whole-souled energetic man, however, could not confine himself
altogether to teaching. While following this profession he devoted so
much of his time to philanthropic enterprises and reforms that he was
mainly famous for his achievements in these fields. "He considered the
whole world his country," says one, "and all mankind his
brethren."[30] Benezet was for several reasons interested in the man
far down. In the first place, being a Huguenot, he himself knew what
it is to be persecuted. He was, moreover, during these years a
faithful coworker of the Friends who were then fearlessly advocating
the cause of the downtrodden. He deeply sympathized, therefore, with
the Indians. His work, too, was not limited merely to that of
relieving individual cases of suffering but comprised also the task of
promoting the agitation for respecting the rights of that people.
Unlike most Americans, he had faith in the Indians, believing that if
treated justly they would give the whites no cause to fear them. When
in 1763 General Amherst was at New York preparing to attack the
Indians, Benezet addressed him an earnest appeal in these words: "And
further may I entreat the general, for our blessed Redeemer's sake,
from the nobility and humanity of his heart, that he would condescend
to use all moderate measures if possible to prevent that prodigious
and cruel effusion of blood, that deep anxiety of distress, that must
fill the breast of so many helpless people should an Indian war be
once entered upon?"[31] Not long before his death Benezet expressed
himself further on this wise in a work entitled "_Some Observations on
the Situation, Disposition, and Character of the Indian Natives of the
Continent_."

Further evidence of Benezet's philanthropy was exhibited in his
attitude toward certain Acadians who for political reasons were driven
from their homes to Philadelphia in 1755. Devoid of the comforts of
life in a foreign community, they were in a situation miserable to be
told. Being of the same stock and speaking their language, Benezet
took upon himself the task of serving as mediator between this
deported group and the community. A man of high character and much
influence, he easily obtained a relief fund with which he provided
asylum for the decrepit, sustenance for the needy, and employment for
those able to labor. He attended the sick, comforted the dying, and
delivered over their remains the last tribute due the dead.[32]

His sympath