Ministry
At about the age of twenty-seven, Hicks was recognized as a preacher by the Friends in his meeting. He was regarded as a very gifted speaker, with a strong voice, great poise, and dramatic flair.
Hicks was one of the early abolitionists among the Friends. He spoke about slavery often and worked hard to persuade others to oppose it. His Observations on the Slavery of the Africans (1811), which argued for a boycott of slavery-produced goods, represented one of the earliest social reform boycott efforts in the United States. Following a gradual abolition law passed by the state legislature in 1799, which freed children born to slave mothers, the state of New York finally emancipated all remaining slaves and abolished slavery within its borders on July 4, 1827.
Read more about this topic: Elias Hicks
Famous quotes containing the word ministry:
“The State has but one face for me: that of the police. To my eyes, all of the State’s ministries have this single face, and I cannot imagine the ministry of culture other than as the police of culture, with its prefect and commissioners.”
—Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985)
“the eave-drops fall
Heard only in the trances of the blast,
Or if the secret ministry of frost
Shall hang them up in silent icicles,
Quietly shining to the quiet Moon.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)