in England, of having their
elder brethren with them, aiding them by their sympathy, as well
as by their advice and counsel. I am persuaded that those who
are called to occupy the foremost ranks in society cannot be too
careful not to impose a burden upon tender consciences, by
discouraging, either directly or indirectly, a course of conduct
which is sanctioned by the precepts and examples of our Divine
Master, lest they alienate from us some of His disciples, and
thereby greatly injure the society they are so laudably anxious
to 'keep unspotted from the world.'

"We are told, on the highest authority, that 'by their fruits'
we are to judge of the laborers in the Christian vineyard; and,
while I am fully aware of the greater difficulties in the way of
emancipation _here_, as compared with Great Britain, I have been
almost irresistibly led to contrast the difference in the
results of the course pursued by Friends in the two countries.
In America, during the last twenty-five years, it is evident
that slavery and the slave-trade have greatly increased; and
even where the members of our society are the most numerous and
influential, the prejudice against color is as strong as in any
part of the world,[A] and Friends themselves, in many places,
are by no means free from this prejudice. In Great Britain,
Friends, by society action, and by uniting with their
fellow-countrymen, not only contributed, under Providence, in no
small degree, to the passage of the act of 1834, for the
abolition of slavery in the British West Indies; but, when it
was found that the system of apprenticeship which this act
introduced, was made an instrument of cruel oppression to the
slaves, a renewal of similar labors for about twelve months,
resulted in the _complete_ emancipation of our colored brethren
in those colonies.

[Footnote A: "I should, I believe, do wrong to conceal the
sorrow which I have felt that the scheme of African
colonization, the great support of which, at the present time,
appears to be hostility to anti-slavery efforts and an
unchristian prejudice against color, still has the sympathy and
the active aid of some members of our society."]

"In closing this letter, I wish to address a few words to that
numerous and valuable class of Friends, previously alluded to,
with whom