"From our Yearly Meeting held in London, by adjournment from the
20th of the 5th Month to the 29th of the same inclusive, 1840.
"_To the Yearly Meetings of Friends on the Continent of North
America_.
"DEAR FRIENDS,--We think it a favor to us, and we accept it as
an evidence that our Lord is mindful of us, that from one time
to another, when thus assembled for mutual edification, and the
renewing of our spiritual strength, we are in any small measure
brought afresh to the enjoyment of that love which flows from
God to man, through Jesus Christ our Savior; and under its
blessed influence quickened to exercise of mind, not only for
the health and prosperity of all those professing the same faith
with ourselves, but for the coming of the kingdom of God upon
earth, and the universal prevalence of righteousness and truth
among men. This love has often brought us in Christian
compassion and tenderness of spirit, deeply to feel for that
portion of the great family of man subjected to the degradation
and cruelty of slavery.
"We do not cease to rejoice with reverent thanksgiving to
Almighty God, for the termination of this system of iniquity in
the British Colonies. It was an act of justice on the part of
our Legislature, and it has removed an enormous load of guilt
from our beloved country; but in our rejoicing, we cannot, nor
would we wish, to forget the hundreds of thousands of our
brethren and sisters on the continent of America, and elsewhere,
still detained in this abject condition, and liable to all the
misery and oppression which it entails upon its victims.
"We have a strong conviction of the guilt and sinfulness of
slavery, and its pernicious effects upon both the oppressed and
the oppressor. That man should claim a right of property in the
person of his fellow--that man should buy and sell his
brother--that civil governments in their legislative enactments,
should so far forget that 'God who giveth to all, life, and
breath, and all things, and hath made of one blood all nations
of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth,' as to treat
those who differ from them in the color of their skin, or any
other external peculiarity, as beasts that perish, as chattels
and articles of merchandise,--is in such direct violation of the
whole moral law, and of the righteousness of the New Testament,
and that in a day in which the principles of civil and religious
liberty are so fully acknowledged in many of the nations of
Christendom, may well excite both indignation and sorrow. And we
cannot but regard it as such proof of hardness of heart, and
perverted understanding, that we think it can be attributed to
nothing short of the deceivableness of Satan working upon the
fallen nature of man.
"It was, dear friends, in the gradual unfolding of that light in
which the things that are reproved are made manifest, that your
forefathers and ours, were brought to see the criminality of
slavery. Thus enlightened, they could find no peace with God,
until they had put away this evil of their doings from before
his eyes--until by a conscientious discharge of their individual
religious duty, they had restored those whom they held in
bondage, to the full enjoyment of unqualified freedom. Under the
influence of Divine wisdom, and by this faithfulness on the part
of upright Friends, our religious society were brought to a
united and settled judgment as a body, that personal slavery,
both in its origin and its results, was so great an evil, that
it could be tolerated by no mitigation of its hardship; and they
felt the demands of equity to be so urgent upon them, that they
were concerned to enjoin it upon Friends every where, by a ready
compliance with such reasonable duty, to cease to do evil, by
immediately releasing those they held as slaves. Their own hands
being cleansed from this pollution, they felt it to be laid upon
them, plainly and faithfully, to labor with their countrymen to
bring them to a full understanding of the requiring of the
Divine law, and to press it upon them to act up to its
commandments. In the love of God, they were bold, both in your
country and in ours, to plead the cause of the oppressed with
those in power. We believe, and we would wish to speak of it
with modesty and humility, that their faithfulness, in
connection with the exertions of humane and devoted men of other
Christian communities, were instrumental to bring about the
abolition of the slave trade, as well as the extinction of
slavery.
"We are reverently impressed with a sense of the prerogatives of
the Great Head of the Church, to dispose of his servants, and to
employ their time, and every talent which he has intrusted them,
in such a way and manner as may consist with the purposes of his
wisdom and love. It is the concern of this Meeting, that all our
dear friends may carefully seek each to know his Lord's will,
and to ascertain his individual path of duty; at the same time
we desire to encourage one another to simple obedience to that
which in the true light may be made manifest to them; and each
to an unflinching and uncompromising avowal of his allegiance to
his Lord in all things.
"We observe with satisfaction and comfort, in the epistles from
your Yearly Meetings, which have been read in this Meeting, that
there is a very general acknowledgment of concern on this
important subject. It has often been a prominent feature in the
brotherly correspondence which subsists between us. The
expression of your encouragement in times past, has been helpful
to us, and in the trials and difficulties you have had to
endure, our hearts have been brought into fellow feeling with
you. In this work of justice and love, we have long labored
together. It has helped to strengthen the bond of our union; and
in the fresh sense of this Christian fellowship, as it is now
renewed amongst us, we offer you, beloved friends, the warm
expression of our sympathy, and our strong desire for your help
and encouragement. So far removed as we are from the scene of
slavery, we are aware that we can but imperfectly appreciate
either the sufferings of the slave, or the trials of those who
live in the midst of such oppression; nor do we believe that we
can fully appreciate either the labors of faithful Friends in
your land, or the obstacles and discouragements which have been
thrown in their way.
"The brief review we have taken of the history of our Society,
in reference to this deeply interesting subject, and the feeling
which prevails with us, under a sense of the enormity of the
evil, urges us, and we desire that it may have the same effect
upon you, still to persevere; and in every way that may be
pointed out to us of the Lord, that we may continue to expose
the evil of this unjust interference with the natural and social
rights of man. Time is short, the day is spending fast with
every one of us, and we had need to use diligence in the work of
our day. We know the high authority under which we are commanded
to 'love our neighbor as ourselves.' It is our desire on our own
account, and in this exercise of mind we believe, dear friends,
that you are one with us, that in our efforts to discharge the
duties laid upon us, we may watch against a hopeless and
distrustful spirit in times of discouragement. And O that in his
great mercy and love towards his poor afflicted and helpless
children, it might please Him to hasten the coming of that day,
even to this generation of the enslaved in your land, in which
every yoke shall be broken and the oppressed go free.
"If, in this righteous cause, we move in the leading of our
Lord, we may humbly trust that he, with whom there is no respect
of persons, who careth for the sparrows and feedeth the ravens,
will grant to his dependent ones the help and support of his
Holy Spirit, and enable them, in the face of every opposition,
to do that which is made known to them as his will.
"With the enlarged views entertained by Friends of the mercy and
love of our heavenly Father towards his children of every nation
and tongue all the world over, we desire to press it upon you
still to labor for the removal of all those unjust laws and
limitations of right and privilege consequent upon the
unwarrantable distinction of color--a distinction which has
brought so much suffering upon those settled in different parts
of the Union, and which we think must conduce to the
strengthening of the prejudices of former years, and to retard
the work of emancipation.
"It is affecting to us to think with what astonishing rapidity
slavery is extending itself upon the Continent of North America,
and how from year to year the slave population is increasing
among you. Our spirits are oppressed with a sense of the
magnitude of the evil; we tremble at the awful consequence
which, in the justice and wisdom of Almighty God, may ensue to
those who persist in the upholding of it. We commend the whole
subject to your most serious attention, and desiring that divine
wisdom may be near to help in your deliberations upon it,
"We bid you, affectionately, farewell.
"Signed in and on behalf of the Meeting, by
"GEORGE STACEY,
"_Clerk to the Meeting this year_."