in the case of the arrival of a ship from Dublin, with 100 papists and convicts, by landing them at Burlington. It looks, says he, as if Ireland is to send all its inhabitants hither, for last week not less than six ships arrived, and every day two or three arrive also. The common fear is, that if they thus continue to come they will make themselves proprietors of the province. It is strange, says he, that they thus crowd where they are not wanted. But few besides convicts are imported thither. The Indians themselves are alarmed at the swarms of strangers, and we are afraid of a breach between them, for the Irish are very rough to them.

In 1730, he writes and complains of the Scotch-Irish, in an audacious and disorderly manner possessing themselves about that time of the whole of Conestogoe manor of 15,000 acres, being the best land in the country. In doing this by force, they alleged that "it was against the laws of God and nature, that so much land should be idle while so many Christians wanted it to labour on, and to raise their bread," &c. The Paxton boys were all great sticklers for religion, and for Scripture quotations against "the heathen!" They were, however, dispossessed by the sheriff and his posse, and their cabins, to the number of thirty, were burnt. This necessary violence was perhaps remembered with indignation; for only twenty-five years afterwards, the Paxton massacre began, by killing the Christian, unoffending Indians found in Conestogoe. Those Irish were generally settled in Donegal.

In another letter he writes, saying, I must own, from my own experience in the land office, that the settlement of five families from Ireland gives me more trouble than fifty of any other people. Before we were broken in upon, ancient Friends and first settlers lived happily, but now the case is quite altered, by strangers and debauched morals, &c. All this seems like hard measure dealt upon these specimens of "the land of generous natures," but we may be excused for letting him speak out, who was himself from the "Emerald isle," where he had of course seen a better race.

His successor, Richard Peters, as secretary to the proprietaries, falls into similar dissatisfaction with them; for in his letter to them, of 1743, he says he went to Marsh creek, in Lancaster county, to warn off and dispossess the squatters, and to measure the manor land. On that occasion, the people there, to about the number of seventy, assembled and forbade them to proceed, and on their persisting, they broke the chain and compelled them to retire. He had with him a sheriff and a magistrate. They were afterwards indicted-became subdued, and made their engagements for leases. In most cases the leases were so easy that they were enabled to buy the lands ere they expired.

Augustus Gun, of Cork, advertised in the Philadelphia paper, that he had power from the mayor of Cork, for many years, to procure servants for America.

NEGROES AND SLAVES.

He finds his fellow guilty-of a skin

Not colour'd like his own!-For such a cause
Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.

In the olden time, dressy blacks and dandy coloured beaux and belles, as we now see them issuing from their proper churches, were quite unknown. Their aspirings and little vanities have been rapidly growing since they got those separate churches, and have received their entire exemption from slavery. Once they submitted. to the appellation of servants, blacks, or negroes, but now they require to be called coloured people, and among themselves, their common call of salutation is-gentlemen and ladies., Thirty to forty years ago, they were much humbler, more esteemed in their place, and more useful to themselves and others. As a whole they show an overweening fondness for display and vainglory-fondly imitating the whites in processions and banners, and in the pomp and pageantry of Masonic and Washington societies, &c.

the kindest feelings for their race, judicious men wish them wiser conduct, and a better use of the benevolent feelings which induced their emancipation among us.

We have happily been so long relieved from the curse of slavery, that it is scarcely known to the younger part of the community how many features we once possessed of a slave-owning colony. The following facts in the case will prove new to many:

The first negro slaves ever imported into North America were brought in a Dutch ship in 1620, and sold in Virginia.

The state of slavery in Pennsylvania was always of a mild character, not only from the favourable and mild feelings of the Friends in their behalf, but from the common regard they found in families in general, where their deportment was commendable. Hector St. John, Esq., who wrote concerning the state of slavery in Pennsylvania, as it was just before the period of the Revolution, says, "In Pennsylvania they enjoy as much liberty as their masters -are as well fed and as well clad; and in sickness are tenderly taken care of-for, living under the same roof, they are in effect a part of the family. Being the companions of their labours, and treated as such, they do not work more than ourselves, and think themselves happier than many of the lower class of whites. A far happier race among us, (he adds,) than those poor suffering slaves of the south."

The first efforts ever made in Pennsylvania towards the emancipation of the blacks proceeded from the Society of Friends in Germantown, the most of whom, at that period, were emigrants

Vide his Farmer's Letters.

from Germany. These, in the year 1688, under the auspices of F. D. Pastorius, moved a petition or remonstrance to the yearly meeting of Friends, saying in effect, it was not Christian-like to buy and keep negroes. The meeting forbore then to give any positive judgment in the case. But inquiry was created. Cotemporary with this period, William Penn himself, whose light or reflections on the case were not equally awakened, says, in his letter of the 4th of 8 mo., 1685, to his steward, James Harrison, at Pennsbury, "It were better they were blacks, for then we might have them for life," intimating thereby, that his intended servants there were changed too often.

In 1693, the separate meeting of Friends, under George Keith, assembling at the house of Philip James, in Philadelphia, gave forth a paper declaring their sense of the duty of emancipation"after some reasonable time of service."-Vide Gabriel Thomas.

The large original proprietors of property in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, called "the Free Society of Traders," of 1682, although as a corporation they might be said, like others, "to be without souls," conceded an article very favourable to emancipation, saying, "If the society should receive blacks for servants, they shall make them free at fourteen years' end, upon condition that they will give unto the society's ware-house two-thirds of what they are capable of producing on such a parcel of land as shall be allotted to them by the society, with a stock of necessary tools." Then comes a proviso of rather singular character, saying, "And if they will not accept of these terms they shall be servants till they will accept of it!"

