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202 Ezekiel Coston.

the year; but take at least one week of relaxation; it is a great epoch of thy life; celebrate it with joy, and rest by doing whatsoever thou wilt."
11. "No, Master! it is seed time - I will take my pleasure another time - one day only shall be a holiday in my family. Then, since you will have it so, I will accept my liberty; and my first action, as a free man, is to take your hand, my master, press it between mine, and lay in on my heart; where the attachment and gratitude of Jame will not cease, until that ceases to beat; and until that moment, be assured that no laborer in the county of Kent, will be more industrious than he who henceforth shall be called Faitfhul James."*

Ezekiel Coston,
Aged upward of eighty-three years, related to Samuel Canby, of Wilmington, Delaware, in Second month, 1825, the following circumstances of his freedom from his master, the late Warner Mifflin, with other incidents of his life: and it may be observed, that he has always supported an unblemished character:-
2. That he was born a slave in the family of Daniel Mifflin, of Accomack county, Virginia, with

*This account, with additional particulars, may be found in the "Recueil Choisi," under 'the head of "Le Genereux Quaker."

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whom he lived until about twenty years of age; about which period, Warner Mifflin (son of Daniel) married a daughter of John Kensey's, of West River, Maryland, and settled near Camden, in the state of Delaware. Ezekiel, and five other slaves, were given him by his father; there were also a number of slaves belonging to his wife brought into the family.
3. He lived with Warner Mifflin about eighteen months, when he put him on a plantation of his to work it, about six miles from his residence, where he continued about four years a slave. At this period, Ezekiel was informed by his master, that he had concluded to set his slaves free: and very soon after, his master came to his residence, and calling him from the field, where he was ploughing, they sat down together, when he told Ezekiel his mind had long been uneasy with holding slaves, and that he must let him go.
4. Ezekiel was so well satisfied with his present situation, that he told his master he could not leave him. Their conversation on the subject produced such feelings of tenderness, that they both wept much. Finally, as an inducement to comply, his master told him he might remain on the farm; and they entered into a mutual agreement, which was carried into effect, and Ezekiel continued to live on the farm fourteen years; when his master gave him a piece of land, upon which he built a house, where he remained until he came into the neigh-