Letter from Thomas Fowell Buxton to Mary Anne Rawson (English MS 415/116)
Your letter followed me in an
absence from home which had delayed
my answering it until now. I hope
therefore you have proceeded without
waiting for me & that I shall soon
have the pleasure of seeing your little
Work in Print. -- X As to me, the fact
is I have talked written & thought
on the subject of Slavery till I can
talk & write no longer. A mighty
work is accomplished as far as this
Country is concerned. A mighty
effect remains to be produced on
the other side of the Atlantic. ^We[?] [???]How many in England will
wait & watch the Result with
intense anxiety & interest! I only
hope they will not forget how much
they may contribute to its perfect
success -- The more I hear & read
the more I am convinced that the
Negro Race are blessed with rather
a peculiar aptitude for the
reception of moral & religious Instruc[-]
tion, and it does seem to me that
there never[?] was a stronger call on
any nation than there is now on
us to meet this inclination in
them, to supply them amply
with the means of Instruction
to [deleted word?] dispath Missionaries; to institute
Schools & to send out Bibles --
this is the only Compensation more
Power. & it is an abundant one! [deletion]
We may in this manner recompense
all the sorrows & sufferings we have
inflicted & be the means of making
in the End, their barbarous Removal
from their own [deleted word] Land. The
greatest of blessings to them. My
I am cheered indeed by hearing
the note of Preparation on many
sides. Various Denominations of
Dissenters are preparing the
Emissaries. The Church I trust
will not be behind & the service[?]
Wilberforce Subscription which after
the Erection of a monument is to
be applied to some the foundation
of some Institution in the West Indies
which shall be a more appropriate
Monument ^to Him than Marble, will
trust be widely patronized X
If -- dear Madam you can
condescend to print into your Work
as an extract from a letter the
Paragraph I have placed between
crosses, you are of course at
liberty. It is little worth while,
but I am too much occupied to
write a more formal Contribution
T. F. Buxton
I am far from wishing or
advising you to insert it ----
Cromer Oct Six --
1833
Mrs. W. B. Rawson
Jos. Read's Esq.
Wincobank Hall
Sheffield
T. F. Buxton