  
me great pleasure to be with you on the 
#bgth inst41 but the years rest  heavily

 upon me1 and ,i have scarcely health or
 strength for such a  journey4    ,it   
was my privilege to visit ,haverford in 
#ahch1 in the day of small  beginnings4 
,the promise of usefulness which it then
 gave has been more  than fulfilled4    
,it has grown to be a great and         
well-established  institution1 and its  
influence in thorough education and     
moral training  has been widely felt4   
,if the high educational standard       
presented in the  scholastic treatise of
 ,barclay and the moral philosophy of   
,dymond has  been lowered or disowned by
 many who1 still retaining the name of  
,quakerism1 have lost faith in the vital
 principle wherein precious             
testimonials of practical righteousness 
have their root1 and have gone  back to 
a dead literalness1 and to those        
materialistic ceremonials for  leaving  
which our old confessors suffered bonds 
and death1 ,haverford1 at  least1 has   
been in a good degree faithful to the   
trust committed to it4    ,under        

circumstances of more than ordinary     
difficulty1 it has endeavored  to       
maintain the ,great ,testimony4  ,the   
spirit of its culture has not been  a   
narrow one1 nor could it be1 if true to 
the broad and catholic  principles of   
the eminent worthies who founded the    
,state of  ,pennsylvania1 ,penn1 ,lloyd1
 ,pastorius1 ,logan1 and ,story2 men who
 were  masters of the scientific        
knowledge and culture of their age1     
hospitable  to all truth1 and open to   
all light1 and who in some instances    
anticipated the result of modern        
research and critical inquiry4    ,it   
was ,thomas ,story1 a minister of the   
,society of ,friends1 and member of     
,penn's ,council of ,state1 who1 while  
on a religious visit to ,england1  wrote
 to ,james ,logan that he had read on   
the stratified rocks of  ,scarborough1  
as from the finger of ,god1 proofs of   
the immeasurable age  of our planet1 and
 that the days of the letter of         
,scripture could  only mean vast spaces 

of time4    ,may ,haverford emulate the 
example of these brave but reverent men1
 who1  in investigating nature1 never   
lost sight of the ,divine ,ideal1 and   
who1  to use the words of ,fenelon1     
,silenced themselves to hear in the     
stillness of their souls the            
inexpressible voice of ,christ4         
,holding  fast the mighty truth of the  
,divine ,immanence1 the ,inward ,light  
and  ,word1 a ,quaker college can have  
no occasion to renew the disastrous     
quarrel of religion with science4       
,against the sublime faith which shall  
yet dominate the world1 skepticism has  
no power4  ,no possible  investigation  
of natural facts2 no searching criticism
 of letter and  tradition can disturb   
it1 for it has its witness in all human 
hearts4    ,that ,haverford may fully   
realize and improve its great           
opportunities as  an approved seat of   
learning and the exponent of a          
,christian philosophy  which can never  
be superseded1 which needs no change to 

fit it for  universal acceptance1 and   
which1 overpassing the narrow limits of 
sect1  is giving new life and hope to   
,christendom1 and finding its witnesses 
in  the ,hindu revivals of the ,brahmo  
,somaj and the fervent utterances of    
,chunda ,sen and ,mozoomdar1 is the     
earnest desire of thy friend4