Wilberforce was the leader of the question in Parliament. The other
members of the antislavery committee performed those labors which were
necessary out of it.
This labor consisted principally in the collection of evidence with
regard to the traffic, and the presentation of it before the public
mind. In this labor Clarkson was particularly engaged. The subject was
hemmed in with the same difficulties that now beset the antislavery
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 possession of facts which would bear upon this subject,
refused to communicate them; and often, after a long and wearisome
journey in search of an individual who could throw light upon the
subject, Clarkson had the mortification to find his lips sealed by
interest or timidity. As usual, the cause of oppression was defended
by the most impudent lying; the slave trade was asserted to be the
latest revised edition of philanthropy.
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