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Lines
Composed on the Departure
of
The REV Thomas KNIBB
as a Missionary to the West Indies
And on his death

BY HIS SISTER

Commentary

ON HIS DEPARTURE

Say, dearest youth, and wilt thou go,
And leave thy native clime?
Oh! had Omnipotence but spoke
In any years but time!

How shall we bid the last farewell,
To one we hold so dear?
How shall we take the long last look,
Or dry the fulling tear?

Oh! 'tis an overwhelming thought,
That we no more shall see
Thy countenance, nor hear thy voice,
This side of eternity.

Methinks I hear my brother say,
"Dear sister why this grief?
Think of the cause for which I go;
Sure this will give relief.

"Nature must feel: my dearest friends,
Around my heart entwine;
But for thy glorious gospel Lord,
I every one resign.

"Oh! 'tis a glorious cause indeed.
It brightens in review;
To preach of Christ's redeeming love,
The theme is ever new.

"'Lovest thou me? (my sister saith)
Come then, take up thy cross;
Come, part with all thy dearest friends,
I will make up their loss.

"Go take my word to distant lands,
And there my truth reveal;
Many shall melt beneath the sound,
The hardest heart shall feel.

"There, shalt thou lead the rising race
In ways of heavenly truth;
And tell them the Redeemer died
To save poor heathen youth.'

"Delightful talk!  Lord, tis enough,
I feel my heart on fire;
Yet I have one request to make -
O grant me my desire!

"When at the great decisive day,
All nations round thee stand,
That these my dearest friends I leave,
Be found at thy right hand.

"Yes, this shall be my earnest prayer,
Through all my future days:
That we may meet around thy throne,
To celebrate thy praise."


              _______


COMPOSED ON THE DAY HE DEPARTED



The parting moment now draws near,
With sighs our bosoms swell;
Help us, O God, to dry the tear,
And calmly say, FAREWELL.

Yes heaven born youth, we'll bid thee go,
Nor longer urge thy stay:
But raise a tribute to our God,
Who called thee thus away.



              ---------

ON HIS DEATH


It is the Lord!  Let not one murmur rise.
Then, why this throbbing heart, these weeping eyes?
Though clouds and darkness are around thy throne,
Help us to say, Thy will, not ours, be done.
  Hark! a remonstrance issues from the tomb!
"Why flow those tears?  Dispel that heavy gloom:
"Could you but realize what I enjoy,
A song of praise would every tongue employ.
"What!  weep for me, who am thus early blest,
"Who suddenly have entered on my rest?
"For ever free from sorrow, sin and pain,
"What is your loss is my eternal gain."
  Yes, dearest Brother. that we know full well;
But what thou art enjoying none can tell,
Though thou was truly lovely in our sight,
And yielded to each heart a sweet delight;
  Yet should we wish thee back from Canaan's shore?
We know that thou art not lost, but gone before,
Though few the days that thou on earth did spend,
Thy life was long, as answering life's great end.
Thy character on earth, however bright,
Shines brighter now, in yonder world of light.
  But how mysterious is this sudden stroke!
The dearest tenderest earthly unions broke!
The husband, father, son and brother gone,
The faithful pastor too, his labour done!
  Jehovah walk'd his garden to review;
His plants, his trees, his flowers of every hue:
This lovely tree he long had nourish'd here,
Though in affliction's painful school, severe,
Its branches shed a fragrance all around,
The fruits of grace were in profusion found.
Pure and sincere affection in full bloom.
And holy meekness, shed their rich perfume,
The Saviour view'd with a tender eye;
He turn'd and look'd, nor could he pass it by;
Gently transplants it to the world above.
Whose sun is cloudless, and whose air is love.
  The widow weeps - he binds her broken heart,
Tells her they soon shall meet and never part;
And he, transplanted near the heavenly sun,
Triumphs in glory, now his race is run.
  Thrice happy Christian! shall we mourn thy death?
Hear him exclaiming with his dying breath -
"Glorious Religion! now I feel thy power;
"How sweet thy cordial: in the dying hour!
"There's one sweet passage where it stands reveal'd,
"My pains though great, by that are all conceal'd -
"Count the sufferings of this present time.
Not worth a thought compound with joys divine.
My God! to thee thy spirit command:
"Thou art the only, never failing friend.
"Support survivors in their deep distress:
"Befriend the widow and the fatherless"

