In this case of
the Philadelphia Meeting, however, it may be remarked, that in a
community of many thousand members, the practice may be regarded as
almost eradicated by the milder methods of persuasion. It is a fact
deserving of notice, that the same worthies of the last century,
Woolman, Benezet, and others, who raised the standard of anti-slavery
testimony, also by the same process of independent thinking, and
single-minded, unhesitating obedience to convictions of duty,
anticipated the verdict of public opinion on this subject. Woolman found
that even the most moderate use of ardent spirits, was unfavorable to
that calm religious meditation, which was the habit of his mind, and has
left his views on record in various characteristic passages. I shall
also, I trust, be excused for introducing the following anecdote of two
of his contemporaries.
"Jacob Lindley, to adopt his own designation of himself was a
'stripling' when he attended a Yearly Meeting of Friends held at
Philadelphia; his mind had been for some time much afflicted with an
observation of the pernicious effects of spirituous liquors, and he was
anxious that the religious society to which he belonged, should cease to
use, and prevent any of its members from being instrumental in
manufacturing or vending them.
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