The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade by the British Parliament (1808), Volume IClarkson, Thomas
History
The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade by the British Parliament (1808), Volume I
Clarkson, Thomas
Slave trade -- Africa
respect to the line, which I should pursue in the case of remaining in the
place of my abode and in my former habits, I determined never to start the
subject of the abolition myself--never to abandon it when started--never to
defend it but in a serious and dignified manner--and never to discover any
signs of irritation, whatever provocation might be given me. By this
determination I abided rigidly. The King's Arms became now daily the place
for discussion on this subject. Many tried to insult me, but to no purpose.
In all these discussions I found the great advantage of having brought Mr.
Falconbridge with me from Bristol: for he was always at the table; and when
my opponents, with a disdainful look, tried to ridicule my knowledge, among
those present, by asking me if I had ever been on the coast of Africa
myself, he used generally to reply, "But I have. I know all your
proceedings there, and that his statements are true." These and other words
put in by him, who was an athletic and resolute-looking man, were of great
service to me. All disinterested persons, of whom there were four or five
daily in the room, were uniformly convinced by our arguments, and took our
part, and some of them very warmly. Day after day we beat our opponents out
of the field, as many of the company acknowledged, to their no small
mortification, in their presence. Thus, while we served the cause by
discovering all that could be said against it, we served it by giving
numerous individuals proper ideas concerning it, and of interesting them in
our favour.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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