Letter from Thomas Clarkson to Mary Anne Rawson (English MS 415/155)
April 15 1833
Madam
Your letter appears to have been written a month ago,
but for some cause or other it did not reach me till beg[?] a
long time after its date, & at the time I received it & indeed
up to the present moment my thoughts have been deeply engaged
upon what I may call our common subject. This is one reason
why I did not notice your letter sooner; and another is that
having unhappily Cataracts on both my eyes I have not been
able to see either to read or to write for some time, and this
circumstance makes me aoord correspondence as mach as possible
With respect to the publication of your volume of Poems, no person
wishes it more success than I do, because no person can feel
himself more interested in the cause, which it is intended to
promote; indeed, I think that a work of this description may
secure the attention of some, whom prose-compositions would not
so much lay hold of & thus a greater number of persons may
become acquainted with the case of the unhappy people whose
rights we advocate. I am sorry that I am so situated as
not to be able to contribute some little morceau towards
your Book. But these little things are so foreign to my
habits of composition, that I know I should not be able to
satisfy myself & therefore must by you to excuse me.
I am obliged to you for your wish that I may live[?]
to record the total abolition of Slavery. This would be most
delighlfull, but I have no expectation of it. I may, however
probably live to see the monster Slavery receive its death
wound from the British Parliament. This will satisfy me
and I shall be most truly & reverently thankful for it--