Autographs for Freedom, Volume 2 (of 2) (1854) — John Shaqi
Autographs for Freedom, Volume 2 (of 2) (1854)
History
Autographs for Freedom, Volume 2 (of 2) (1854)
Antislavery movements -- United States; Slavery -- United States
The conspicuous place assigned to this representative of an injured
race, by the side of one of England's greatest heroes, brought vividly
before my eye the wrongs of Africa and the philanthropic man of Great
Britain, who had labored so long and so successfully for the abolition
of the slave trade, and the emancipation of the slaves of the West
Indies; and I at once resolved to pay a visit to the grave of
Wilberforce.
A half an hour after, I entered Westminster Abbey, at Poets' Corner,
and proceeded in search of the patriot's tomb; I had, however, gone
but a few steps, when I found myself in front of the tablet erected to
the memory of Granville Sharpe, by the African Institution of London,
in 1816; upon the marble was a long inscription, recapitulating many
of the deeds of this benevolent man, and from which I copied the
following:--"He aimed to rescue his native country from the guilt and
inconsistency of employing the arm of freedom to rivet the fetters of
bondage, and establish for the negro race, in the person of Somerset,
the long-disputed rights of human nature. Having in this glorious
cause triumphed over the combined resistance of interest, prejudice,
and pride, he took his post among the foremost of the honorable band
associated to deliver Africa from the rapacity of Europe, by the
abolition of the slave-trade; nor was death permitted to interrupt
his career of usefulness, till he had witnessed that act of the
British Parliament by which the abolition was decreed." After viewing
minutely the profile of this able defender of the negro's rights,
which was finely chiselled on the tablet, I took a hasty glance at
Shakspeare, on the one side, and Dryden on the other, and then passed
on, and was soon in the north aisle, looking upon the mementoes placed
in honor of genius. There stood a grand and expressive monument to Sir
Isaac Newton, which was in every way worthy of the great man to whose
memory it was erected. A short distance from that was a statue to
Addison, representing the great writer clad in his morning gown,
looking as if he had just left the study, after finishing some chosen
article for the _Spectator_. The stately monument to the Earl of
Chatham is the most attractive in this part of the Abbey. Fox, Pitt,
Grattan, and many others, are here represented by monuments. I had to
stop at the splendid marble erected to the memory of Sir Fowell
Buxton, Bart. A long inscription enumerates his many good qualities,
and concludes by saying:--"This monument is erected by his friends and
fellow-laborers, at home and abroad, assisted by the grateful
contributions of many thousands of the African race." A few steps
further and I was standing over the ashes of Wilberforce. In no other
place so small do so many great men lie together. The following is the
inscription on the monument erected to the memory of this devoted
friend of the oppressed and degraded negro race:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account