"I received both thy letters, inclosing the petition, and have been concerned that I have not sooner acquainted thee with what had been resulted thereon; but the care of a large school, engagement upon engagement, I think four or five evenings last week, on committees, &c., and the books which I received from England, which I intended to send thee not being all returned, occasioned the delay. The vessel from Virginia being near its departure when the petitions came to hand, had but just time to confer with James Pemberton, on the expediency of forwarding them, when we concluded best to take more time and wait for a future opportunity which he thought would offer. I herewith send thee such of the pieces relating to slavery, &c. of the negroes, which I have been able to get back; people are shamefully careless in not returning borrowed books. That wanting, wrote by a West Indian, I will send hereafter. I have received since I saw thee, a letter from the chief justice of South Carolina, which will I believe afford thee much satisfaction." * * * * * "PHILADELPHIA, TWELFTH MONTH, 14th, 1773. "_Beloved Friend_, "The passage we were seeking for is Psalms 68, 31, 'Princes shall come out of Egypt, Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God,' under which name all that part of Africa inhabited by negroes may be comprehended, and that these are the people here intended is clear from Jer. 13, 23, 'can the Ethiopian change his skin?' "Since my return I have received letters from Thomas Nicholson in North Carolina, Edward Stabler in Virginia, and James Berry in Maryland, all leading members in their several yearly meetings (these I shall be glad to communicate to thee) expressive of their concern for forwarding the great and good work we are engaged in. Edward Stabler, clerk of the yearly meeting of Virginia, expresses, that though they have not yet received the encouragement they desire to their petition in England, yet it has not abated the zeal of some of their leading men against the traffic." * * * * * "PHILADELPHIA, FOURTH MONTH, 28th, 1773. "_Doctor John Fothergill_,