Letter dated by the references to the various deaths mentioned by More.

Lady Longford, born Catherine Rowley, died on 12 March 1816. She was the mother of Lady Olivia Sparrow’s good friend, Catherine Pakenham Wellesley, wife of the first Duke of Wellington. Catherine Rowley had married on 25 June 1768 Edward Michael Pakenham, second Baron Longford.

Louisa Elizabeth Noel Noel (1784/5-1816), wife of the banker William Henry Hoare (1776-1819). Her mother was Diana Middleton Noel, only daughter of Thomas Middleston, first Baron Barham.

Thomas Middleton, first Baron Barham (1726-1813), had been an acquaintance of More’s since the mid 1770s. Although both Barham and More were evangelical Christians, Barham’s faith was of the more severe Calvinistic kind, which More disliked. Barham was, however, an abolitionist, and supported efforts to abolish the slave trade both in the House of Commons (where he had been elected MP for Rochester in 1784), and in a private capacity, by offering hospitality to those of similar views.

The Reverend Gerard Thomas Noel (1782-1851), second child of Diana Middleton and Sir Gerard Noel Noel. Two daughters, whose names are not recorded, died in infancy.

More refers here to the ‘May Meetings’, a tradition amongst members of the Clapham Sect and their extended circle of gathering every May in London for the meetings of the many philanthropic or campaigning bodies with which they were connected. E. M. Foster, great-nephew of More’s goddaughter Marianne Thornton, records that ‘Pious people [...] came up for the meetings from all over England, followed the reports and discussions, took part in the voting and contributed to the collections. For some, the Week also acquired the aspect of a dramatic festival; they loved the crowds, the scenes on the platform and in the audience. Hannah More herself had written plays in her day, and must have enjoyed Marianne’s vivid reports on the proceedings.’ See E. M. Forster, Marianne Thornton: A Domestic Biography, 1797-1887 (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc, 1956), p. 131.

Wilberforce’s health had never been particularly strong, and from 1812 onwards he had begun to reduce his public commitments.

Henri Christophe (1767-1820), self-styled King Henri I of Haiti, had played an important part in the liberation of Haiti from French rule in 1804, and since 1807 had been king of the northern part of the island (the southern half was ruled separately as a republic by Alexandre Pétion). In 1814 he began a correspondence with Wilberforce, largely on the subject of education, though Wilberforce also took a keen interest in Christophe’s plans to convert Haiti to Protestantism, and to abolish the use of French as the national language. Many of these changes would not ultimately come to pass, but in education Wilberforce had some success. In 1816 he agreed to send Christophe seven schoolmasters in addition to a private tutor for Christophe’s two daughters, as well as seven scholars, including a surgeon, with whom Christophe was to form a Haitian Royal Academy. Wilberforce drew on the support of the British and Foreign School Society, and the British and Foreign Bible Society, to source suitable teachers, and to facilitate the dispatch of 5000 bilingual editions of the Bible. However, the editions that arrived in Haiti were not parallel, as had apparently been promised, but presented the Biblical text in sections first of French, then English.

Wilberforce corresponded with several members of the Clapham Sect as part of his efforts to secure suitable resources to send to Haiti: Thomas Clarkson and Zachary Macaulay were also involved. Between them, they were able, despite More’s misgivings, to send several well-qualified and energetic teachers to Haiti, so that by 1818 nine schools had opened, a Royal College was training a new professional class, an art school had opened, and a Haitian printing press had begun producing textbooks for use in the rapidly-multiplying educational establishments.

Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820) had, in his youth, travelled with Captain James Cook first to the eastern seaboard of Canada, and then to uncharted regions of the south Pacific in the Endeavour. He did not travel himself again, but remained for the rest of his life at the centre of a vast and complex network of government officials, nobility, scientists and prominent figures, maintained through voluminous correspondence, and through which Banks was able to wield enormous influence in support of enterprises such as Wilberforce’s in Haiti. (See The Indian and Pacific Correspondence of Sir Joseph Banks, edited by Neil Chambers (Pickering and Chatto, 8 vols.) He corresponded with Wilberforce about Henri Christophe’s activities, with both men so enthused that they professed in their letters a desire, should their age allow, to travel to the island themselves.

It has not been possible to verify the figure More gives here, though it was certainly the case that auxiliary branches of the Church Missionary Society contributed large sums in 1816.

Jean-Jacques Regis de Cambaceres (1753-1824), lawyer, revolutionary and Second Consul to Napoleon Bonaparte, he was the author of the Code Napoleon, the basis for the system of French civil law instituted by Napoleon in 1804. During the Empire Cambaceres acted as effective head of state when Napoleon was abroad. After the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy Cambaceres was exiled from France. He arrived in Brussels on 16 February 1816, staying first at the Imperial Crown Hotel before moving, ironically, to the Wellington Hotel.

William Parnell (c. 1780-1821), who resided in County Wicklow in Ireland. Parnell was a supporter of Catholic emancipation, and held other views that More would have found objectionable. He was, however, extremely active in support of improving the condition of the Irish people and their country.

The Apostolic Benediction comes from 2 Corinthians 13:14: ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen’ (KJV).