"Quaker reformer Benjamin Lay was a key figure in the emerging antislavery movement prior to the Revolutionary War. Having witnessed slavery's horrors while working as a merchant in Barbados, Lay dedicated himself to the abolitionist cause. He was forced, however, to leave this Caribbean island in 1731 in the wake of intensifying hostility by local slave owners. Settling in Philadelphia, he resumed his campaign, writing pamphlets and speaking out at Quaker meetings. His efforts ultimately compelled the Philadelphia Society of Friends in 1758 to pass a resolve expelling those members who owned slaves.William P. Cole referred to Lay as "The Quaker Comet" based on this quote from Lay's biographer Robert Vaux.
This portrait of the diminutive activist was commissioned by Benjamin Franklin, whose printing shop had published one of Lay's most stinging abolitionist tracts. Here, Lay stands before the cavelike dwelling in which he and his wife lived and holds a treatise 'on happiness' by English Quaker philosopher Thomas Tryon." -- National Portrait Gallery
"If the comparison be admissible, he appeared rather like a comet, which threatens, in its irregular course, the destruction of the worlds near which it passes, than as one of those tranquil orbs which hold their accustomed place, and dispense their light, in the harmonious order of heaven." -- Robert Vaux, 1815.Lay is shown with a book entitled “Trion on Happiness” a reference to A way to health, long life and happiness, or, A discourse of temperance and the particular nature of all things requisite for the life of man as all sorts of meats, drinks, air, exercise &c., with special directions how to use each of them to the best advantage of the body and mind : shewing from the true ground of nature whence most diseases proceed and how to prevent them : to which is added a treatise of most sorts of English herbs ... the whole treatise displaying the most hidden secrets of philosophy ... / communicated to the world for the general good by fellow Quaker Thomas Tryon.
Standing about four foot seven inches tall, Lay's thin legs were about the same length as his arms.
The fruits and vegetables Lay has gathered for his meal suggest his strict vegetarianism.
This painting, commissioned by Benjamin Franklin (or some say by his Wife, Deborah) was nearly lost. Maine Antique Digest tells how it was found:
"One Saturday in August 1977 at a Brown Brothers auction in Buckingham, (Edwin) Hild saw a painting on a wooden panel sticking out of a box lot of old frames and bought the lot for $4. He sold the frames for $3 before he left the sale and kept the painting. The painting was of a hunchback dwarf with skinny legs wearing brown breeches, a waistcoat, and a broad-brimmed hat and holding a cane and book by Thomas Tryon that advocated healthful living. He was depicted standing next to a basket of fruit in front of a cave. “I showed the picture to a few people who suggested I take it to Winterthur for conservation because the wooden panel was split,” said Hild.The Library of Congress has the undated Dawkins print after Williams' painting.
At Winterthur, (Patrick) Bell and (Edwin) Hild learned that the name “Benjamin Lay” painted on back of the panel was the name of the sitter, not the painter. Winterthur had a rare print of Benjamin Lay engraved by Henry Dawkins. Lay was a Quaker reformer and abolitionist who stood just 4'7" tall. On the print it said it was a copy after a painting by William Williams Sr. Benjamin Rush noted that this print was “to be seen in many houses in Philadelphia.” Now it is a rare print.
Benjamin Lay
Lived to the Age of 80, in the Latter Part of Which, he Observed extreem Temperance in his Eating and Drinking, his Fondness for a Particularity in Dress and Customes at time, Subjected him to Ridicule of the Ignorant, but his Friends who were Intimate with Him, thought Hime an Honest Religious man.
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| W Williams Pinx.t |
This colored version of Dawkins' print belongs to the National Portrait Gallery.
"Although Benjamin Lay stood just four feet, seven inches tall, this Quaker reformer raised a forceful voice against slavery. Born in England, Lay arrived in Philadelphia by way of Barbados, where the treatment of slaves horrified him. Vocal in his opposition, Lay described those who kept slaves as 'proud, lazy, tyrannical, gluttonous, drunken, debauched . . . the Scum of the infernal Pit.' In 1737, Lay publicly condemned Quaker slave owners in a book published by Benjamin Franklin.Lay's 1837 book can be read at The Library of Congress or The Bodleian Library.
Late in life, Lay saw his views broadly adopted by other Quakers. This print by Henry Dawkins, based on the painting by William Williams on view in gallery E152, came, as physician and statesman Benjamin Rush noted, 'to be seen in many houses in Philadelphia.' In it, Lay appears in front of the grotto that served as his study, holding a tract by Thomas Tryon advocating healthful living." -- National Portrait Gallery
This stipple engraving by William Kneass appears in Memoirs of The Lives of Benjamin Lay and Ralph Sandiford : two of the earliest public advocates for the emancipation of the enslaved Africans, by Robert Vaux, 1815.
See also: Marcus Rediker's article in Smithsonian Magazine, Sept. 2017. The "Quaker Comet" Was the Greatest Abolishionist You've Never Heard Of.
Hear Retropod: The Quaker abolitionist who was disowned for condemning slave owners, The Washington Post, August 31, 2018. Mike Rosenwald describes how the Dawkins print, above, lead to the re-discovery and vindication of Benjamin Lay by the Abington Monthly Meeting. And read about it in The Washington Post, Retropolis, ‘In the belly of hell’: The Quaker abolitionist disowned by his faith for condemning slave owners by Susan Hogan, May 14, 2018.
The Elders of the Abington Monthly meeting “believe that the cave in this photo was the cave in which Benjamin Lay lived.”
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2017:
See also: Marcus Rediker's article in Smithsonian Magazine, Sept. 2017. The "Quaker Comet" Was the Greatest Abolishionist You've Never Heard Of.
2018:
Hear Retropod: The Quaker abolitionist who was disowned for condemning slave owners, The Washington Post, August 31, 2018. Mike Rosenwald describes how the Dawkins print, above, lead to the re-discovery and vindication of Benjamin Lay by the Abington Monthly Meeting. And read about it in The Washington Post, Retropolis, ‘In the belly of hell’: The Quaker abolitionist disowned by his faith for condemning slave owners by Susan Hogan, May 14, 2018.
In 2018, The Abington Monthly Meeting in Jenkintown, PA, placed a marker for Benjamin and Sarah Lay in their grave yard,
Benjamin Lay
1682 - 1759
Sarah Lay
1677 - 1735
EXACT LOCATION OF GRAVE UNKNOWN
and, a road-side historical marker was erected on Meetinghouse Road.
Benjamin Lay
1682-1759
An early advocate for the immediate abolition of slavery. Lay, a Quaker and a dwarf, wrote a scathing attack on Quaker slaveholders, who in turn disowned him. His dramatic public protests and his boycott of all items produced by slave labor later inspired Quakers to become the first religious group to abolish slavery within their own ranks in 1776. He lived in a local cave. His grave was marked a the Quaker cemetery nearby in 2018.
The web page, Information on Benjamin Lay, at the Abington Monthly Meeting has disappeared, but you can read it Here, or try a newer iteration Here.
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