gs to
appoint committees to effect a proper and just settlement between the
manumitted slaves and their former masters, for their past services. In
1784 it was concluded by the Yearly Meeting that any former slave-holder
who refused to comply with the award of these committees should, after
due care and labor with him, be disowned from the Society. This was
effectual; settlements without disownment were made to the satisfaction
of all parties, and every case was disposed of previous to the year 1787.

In the New York Yearly Meeting, slave-trading was prohibited about the
middle of the last century. In 1771, in consequence of an Epistle from
the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, a committee was appointed to visit those
who held slaves, and to advise with them in relation to emancipation. In
1776 it was made a disciplinary offence to buy, sell, or hold slaves upon
any condition. In 1784 but one slave was to be found in the limits of
the meeting. In the same year, by answers from the several subordinate
meetings, it was ascertained that an equitable settlement for past
services had been effected between the emancipated negroes and their
masters in all save three cases.

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

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

"It is the solid sense of this meeting, that we of the present generation
are