A petition from the yearly meeting of the Quakers of Pennsylvania and Delaware, seconded by another from the Quakers of New York, had been laid before the House, in which it was suggested whether, notwithstanding "seeming impediments," occasioned by "the influence and artifice of particular persons, governed by the narrow, mistaken views of self-interest," it was not within the power of congress "to exercise justice and mercy, which, if adhered to," the petitioners could not doubt, "must produce the abolition of the slavetrade."
Hartley moved the reference of this memorial to a special committee. Supported by Madison and his colleagues, Parker, Page, and White, by Lawrence, Sedgwick, Boudinot, Sherman, and Gerry, this motion was violently opposed by Smith of South Carolina, Jackson, Tucker, Baldwin, and Burke, not without many sneers at "the men in the gallery" — the Quaker deputation appointed to look after the petition — "who had come here to meddle in a business with which they had nothing to do." Finally, on a suggestion of Clymer's, supported by one of the rules of the House, the memorial was suffered to lie over till the next day.
At the opening of the session that next day, Feb. 12, another petition was presented relating to the same subject, coming from the Pennsylvania society for the abolition of slavery. It was signed by Franklin as president — one of the last public acts of his long and diversified career. He died within a few weeks afterward. "That mankind," said this memorial, "are all formed by the same Almighty Being, alike objects of his care, and equally designed for the enjoyment of happiness, the Christian religion teaches us to believe, and the political creed of Americans fully coincides with that position. Your memorialists, particularly engaged in attending to the distresses arising from slavery, believe it their indispensable duty to present this subject to your notice. They have observed, with real satisfaction, that many important and salutary powers are vested in you for promoting the welfare and securing the blessings of liberty to the people of the United States; and as they conceive that these blessings ought rightfully to be administered, without distinctions of color, to all descriptions of people, so they indulge themselves in the pleasing anticipation that nothing which can be done for the relief of the unhappy objects of their care will be either omitted or delayed.
"From a persuasion that equal liberty was originally the portion, and is still the birthright of all men, and influenced by the strong ties of humanity and the principles of the constitution, your memorialists conceive themselves bound to use all justifiable endeavors to loosen the bonds of slavery, and promote a general enjoyment of the blessings of freedom. Under these impressions, they earnestly entreat your serious attention to the subject of slavery, that you will be pleased to countenance the restoration of liberty to those unhappy men who alone, in this land of freedom, are degraded into perpetual bondage, and who, amid the general joy of surrounding freemen, are groaning in servile subjection; that you will devise means for removing this inconsistency from the character of the American people; that you will promote mercy
