Item Doc 18 - Autograph letter, signed, in French, from Francois Lanthenas, to Thomas Clarkson, from Paris

The writer excuses lack of correspondence on the subject of abolition by attention to urgent political matters. The victory achieved by the 'gens de couleur' over the whites in the French colonies, on behalf of which the Societe des Amis des Noirs had merely a propaganda role in Paris, will perhaps hasten the winning of equal rights for all men everywhere. He trusts that that class of oppressed citizens who owe their triumph to the philosophy of the present age, will acknowledge it by giving support to the Societe particularly devoted to the betterment of the condition of their brothers, the Africans (1). Lanthenas considers the opening of new colonies an opportunity to give support to the cause there. He endeavours to interest Clarkson in a new publishing and bookselling venture established at No. 4 Rue du Theatre Francois, which will begin by publishing the evidences submitted to the English Parliament against the slave trade. It is intended to revivify the Societe. (1) This is just the kind of platitude that Lubersac was inveighing against in November 1789.