The 1823 entry of the well-known and prolific nineteenth-century poet Anne Bignan in the poetry competition of the French Academy was entitled: Epistle to the Sovereigns of Europe assembled at the Congress of Vienna. The poem calls on the kings of Restoration Europe to break the "complicit silence" (3) surrounding the slave trade, and put an end to tyranny and exploitation. Bignan's notes cite Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Abbé Raynal, Clarkson, Madame de Stael and Wilberforce. The poem was awarded an honourable mention by the Academy.