[161] Wks., VI, 456; IX, 515, Ford Ed. [162] Greeley, "The American Conflict," I, p. 109 ff. [163] Curtis, "Constitutional History of the United States," I, p. 606. [164] History of the United States, I, p. 24. [165] Lecky, "A History of England in the Eighteenth Century," VI, p. 282. [166] Rhodes, "History of the United States," I, p. 18. JOHN WOOLMAN'S EFFORTS IN BEHALF OF FREEDOM Pioneers of epoch-making reforms are seldom accorded the reward they merit. Later apostles usually obscure the greatness of their predecessors, and posterity is prone to overlook the pristine achievements of those who first had the vision. Such is the case of John Woolman, a poor, untutored shopkeeper of New Jersey. He was among the foremost to visualize the wrongs of human slavery, but his real significance as an abolitionist has been greatly dimmed by the subsequent deeds of such apostles as Garrison, Phillips, and Lincoln. John Woolman's career as an apostle of freedom dates from his first appearance in the ministry of the Society of Friends, an organization commonly known as the Quakers, founded by George Fox in England during the middle of the seventeenth century. Shortly after the organization of this society, many of the members migrated to New England and the Middle Atlantic Colonies. Others were exiled by Charles II to the West Indies.[167] Paradoxical as it may seem, these earliest Friends, though distinguishing themselves from other Christian sects by their special stress on immediate teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit, had no scruples against keeping slaves. As a matter of fact, there was a prevalent conviction that Christianity indorsed slavery.[168]