I have seen, among the earliest pamphlets extant of Philadelphia publication, one from the Friends' meeting of Philadelphia, of the 13th of 8 mo., 1693, giving "exhortation and caution to Friends concerning buying and keeping negroes." The sum of the counsel was, that none should attempt to buy except to set free." This little address contained many of the arguments now usually set forth against slavery.

In 1696, the Yearly Meeting of Friends having concerted some measures to discourage the bringing in of more slaves, and to preserve the morals of those they had, the subject was renewed in the year 1700, on the arrival of William Penn, in consideration of his pressing upon the Philadelphia meeting his wishes concerning the same. Their sense of the subject was expressed as follows, to wit: "Our dear friend and governor, having laid before this meeting a concern that hath laid upon his mind for some time concerning the negroes and Indians, that Friends ought to be very careful in discharging a good conscience towards them in all respects, but more especially for the good of their souls; upon consideration whereof, this meeting concludes to appoint a meeting for negroes, to be kept once a month, &c."

At the same time, he introduced a bill into the assembly "for

regulating negroes in their morals and marriages,"--also another "for their trials and punishments." The former was defeated by the jealousies then in the house. From the same causes an act of more security was substituted in 1705 against the hegroes, entitled "An Act for the Trial and Punishment of Negroes." It inflicted lashes for petty offences, and death for crimes of magnitude. They were not allowed to carry a gun without license, or to be whipped if they did, twenty-one lashes-nor to meet above four together lest they might form cabals and riots. They were to be whipped if found abroad after nine o'clock at night without a pass, &c. At and before 1705, it had been in practice to bring Indians as slaves from the Carolinas, to the offence of the Pennsylvania Indians. This was prevented by an act.

In 1715, Mr. Isaac Norris, in one of his letters, speaks thus concerning a question in meeting respecting slaves: "Our meeting was large and comfortable, and our business would have been very well were it not for the warm pushing by some Friends, of Chester chiefly, in the business of negroes. The aim was to obtain a minute that none should buy them for the future. This was opposed as of dangerous consequence to the peace of the church, for since they could not tell how to dispose of those we have, and that many members must still possess them, and then it might fall to their lot in duty to deal with future offenders, which as it could not in itself be equitable, such must do it with an ill grace, and at best it would be a foundation for prejudice and evil speaking one of another, so that it was got over." The liberating genius of Benezet has since cast better lights upon this subject, perplexed as they then deemed it.

The early efforts made to repress slavery were reiterated and numerous in our provincial assembly. As early as the year 1705, a duty was imposed on their importation; this was renewed in 1710. In 1711, they struck at the root of the evil, by forbidding their introduction in future; but the privy council in England scandalized by such liberal policy in so new and so diminutive a community, whilst their policy was to cherish slavery in so many other colonies, quashed the act in an instant. The assembly, not daunted by such a repulse, again in 1712, upon petition, "signed by many hands," aimed at the same effect, by assessing the large sum of £20 a head. This was again cancelled by the same Transatlantic policy. When the petition for the £20 duty was presented, another was offered in the name of William Southeby, praying "for the total abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania!"

Thus early were the minds of our forefathers awake to this manifest infraction of human rights, and having their consciences and feelings enlisted in the cause, though often thwarted in their purposes, they still continued to renew their efforts, so that more than one dozen of acts may be counted upon our statute books, tending directly or indirectly to repress or abolish slavery prior to our revo

lution. Finally, the memorable act of 1780, when we had "set up for ourselves," for ever released us from the thraldom of "sinews bought and sold!"

A letter of 4 mo., 1715, from Jonathan Dickinson, a merchant of Philadelphia, and a Friend, to his correspondent in Jamaica, says, "I must entreat you to send me no more negroes for sale, for our people don't care to buy. They are generally against any coming into the country. Few people care to buy them, except for those who live in other provinces."-Vide the Logan MSS.

Some benevolent individual, as early as the year 1722, advertised in the Mercury Gazette of Philadelphia, that "a person, lately arrived, freely offers his services to teach his poor brethren, the male negroes, to read the Holy Scriptures without any charge."

The celebrated Whitfield embraced the benevolent scheme of ameliorating the condition of the blacks he saw in our colonies. In 1739 he published his letter to the southern planters, against the practice of slavery, and in favour of the blacks; at the same time he takes up 5000 acres on the forks of Delaware, (the same sold to Count Zindendorf for Bethlehem,) in order to erect a negro school, &c. His choice of Pennsylvania for his negro colony and settlement, showed thus early his favourable opinion of the good feelings to that race in Pennsylvania.

At the same time we may perceive that, as a slave-holding colony, the odious features of slavery were necessarily to be seen among us-such as the public buying and selling, their arrival and landing from ships, &c. I give the following facts in illustration of things as they were once among us, to wit:

Year 1736-William Allen and Joseph Turner, merchants, advertise for sale some likely negroes from Barbadoes; another about the same time advertises for sale a likely breeding negro woman and her boy of two years old.

Year 1762-Messrs. Willing and Morris advertise for sale one hundred and seventy negroes just arrived from the Gold Coast.

It was the common incident of the day to vend blacks of both sexes at public sale, at the old London Coffee-house, setting up the subject upon the head of a cask, for display to the purchasers around.

After better views and feelings had long prevailed, old recollections were strongly revived in an incident which occurred in the year 1800. The Ganges sloop of war captured two vessels engaged in slavery, and brought them into our Delaware--one had one hundred and eighteen, and the other sixteen slaves. In encamping these at the Lazaretto for the benefit of free air and health, a husband and wife, separated in the ships, never expecting to meet again, recognized each other. Their mutual recognition was passionately fond and affecting. The sudden surprise and joy was too powerful for the wife, and she became a premature mother. But, through the well directed kindness of the Abolition Society, she was restored to health and freedom.