Letter to Charlotte, Queen of Great Britain (Benezet)

​To Charlotte Queen of Great Britain

Impressed with a sence of Religious duty, & encouraged by the opinion generally entertained of thy benevolent disposition to succour the distressed, I take the liberty, very respectfully, to offer to they perusal, some Tracts which I believe faithfully describe the suffering condition of many hundred thousands of our fellow Creatures of the African race, great numbers of whom rent from every tender connection in Life, are annually taken from their native Land, to endure in the American Islands, & Plantations, a most rigorous & cruel Slavery, whereby many, very many of them are brought to a malencholly & untimely end.

When it is considered that the Inhabitants of Britain, who are themselves so eminently blessed in that enjoyment of Religious & civil Liberty, have long been & yet are very deeply concerned in this flagarent violation of the common Rights of Mankind; & that even its national authority is exerted, in support of the African Slave Trade, there is much reason to apprehend, that this has been & as long as the Evil exists, will continue to be, an occasion of drawing down the divine displeasure on the Nation & its dependences. May these considerations induce thee to interpose thy kind endeavors on behalf of this greatly oppressed People, whose abject situation gives them an additional claim to the Pity & assistance of the generous Mind in as much as they are altogether deprived of the means of solliciting effectual relief for themselves! That so, thou may not only be a blessed Instrument in the hand of him,"by whom Kings reign & Princes decree justice," to avert the Awful Judgments, by which the Empire ​has already been so remarkably shaken, but that the blessings of thousands ready to perish, may come upon thee, at a Time when the superior advantages attendant on thy Situation in the World will no longer be of any avail to thy consolation & Support.

To the Tracts on the subject to which I have thus ventured to crave thy particular attention, I have added some others, which at different time, I have believed it my duty to publish, & which I trust will afford thee some satisfaction, their design being for the furtherance of that universal Peace, & good will amongst Men which the Gospel was intended to introduce.

I hope thou will kindly excuse the freedom used on this occasion by an antient Man, whose Mind for more than 40 years past has been much separated from the common course of the world and long painfully exercised in the consideration of the Miseries under which so large a part of Mankind equally with us the objects of redeeming Love, are suffering the most unjust, & grevious oppression, & who sincerely desires the temporal & Eternal Fidelity of the Queen & her Royal Consort.

Philad. 25th of 8th mo. 1783