induce Anthony to join
them, but the youth was still of the impression that this was not his
calling. His life's work was finally determined by his early
connection with the Quakers, to the religious views and testimonies of
whom he rigidly adhered. He continued his mechanical pursuit and later
undertook manufacturing at Washington, Delaware, but feeling that
neither of these satisfied his desire to be thoroughly useful he
decided to return to Philadelphia to devote his life to religion and
humanity.[27]

Benezet finally became a teacher. In this field he, for more than
forty years, served in a disinterested and Christian spirit all who
diligently sought enlightenment. He aimed to train up the youth in
knowledge and virtue, manifesting in this position such "a rightness
of conduct, such a courtesy of manners, such a purity of intention,
and such a spirit of benevolence" that he attracted attention and
ingratiated himself into the favor of all of those who knew him. He
first served in this capacity in Germantown, working a part of his
time as a proof reader. In 1742 he was chosen to fill a vacancy in the
English department of the public school founded by charter from
William Penn. After serving there satisfactorily twelve years he
founded a female seminary of his own, instructing the daughters of the
most aristocratic families of Philadelphia.[28]

Benezet was a really modern teacher, far in advance of his
contemporaries. Much better educated than most teachers of his time,
he could write his own textbooks. He had an affectionate and fatherly
manner and always showed a conscientious interest in the welfare of
his pupils. "He carefully studied their dispositions," says his
biographer, "and sought to develop by gentle assiduity the peculiar
talents of each individual pupil. With some persuasion was his only
incitement, others he stimulated to a laudable emulation; and even
with the most obdurate he seldom, if ever, appealed to any other
corrective than that of the sense of shame and the fear of public
disgrace." In his teaching, too, he endeavored to make "a worldly
concern subservient to the noblest duties and the most intensive
goodness."[29] In serious discussions like that of slavery he
undertook to instill into the minds of his students firm convictions
of the right, believing that in so doing he would greatly influence
public sentiment when these properly directed youths should take their
places in life.

This