dates the
Bible; it was eloquent in the days of our Saviour; it preached the
Gospel of Humanity in the palaces of the Caesars and Antonies; its
arguments shook the thrones of Europe during the Mediaeval ages. And
when the doctrine of property in man was driven out of Europe as an
exile, and found a home in this New World in the West, the ancient and
time-honored anti-slavery sentiment combined all that was good in
brain, heart, and civilization, and hurled itself, with righteous
indignation, against the institution of slavery, the perfected curse
of the ages! And how wonderful that God should have committed the task
of blotting out this terrible curse to Americans! And what "vessels of
honor" they were whom the dear Lord chose "to proclaim liberty to the
captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound!"
Statesmen like Franklin, Rush, Hamilton, and Jay; divines like
Hopkins, Edwards, and Stiles; philanthropists like Woolman, Lay, and
Benezet! And the good Quakers--God bless them!--or _Friends_, which
has so much tender meaning in it, did much to hasten the morning of
freedom. In the poor Negro slave they saw Christ "an hungered," and
they gave Him meat; "thirsty," and they gave Him drink; "a stranger,"
and they took Him in; "naked," and they clothed Him; "sick," and they
visited Him; "in prison," and they came unto Him. Verily they knew
their "_neighbor_."

They began their work of philanthropy as early as 1780. In
Maryland,[12] Pennsylvania, and New Jersey the Friends emancipated all
their slaves. At a single monthly meeting in Pennsylvania eleven
hundred slaves were set at liberty. Nearly every Northern State had
its anti-slavery society. They were charged with the humane task of
ameliorating the condition of the Negro, and scattering modest
literary documents that breathed the spirit of Christian love.

But the first apostle of _Abolition Agitation_ was Benjamin Lundy. He
was the John Baptist to the new era that was to witness the doing away
of the law of bondage and the ushering in of the dispensation of
universal brotherhood. He raised his voice against slave-keeping in
Virginia, Ohio, Tennessee, and Maryland. In 1821 he established an
anti-slavery paper called "The Genius of Universal Emancipation,"
which he successively published in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and
Washington City,--and frequently _en route_ during the tours he took
through the country, wherever he could find a press. Once he made a