Abington, the 2nd of the Ninth Month [November], between 2 and 3 in the morning:

The thing appeared very clearly, as at other times, that slave-keeping, with all its concomitants, was the worst idol and one of the greatest marks of the apostacy in the whole world, and the very worst part of the Great Whore’s merchandise, Mystery, Babylon, the Mother of Whores. 

At this time also it is brought to my remembrance, with great thankfulness to my dearest God and Father, redeemer and preserver, the great liberty that I with many thousands more enjoy in this good land, which to many wise and right considerate people is much more valuable than natural life: especially our religious liberty, with the plenty of all good things needful for the body, which many hundreds of thousands have been and are deprived of by the above-named vilest, grossest, and blackest of all abominations.

And for this black scene to be acted by them [Quakers] that pretend to the most pure, holy, meek, sweet, and loving Principle to all people in the world, is to some—yea, many tender-hearted people—beyond compare with anything in the world.

I say: for these people that pretend not to preach or to pray without the sweet holy motion or moving of the pure holy Spirit in their hearts—the unction from the Holy One, the sweet anointing oil, the feeling of which doth unite the brethren, and was and is compared to the oil that was poured upon the head of Aaron, God’s high priest, and ran down his beard so to the nethermost skirts of his garment before he was to offer an offering on the holy altar in the temple of the Lord, which outward oil and anointing, priesthood, altar, offerings, and temple were but types and shadows of much better things to come, of  a much greater and more glorious heavenly and spiritual temple or house, for the glory of this latter house doth far exceed the glory of the former, as far as day exceeds the night, or heaven exceeds the earth, as many have come to the experience of, blessed be the name of the Lord Almighty, who rules and reigns in his temple, in sanctified hearts, prepared by himself to do his will and dwell in; Praises, praises be given to his pure Name, for his holy glorious and pure presence in his holy temple! For such bodies and souls are the temple of the Holy Ghost, the holy living God—but he or she that defiles this temple by slave-keeping, him may God destroy, if not repented of and forsaken.

Can those favorites of heaven—so anointed and arrayed beyond that of Aaron more than words can express—can these sanctified and washed ones, that have been arrayed with the fine linen clean and white, clean and white indeed, which is the righteousness of saints; can these, with the sow that was washed, turn again to wallow in the mire of that heathen practice, slave-keeping and worse, all things well considered? Or like the dog, a ravenous beast, to lick up his vomit, the filthiest and most unnatural part or sort of excrement? And so is the slave-keeping practice! I am very certain. 

I verily believe there are some now in the practice of slave-keeping, that in the time of their first love and tender sweet espousal to Christ would have been ready to have answered if they had been asked, as the man did the prophet, “Is thy servant a dog, that he should do such things?” and yet he did them. And so have these done, for want of watchfulness, being led into it by the foul example of their preachers and leaders, which have caused them to err.

O Lord, my good God and sweet savior, be pleased to preserve me from this gross sin, and all evil. So be it.