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| Archive Reference / Library Class No. | D769/B/8A/162/2 |
| Former Reference | 1821/2 |
| Title | W.S.L. / Wilmot-Sitwell Box 2 |
| Description | Includes D769/B/8A/162/2/1 A commonplace book begun May 1780, beginning with 'England, its Constitutional Sketches'. At the back are poems including 'To the Rev Dr Taylor on his letter to Dr Johnson stating the proofs of the Christian Religion' by Brooke Boothby junior and 'Epilogue spoken by Mr Brown the manager when his company were leaving Wirksworth under some apprehension that he might not be admitted again into Wirksworth' referencing the slave trade [see transcription below]. |
| Extent | 1 box |
| Level | File |
| Repository | Derbyshire Record Office |
| Archive Creator | Taylor Simpson and Mosley, solicitors of Derby |
| Privacy Notice | Data Subjects in Archives Privacy Notice |
| Term | Slavery |
| Abolition of slavery |
| Poetry |
| Transcript or Index | Epilogue spoken by Mr Brown the manager when his company were leaving Wirksworth under some apprehension that he might not be admitted again into Wirksworth.
As from this Sack the lucid Tears arise
And push this grateful Tribute through my Eyes:
Humbly I come to beg ten thousand thanks
Diffused may spread thro' all these gen'rous Ranks.
Of Joys departed now I ring the Knell
By lengthening out that cruel word Farewell!
Whate're betide whilst Life & memory last
My Heart shall treasure up your Favours past.
- But must we part? Oh yes, it must be so -
What quit to part forever? surely no.
To part where the End measure limit Bound
of that workd Death? No word that word can sound.
Even whilst through suggests that we must part
The vital current freezeth to my Heart.
Players alass! like sailrrs on the main
Toss'd up & down, now here, now there again
Wars with the storms & Tides of human Life
(sometimes without and sometimes with a Wife)
Sometimes in Ports where viper Critics hiss -
Seldom in Ports so kind and good as this
Dear generous Port where Seamen wet and poor
In hospitality their Vessels moor
Auspicious Port! thee we reluctant leave
Could but one further Boon increase our Store
with lessened Sorrows we should quit your Shore
Oh! grant ye charming Friends, our last Petition
Renounce that south sea Bubble Abolition:
Total or gradual still at Nature's shrine
Let justice lend her attribute divine
And whilst from Earth fell Cruelty is hurled
Let Mercy sway the Empire of the World.
But first let Britain's Man and Horse confess
That kind compassion made their Evils less
And tho' the South her tawny Children sends
They leave their Foes and here they meet their Friends
Hither they come to Liberty and meat
Not to be eaten, but to live to eat.
Then we'll be slaves, this Colony to serve
Nor from our Duties will we ever swerve
A Wirksworth vassal wears a lighter Heart
Than all that savage Freedom can impart
Return us not to Afric's burning Shore
Yours is the Guinea Coast we most adore.
The above was written about the time Wilberforce was bothering Prliament for an abolition of the Slave Trade in the Spring of 1792. |