  He ceased.  - The faltering tongue, the shortening breath,
With rapid strides announced the approach of death.
No tearless eye attends his dying bed.
And floods of tears by negro eyes are shed;
While in affecting strains their hearts implore,
That God their much-loved Massa would restore.
Oh solemn moment! - while these negroes weep.
Their Massa calm in Jesus falls asleep!

  His spirit's fled, his soul has taken wing;
Angels with joy conduct it to the King;
Heaven echoes with the rapturous sound, 'Well done!'
Ten thousand voices shout 'Our brother's come!'
For our Immanuel he has notably fought
The interests of his widening Kingdom sought.
And hail dear brother! here receive thy crown,
And swell thy good Redeemer's high renown.
  Enraptured with the glorious heavenly throng,
The new-come spirit joins the angelic song;
His powers expand, heaven opens to his view,
And to the world he bids a glad adieu.
  One constant aim be ours, one earnest prayer -
To imitate his bright example here;
Then may we meet around that blissful throne,
Where death nor separation will be known.

(Taken from a printed sheet in William HORNER's Memorandum Book, Broughton, Northants 1831+ housed at the Northamptonshire County Record Office - ref ZB 68/1 page 247.)

COMMENTARY

Thomas sailed to Jamaica as a Missionary on 'The Ocean' in October 1822 (November 1821 sister Ann told HINTON) and died of a fever at Kingston on 25th April 1824, not yet 25 years old.  A stone was erected in his memory at his home town of Kettering bearing this date which accords with a letter giving the 'doleful' news written at the time, so not 1823 as mentioned by HINTON and others.

We cannot be sure which of the three sisters of Thomas KNIBB wrote these verses.

Mary Ann born in 1796 was the eldest:  Thomas's date of birth was 11 October 1799.  I believe she died in 1825, a year after Thomas.

Frances ('Fanny') was a couple of years younger than Thomas.  Three letters to her from William are held at the Angus Library, Regent's Park College, Oxford.  She went to live in Liverpool with(?) another brother Edward, a draper/tailor like their father.  According to William, writing to Thomas in 1822, he hoped she would "convert" and in the same letter records that Frances 'deeply feels your loss' - a first child or just his departure?

Ann was a twin of William, born 1803, who took Thomas' place as a Missionary.  She marrried Samuel LEA a colonist, whose son became a Missionary.

Doubtless all sisters were capable of writing these verses following in the footsteps of their mother who had very strong religious beliefs.

The family were by no means 'well to do' yet the quality of these verses and command of the English language discloses a remarkable level of education.  As likely as not this was gained at their 'mother's knee'.  Only the KNIBB brothers, I think, attended the Toller Road church school Kettering.  Thomas and William were also taught at Rev James HOGG's Kettering Grammar School for a while.

After his death, Thomas' widow Elizabeth ("Betsy") returned to England with the couples' infant son Thomas and died very shortly after on 31st January 1825 at Northampton.  Interestingly, son Thomas, another Missionary, fathered 3 daughters who were schoolteachers in Jamaica.

The following appears on the memorial stone mentioned above.

"He distant regions sought, with eager pains,
Not to explore fresh marts, or count new gains,
Like some dark fiend, with venom in his eye,
To swell the tide of human misery;
But, with benignant smile, his joys to share,
To free the captive, smooth the brow of care,
Throw back the veil, the star of hope display,
And guide benighted souls to endless day."

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