of
sickness and old age.

_Fifthly_, Refrain from the use of spirituous liquors; the
experience of many thousands of the citizens of the United States
has proved that these liquors are not necessary to lessen the
fatigue of labor, nor to obviate the effects of heat or cold; nor
can they, in any degree, add to the innocent pleasures of society.

_Sixthly_, Avoid frolicking, and amusements which lead to expense
and idleness; they beget habits of dissipation and vice, and thus
expose you to deserved reproach amongst your white neighbors.

_Seventhly_, We wish to impress upon your minds the moral and
religious necessity of having your marriages legally performed; also
to have exact registers preserved of all the births and deaths which
occur in your respective families.

_Eighthly_, Endeavor to lay up as much as possible of your earnings
for the benefit of your children, in case you should die before they
are able to maintain themselves--your money will be safest and most
beneficial when laid out in lots, houses, or small farms.

_Ninthly_, We recommend to you, at all times and upon all occasions,
to behave yourselves to all persons in a civil and respectful
manner, by which you may prevent contention and remove every just
occasion of complaint. We beseech you to reflect, that it is by your
good conduct alone that you can refute the objections which have
been made against you as rational and moral creatures, and remove
many of the difficulties which have occurred in the general
emancipation of such of your brethren as are yet in bondage.

With hearts anxious for your welfare, we commend you to the guidance
and protection of that _Being_ who is able to keep you from all
evil, and who is the common Father and Friend of the whole family of
mankind.

Theodore Foster, President. Philadelphia, January 6th, 1796.
Thomas P. Cope, Secretary.

The general impulse for liberty which prompted the Revolution and the
early Abolition societies naturally found some reflection in formal
legislation. The declarations of the central government under the
Confederation were not very effective, and for more definite enactments
we have to turn to the individual states. The honor of being the first
actually to prohibit and abolish slavery really belongs to Vermont,
whose constitution, adopted in 1777, even before she