ed it. The wound which these had produced was rendered still
deeper by the reiterated refusal of persons to give their testimony,
after I had travelled hundreds of miles in quest of them. But the
severest stroke was that inflicted by the persecution begun and pursued
by persons interested in the continuance of the trade, of such witnesses
as had been examined against them; and whom, on account of their
dependent situation in life, it was most easy to oppress. As I had been
the means of bringing them forward on these occasions, they naturally
came to me, as the author of their miseries and their ruin.[3] These
different circumstances, by acting together, had at length brought me
into the situation just mentioned; and I was, therefore, obliged, though
very reluctantly, to be borne out of the field where I had placed the
great honour and glory of my life.'"

[3] The father of the late Samuel Whitbread, Esq., generously
undertook, in order to make Mr. Clarkson's mind easy upon the
subject, "to make good all injuries which any individuals might
suffer from such persecution;" and he honourably and nobly
fulfilled his engagement.

It was while thus recruiting the energies exhausted in the conflict,
that Clarkson, and the compatriot band with which he had been associated
in the long and arduous struggle, were crowned with victory, and
received the grateful reward of their honourable toil in the final
abolition of the slave-trade by the British nation, in 1807, the last
but most glorious act of the Grenville administration.

The preceding shows something of the career of Clarkson while labouring
to convince the people of Great Britain of the iniquity of _their own_
trade, a trade which they had the power to abolish. During all this
time, Clarkson, Wilberforce, and their associates avoided touching the
matter of _slavery_. They knew that one thing must be gained at a time,
and they as a matter of expediency, avoided discussing the duty of the
British nation in regard to the system of slavery in their Colonies
which was entirely under their own control. During all the time that was
employed in efforts to end the slave-trade, slavery was existing in the
control of the British people, and yet Clarkson and Wilberforce decided
that it was right to let that matter entirely alone.

The following shows Clarkson's proceedings after the British nation had
abolished the slave-trade.

"By the publication of his Thoug