OCR Text |
Show 288 A DAY S P ENT AT n much l1:~ppicr stntc of life; especially no·"r' when their lXl.S3:tgc to tlJc \Vest Imlics, nncl their treatment there, is lJUmancly rogubtcd. To abolish this truJe, would be to • - shut the gn.tcs of mercy on mnnkind.' 1' One of the first steps of Cbrkson and his associates, was tl1c formation of n committee of t\Yclvc persons, for the collection nncl clis3cmin~tion of evidence on t he subj ect. The contest now began in earnest, a contest us sulr lime as any the world ever saw. The Abolition controversy more fully aroused the Yirtuc, the tJ.lcnt, and the religion of tbcgrcfLt English nation, than any other event or crisis which ever oc· curred. i Vilberforce was the leader of the question in Par· liament. The other members of the Anti·slavcry Cummiltcc performed those labor.3 '"·hich were necessary out of it. This hbor eonsioted principally in the collection of evidence with regard to tho traffw, and the prcsenta· tion of it before the public minJ. In this Iober PLAYFORD IIALL. 289 Clarkson was particularly cng:-~gcd . The subject was hemmed in with the same dilfu.:ulLics tlw.t now beset the Anti-slavery cause in America. Those who knew most about it, were precisely those whose interest it was to prevent inquiry. An immense moneyed interest was arrayed against investigation, and was determined to suppress the agitation of the subject. Owing to this powerful pressure, many who were in possess· ion of facts which wotlld bear upon this subject, rc· fused to communicate them ; and often after a long and wearisome journey in search of an individual who could throw light upon the subject, Clarkson hod the mortification to find his lips scaled by interest or timic!ity. As usual, tl10 cause of opprcssjon was defended by the most impudent lying; the sbvc·trade was asserted to be tlJC latest revised edition of pl1ilan· thropy. It was said that the poor Mrican, the slave of miserable oppression in his own country, wa~ wafted by it to an asylum in ~ Christian Janel; tliat the middle passage was to the poor negro a pcrft!e;L elysium, infinitely happier tban anything he had CI'Cf known in his own country. All this was said ,\'hilc manacles, and band-cuff,:;, and thumb-screws, ar:.d instruments to force open tile moutli, were a regular part 13 |