Died, on the 3d of fifth month, 1784, Anthony Benezet, aged 71 years, a
member of the Society of Friends. It was a day of sorrow. The afflicted
widow, the unprotected orphan, and the poor of all descriptions,
had lost the sympathetic mind of Benezet. Society lamented the
extinguishment of the brilliant light of his philanthropy.
The wandering tribes in the American wilderness, and the oppressed
Africans, were indeed bereft; for his willing pen and tongue had ceased
forever to portray the history of their injuries, or plead for the
establishment of their rights, before the sons of men.
At the interment of his remains, in Friends' burial ground in
Philadelphia, was the greatest concourse of people that had ever been
witnessed on such an occasion; being a collection of all ranks and
professions among the inhabitants; thus manifesting the universal
esteem in which he was held.
Among others who paid that last tribute of respect were many hundred
colored people, testifying, by their attendance and by their tears, the
grateful sense they entertained of his pious efforts in their behalf.
Having no children, by his will he bequeathed his estate to his wife
during her natural life. At her decease, he directed several small sums
to be paid to poor and obscure persons.
The residue he devised in trust to the overseers of the public
school, "to hire and employ a religious-minded person or persons to
teach a number of negro, mulatto or Indian children to read, write,
arithmetic, plain accounts, needle-work, etc. And it is my particular
desire, founded on the experience I have had in that service, that,
in the choice of such tutor, special care may be taken to prefer an
industrious, careful person, of true piety, who may be or become
suitably qualified, who would undertake the service from a principle of
charity, to one more highly learned not equally disposed."
He also bequeathed, as a special legacy, the sum of fifty pounds to the
Society in Pennsylvania for the promotion of the abolition of slavery.
Thus closed the life of this great and good man. Dispensing his
blessings with his own hand, he was too liberal to be a man of wealth.
He was a native of France; and in the ancient records of his family are
exhibited evidences of religious character in his predecessors.
Connected with the demise of his grandfather, the event is said to be,
"to the great affliction of his children, and the universal regret of
his relatives and friends, for he was a model of virtue and purity, and
lived in the constant fear of God." Attached to the birth-note of his
grandson Anthony, are these expressions: "May God bless him, in making
him a partaker of his mercies." Though virtue is not hereditary, it
must be admitted that example is powerful.
Among the productions of Anthony Benezet's pen, was, "An historical
account of Guinea, its situation, produce, and the general disposition
of its inhabitants; with an inquiry into the rise and progress of the
slave trade, its nature, and calamitous effects."
_Note from the Memoirs of A. Benezet._
The influence of this work, in giving an impulse to the mind of
the indefatigable and benevolent Thomas Clarkson, whose exertions
contributed so much toward bringing about the abolition of the slave
trade by the British Parliament, is certainly remarkable. In the year
1785, Dr. Peckard, vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge,
proposed to the senior Bachelors of Arts, of whom Clarkson was one, the
following question for a Latin dissertation: viz. (in English), "Is it
right to make slaves of others against their will?"
Having in the former year gained a prize for the best Latin
dissertation, he resolved to maintain the classical reputation he
had acquired by applying himself to the subject; but it was one with
which he was by no means familiar, and he was at a loss what authors
to consult respecting it; "when going by accident," he says, "into a
friend's house, I took up a newspaper then lying on the table.
"One of the articles which attracted my notice, was an advertisement of
Anthony Benezet's historical account of Guinea. I soon left my friend
and his paper, and, to lose no time, hastened to London to buy it.
In this precious book I found almost all I wanted." The information
furnished by Benezet's book encouraged him to complete his essay, which
was rewarded with the first prize; and from that moment, Clarkson's
mind became interested with the great subject of the abolition.